--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Someone said something really interesting…" description: "\"Someone said something really interesting the other day they said, \"Even documentaries aren't what happened,\" you know there's a huge jump between life..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/bruce-cohen-65674_documentaries_someone-said-something-really-interestin_3071092.jpg" --- # Someone said something really interesting the other day… ![“Someone said something really interesting the other day they said, "Even documentaries aren't what happened," you know there's a huge jump between life and then putting something in a two hour movie, even if it's a documentary.” quote by Bruce Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/bruce-cohen-65674_documentaries_someone-said-something-really-interestin_3071092.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/bruce-cohen-65674_documentaries_someone-said-something-really-interestin_3071092.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/bruce-cohen-65674_documentaries_someone-said-something-really-interestin_3071092.jpg) > “Someone said something really interesting the other day they said, "Even documentaries aren't what happened," you know there's a huge jump between life and then putting something in a two hour movie, even if it's a documentary.” [Bruce Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cohen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Documentaries cannot capture reality perfectly; they inevitably edit and shape events into a narrative, creating a gap between lived experience and film. **In simple terms:** Films edit reality, so they’re not exact records. Key Takeaway Recognize the storytelling layer in documentaries. Themes media literacy truth representation storytelling perception Mood critical analytical Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - film analysis - educational curricula - media criticism - public discussions Key Concepts film theory ethics cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - How do you discern fact from narrative? - What responsibilities do filmmakers have? A Different Perspective Viewers may mistake edited narratives for factual truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Documentaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/documentaries/) [Documentaries Aren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/documentaries-aren-5194966/) [Documentary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/documentary/) [Hours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hours/) [Interesting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interesting/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Movie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movie/) [Movie Documentary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movie-documentary-3991941/) [Really interesting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/really-interesting/) [Said Documentaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said-documentaries-5194967/) ## Related quotes > [You're making a movie, not a documentary. If you made a film like the historians would like you to make, you're not going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dougray-scott/you-re-making-a-movie-not-a-documentary-if-you-made-a-film-like-the/) [Dougray Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dougray-scott/) > [Documentary films have always been my passion, I have done documentaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shoojit-sircar/documentary-films-have-always-been-my-passion-i-have-done/) [Shoojit Sircar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shoojit-sircar/) > [Everybody should have a documentary made about themselves. It's amazing what you see and what you learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bela-fleck/everybody-should-have-a-documentary-made-about-themselves-it-s/) [Bela Fleck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bela-fleck/) > [My lady, Deborah McNaughton is doing a documentary on me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noel-redding/my-lady-deborah-mcnaughton-is-doing-a-documentary-on-me/) [Noel Redding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noel-redding/) > [There's a lot of documentaries out in the world; it sometimes seems as if there's no topic left!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-c-pelosi/there-s-a-lot-of-documentaries-out-in-the-world-it-sometimes-seems-as/) [Alexandra C. Pelosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-c-pelosi/) > [I've had frustrated storytelling juices that have been lying dormant for a long time, and I guess the documentary was a way of me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bana/i-ve-had-frustrated-storytelling-juices-that-have-been-lying-dormant/) [Eric Bana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bana/) > [There's a tradition of reenactment in documentary which is about sort of illustrating what the past might have been like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-oppenheimer/there-s-a-tradition-of-reenactment-in-documentary-which-is-about-sort/) [Joshua Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-oppenheimer/) > [Helen Weaver’s book was a revelation to me! Although I was a young woman in the fifties, I was there, but I wasn’t there!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-cassady/helen-weaver-s-book-was-a-revelation-to-me-although-i-was-a-young/) [Carolyn Cassady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-cassady/) > [If you merely focus on what we already know, then it's not revelatory. You may as well just go and watch a documentary or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oyelowo/if-you-merely-focus-on-what-we-already-know-then-it-s-not-revelatory/) [David Oyelowo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oyelowo/) > [The pictures that were coming from Vietnam were showing us what was really happening on the ground level. It was in contradiction to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/the-pictures-that-were-coming-from-vietnam-were-showing-us-what-was/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [I'm a documentary photographer. That's what I've always wanted to be; that's where my heart and soul is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ellen-mark/i-m-a-documentary-photographer-that-s-what-i-ve-always-wanted-to-be/) [Mary Ellen Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ellen-mark/) > [By calling it a memoir, I meant is as a collection of memories. I thought it was (a more) artful (title) than documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-merchant/by-calling-it-a-memoir-i-meant-is-as-a-collection-of-memories-i/) [Natalie Merchant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-merchant/) > [Most of my life, I thought that I would end up a novelist. But then, in New York City, after college, I started a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-spaihts/most-of-my-life-i-thought-that-i-would-end-up-a-novelist-but-then-in/) [Jon Spaihts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-spaihts/) > [Most of the photographs people take with their cameraphones are of little value in terms of documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-parr/most-of-the-photographs-people-take-with-their-cameraphones-are-of/) [Martin Parr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-parr/) > [The documentary style is an incredibly flexible and useful one. It's a wonderful tool for establishing the credibility of the version of things that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-gohlke/the-documentary-style-is-an-incredibly-flexible-and-useful-one-it-s-a/) [Frank Gohlke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-gohlke/) ## More by Bruce Cohen > [I kind of joke with myself that you shouldn't be able to be a creative producer if you weren't a first AD. Because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cohen/i-kind-of-joke-with-myself-that-you-shouldn-t-be-able-to-be-a/) [Bruce Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cohen/) > [It is true that ADs do not get a chance to get a chance to create or produce, almost never, because it's whole separate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cohen/it-is-true-that-ads-do-not-get-a-chance-to-get-a-chance-to-create-or/) [Bruce Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cohen/) > [My teachers believe that the creative producer's job is to service the vision of the director, to stay within schedule and budget, and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cohen/my-teachers-believe-that-the-creative-producer-s-job-is-to-service/) [Bruce Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cohen/) [Explore all 4 Bruce Cohen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cohen/) ## More Documentaries quotes > [I like the cinema of people like Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton. I am not keen on trying to reproduce reality - for that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-pierre-jeunet/i-like-the-cinema-of-people-like-terry-gilliam-and-tim-burton-i-am/) [Jean-Pierre Jeunet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-pierre-jeunet/) > [Many people, including myself, thought of Jobs as an inventor, an Edison-like figure, but he wasn't. I did a documentary on James Brown recently;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-gibney/many-people-including-myself-thought-of-jobs-as-an-inventor-an-edison/) [Alex Gibney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-gibney/) > [The documentary style is an incredibly flexible and useful one. It's a wonderful tool for establishing the credibility of the version of things that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-gohlke/the-documentary-style-is-an-incredibly-flexible-and-useful-one-it-s-a/) [Frank Gohlke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-gohlke/) > [Most of the photographs people take with their cameraphones are of little value in terms of documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-parr/most-of-the-photographs-people-take-with-their-cameraphones-are-of/) [Martin Parr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-parr/) > [...it is a very risky thing for anyone to go about proclaiming the truth simply because he finds himself in possession of concrete documentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-amado/it-is-a-very-risky-thing-for-anyone-to-go-about-proclaiming-the-truth/) [Jorge Amado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-amado/) > [Most of my life, I thought that I would end up a novelist. But then, in New York City, after college, I started a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-spaihts/most-of-my-life-i-thought-that-i-would-end-up-a-novelist-but-then-in/) [Jon Spaihts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-spaihts/) > [By calling it a memoir, I meant is as a collection of memories. I thought it was (a more) artful (title) than documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-merchant/by-calling-it-a-memoir-i-meant-is-as-a-collection-of-memories-i/) [Natalie Merchant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-merchant/) > [I'm a documentary photographer. That's what I've always wanted to be; that's where my heart and soul is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ellen-mark/i-m-a-documentary-photographer-that-s-what-i-ve-always-wanted-to-be/) [Mary Ellen Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ellen-mark/) > [The pictures that were coming from Vietnam were showing us what was really happening on the ground level. It was in contradiction to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/the-pictures-that-were-coming-from-vietnam-were-showing-us-what-was/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [I'm in school every day. It depends on what it is that you do with all that free time when I'm not on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mc-lyte/i-m-in-school-every-day-it-depends-on-what-it-is-that-you-do-with-all/) [MC Lyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mc-lyte/) > [If you merely focus on what we already know, then it's not revelatory. You may as well just go and watch a documentary or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oyelowo/if-you-merely-focus-on-what-we-already-know-then-it-s-not-revelatory/) [David Oyelowo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oyelowo/) > [So I do tend to do documentaries where I can move in and out of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-apted/so-i-do-tend-to-do-documentaries-where-i-can-move-in-and-out-of-them/) [Michael Apted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-apted/) > [Helen Weaver’s book was a revelation to me! Although I was a young woman in the fifties, I was there, but I wasn’t there!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-cassady/helen-weaver-s-book-was-a-revelation-to-me-although-i-was-a-young/) [Carolyn Cassady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-cassady/) > [There's a tradition of reenactment in documentary which is about sort of illustrating what the past might have been like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-oppenheimer/there-s-a-tradition-of-reenactment-in-documentary-which-is-about-sort/) [Joshua Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-oppenheimer/) > [I've had frustrated storytelling juices that have been lying dormant for a long time, and I guess the documentary was a way of me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bana/i-ve-had-frustrated-storytelling-juices-that-have-been-lying-dormant/) [Eric Bana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bana/) [Browse all 718 Documentaries quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/documentaries/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Someone said something really interesting the other day they said, \"Even documentaries aren't what happened,\" you know there's a huge jump between life and then putting something in a two hour movie, even if it's a documentary.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bruce Cohen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cohen/someone-said-something-really-interesting-the-other-day-they-said/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Documentaries" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cohen/someone-said-something-really-interesting-the-other-day-they-said/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/bruce-cohen-65674_documentaries_someone-said-something-really-interestin_3071092.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/bruce-cohen-65674_documentaries_someone-said-something-really-interestin_3071092.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/bruce-cohen-65674_documentaries_someone-said-something-really-interestin_3071092.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Someone said something really interesting the other day they said, \"Even documentaries aren't what…” — Bruce Cohen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bruce Cohen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cohen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Someone said something really interesting the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cohen/someone-said-something-really-interesting-the-other-day-they-said/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cohen/someone-said-something-really-interesting-the-other-day-they-said/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```