Mock-documentary texts usually succeed as hoaxes because viewers fail to read cues that reveal the films' fictional status. In so doing, I will consider the way in which the film utilizes documentary codes and conventions to construct a plausible "reality" as well as examining how these various extra-textual resources were used in the service of this construction.Īs has been the case with several other mock-documentary texts, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT caused some confusion as to its ontological status with some audience members assuming that the film was a "real" documentary. In this article I want to discuss THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT as a mock-documentary, and I also want to consider the extent to which the film is able to construct a reflexive position for viewers that presents a critical commentary on documentary and aspects of popular culture. It provides an excellent case study of the role that extra-textual material (such as websites, advertising, and so on) plays in constructing particular viewer positions and readings of the film. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT can be read in a number of different ways depending upon what you know (or think you know) about it. As a mock-documentary it constructs a world plausible enough for some sections of the audience to be confused as to its ontological status. Utilizing the codes and conventions of the documentary genre, the story of the three student filmmakers who go missing in the Maryland woods while making a documentary about the myth of the Blair Witch, provides a new twist on the horror genre. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT defies any easy categorization. As well as inspiring young (poor) filmmakers, it has opened up debates about issues such as genre boundaries, and the marketing of mainstream movies. It has turned the directors Sanchez and Myrick into celebrities, and got them the cover of Time magazine in August 1999. Made for $35,000 and expected to gross over $150 million in the U.S., it has exceeded all expectations and been hotly debated and discussed in print, on television and on the Internet. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is undoubtedly the "sleeper" hit of the year. "The Blair Witch Project" by Jane Roscoe JUMP CUTĬopyright Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media, 2000, 2006
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