A Research On The Narrative Strategy Of "Discovery Channel"

On June17th,1985, Discovery Channel was formally launched in America, which was founded by Discovery Communications Inc. With the swift and violent development, DCI began to distribute internationally and it has become the largest documentary producers and suppliers within more than20years. And among these channels, DC is the most influential one. The practice of attaching entertainment to a documentary, which was originated by DC, has obtained recognition by audience. In1977, DC was awarded for "Special Contribution to Human Exploration" by UNESCO, to give a commendation for its breaking contribution to the persistent pursuit of history and future of human beings and to its perspective and method of scientific popularization education.Discovery Channel is superior in its operating mechanism. The documentaries produced by the DC are equipped with the similar characteristics appealing to the audience, i.e. the excellent quality of the documentary itself. What supports the creation of the documentaries is the exceptional narrating approach which leads the creation of the documentaries of DC. When it comes to the narrative method of Hollywood movies applied by DC, a dozen of studies cannot prove its actual existence and show no signs of an organized strategy analysis. Meanwhile, with the prosperity of our documentary market, we should carry on more detailed analysis and research, based on successful samples that we already have. Beginning with a detailed analysis of documentary creation, this paper aims to analyze the narrative strategy applied by DC in a way of exploring the Hollywood elements included. All efforts would go to prove that the narrative elements of Hollywood features played a positive role in the creation of documentaries in this new age. Meanwhile, this paper makes efforts to sum up this narrative strategy with a view to revealing the idea of creating advanced contemporary documentary, which will provide beneficial inspirations for the future progress of documentary in China.