Here are concepts that help me throughout my work. These are based on the work about documentary film by Thomas Schadt, a known German documentary film maker [1]. Unfortunately I haven’t found an English translation of this book. The following thoughts take his definition and extents it to my own experiences and ideas.
Thesis
If we define reality as the super objectivity, the world as it is happening, then we quickly realize, that there is no final reality for us. Our perception works with conventions that we learned and experiences that we made. The perception of reality has always a layer of own interpretation between what there is/we perceive and how it results in what we think it is.
Easy enough?
Here an example. If the reality is that I’m standing waiting for the bus at a bus station then this is not the final reality from my point of view. It is connected to how I ended up there, what I do there, why I wait, what is my mood etc. For example for someone who is standing there and never saw a bus before there is a much different perception of the standing at the bus station. Also two people who wait for the bus have a different perception of the situation. And lets now pretend we see the picture of a guy at the station waiting for the bus. What we all may think of is: a guy waiting for the bus. But each and everyone will have it’s own interpretation, association and so on for this situation. Maybe I don’t like buses cause they are often delayed. Maybe I met my wife at a bus station. Maybe I love riding the bus and can’t wait. Maybe I lost my keys and can’t think of anything else. The situation or picture of something doesn’t imply the reality but the truth which can be different for every single person. Although the first thing most of the people might say is: “A guy waiting for the bus!” that may not be completely what they feel or think. Often, the less information or the more abstract the object the more we relate to our own interpretation. Think of a real situation you stand in, a video clip about the situation, a photograph, a painting, a abstract painting, a narrative text etc. And then just imagine in how many ways you can influence a picture, by color mood, technique, sharpness, perspective without really touching the content.
Your role
You, as a creative, work with these factors: Your truth as an abstraction of reality. It is a good time to catchup with documentary films and their main problem. Documentary oughts to be real. But it can not. It’s only the truth of the movie maker from the cameras truth of perspective. And there a hundreds of other factors. A motion picture always has a certain layer of abstraction to it as well as the decision how authentic the movie has to be.
Cinematic examples
When I saw Sweeney Todd by Tim Burton [2] lately in a cinematic theater there were people laughing while Sweeney hit his first victim with a kettle and then slit the throat of the victim with a razor. Blood splattered all over the place. Of course there was a special kind of graphic abstraction to the pictures and the victim but how would you think the people would react if they knew it was real in the news or were standing next to the victim? Of course Tim Burton is an great director and that is why he must have chosen a very unrealistic graphic style in this movie, so that the people keep sympathy with the protagonist while he kills people. Think of Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro [3]. Captain Vidal, the villain kills a farmer with a bottle. I didn’t hear any laughs. Guillermo del Toro held this scene for very long. I thought, god please give us a cut! And that impression, as first bad incident of the villain kept to the end of the movie. One similar reality: a guy kills someone by brutaly hitting his face with an object. Two different truths.
Truth as a tool
Directors always have the audience in mind if or how much abstraction they expect. But it is not possible for them to show reality. A good documentary often needs a dramaturgy which doesn’t have to be staged. But it can be. Often a medium like a video needs a certain level exaggeration to have the same effect as a live performance/situation. The reason is that the audience feels save in their seats, with the screen as a defending layer of abstraction. Thomas Schadt relates to a situation where a colleague filmed a scene which was beautiful timed, looked great, almost perfect as if it was staged. It was so perfect that the filmmaker left it out because the audience would think it is staged. And this would challenge the whole level of authenticity in the rest of the movie.
Here is another layer and tool for shaping the truth: editing. With direct connecting, leaving out, adding, mixing, blending different pictures a filmmaker has a great power to influence a situation. Not to think of what is possible with visual effects/image manipulation [4]. This all sounds very negative but think of it like this: Every movie has a truth which has to fit the story, its audience and their expectations. A film maker like Michael Moore is known for constructing a truth which critics abuse to be lies and manipulation of facts. His movies’ intention may be to see our society in the mirror. And that may be why he constructed his truth which may not be reality. What does this teach us? There is no reality, but only subjective truths. And don’t believe that press is reality. It is (in good cases) the best try to construct a truth which is as close as possible to reality. But only close [4]. Often struggles, conflicts and even wars happens because people can’t judge the difference. That’s why it is important not to believe truth but always to leave room for doubt. But also to doubt in your own truth. Get practical: Just think of yourself. How many times you turned out to be wrong? But before you realized this, you could swear that you are right, that your opinion is real though it turned out to be, for whatever reason, a truth your mind constructed due to misinformation, misinterpretation, oblivion etc.. So better not to take your truth for reality at any cost. Isn’t this what is called tolerance?
And the conclusion?
As a director you have to be mindful of the difference between reality and truth. You are a designer of a truth which an audience is confronted with. You have to be clear, how close or far away you want to go to reality and you have to make clear that the audience realizes this distance. A film is a powerful emotional expression and you have a responsibility not to exploit the trust of the audience.
Disclaimer
I am not a scientist, a smart guy or what so ever. This is just a very subjective idea (truth 
) which I want to share. It doesn’t have to be your truth or reality. But it may come in handy for you.
[1] Gefühl des Augenblicks (amazon.de)
[2] Sweeney Todd (imdb.com)
[3] Pan’s Labyrinth (imdb.com)
[4] Image manipulation at reuters (aish.com)