Types of Documentaries

Documentaries are there to inform the public and express an opinion. Illustrates the truth/ allows the expression of a point of view.

Documentaries:
History: John Grierson 1926 - Documentary
Purpose: To document something that has happened
Showing actual footage or reconstruction
Narrators voiceover/participants anchor meaning



Features:
Observation: Camera is being ignored
Person being filmed does not know the camera is there
Interview: Allow options/views to be voiced
(documentaries rely on interveiws)
Dramtatisation: Show drama by observation
Reconstruct scenes
Mise-en-scene: Everything that is in the shot
Props, constumes etc
Exposition: Tells the audience exactly what is happening and going on
The arguement/purpose of documentary

Types:Fully Narrated: An off screen voiceover to make sense of the visuals
Tells audience the meaning of the images e.g. Nature documentary
Fly on the wall: Camera is unseen or ignored and captures what wouldnt be seen otherwise
Does not need voiceover or narration

Mixed: Uses a combination of different interviews/observations
To advance the arguement the narrator is normally infront of the camera

Self-reflective: When subject of the documentary acknowledges the camera
Person in the documentary looks and speaks into the camera

Docudrama: A reinactment of events as though it has just happened or is happening
Using techniques of documentaries to create realism

Docusoap: Follow the lives of individuals to get to know there character more

May contain:
Visuals- Archive footage to suggest meanings and emotion
Interviews- Mise-en-scene effects the meaning, can contain factual/emotional questions
Voxpops- Street interviews of general public all asked the same question, then strung together in a fast sequence. May show general arguement or diversity of options

Narratives:Open: No answers given, audience make their own decision as no conclusion given

Closed: All questions are answered and there is a definite output/ending

Single strand: once plot/story/theme throughout the whole documentary

Non-Linear: Information given not in chronological order and has flashbacks

Linear: Has a beginning, middle and an end

Circular: Starts and finished in the same way, question is asked at the beginning and end

Documentaries
Completion film- eg. news reel/ footage
Talking heads/interviews
Direct cinema: an event is recorded as it happens
Good documentaries need characters, tension, etc.
Modern documentaries are often more observational
Narration often used: audience will then understand the plot of the documentaries (can be known as the voice of god)
May use a voiceover that the audience is familiar with/ will recognise so they may trust the information that is being given to them
Lighting is generally natural
Most commonly used camerawork is handheld, may use shaky shots-look more realistic creates intimacy between audience and the film
Editing is a vital component of documentary and is relied on: fade outs, fade ins, wipe, dissolve, selecting, ordering and placing images into a sequence
Editing makes the footage understandable.

Sound:
Diegetic sound: sound in the shot, actually there
Non diegetic sound: sound added into the documentary
Documentaries rely on a lot of non diegetic sound as it prompts the audience
Current affairs:
Midway between documentaries and the news
Journalist led programmes; discussing current affairs
Address the news and political agendas in more detail and in greater depth
Investigation looking at political scandals; programme is organised around a journalistic report.- May be arguing a case/ proving it wrong. Reporter may be infront of the screen, but may also be a voiceover. -BBC2 newsnight, channel 4's dispatches, tonight with trevor Mcdonald.

Reality:
Where real events take place
A mix of raw authentic material with the seriousness of and information programme
Suveillance programme
Combination of entertainment and useful information (informative)
Used to be based around emergancy programmes but now has widened to ordinary people- audience find this appealing