What is a film/television documentary?
A film/television documentary is factual footage taken from real life
situations. They can be described as nonfictional motion pictures.
What is the purpose of a documentary?
The purpose of a documentary is to document an aspect of reality,
maintaining a historical record. Documentaries also explain and update a
certain event or subject to bring knowledge to the audiences and bring more
enjoyment and suspense by knowing its real life. They expose the truth.
What do you expect to see in a documentary?
You expect to see real footage, factual information, and interviews in a
documentary.
Are there particular subjects that work well for documentaries?
There are many documentary subjects, such as people, places, events, past
and present, culture and sports, science and the environment. It is most likely
that could you pick any interest of yours and there will be a documentary film
about it. Personally, I think that people, places, and events past and present
are particular subjects that work well for documentaries because it's something
that not only I would take interest in but others too. With people, you make comparisons,
which can be interesting. With places, you learn about the history or different
ways of living. With events past and present, you learn about history
development or current issues.
Codes and conventions of documentaries
Depending on the media product, the conventions can be quite similar;
one could possibly be more formal than the other.
TV/Film documentaries' conventions consist of voice overs, factual
information (facts and statistics), witness statements, location footage, and
interviews. It will also be a small crew with a single camera capturing live
footage, and they will be experts on the topic of the documentary.
Another media product is TV News Bulletins. These conventions include
breaking news (current affairs), interviews with respectable people, and
images/motion footage. The newsreaders will be sitting at their desk and wear
formal clothing. TV News Bulletins are much different from TV/Film
documentaries as they also use formal language, whereas TV/Film documentaries
can be as informal as needed, depending on the subject of course.
There are 5 popular modes of documentary:
1) Expository - expose, investigate, reveal the truth
E.g. Jimmy Saville, Leveson Enquiry, War/historical documentaries
Characteristics:
•
Use of voice over (tells us to think a certain way)
•
Lots of images
•
Variety of footage
•
Main opinion is of logic and common sense
2) Observational - observe, natural environment
E.g. The Family, Nature/climate documentaries
Characteristics:
•
Location shooting
•
Direct sound recording
•
No voice over (in its purest form)
•
No interviews
•
Subject appear to be unaware of the camera
3) Participatory - interactive
E.g. Louis Theroux
Characteristics:
•
Crew interact with the subject
•
Hand held camera
•
Interviews dominate - formal, improvised questions
•
Archive material - news, stills, old footage, letters,
headlines etc
•
Location shooting
•
Voice over - usually by the filmmaker
•
Filmmaker is visible to the audience (crew- some of
the time)
4) Reflexive - emotional response on audience
E.g. Crimewatch
Characteristics:
•
Borrows features from fiction films for an emotional
response
•
Incorporates anti-realist techniques e.g.
re-enactments, expressive lighting, dramatic music etc.
•
Voice over (when present) - questioning and uncertain
instead of authoritative
•
Relies of suggestion and opinion rather than fact
5) Performative - performance
E.g. Grizzly Man, The Cove
Characteristics:
•
Documentary maker interacts with (and sometimes is)
the subject
•
Filmmaker comments frequently on the process of making
the documentary
•
Shaped into the narrative of an investigation/mystery
to be solved
•
Address audience in an emotional and direct way
•
Subject matter is often to do with identity rather
than 'factual' subjects
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