Basic Conventions of Documentary

A-Roll Footage

Important people of the subject, and fans, are shown.

Often filmed on a tripod to keep a steady, focused image.

A-Roll Footage

It is normally good to film the interviewees by following the ‘rule of thirds’. This is where the person being interviewed has their face located within the top third of the screen, guided by their eyes or nose.

This stops the edited footage from being boring for the viewer as their eyes will be moving to both sides of the screen, as well as the name/info graphic mentioned previously.

A-Roll Footage

The interviewer is almost never featured in the interview. The questions are all edited out but the people are often told to answer the question by mentioning the question.

For example here, this man, John Waters, gives his opinion on The Simpsons but he would have previously been asked what his views are.

A-Roll Footage

The ‘subject’ never, or should never, actually look into the camera. Instead, it is known for the person being interviewed to look across the camera, usually speaking to the interveiwer who is asking the questions.

A-Roll Footage

The face of the person being interviewed should always be lit from the front (as shown above) and never behind! If done from behind, for example; in front of a window, then all the camera will see is a silhouette, which is not acceptable.

A-Roll Footage

Using different size shots in different ways is vital for a documentary, especially in the interviews. This is due to the viewer, as they are the ones watching the whole thing, therefore they cannot get bored. With their eye constantly moving to see different people in different positions e.g. close up, right looking left, left looking right etc.. This can help to keep the viewer entertained whilst watching.

A-Roll FootageBackground Mise en Scene is usually organised to reflect the main topic of the interview. As seen below, there are Simpsons characters in the background of cardboard cut outs, as Matt Groening is the creator of The Simpsons He looks like he is literally within their family with the characters behind him.

A-Roll Footage

Using a blue screen or a method called chroma-key, relevant images are able to be placed in the scene along side/behind the subject. As seen above, although it is probably done with a cardboard cut out, the principle is the same if a physical image is unavailable.

A-Roll Footage

The names and a little background information of each subject is usually shown in a graphic which appears on screen, and almost always positioned at the bottom corner.

B-Roll Footage

Mainly used to supplement the main interview footage. It is then edited together between each interview, which sometimes can appear as a creative montage.

B-Roll Footage

Cutaway shots are used to describe and explain what the subject is talking about, it appears as the person is speaking.

Subject

Cutaway shot

B-Roll Footage

Establishing shots identify the setting/location of where people live or where the events are taking place. Above shows the setting of a busy environment in America.

B-Roll Footage

Archive footage is commonly used to illustrate historical facts or just to show the history of the subject, such as this old clip from The Simpsons.

B-Roll Footage

Still photographs can also be shown to illustrate what the person is talking about. The camera tends to pan and zoom in/out on the images to make them seem more lively and watchable.

B-Roll Footage

Vox Pops, the term used in documentary which basically means small parts of an interview shown of ordinary people. This is often filmed on a handheld camera.

B-Roll Footage

There is usually a presenter of the documentary who speaks to the camera, and/or does a voice-over narration. They deliver a carefully written script to the audience.

When the presenter/narrator speaks doing a voice-over, they use an authoritative voice.

B-Roll Footage

There may be a non-diegetic musical soundtrack to be used behind the voice-over, which also rises in volume when there is no speaking present.