Features and Types of Documentaries

Joseph Toyer

Key Features and Conventions of a Documentary

• According to John Corner, there are 5 elements:1. Observation – most documentaries contain sequences of

observation of the matter documented.2. Interview – Television documentaries usually rely on

interviews in which opinions are brought in to challenge facts.

3. Dramatization – All documentaries make their audience witnesses to dramatic events.

4. Mise-en-scene – This refers to the things that are put into the shot, things the producers want the audience to see.

5. Exposition – This is what the documentary is saying, made up of descriptions that combine with commentary.

Fly on the Wall

• The camera is put in the corner of a location and hidden from the audience, to observe their unmediated nature. This means to show the true form of a subject without the effect of the media.

‘I’m a Celebrity : Get me out of Here’

(ITV1)

Celebrities volunteer to go into the jungle game of thrones to be crowned Monarchy of the Jungle. The cameras observe them in their social area with their natural responses to the

environment they are in.

Drama Documentary

• Alike dramatization, however the whole documentary is a fictional piece based on a true story or emphasises an educational matter to the audience.

‘An Adventure in Time and Space’

(BBC4)

To celebrate 50 years of the British Sci-Fi ‘Doctor Who’, the BBC

produced a dramatization of the story of William Hartnell’s life behind the scenes of his era and how those three years looked for Doctor Who.

Mockumentary

• These are also fictional films but instead of telling the actual story, they make a parody of the forms and conventions of a documentary for a humorous effect.

‘The Dictator’ (2012)

Classed as a mockumentary for being inspired by real dictators

such as Kim Jon-il and parodying their lifestyles and

religions.

Personal

• These are shot on video and feature the maker addressing the camera directly to share their views with the audience.

Michael MooreOscar Award

Winning Documentary

FilmMaker

He has made opinionated documentaries often on his views around the American

politics.

Fully Narrated

• The Narrator directly addresses to the audience and the narration makes sense of the visuals, dominating their meaning. This has lead to critics dubbing these as ‘The Voice of God Documentaries’.

‘Meerkat Manor’ (Channel5)

A narrator tells the stories of a group of Meerkats with live footage of

them. The stories told are merely describing what is shown in the footage as well as naming the

Meerkats for identification.

Mixed

• Unlike the fully narrated, these have more interviews and observation mixed with the narration.

‘Big Brother’ (Channel5)

Big Brother features fly on the wall for observation, interviews in the Diary Room and during evictions as well as narration.

Self Reflexive

• The subjects of the documentary acknowledge the presence of the camera and commonly speak to the film makers directly.

Louis TherouxBroadcaster

Louis owns the TV series ‘Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends’

and ‘When Louis Met…’ which feature documentaries

revolving around his life.

Investigative

• This documentary investigates into a matter trying to conclude to an answer, alike the type of documentary I would be making.

‘Panorama’ (BBC1)This documentary is the longest

running current affairs television series worldwide,

having ran since 1953.