Documentary

To document something that has happened in the past or in the present.

·         Showing actual footage or reconstruction

·         Narrators/voiceover/participants anchor meaning

Features:

·         Observation: Sequences where the makes of the programme pretend/act like the camera isn’t there or ignore it.

·         Interview: most important part, interview a cast member about the documentary subject.

·         Dramatisation: giving a sense of actual drama that is happening on scene.

·         Mise-en-scene: everything in the shot – carefully constructed in a documentary.

·         Exposition: line of argument in the documentary – why the documentary is taking place, what they are taking about.

Types of documentaries:

·         Fully narrated/Expository: an off screen voiceover, makes sense of the footage, tells the audience the meaning of the images.

·         Fly on the wall/Observational: the camera is there but unseen/ignored – simply records real-time events, allows viewers to come up with their own conclusion.

·         Mixed: uses combination of features, advancing the argument (narrator can usually be seen in front of the camera)

·         Self-Reflective: subject of documentary talks to camera.

·         Docudrama: re-enactment of the event as though its happened/happening – fictional story: uses techniques of documentary to enforce realisation.

·         Docusoap: programme follows the lives of individuals – audience get to know the characters.

·         Gate Keeper: selection and rejection of information by the editors.

Documentaries may contain:.

·         Interviews: mise-en-scene effects the meaning – person may be asked emotional questions in the interview.

·         Voxpops: being asked the same question – answers strung together in a fast sequence, used to show general agreement of diversity of opinions.

Narratives:

·         Open: where no answers have been given – no conclusion – the audience are left to make up their own minds.

·         Closed: definite outcome/ending – a conclusion is already made.

·         Single-stranded: one theme throughout the whole documentary.

·         Non-linear: no chronological order of information is given out (flashbacks)

·         Linear: documentary told in chronological order with a beginning, middle and end.

·         Circle: question is asked at the beginning – then revised/revisited at the end.

3 types of documentaries: 

·         Compilation Film: made up of archive images.

·         Interview or talking heads: people talking to the camera about the subject.

·         Direct camera: recording the event as it is happening.

Documentaries have:

·         Narration: understand the plot of the documentary (voice of god/voiceover) often uses a familure voiceover – audience gain more trust in what’s being said.

·         Lighting: generally natural – just use the light that’s available.

·         Camera Work: most commonly used – handheld – operator doesn’t want smooth movement – creates intimacy between the films.

·         Editing: vital – rely heavily on editing – fade out/fade in, dissolve, wipe, super imposition. Select order and place images into sequence. Interpreting an event.

·         Sound: diegetic: the sound which is actually heard in the atmosphere. Non-diegetic sound: sound put in during the editing. Rely heavily on non-diegetic sound – the audience respond in a certain way.

Documentaries are there to inform the public and express an opinion – illustration of the truth in an understandable way.

Current affairs:

·         Mid-way between documentaries and the news – addressing news and politics

·         Journalist led programmes – emphasis

·         Looking at political scandals

·         Based around a journalist report – arguing a case or proving it wrong

·         Reporter may be in front of the screen or may have a voice over

Examples:

·         BBC 2 News Night

·         C4 Dispatchers

·         Tonight with Trevor MacDonald

Reality TV – police camera action, a mixture of raw authentic material with a seriousness of an information programme – camcorders, surveillance, and observation – used to be based around emergency programmes, now based on ordinary people as audiences find it more appealing.