Documentaries notes
- 1. Documentaries The purpose of a documentary is to document i.e. To report with evidence something that has actually happened. It can show this by using ACTUALITY FOOTAGE or reconstructions
- 2. Types Of Documentaries •Fully Narrated – an off screen voiceover is used to make sense of the visuals and dominates their meaning. •Fly on the wall – cinema verite – real life snapshot of behaviour – the camera records subjects without interference and the viewers come you their own conclusion. •Mixed documentary – uses a combination of interview, observation, narration and archive material. E.g. 911 documentaries. •Self-reflexive – when the subjects of the doc acknowledges the presence of the camera and often speaks directly to the documentary maker. •Drama documentary – a re-enactment of events as they are supposed to have happened. •Docusoap – combines elements of the doc and soap opera genres e.g. Airline, the cruise, driving school, the hotel. Revolves around the same ‘characters’ in each episode.
- 3. Features Of A Documentary •Observation – the ‘unseen’ observation places the audience in the roll of the eye witness to the realities portrayed. The subjects do not acknowledge the camera. •Interview – TV docs rely on interviews. The speaker does not acknowledge the camera i.e. They act on the interviewer not the audience. •Dramatisation – all docs use a sense on drama throughout the observations element. They seem to occur naturally in front of the camera. •Mise-en-scene – doc makers carefully compose docs so they contain images they want the audience to see. •Exposition – the lines of argument in a documentary. The expostions is what the doc is saying.
- 4. Types Of Narrative Structure Open VS. Closed •Loose ends that need tying up, unanswered questions e.g. Soap opera •No loose ends or unanswered questions Linear VS. Non-Linear •Follows chronological order, follows time order •Doesn’t follow chronological order e.g. use of flashbacks or flash forwards Single Strand VS. Multi-Strand •One narrative thread •More than one narrative thread. These often converges or overlap