A documentary is a film/television programme that provides a report on a particular subject. A documentary film is a non-fictional motion picture intended to record some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education, or maintaining a historical record. These films were initially shot on film stock (the only medium available) but now include video and digital productions that can be either direct-to-video, made into a TV show, or released for screening in cinemas.
Early films before the 1900s was mainly dominated by the novelty of showing an event. They were mostly single shot movements captured on very early filming cameras. The original term for documentary films was 'actuality films' and the term documentary would come until the 1920s. An early type of documentary film that is our idea of a documentary can link to is called, “Berlin, Symphony of a great city.” The documentary explores the difference of wealth in Berlin and the director, Walter Ruttmann says Documentaries are like a “ Visual Poem”. Most of the documentaries created in the 1960s-1970s were mainly to do with what was happening at the time for example many political documentaries were being made. For example, Chile: A Special Report, was the first public look at the 1973 overthrow of Salvador Allende government. So, documentaries show people what is happening all over the world from different perspectives. This is what we want to achieve with our chosen topic we intend to research.
Types of documentary
Bill Nichols is an American film critic and theoretician. He suggested film documentaries could be split into 6 different types separated by certain codes and conventions. The 6 different types of documentaries are as followed; poetic, expository, observational, participatory, reflexive and performative.
Poetic documentaries can be dated back to the 1920's. A poetic documentary focuses on social aspect and tends towards subjective interpretations rather than factual of the subject. Therefore this type of documentaries focuses on the opinions of others rather than factual figures. Poetic documentaries are abstract representations of reality achieved through emphasized visuals and they do not follow a linear, logical fashion. An early example of a poetic documentary is Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympia (1938).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt51j9bmZAU
The expository documentary first appeared in the 1920's. An expository documentary focuses and explores factual information with figures and interviews to back up an idea. These documentaries speak directly to the viewer which is often described as 'the voice of God' as it is an authoritative commentary using voice-overs and titles to portray a point of view. They follow a linear, logical fashion. These documentaries are rhetorical and try to persuade the viewer. An example of this type of documentary is Banking on Bitcoin which I've analysed in further detail on a different blog post.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmxqlSevtkQ
The first observational documentaries date back to 1960's. An observational documentary attempts to observe life with minimal intervention. The technological advancements of cameras making them lightweight and portable allowed filmmakers to film this new type of documentary. The less intrusive camera equipment also means that the subjects are able to carry on with their normal everyday life, therefore observational documentaries can portray an accurate representation of reality. Pure observational documentaries have no music, no interviews and no voice-overs. A modern example of this type of documentary is channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HJXaLSNrZU
A participatory documentary is where there is interaction between the filmmaker and the topic of the film. It allows the filmmaker to formally address people who appear in the film, rather than through commentary. An example of a participatory documentary is Living with Michael Jackson. This documentary explores Jackson's life through the eyes of Martin Bashir where he interviews him over 8 month period. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e1pdtRY0P0
A reflexive documentary is based on real life moments and is a more opinionated documentary rather than factual. In a reflexive documentary the viewer's are made aware of how the documentary was constructed as well as being presented with the facts. An example of a reflexive documentary is Louis Theroux: Behind Bars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNkrg6s-ZHU
A performative documentary is based on emotion and the filmmaker/crew interacts with the subject; it is often confused with a participatory documentary. They acknowledge the emotional and subjective parts of the documentary and provokes the audience to question the authenticity of the documentary because the filmmaker tends to be passionately involved with the subject. An example of this type of documentary is Super Size Me. This documentary is all about fast food and its effects on people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgcc_ZZnAgM
Codes & Conventions
Camerawork
Establishing shots and close ups are used frequently in documentaries. In addition handheld camera shots are commonly used in documentaries as it gives a sense of realism and truth. This paves way for the use of tripods and dollies.
Audio
The voice-over is a common convention of a documentary. The voice-over is played and accompanied by a range of linked shots. The voice-over will usually be authoritative, encouraging viewers to think that they have specialist knowledge on the subject. Furthermore, voice-overs act like commentary or a narrator telling a story.
Editing
A hook is used by many filmmakers in documentaries. A hook is where the filmmaker gets an interesting topic and puts it at the start of the film; this attracts the viewers and makes them want to carry on watching the documentary, towards the end of the documentary, the interesting topic is brought up. Archived footage is added to the film post production and is used in documentaries to give historical knowledge of the given subject which makes it easier for the viewer to understand the context of the documentary. The use of text allows viewers to quickly understand the information being given to them. They can be used to label interviewee's name and occupation. By labeling the person being interviewed, this verifies the information and tells the audience they're being given truthful facts/information.
Lighting
The source of lighting in documentaries usually originate naturally from the environment being filmed. Opposed to a feature film maker that may use artificial light to manipulate the image that the audience is presented with, the documentary film-maker will use what light is actually available, or necessary.
General
Actual footage is often seen in documentaries and is a recording of an actual event which uses real people, not actors. Interviews are used nearly all the time and allows the people being filmed to speak about the events prompted by the questions being asked. Interviews with experts can be used to help put forward an argument to the viewers. Voxpops are interviews with the general public and are used in many documentaries to gain opinion on a matter.
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