Conventional Documentaries

Conventional Documentaries

Conventional documentaries must include certain factors that conform to different documentary modes. When creating my own documentary I must consider what makes a good documentary and what can attract the right target audiences. A good documentary must tell a good story; taking the viewer along a path of facts with an interesting subject matter, they must convey a personal response usually put across by the voice over or presenter, it should contain some dramatic suspense to make the audience judge or anticipate. Finally a successful documentary should develop an audience’s knowledge while showing confrontation and opposing forces to reach a climax and finally be resolved.

Different modes of Documentaries

Expository:
The purpose is o inform and educate the audience about a subject. The material includes original and archive footage and the camera a crew members are invisible to the audience. The tight scrip is presented by a voice-over narration. An example of an expository documentary is Life shown on BBC1.

Observational:
This is a type of documentary where filmmakers record people in their natural environment with a minimum of fuss; this approach gains a larger degree of naturalness. For example, Underage and pregnant, shown on BBC three.

Fly-on-the-wall:
A Fly-on-the-wall documentary approaches the life of the subject and blends into the background of their daily business. The filming may continue for a long period of time in order to give the audience an unmediated access to the world. An example of this type of documentary is The Family shown on Channel 4.

Interactive/Reflective:
In this mode the filmmakers presence is fully acknowledged, even emphasised. The filmmaker is both the author and a character and will often appear in shots. The aim is to provoke reactions from subjects and audiences. One interactive/reflective is called Roger and Me.

Drama Documentary:
In the absence of archive material or access to witnesses, the filmmaker would stage dramatic reconstruction of events. For example, Hillsborough.

Mockumentary:
Fictional films which parody forms and conventions of documentary, often for humorous effect. An example of this mode is, The office, which parody’s life working in an office block with somewhat silly and stupid characters.

Personal:
These films are often shot on video and generally feature the filmmaker addressing the camera directly, sharing his or her views with the viewer.