Documentary Codes and Convetions

Documentary Modes

Exository
- Voice Over addresses the auidence directly: The voiceover may be a "voice of God" commentator (heard but not seen) or "voice of authority" (seen and heard usually an expert in the relavent field).
-Images are used to illustrate (or sometimes counterpoint) the voiceover;
-Editing is used for continuity to link together images which support the argument put forward in the voiceover;
-Attempts to persuade the audience of a particular point of view, often by appealing to logic and the idea of a common sense repsonse.

Observational
-Location shooting - Handheld cameras.
-Long takes dominate
-Synchronous (direct) sound recording
-No voiceover (in its purest form)
-No interviews
-Documentary makers prescene is hidden
-Subjects pretend they are not being filmed.

Participatory
-Documentary maker (and crew) interact with subject;
-Interviews dominate but tend to be formal - literally "on the run" questioning;
-Use of archive material - stills, news footage newspaper headlines, letters etc
-Location shooting - Handheld camera;
-Long takes dominate
-Synchronous sound recording
-Voiceover - usually by the documentary maker
-Documentary maker is visible to the audience and intervenes and participates in the action.

Reflective
-Borrows techniques from fiction or film for an emotinal, subjective response;
-Emphasises the expressive nature of the film, anti realist techniques e.g. re-enactments, expressive lighting and dramatic music;
-Voiceover (when present) is likely to be questioning and uncertain - rather than authoritative;
-Reliance on suggestion rather than fact.

Perfromative
-Documentary maker (and crew) interacts with subjects.
-Documentary maker comments on the process of making the documentary.
-The documentary is often shaped in to the narrative of an investigation or search -which their may be no satisfactory conclusion to.
-Addresses to the audience in an emotional and direct way.
Subject matter often to do with indentity (gender, sexuality) - rather than "factual" subjects.


Fly on the Wall
A extension of the observational mode, fly-on-the-wall approaches aim to blend into the background as the subjects go about their daily business. Filming might continue over a considerable period of time - six months say. In a sense the aim is to give the audience unmeditated access to the world.
Examples "The Family" and "The Model Agency"


Drama Documentary
In the absence of archive footage or access to witnesses, the filmmaker might stage dramatic reconstructions.


Mockumentary
Fictional films which parody the forms and conventions of  a documentary, often for humourous effect.

Investigation
Looks at topical issuses. May use hidden cameras and aims to expose or prove something at the end of the documentary.

Documentary Conventions

• Archival Footage and Photographs
• Voice Over/ Narration
• Reconstructions
• Confrontations
• Opposing Forces
• Conveys a personal response or critical perspective
• Dramatic Suspense
• Devolpment of audiences knoweledge