TCJ Productions 

Conventions of a documentary 

 

What makes a documentary?

A documentary is a form of entertainment that enacts a story through sound and  image sequences, giving the illusion of continuious movement, documentaries provide a factual report on a particular subject through either a film, radio or television programme.

 

Sub Genres of a Documentary

• Historical - event centred

• Biographic and Autobiographic- person centred 

• Nature and Science- observation centred 

• Ethnographic- people centred 

Advocacy- issue centred 

 

The Non-documentary

• Mockumentary- is a film that mimics documentary style for comedic or satirical purposes.

• is a genre of film and television, a parody presented as a documentary recording real life.

Examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other sub-genres of a documentary

• Animated documentary- a genre of film which combines the genres of animation and documentary. This genre should not be confused with documentaries about movie and TV animation history that feature excerpts.

• Digital storytelling- refers to a short form of digital media production that allows everyday people to share aspects of their life story. "Media" may include the digital equivalent of film techniques (full-motion video with sound), animation, stills, audio only, or any of the other forms of non-physical media (material that exists only as electronic files as opposed to actual paintings or photographs on paper, sounds stored on tape or disc, movies stored on film) which individuals can use to tell a story or present an idea.

• Docudrama- is a genre of radio and television programming, feature film, and staged theatre, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. On stage, it is sometimes known as documentary theatre.

• Docufiction- is the cinematographic combination of documentary and fiction. It is a film genre which attempts to capture reality and which simultaneously introduces unreal elements or fictional situations innarrative in order to strengthen the representation of reality using some kind of artistic expression.

• Ethnofiction- a blend of documentary and fictional film in the area of visual anthropology. It is a film type in which, by means of fictional narrative or creative imagination, often improvising, the portrayed characters (natives) play their own roles as members of anethnic or social group.

• Ethnographic film-a non-fiction film, usually dealing with non-Western people, and often associated with anthropology.

• Mondo film- is an exploitation documentary film, sometimes resembling a pseudo-documentary and usually depicting sensational topics, scenes, or situations. Common traits of mondo films include an emphasis on taboo subjects (such as death and sex), portrayals of foreign cultures (which have drawn accusations of ethnocentrism or racism), and staged sequences presented as genuine documentary footage. Over time, the films placed increasing emphasis on footage of the dead and dying (both real and fake). The term shockumentary is also used to describe the genre.

• Pseudo-documentary-  a film or video production that takes the form or style of a documentary film but does not portray real events. Rather, scripted and fictional elements are used to tell the story. The pseudo-documentary, unlike the related mockumentary, is not always intended as satire or humor. It may use documentary camera techniques but with fabricated sets, actors, or situations, and it may use digital effects to alter the filmed scene or even create a wholly synthetic scene.

• Reality film-  describes a genre of films that have evolved from reality television, such as The Real Cancun, MTV's film version of The Real World, which was originally titled Spring Break: The Reality Movie.

• Semidocumentary-  a form of book, film, or television program presenting a fictional story that incorporates many factual details or actual events, or which is presented in a manner similar to a documentary.

• Travel documentary- a documentary film, television program or online series that describes travel in general ortourist attractions without recommending particular package deals or tour operators.

• Visual sociology-  an area of sociology concerned with the visual dimensions of social life. This subdiscipline is nurtured by the International Visual Sociology Association (IVSA), which holds annual conferences and publishes the journal, Visual studies.

 

Conventions of a Documentary 

• Actual footage- a recoording of an actual event which is documented with the real people involved and not actors. Example: The riots,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Vioceover- Unseen commentator who explains or tells a story during the documentary, as an audience we are encouraged to believe what they say and claim it as the  truth. 

• Narrativisation- to communicate events or experiences in narrative form, in order to gain a better understanding of them.

• Interview –This allows people being filmed to speak directly about events prompted by specific questions.

Interviews in a documentary give viewers a sense of realism.

Interviewees generally answer questions looking at the interviewer, this is done to gain emotion, it is proven that a person will give far more emotion looking into the eye of someone rather than a camera.

• Text – The insert of information, dates, time etc..

New programmes commonly use this to their advantage, it’s a quick way of conveying and reiterating information or can be used to give further information which may not have been previously presented.

• Sound – This is used to give off a certain effect, for example in ‘Supersize Me’ they use childish music to undermine and degrade McDonalds as a business.

• Dramatization – This is the reconstruction of an event played by actors which is used to give the audience a further insight into the real event which occurred. 

• Realism – Documentaries may achieve this through: archive footage, interviews, location shooting and following the action.

Signifiers of a documentary being real and live:

1. Uneven and wobbly hand-held camera work 

2. Unintended sound

Example: Japan’s Tsunami: Caught On Camera:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 Types of Documentary 

• Expository – Doesn't’t follow the strict conventions of most documentaries. Uses voiceovers and addresses the audience directly, may gather a variety of material to support argument.

• Observational – This type of documentary focuses on just using one camera, it observes the world. Location shooting, no interviews are used and rarely uses a voiceover

• Participatory - The documentary maker is visible within the documentary, they normally also Participate as the voiceover.

• Reflexive - Bases on real life moments and objects, these types of documentaries are based more on Suggestions and opinions rather than facts.

• Performative – Based on emotion, the documentary maker/crew may interact with the subject.

• Poetic – Subjective representation of reality.

 

 

 

Purpose of this research

This research was very important as I would want my audience to be able to identify the genre I am trying to portray within my film especially as I will be crossing to genres within eachother.

My audience for the film i will be creating, will only be able to identify this through the conventions of both genres I will be including within the film.

By completeing this research it has helped me consider how I was going to communicate certain things and aspects with each genre to the audience so that they understand  and can identify the style and genres of my short film.