Genre analysis of

documentaries

Introduction to documentaries..

• The purpose of a documentary is to document.

To investigate.

To inform, educate and entertain.

A Documentary’s Purpose

To be truthful and factual.

To explore the different types and styles of documentaries.

To state fact not fiction.

To make an argument or a

point.

To document a specific subject.

History..

• John Grierson was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In the 1930s he had a film group called General Post Office who made documentaries. Documentaries were produced for a cinema audience as TV had not yet been developed.

“In documentary we deal with the actual, and in one sense with the real. But the really real, if I may use that phrase, is something deeper than that. The only reality which counts in the end is the interpretation which is profound” – John Grierson.

Features of a documentary..

• Observation : The action or process of closely observing or monitoring something or someone.

• Interview : An interview is a conversation between two or more people where questions are asked by the interviewer to elicit facts or statements from the interviewee.

• Dramatisation : The reconstruction of an event, novel, story in a form suitable for dramatic presentation.

• Mise en scene : An expression used to describe the design aspects of a theatre or film production, which essentially means visual theme or telling a story.

• Exposition : The exposition is the portion of a story that introduces important background information to the audience; for example, information about the setting, events occurring before the main plot, characters' back stories, etc.

Different types of documentary..

Fly on the wall documentary..

• Fly on the wall documentaries use cinema verite which captures what seems like a natural setting to the audience however editing, camerawork and the way the setting is arranged all affect what it is the audience is shown.

• A fly on the wall documentary is mainly observational and there is little commentary or narration.

• This type of documentary is filmed as and when it happens and is not staged; this helps to give chilling experiences for certain topics as it is showing you what has actually happened.

• Examples of fly on the wall documentaries are The Family, Big Brother and Educating Essex.

Fully narrated documentary..

• A fully narrated documentary has a voice over the documentary to help the audience gain a better understanding of what is going on.

• Fully narrated documentaries often us direct address and the voice over goes along with the visuals that the audience is seeing; meaning that everything is based around the visuals.

• Fully narrated documentaries use the voice of 'God' and so people take what they hear as the truth.

• Examples of fully narrated documentaries are The Living Planet and Human Planet.

Mixed documentary..

• A mixed documentary uses a combination of interviews, observation and narration to help to advance the argument the creator is trying to put forward.

• Within a mixed documentary as the journalist is speaking pictures continue over it.

• A strength of mixed documentaries it that it is representing an objective reality and not just a selective construction.

• Examples of mixed documentaries are The Devil Made Me Do It, Music Biz and Living With Michael Jackson.

Self reflexive documentary..

• Within a self reflexive documentary the documentary maker talks to the camera to try to draw the attention of the audience.

• Self reflexive documentaries have been criticised as being confusing to an audience as they can be said to be drawing attention to themselves for publicity.

• They have also been criticised for the documentary being about them and not the subject or the content that they are supposed to be talking about.

• Examples of self reflexive documentaries are The Secret Millionaire, Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant, Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents and Ross Kemp on Gangs.

Docudrama documentary..

• A Docu-drama is a re-enactment of real life events as they happened for example the Hillsborough disaster. • However although Docudrama's claim to relive the truth critics claim that they can only ever hope to

deliver fiction because they cannot really know what went on or how people acted or felt. • Docudrama's are also criticised for being misleading and dangerous as people believe them as they claim

to be real.• Examples of Docudrama documentaries are Crime Watch and Paranormal Witness.

Docusoap documentary..

• Docu-soaps originated in the UK and within a Docu-soap it follows a group of people around.

• There is a lot of dispute over whether a docu-soap is actually a documentary or not.

• However, documentaries are based on eavesdropping but are extremely popular both with the audience and documentary makers as they require no cast, very little crew and are cheap to make.

• Examples of docusoap documentaries are One Born Every Minute, Teen Mom, My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, The Family and 16 and Pregnant.