Task 2- What is a documentary?
1.What is a film/TV documentary?
A film documentary is an informative-based on fact- media product. Documentaries are used to educate the audience. They include a range of footage.The footage can be past or present for example there are many documentaries made of historic events e.g past wars. There are also documentaries made up of actuality footage of present events. These are very common on todays TV for example Teen Mom, One born every minute and Extraordinary People.
2. What is the purpose of a documentary?
The purpose of a documentary is to inform and entertain. Documentaries provide a particular view. Most documentaries are made for educational reasons in order to inform the audience of an event for example informing the audience of past events e.g WW11. Documentaries range their purposed depending on the target audience for example a nature documentary will be mainly facts and figures where as a television reality documentary like 'big fat gypsy weddings' are created mainly for entertainment reasons. Some documentaries are made to provoke emotional responses for example' 9/11' and '999 whats your emergency'.
3.What do you expect to see in a documentary?
The documentary contents will depend on the subject. Most interviews will contain: Footage of real life events, re-enactments, witness accounts, interviews, a presenter, images, specialists etc. All documentaries usually revolve around actuality footage with real life events being filmed whether it is a nature documentary, past events with clips of real footage (wars, titanic etc) or one born every minute.
4. Are there particular subjects that work well for documentaries?
Most popular subject areas for documentaries are: Nature, History, World events, catastrophes, and things interesting to the public e.g. Man V Food & extraordinary people. There are a wide range of documentaries on television in this day and age. The documentaries can range from historic events and catastrophes such as 9/11 to man V food. All documentaries are made for informing, educating and entertaining however some are more educational than others.
5.List some of the codes and conventions of making an interview:
- Voiceover- a voiceover helps the audience to understand but can be biased.
- Real footage of events- all events are meant to be seen as 'real' by the audience (not staged)
- Technicality of realism- Natural sound, lighting and settings (habitat etc)
- Archive footage- aids authenticity with further information which the filmmaker may be unable to obtain.
6-List the 5 'modes' of a documentary:
Expository-
Voiceover addresses to audience directly, the voiceover may be heard and not seen (voice of god) or a voice of authority where the voiceover is heard as well as being seen. Expository exposes the subject to the audience. For example a war or historical documentary where facts are exposed.
Observational-
This is in its purest form. It is filmed in a non staged manner. The subject being filmed often doesn't know it is being filmed. There are usually no interviews. For example a nature programme.
Participatory-
This is where the documentary maker/crew interacts with the subject often for entertainment reasons. There is usually a voiceover by the documentary maker themselves. It contains a lot of interviews, an example of this would be Louis Theroux 'Most hated family in America'.
Reflexive-
The purpose of reflexive is to provoke an emotional response from the audience. Often contain reenactments as it emphasises the expressive nature of the film in an anti realist way. Reflexive relies on suggestion rather than fact.
Performative-
Documentary maker interacts with subject. The documentaries are not usually factual and more to do with identity (gender and sexuality etc). The documentary addresses the audience in an emotional direct way.
Observational-
This is in its purest form. It is filmed in a non staged manner. The subject being filmed often doesn't know it is being filmed. There are usually no interviews. For example a nature programme.
Participatory-
This is where the documentary maker/crew interacts with the subject often for entertainment reasons. There is usually a voiceover by the documentary maker themselves. It contains a lot of interviews, an example of this would be Louis Theroux 'Most hated family in America'.
Reflexive-
The purpose of reflexive is to provoke an emotional response from the audience. Often contain reenactments as it emphasises the expressive nature of the film in an anti realist way. Reflexive relies on suggestion rather than fact.
Performative-
Documentary maker interacts with subject. The documentaries are not usually factual and more to do with identity (gender and sexuality etc). The documentary addresses the audience in an emotional direct way.
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