Tuesday, 12 July 2011

Types of Documentaries

Beginning: includes dramatic footage to get the audiences attention

Middle:
focuses on peoples opinions/examines issue of documentary; conflict shown in beginning may be strengthened

End:
exposition- the answer is there at the end and the audience has no doubt about the argument- may be an action that the audience can take
Types of Documentary
Fully Narrated- off screen voiceover that makes sense of the visuals (tells the audience the meaning of images), e.g. nature documentary

Fly on the Wall
- camera is unseen/ignored and captures things that would not be seen otherwise; unfolds real events and does not require voiceovers/narration

Mixed
- uses a combination of interviews, observation, etc. to advance the argument- narrator is often infront of the camera

Self-reflective
- when the subject of the documentary acknowledges the camera and speaks to it directly

Docudrama
- a reinactment of the events as though it has just happened/is happening; like a fictional story, using techniques of documentaries to reinforce realism

Docusoap
- the camera follows the lives of individuals so we get to know the characters

Features of Documentaries

Observation- watching someone, the camera is ignored/ people do not know they are being filmed.

Interview-
allow for opinions/ views to be voiced (documentaries rely on interviews)

Dramatisation
- show drama by observation/ re-construct scenes

Mise-en-scene
- everything in the shot, e.g. costumes, props

Exposition
- tells us exactly what is going on (argument/purpose of the documentary)

Documentaries may contain:
Visuals- e.g. archive footage- intended to suggest a meaning/emotion

Interviews
- mise-en-scene affects the meaning; can contain factual/more emotional questions (usually closer to the end)

Voxpops
- street interviews of the general public; asked the same question. Then all strung together in a fast sequence- can show general agreement/diversity of opinions

Documentary Narratives
Open- no answers have been given; there is no conclusion made so audience have to make up their own mind about what happened

Closed-
all answers are given and there is a definite output/ending
Single-strand- one story/plot/theme throughout the documentary

Non-linear
- the information is given in a way so time is disrupted and is not given in chronological order- contains flashbacks

Linear-
the information is given in chronological order (there is a beginning, a middle and an end)

Circular-
begins and ends in the same way (question is asked at the beginning and the end)

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