There are five central elements to documentaries: observation, which places the audience as eyewitnesses; interviews with interviewees addressing the unseen interviewer; use of drama; careful composition of shots; and unfolding of the argument. Gatekeeping in documentaries involves the selection and rejection of information by producers. Narratives can also be categorized as open or closed based on unanswered questions, single or multi-stranded based on narrative threads, and linear, non-linear, or circular based on chronological order.

1. Emma Riddiough

2. John Carner – there are five central elements to documentaries which are:
 Observation:- the programme makers pretend that the camera is
unseen or ignored by the people taking part in the events; e.g. It
places the audience as an “eye witness” to the events
 The Interview:- TV documentaries rely on interviews. The interviewee
addresses the unseen interviewer instead of the audience. Interviews
are intercut with images of observation to illustrate what they are
talking about
 Dramastation:- All documentaries use a sense of drama throughout the
observation element
 Mis-en-scene:- documentary makers carefully compose shots so that
they contain images they want the audience to see
 Explosion:- The line of argument, and the way the argument “unfolds”

3.  Gatekeeping is about the selection and rejection of information
Gatekeeper = producers
Selected Information
Rejected
Information

4. Open vs. Closed
 Open – where there are questions left unanswered (soap opera)
 Closed – where no questions are left unanswered (finding nemo)
Single Strand vs. Multi-Strand
 Single Strands – there is only one narrative thread (finding nemo)
 Multi-Strands – more than one thread, and sometimes they do
converge but not always (soap opera)
Linear vs. Non-Linear
 Linear – chronological order; e.g. Order of time – adverts
 Non-Linear – doesn’t follow chronological order; e.g. Flash forward/
backward; e.g. The time travellers wife
 Circular – at the end of the narrative has gone full circle; e.g.
Dead of Night