2. There are multiple genres within documentaries, however I
have narrowed it down to some that are similar to how I plan
on creating my documentary
Participatory – This is where the filmmaker makes an active
appearance on screen, where they participate with the subject
matter
Interview – This is where a conversation or discussion takes
place between two or more people, additionally it typically
has the narrator asking a set of questions to multiple people
to find their view on the subject matter
Mixed – Where a documentary uses a combination of different
genres
Reflexive Mode – This is where the cinematographer will often
shoot behind the scene footage for example post production
DOCUMENTARY GENRES
3. Some examples of the participatory genre include documentaries
by Michael Moore, Louis Theroux and Nick Broomfield
Nick Broomfield has created 3 characteristics for this genre
1. The filmmaker is a character – they must be seen or heard at
some point which gives them as much importance as the main
subject
2. The Interviewers questions are included in the edit – some
documentaries edit out the questions however in this genre
they can be heard and this shows a ‘behind the scenes’ effect
and establishes a relationship between the interviewer and the
filmmaker
3. The viewer is aligned with the filmmaker – the viewer
experiences the documentary through the filmmakers point of
view which allows them to intuit how the filmmaker felt when
making a documentary and how they react to a certain
situation
PARTICIPATORY DOCUMENTARY
4. The main style of my documentary is interviews because I
want to find out more about decision making and why some
people are more indecisive than others and what makes them
that way.
When asking the questions to someone there are guide lines
for example try and avoid the yes ad no questions because if
you avoid them you can get a better quality answer out of
someone. Another tip is to remain flexible and don’t always
stick to the script because it is important to keep the subject
engaged and if you stick to the script it might get boring
For my documentary I want the set up to be quite simple and
possibly in black and white because I prefer working in that,
however I think lighting and color is important when doing a
documentary because it adds authenticity to it and makes it
seem real
INTERVIEW DOCUMENTARY
5. Another thing to note when doing an interview documentary is
the camera placement, the subject is typically facing the
interviewer so their eye line is off to the side of the lens,
There could be a mixture of close ups, medium shots or wide
shots where we see the subject in their environment.
Beware of the lighting for example will you be using natural
lighting or the three point set up, for me personally I like the
idea of using natural lighting because it makes the
documentary seem authentic and not set up, and as I am
interested in looking into a personal subject such as decision
making I think it is important to avoid it looking too ‘perfect’
INTERVIEW DOCUMENTARY
6. This style of documentary is similar to the Brechtian style of
theatre and they focus on the documentary itself, the
cinematographer often shoots behind the scenes for example
the editing, conducts interviews with some of the crew, and
post production
These types of documentaries often have a minimal crew and
they focus more on the filmmakers relationship with the
audience, I like this type of documentary because it makes
the footage seem personal rather than someone in front of
the camera acting you see what goes on behind the camera
Some examples of this style are: ‘Man with a movie camera
(1929)’ and ‘Louis Theroux’s weird weekends (1998)’
REFLEXIVE DOCUMENTARY
7. The subject surrounding my documentary is indecisiveness, I have
chosen this topic because I was struggling to find another topic to
do my documentary on as I was overthinking it and coming up with
topics that were too ‘complicated’ for a short documentary then I
started thinking about why I couldn’t make this decision and then I
thought this was a good topic to look more into and it gives me the
opportunity to make it personal and interview people
In terms of style I want to have a combination of styles for example
I plan to use the interview style because I want to make this a
personal documentary, additionally I want it to cut between an
interview then to me setting up the camera and the equipment.
Furthermore I want to have someone talking over the top of a clip,
but the clip doesn’t have to relate to the subject matter. However I
also want to explore why some people are more indecisive than
others but I don’t want the documentary to be too focused on facts
because if it is full of information the audience might not engage
with it, whereas if it is something simple like decisions then it can
be relatable to others
MY DOCUMENTARY
8. Living with Borderline Personality Disorder
EXAMPLES OF INTERVIEW
DOCUMENTARIES
A medium close up is used to establish a
‘relationship’ between the audience and the
person being interviewed, a medium close up
allows us to see someone’s body movements
and reactions which helps the audience feel
closer to the ‘character’ which cold make
them more relatable
As I stated in the research part of the
interview style the person is looking in the
direction of the camera, but not directly at it.
This seems to be a convention that shows up
in most interviews
From this screenshot I can imply
that they have used the three point
set up for lighting because the room
is dark but half of her face is in the
light, this could relate to what the
interview is about
9. LIVING WITH BORDERLINE PERSONALITY
DISORDER
The documentary then cuts to someone
talking over the top of what is being shown,
they show some statistics and some footage
of him driving. It then cuts back to the woman
talking about her experience and this is
similar to how I want my documentary to be
set out like
There is use of a shot reverse shot between
the interviewer and the interviewee to make
it appear as a conversation. This isn’t typically
a convention of the interview style however I
don’t know whether or not I would include
this in my project
The same shot is used to focus on the interviewer, however the
background is lit up instead of him so this could be intentional
and reflect how the documentary isn't about him or it could
just be accidental
10. JORDAN PETERSON – FULL INTERVIEW –
VPRO DOCUMENTARY 2019
In this documentary it focuses on Peterson for
the whole of it, which is different to the
previous documentary studied, however the
use of the medium close up and the eye line of
the interviewee remain the same. So this is
something that I am going to have to include in
my documentary because it seems to be
reoccurring
Further on in the documentary, the shots
change from medium close up to close up, and
this is something that I could use in my
documentary so it is more varied. Additionally
the use of shallow focus is present in this
documentary unlike the previous one studied
and this is something that I would want to use
in my project because it allows the audience to
focus on the person and what they have to say
11. VIRUS (2020) A COVID-19 SHORT
DOCUMENTARY
Even though this is a different style to how I
want my documentary to look, I think some
of the shots and the use of music is
inspiring and would help me gain more
knowledge about the way documentaries
are set out. I like this opening shot because
it uses a long shot to capture the current
state of Sydney, furthermore I like how the
title appears slowly and this is something
that I want to include in my project
In this documentary it consists of multiple
images and videos that have been put
together with a voice over the top. I like
this style of narration because it tells a
story and uses the footage to back it up
and makes the audience feel certain
emotions
12. VIRUS (2020) A COVID-19 SHORT
DOCUMENTARY
Throughout the documentary the
filmmaker has decided to insert
facts and statistics, accompanied
by emotional music and this is
used to get a reaction out of the
audience. However in my project
it isn't about getting a reaction
out of the audience however I like
the concept of having short facts
and statistics relating to the topic,
because this way you can inform
the audience but not overwhelm
them so they stay engaged
Overall I liked the contemporary style of
this short documentary and it was done
artistically additionally the colors and the
lighting worked really well together and it
corresponded to the message that the
documentary was giving across
13. THE SIMPLICITY OF HAPPINESS, A
DOCUMENTARY
I like the opening to this documentary,
because the title slowly appears whilst the
camera is panning down. Even though the
overall design is quite simple it is eye
catching. This documentary consists of
telling a story of one man’s search for
happiness and what he found to be the
answer
Straight away this caught my attention
because the use of different angles starting
with a medium close up to a close up,
additionally it cut to the man’s gestures
whilst he was telling his story. The
chiaroscuro lighting adds ambiguity to the
‘character’ because you can only see part of
his face
14. THE SIMPLICITY OF HAPPINESS, A
DOCUMENTARY
It then followed the man telling his story
and as he was the voice over talking there
was videos and images of relating to the
topic, something that stood out was a
video that showed people working and as
it panned across it has been edited to
move across the space and I like this
technique because it makes it appear as if
the audience is in that situation and it
makes it more relatable
The use of over the shoulder shots are used
multiple times throughout this
documentary, in particular through the
interview process, and then it quickly cuts to
a close up then cuts to a medium shot etc.
and I like this because it adds variation and
it helps keep the audience engaged
15. INVISIBLE – BRISTOL’S HOMELESSNESS
DOCUMENTARY
This documentary is slightly different from what I
am wanting my project to be, however I am
focusing on the interview techniques. When
interviewing a man named Troy the use of shallow
focus is used to have the audience focused on him
and this seems to be a reoccurring theme
In this section of the interview, it is
slightly different to how other
documentaries have been done, for
example it is further away than most
interviews and there is use of a deep
focus so everything is in focus which is
different to the interview with Troy,
however the interviewee still looks
slightly left or right of the lens and this
is the same as the interview with Troy
16. BRAVE ART – SHORT DOCUMENTARY
This documentary started showing the artist’s
work and multiple shots were used for example:
close ups, over the shoulder shot, medium shots.
I focused on the interview part of the
documentary because this is the part that is
most relevant to me. In this shot we can see the
interviewee is framed to the left however I like
the idea off having them on the right because it
feels like they are talking to the camera without
directly looking into it. Furthermore the use of
shallow focus seems to be used frequently
throughout the interviews I have studied so this
is something that I might incorporate into my
project if I don’t use a plain white background.
I believe the three point lighting
set up is used here because the
key light is to the left which
highlights the interviewee’s face
and then the fill light is used to
show the other side of the face
but not as much as the key light,
however I don’t know if a hair
light was used here to create an
outline
17. BRAVE ART – SHORT DOCUMENTARY
The next part of the interview the use of a
medium shot is now used and this could be
because the interviewee is using gestures to
describe her art work. I think this shot is used
natural lighting because her face isn't as lit up
as it was in the previous clip discussed
This documentary consists of a mixture of styles as it cuts
between interviewed footage and then different pictures
of paint, brushes the artist painting etc. and I like this idea
because it keeps the audience engaged rather than sat
watching an interview. This shot is a close up shot and this
is used to focus the audience’s attention onto the painter
and off screen audio is used of her talking about why she
likes art and what she enjoys about it and I think this is a
nice idea that I would like to incorporate into my project,
for example have off screen dialogue whilst following
someone walking
18. A PLACE LIKE THIS (DOCUMENTARY
SHORT FILM)
This documentary fades in a
landscape shot then it fades out to
black in which the title starts to
fade in. I quite like this idea about
the title fading in however I
wouldn’t have the image fade out I
would keep it
This picture then fades in with the
title still present then the title
begins to fade out, I think this is
something I would incorporate
into my design, and I like the idea
of it being a still image but then it
goes into him walking
19. A PLACE LIKE THIS (DOCUMENTARY
SHORT FILM)
Whilst interviewing this person, there is a change
in the shots, for example a close up is used when
he is talking about his wife, and his time during
WW2, then when he talks about moving house it
goes to a medium long shot and this could imply
that when the things he discusses is more
personal the closer the shot is so this gives the
audience an insight into his personal life. The
shallow focus technique was used again here and
this seems to be used in numerous interviews with
people.
20. The plan for this short documentary is to discuss decision making,
however I don’t want to over analyse it because it might be too
much information in a short time.
The definition of decision making is – ‘In psychology, decision
making is regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the
selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible
alternative options’ I like the idea of opening the documentary
with this however making it more simple, I then want to continue
on about indecisions.
Indecisions – ‘The inability to make a decision quickly’ I want to
briefly discuss the factors that lead to indecisiveness and then I
want to focus on the interviews.
When fear or anxiety crop up during your decision-making, the fear
is based either on your belief that you won't be able to handle the
outcome of your decision or on your doubts about whether you
have enough correct information to make the best decision.
CONTENT RESEARCH
21. When communication between two regions of the brain is interrupted, we
become more indecisive when faced with decisions of value and preference.
Some reasons people are more indecisive than others is because…
1. You’ve forgotten the larger goal - Before you figure out what choice you
want to make, decide what your longer-term goals are, and pick the choice
that fits them.
2. Guilt - You may actually know what you want to do, but you’re letting what
other people want influence you
3. Insecurity - You may know what you should do but second-guess yourself
because you’re not confident in your intelligence or intuition
4. Perfectionism - Many of us obsess over making the right choice because
the thought of making the wrong one is too painful for us
5. ‘Lack Mentality’ - In an abundance mentality, you do what you want in
each moment and trust that anything else you need in the future will be
there when you need it. In a lack mentality, you try to optimize every
decision.
6. Over Protective Parents - If your parents made most of your decisions for
you, you may have not had much practice making decisions
7. Fear of responsibility - Some people procrastinate or avoid decisions
because they don’t want to be held responsible if things go wrong
CONTENT RESEARCH
22. Kahneman is one of the worlds leading psychologists in
decision making, I came across a video on YouTube and its
called ‘The Art and Science of decision making’. Some of the
information discussed is interesting and I might continue to use
it in my script. He discusses how intuition and logic both play
apart in the decision making process however he also believes
that when it comes to making a decision you should delay the
intuition for as long as possible until you have all the
information.
DANIEL KAHNEMAN
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accessed 23/09/2020
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