The 6 Types of
Documentaries

Poetic
Documentaries
• Poetic documentaries started in the the1920s and they are basically
what they sound like. This type of documentary focuses on
experiences, and images as well as showing different points of view
of what the world looks like in different eyes. In form and content,
you can make this sub-genre very unconventional and experimental.
The main goal when creating a poetic documentary is to create
feeling instead of truth.
• Poetic documentaries offer an important lesson by experimenting
with all of the elements of creating a documentary by using creative
compositions such as difficult juxtapositions and different ways of
storytelling. A great example of this is Terrence Malick’s Voyage of
Time. This includes a variety of ambiguous, poetic, abstract imagery.
• If you want to move away from the reality of a situation, people or
inner truth, the poetic mode is the best way to go. This shows the
audience an abstract, subjective, representation of reality which you
can achieve through extra visuals and a narrative that is created to fit
the mood of the documentary instead of making more logical and
linear.
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Expository Documentaries
• A lot of people consider expository documentaries a ‘proper documentary’.
This form of documentary is there to inform and/or persuade their audience
and it includes the ‘Voice of God’ narration which is in contrast to poetic. The
elements of this documentary include interviews, illustrative visuals, some
reality and some graphics and photos. Having a scripted narration helps to
connect all the elements as well as unpacking a theory or an argument.
• Straightforward expository style is the best way to share information or a
message for those who are wanting a more direct form of storytelling.
Because the audience isn’t encouraged to interrogate the given images and
narrative on their own, it can be argued that a preferred meaning is
constructed. Even though some people that this theoretically misrepresented
reality, the intention of this form of documentary is to educate their audience
which shows that research had been taken to present a specific view.
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Participatory Documentary
• In a participatory documentary, there is a relationship
between the film-maker and the subjects they’re talking
about which is clear to the audience. Asking questions
and sharing their opinions, the film-maker can be seen
on the screen quite frequently. This form of
documentary started in the 1960s and increased in
popularity in the 1980s and still is to this day. Nick
Broomfield and Michael Moore often starred in their
own films with the leading role which had significant
financial and critical success.
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Observational Documentaries
• This form of documentary started in the 1960s.
To shoot in low light, they use smaller cameras
and faster lenses and attempt to document
their subject with as little intrusion and
intervention as possible. To shoot in low light,
they use smaller cameras and faster lenses
and attempt to document their subject with
intrusion and interventions little as possible.
This is the most popular form of documentary
to be analysed and it is most commonly
referred to as cinema verite, direct cinema or
‘fly-on-the-wall’. A grumpy man known as
Frederick Wiseman worked on the background
from the 60s and created a documentary
called High School.
• When the audience watches an observational
documentary, they can come to their own
conclusions so they are not manipulated by
visuals or voiceovers. They are able to create
their own conclusions because the images
they use are simple observations. A lot of
people agree that this form of documentary
shows a more accurate representation of
reality.
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Reflexive
• Reflexive documentaries have evolved since
the 1980s. As Bill Nichols wrote, this was to
provoke audiences to question the authenticity
of documentaries in general. However, it had
challenged assumptions and expectations
about how it is formed. They focused on how
and why the process of making films is
constructed in certain ways. In the 1992 Aileen
Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer, Nick
Broomfield focuses on getting an interview with
Wuornos. Louis Theroux explored the process
of how to get access to celebrities in a reflexive
documentary.
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Performative
Performative documentaries are more personal and
focused on the subject ideas and they are of importance
to the filmmaker or the subject. This is the opposite of the
objective documentary. A performative documentary
shows more of a larger social, political or historical reality
but through what they have experienced. The filmmaker
becomes a personal guide in their own documentary and
it shows more of a raw emotion.
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