This document discusses different types of documentaries and how the genre has evolved. It defines documentaries as consisting of official documents or using real events and interviews to provide factual reports. There are six main documentary styles: observational, expository, participatory, reflexive, poetic, and performative. Modern documentaries have become more interactive, abstract in filming style, and hybridized. They appeal to wider audiences through techniques like non-diegetic sound and reenactments. Examples highlighted include experimental silent films from the 1920s and more recent films that expose controversial truths in unflinching ways.

1. WHAT IS
DOCUMENTARY?
BY TIAMANI

2. SO WHAT IS A
DOCUMENTARY?
Definition:
1. Consisting or based on official documents.
2. Using pictures or interviews with people involved in real
events to provide a factual report on a particular subject.
What I think a documentary is:
I think a documentary is something that uses a platform like film or
television to document the world, depicting things as they are in
their honest state and capturing realism, the constant evolving of
the human race and its inhabitants. I think that documentaries are
a way to manipulate minds in both good ways and bad, while also
exposing the hard truths about society and the world we live in.

3. DIFFERENT TYPES OF
DOCUMENTARIES
There are 6 different styles of documentary:
1. Observational Documentary – these documentaries attempt to
simply and spontaneously observe lived life with a minimum of
intervention.
2. Expository Documentary - these speak directly to the viewer, often
in the form of an authoritative commentary employing voiceover or
titles, proposing a strong argument and point of view.
3. Participatory Documentary – participatory documentaries believe it
is impossible for the act of filmmaking to not influence the events that
are being filmed. Instead they emulate the approach of the
anthropologist: participant-observation.

4. 4. Reflexive Documentary – these type of documentaries draw
attention to their own constructedness, they recognize that even
though they are documenting real events they are still making a
film.
5. Poetic Documentary – the poetic documentary first appeared in
the 1920s, The poetic mode moved away from continuity editing
and instead organized images of the material world by means of
associations and patterns.
6. Performative Documentary – lastly this type of documentary
focuses on subjective experience and emotional response to the
world.they can be experimental, personal and unconventional.

5. In present day we are witnessing a huge explosion in
documentaries especially documentary film, the developing
digital technology allows filmmakers to produce a
documentary with a team as little as 3 people and complete
the film in a much shorter time period than a fictional film
would take. Over the years documentaries have evolved
drastically, instead of a documentary being just solely
interviews, photographs and video footage there has now
been a development in the types of genres and hybrid genres
within the documentary category.
What are documentaries like
today?

6. I feel like in recent years documentaries have
become a lot more interactive and abstract in the
way it’s filmed. Many documentaries like ‘The
Imposter’ are abstractly filmed using non
diegetic sound, special effects and rein acted
scenes from the real events. I think that the more
abstractly filmed documentaries can appeal to a
wider range of audience, making documentaries
more visually attractive and interesting, as well
as still being informative.

7. Some of the most interesting documentaries:
1. The Man With a Movie Camera(1929)
This is an experimental silent
documentary film with no storyline and no
actors involved. It consists of shots of
citizens of the soviet cities Kiev, Kharkov,
Moscow and Odessa, it is a clear and
pure representation of real life.
2. The Act Of Killing(2012)
This is a documentary that focuses
on the hard truths of the Indonesian
Killings of 1965-66. Its about the
individuals who participated in the
Genocide.
A review taken from Rotten
Tomatoes reads, "Raw, terrifying,
and painfully difficult to watch,
The Act of Killing offers a
haunting testament to the
edifying, confrontational power of
documentary cinema."

8. More interesting Docs…
3. Going Clear: Scientology and The
Prison Of Belief (2015)
This documentary is about the secrets of
Scientology, it explores the religion and its
origins. This documentary predominantly
presents scientology in a negative light,
exposing truths about the religion and its
founder. This doc is a mixture of both the
conventional way to shoot a documentary
including interviews and video footage
however it still includes rein acted scenes
shot in an abstract way, using sound and
lighting to do this.
Some reviews read “This
documentary has opened up
the flood gates, so all of the
world can hear first- hand
from ex-members what this
cult is REALLY all about.” and
“Effective, Gripping
Interviews”