Exploring the different narrative structures within documentaries

1. By Olivia Thorpe

2.  Narrative is the way in which a story is told. Different
narrative types can portray stories very differently. In
media, narrative is the way in which different elements
make a form of media which is meaningful. Within a
documentary there are seven different types of narrative
structure which can be used and all determine the
complexity and nature of the documentary depending on
the topic. The seven narrative structures that are used
within documentaries and which I will be explaining are:
closed, open, linear, non linear, single strand, multi strand
and circular structures.

3.  Closed narrative structure is where the documentary leaves no loose ends
having a clear conclusion answering all questions that the audiences could
have asked. Throughout the documentary, the filmmaker has usually used
different codes and conventions in order to make you side with there opinion
on the topic of the documentary and therefore concludes nicely with the you
thinking that they are right and the documentary is a great success. This is
used within many documentaries as the filmmaker usually sets the topic with
something with they either want to prove or disprove certain attitudes to the
viewers, leaving them with the same mind set as them.
Within my own documentary, I believe that this will be possible and that I
shall use this narrative structure. Given the nature of my topic, I believe that
we will use different interviews, back ground music, statics and other
conventions in order to leave a closed narrative structure as I believe this will
leave the audience feeling content and that they have clearly learnt something
from the documentary.

4.  Open narrative structure in documentary's is when it ends with the viewers having
unanswered questions and all ends being loose. This is because none of the
questions or concerns in the documentary have been answered which therefore
leaved the audience to wonder and not having a clear conclusion. This may be used
with documentaries which have a sensitive topic, such as Benefit Street. This is
because they cannot say to the public that all people on benefits are the bad people
which they are portraying them to me, however they can imply that by the footage
that they are presenting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLL7ek_sQrU
Most open narrative documentaries have a sensitive topic and due to this cannot
conclude as it would be so controversial to do so. It is very common without
consierpacy documentaries, as they bring up several ideas about what could have
happened knowing that their own personal opinion wont justify it whereas in open
narrative it is a much more straight forward topic which is easier to get peoples
attitudes to change.
In my documentary I don’t think that I will choose this approach as it can end up
upsetting some viewers depending on the nature of the topic if say for example I did
my documentary on the fact that many more teenagers are becoming pregnant as
teenagers with babies have the right to feel insulted whilst watching this.

5.  A linear narrative structure within a documentary is where the documentary follows
the key event or events in which is relevant to the topic with stages in chronological
order. Often using flash backs, or flash forwards it allows the documentary to be told
in a way which we fully understand and can make sense of. This is used when
documentaries are based upon something which did happen as they event has to be
something where the information given are actual and not twisted in any way for the
filmmakers argument. They are usually on key events within history. It is a good way
to give viewers the information as it shows them in a clear order which is easy to
follow and link together.
An example of this is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBbVCfJfQQY because it
follows all the events which happened on 9/11 in a format which is easy to follow
presenting the truth to the viewers.
In my documentary I don’t think that I will do this throughout the whole clip because
my topic will not be something so serious and instead of being factual it will be more
about opinions and challenging opinions which therefore there are no facts which
need to be followed. If for example I chose to do a reconstruction of something within
my documentary I may follow this narrative structure as I want to show what
happened in the stages of which it did happen proving that my portrayal of it is
correct.

6.  This narrative structure means that there is no logical order to the footage which is
being shown in the documentary. This can be used within media to show how the
human brain remembers things and as if we are entering somebodies personal mind
of the events which happened. Within documentaries I believe that this narrative
structure is used as some people may want to show to the readers in orders which are
important rather that chronologically. Also, depending on the topic the order of the
footage may not have that much relevance and therefore the filmmaker believes this is
not as important.
By following this narrative structure it allows the filmmaker to put the footage in any
order and can therefore create a whole new transcript when editing the clips together.
For example, in the documentary educating Yorkshire it can make the school and
arguments and tension that go on within the school much more harsh as they can
edit different clips from different times together in order to make the documentary
more appealing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOefJTsBVHA
Within my own documentary I may use this as I am not following a timeline of events
and therefore don’t have to present my footage in a time line of events which is more
suitable to this narrative structure.

7.  Single strand narrative structure is here only one story is being followed within the
documentary. This means that all the footage and information is only relevant to topic
of the documentary. Also, this means that everything in the documentary is only for
the one topic, either supporting or going against that.
This is used a lot within documentaries as filmmakers tend to make documentaries
which they believe are important about and therefore focus it on that one topic. Also,
it can become confusing for viewers to engage as they may start to get confused and
not understand the real purpose of the documentary as their may be many. An
example is SuperSize me as the documentary is just following the man’s journey of
what he eats and the changes that it has on his body, no other topic is explored in
great detail within the whole documentary as it just stays focus to his diet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9__23-zjhM
I will use this in my documentary as I believe that it is important to make sure that
the purpose of my documentary is clear and with more than a single stand narrative I
believe I may go off task and therefore it may become unclear for the audience the
follow or understand. Also, it is more simple to base my documentary around one
topic.

8.  This narrative structure follows more than one narrative strand which is being
told within the documentary which sometimes overlap. In the documentary the
purpose includes more than one topic where usually the topics link together
and can be overlapped so they can have a similar purpose and outcome to the
documentary.
This is usually used within documentaries which have deeply interesting
topics which all closely link together. I believe that it is a good narrative
structure as it allows more aspects to be looked into and provides more
information for the viewers. However, it can be hard for them to follow and
understand and be confused as there are too many narrative strands to follow.
Within my own documentary I will not use a multi strand narrative structure.
This is because I believe that it will be hard to gather all the information and
footage for more than one narrative strand and also may become complicated
whilst filming and when the final documentary is realised as viewers may not
understand the purpose.

9.  This narrative structure is where a documentary starts and also ends on the
same point. Regardless of the content within the documentary the filmmaker
will end on the same point having proved their starting point. This is often
used within documentaries as the whole footage is then summing up their
opening point allowing the filmmaker the look knowledgeable from the
beginning. It is also used as it ends on a note where the viewers have got the
purpose of the documentary as the argument has already been answered
whilst they have been watching and that they now feel the same way that the
filmmaker does at the beginning.
I will use this within my own documentary as I want the viewers to feel the
same way that I do about the argument that I am making and I believe that
circular narrative structure is a good way to round up my point as it shows
that it has stayed consistent and I will provide evidence within my
documentary as to why I feel this way without being as biased as I can.

10.  I have learnt that there are seven different types of narrative structure that I could use
within my own documentary exploring what these narrative structures include and
their purpose within documentary film making. I have learnt that using different
narrative structure can make the outcome of the documentary different, for example if I
used a open narrative structure rather than closed this can leave the audience feeling
confused at the purpose in some cases you would want as it is up to them to see the
truth whereas in some cases you want to persuade people to feel the same way as the
filmmaker.
Within my own documentary I will aim to use a closed narrative structure. This is
because I want people to feel the same point that I do and understand the purpose as
to why I made the documentary as I believe the topic is an issue which needs to be
discussed. Also, I will use a non linear narrative structure as the footage sequences will
not be a major issue and key events will not have to be timeline as the information
being presented will all have been recorded at different times showing different
information and footage at different times as I believe this makes it easier to watch as it
is not as straight forward. I will also use a circular narrative structure as I want my
opening point to led with my end proving why I thought, and even after the argument
still feel the way that I do showing that I have passion for the topic.