1. DOCUMENTARY CONVENTIONS
Eliana Hajicosta

2. Documentary Theorists
 John Grierson is a Scottish documentary maker. He quoted that: “documentaries
are the creative treatment of actuality” and they are portrayed as: “the real”. His
theory relates to how audiences are manipulated to agree/disagree with a certain
view point of which the documentary is trying to put across.
John Grierson Bill Nichols
 Bill Nichols is an American film critic. He developed the “6 documentary modes”. He is
also known for his pioneering work and study to the documentary film.
 “Every documentary is a film” – Bill Nichols

3. The Six Modes of Documentary
 The Poetic Mode
 Expository Mode
 Observational Mode
 Participatory (interactive) Mode
 Reflexive Mode
 Performative Mode

4. Our Documentary Mode
 The ‘PARTICIPATORY’ mode conventions are the ones that are
mostly used in our documentary. These are:
 Crew/documentary makers present in the film
 Non-diegetic voiceover – documentary makers voices
 A range of interviews shown in the documentary
 Use of archive material – taken from YouTube and other sites (images and
video footage)
 Location shooting with handheld cameras
 A range of editing techniques, shots, long takes and cuts
 Synchronous sound both non-diegetic and diegetic

5. Archive Footage/Images
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfJqg15oRTo&feature=r
elated - MANCHESTER RIOT SHOCKING FOOTAGE
YOUTH SETS FIRE TO MISS SELFRIDGE STORE CAUGHT
ON
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to80sWGiofM&feature=
related - Manchester looters caught on camera
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXegiHGPqf4&feature=
relmfu - 'We will be coming for you' warn Manchester
Police
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VebdFIAVT_4&feature=
relmfu - PM: 'We will end UK riots by any means necessary'
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hIcvga-bZY Riot
Night - England Riots 2011 Documentary
•http://www.youtube.com/user/Cartier?v=nNhArtcwVkk&
feature=pyv&ad=15812695308&kw=songs – music for
opening scene
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qEjDjtujaQ -
opening scene ideas
We will be using some archive material in our documentary, as
it is a typical documentary convention to create a sense of
realism and get a certain point of view across.

6. Interviews
This is an interview which I filmed when I was in Manchester City Centre. The interview is shot outside Miss Selfridge, the
shop that was set on fire during the riots. In the medium shot it is clear that this happened due to the shop still being
bordered. The interview gets a certain point across and is a technique used to manipulate the audience to have a view
point.

7. Location Shooting - Manchester
These images which are shots from our documentary, establish the
location (Manchester) and it’s main attractions. Location shooting
is essential in documentary making, as it informs the viewers that
we’re focusing on the riots specifically in Manchester.
The frequent medium long shots used to show these attractions,
show the conditions of Manchester well and also dominates the
frame which portrays the size of the city.