features and types of documentaries

2. Every documentary must include 5 central
elements according to John Corner from the
University of Liverpool. The elements are:
 Observation
 Interview
 Dramatization
 Mise-en-scene
 Exposition

3. This allows the audience to be put in the
eyewitness position, this is where it appears
that the camera is unseen
It indirectly addresses the audience with
speech that can be overheard, a common
factor of this is en-scene observation

4. Television documentaries use interviews to
make a contrast between observation
sequences
They are structured in 2 different ways:
 Intercut fragments or observation
OR
 A completely uninterrupted sequence

5. Even though all documentaries use a sense of
drama, it can be used to portray people and
also events that the film maker cannot gain
access to in real life.
These sequences that are used are said to be
based on true events

6. This is the part where the directors and
producers decide what will be put into the
frame. Some examples include:
 Lighting
 Costume
 Make-up
 Props
 Scenery

7. This simply means the line of the argument in
the documentary which is what the
documentary ‘is saying’
These sequences lead to the audience being
able to create questions about what is
happening and make their own conclusions

8. There a 6 types of documentaries which are:
 Fully Narrated
 Fly on the Wall
 Mixed
 Self Reflexive
 Docu-Drama (possible addition of Docu-
Soaps)

9. Direct address documentaries use of the screen
voiceover to illustrate the exposition
The narrator seems authoritative about the
topic which allows them to make sense of
visuals

10. They rely almost totally on observation. The
cameras are left to record without
interference and the views come to their on
conclusions

11. This uses a combination of interview,
observation and narration to advance the
argument
The narrator is within the frame and this style
is most common in news reports

12. The subjects of a documentary acknowledge
the presence of the camera and speaks
directly to the film maker
This creates a point of drawing attention to the
film maker to create a view of reality

13. This shows re-enactments of events as they
are supposed to of happened with a fictional
narrative combined including elements of the
exposition.
However, critics claim that Docu-dramas will
only ever deliver fiction

14. A phenomenon of recent years which follow the
daily lives of particular people
Some may dispute whether these are real
documentaries in any sense