A documentary aims to document, investigate, inform, educate and entertain in a truthful and factual manner without fiction. John Grierson is considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film, producing documentaries in the 1930s for cinema audiences before television. Key features of documentaries include observation through interviews or reenacting events, with narration to provide background information and context. There are different types of documentaries such as fully narrated, fly on the wall with no narration, mixed with some interviews and narration, self-reflexive where the narrator contributes most, docudramas which reconstruct real stories, and docusoaps which follow an individual's daily life.

1. Genre analysis of
documentaries

2. Introduction to
documentaries..
• The purpose of a documentary is to document.
To investigate.
To inform,
educate and
entertain.
A Documentary’s
Purpose
To be truthful
and factual.
To explore the
different types and
styles of
documentaries.
To state fact
not fiction.
To make an
argument or a point.
To document a specific subject.

3. History..
• John Grierson was a pioneering Scottish
documentary maker, often considered the father
of British and Canadian documentary film. In the
1930s he had a film group called General Post
Office who made documentaries. Documentaries
were produced for a cinema audience as TV had
not yet been developed.
“In documentary we deal with the actual,
and in one sense with the real. But the
really real, if I may use that phrase, is
something deeper than that. The only
reality which counts in the end is the
interpretation which is profound” – John
Grierson.

4. Features of a
documentary..
• Observation : The action or process of closely observing or
monitoring something or someone.
• Interview : An interview is a conversation between two or more
people where questions are asked by the interviewer to elicit facts or
statements from the interviewee.
• Dramatisation : The reconstruction of an event, novel, story in a form
suitable for dramatic presentation.
• Mise en scene : An expression used to describe the design aspects
of a theatre or film production, which essentially means visual theme
or telling a story.
• Exposition : The exposition is the portion of a story that introduces
important background information to the audience; for example,
information about the setting, events occurring before the main plot,
characters' back stories, etc.

5. Different types of
documentary..

6. Fully narrated
documentary..
• A fully narrated documentary is a documentary
narrated throughout which directly addresses the
audience.

7. Fly on the wall
documentary..
• A fly on the wall documentary is a documentary based
on observation with no narration or interviews.

8. Mixed documentary..
• A mixed documentary is a combination of interviews,
observation and narration.

9. Self reflexive
documentary..
• A self reflexive documentary is where the narrator of
the documentary contributes the most input.

10. Docudrama
documentary..
• A docudrama documentary is a documentary consisting
mostly of reconstructions of real life stories and
events.

11. Docusoap
documentary..
• A docusoap documentary is a documentary that
follows the daily life of a particular individual.