The document discusses several key elements of documentary filmmaking including the use of a standard English narrator to drive the narrative, incorporating music or sound effects to provide emotion, and having interviews that follow rules like the rule of thirds. It also addresses different types of documentaries that can have open or closed narratives and linear vs non-linear structures. Proper use of mise-en-scene, shot selection, captions, subtitles and text are emphasized to effectively communicate information to viewers.

1. By Megan Fellowes

2.  Usually a narrator/presenter- a
voiceover in which the voice is
standard English and this drives
the narrative forward
 A song or a sound effect
underneath the footage- this
provides emotion and the SFX
anchors the meaning
 The music will always relate to
the main plot
 Asynchronous sound (dubbing)
this is gender specific to the
person who is being translated

3.  The mise en scene has to be appropriate to
the documentary
 This always reflects the theme of the
documentary, however there is always more
than one theme
 Repertoire of shots
 Medium close ups and close ups on interviews
 Direct address
 In the documentaries there are mostly
interviews which are static, in these the
interviewee will either be positioned to the
left or to the right looking to the opposite
side of the camera
 This is because of the RULE OF THIRDS- you
can split any screen into three and the eyes of
the interviewee will always be in the top third
section

4.  Captions under an interviewee which states
the name and the profession underneath
 There is text displayed throughout the
documentary which gives you information
about the unanswered questions that are
brought up in the documentary
 There are subtitles to make any speech that
is unclear, understandable to viewers
 The captions are plain and usually white

5. All documentaries of an identified type, these
being;
 Fully Narrated
 Fly on the wall
 Mixed
 Self Reflexive
 DocuDrama
 DocuSoap

6.  Open Narrative
 Closed Narrative
 Single-Strand
 Multi-Strand
 Circular
 Linear
 Non-Linear

7.  Exposition is the argument- it is the direction
the documentary is going
 Dramatisation is the reconstruction speculate
as to what has happened, this then creates a
dramatisation