This document discusses the performative documentary genre. It provides examples of codes and conventions used in documentaries of this genre, such as using a voiceover to share opinions and investigative techniques to gather evidence to support a viewpoint. The document also examines Nick Broomfield's documentary about the murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls as a case study. Performative documentaries aim to change audience perspectives or highlight alternative angles on events.

1. CODES AND CONVENTIONS- PERFORMATIVE
DOCUMENTARY GENRE

2. PERFORMATIVE DOCUMENTARY GENRE
 Performative documentaries show an opinion upon a certain
issue or event; they may often reflect a slightly dif ferent take
on events to what is the common interpretation. They may
also use investigative journalism to explore the angle on the
story which they are arguing. The aim of this is to try and
change the audience’s opinion on a subject or to open their
mind up to a dif ferent angle on a story.

3. CASE STUDY
In 1997, rap superstars Tupac Shakur and
Christopher Wallace (aka Biggie Smalls, The
Notorious B.I.G.) were gunned down in
separate incidents, the apparent victims of
hip hop's infamous east-west rivalry. Nick
Broomfield's film introduces Russell Poole,
an ex-cop with damning evidence that
suggests the LAPD deliberately fumbled the
case to conceal connections between the
police, LA gangs and Death Row Records,
the label run by feared rap mogul Marion
"Suge" Knight.

4. CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF THE GENRE
USED IN THIS DOCUMENTARY (SOUND)
 Uses a voiceover frequently to add further information and
show the writers views on the footage which has been shown.
 Uses sound af fects relating to the subject e.g. use of police
sirens in the documentary when the subject of the murders is
talked about. This is used to reflect the seriousness of the
topic.
 Soundtracks relating to the documentary can also be used. In
this example Biggie and Tupac songs are featured, in order to
show their career and reflect their talent.
 Throughout the Biggie and Tupac documentary a large amount
of diegetic sound is present because a lot of the interviews
are done in public places, this reflects that the interviews are
not always agreed upon but are more out of the crew’s
persistence.

5. CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF THE GENRE
USED IN THIS DOCUMENTARY (VISUAL)
 The camera man of ten follows the on -screen presenter. This is used in the
documentar y I watched to show Nick tr ying to gain information from
inter viewees and following people to gain information. This shows the
presenter s enthusiasm for the subject as he is determined to investigate
the subject and find information .
 Investigative journalism is used to find evidence to back up the writer’s
opinion. The Biggie and Tupac documentar y almost acts as an investigation
into the murder s. Nick Broomfield inter views various people that suppor t
his opinion, has CCT V footage and has large amounts of back ground
footage relating to the case and the victims (Biggie and Tupac).

6. TARGET AUDIENCE OF THIS GENRE
 In terms of audience theory the performative documentary
genre most relates to surveillance. This is because it shows
opinions on issues and may particularly appeal to people who
are interested in dif ferent theories on events. In terms of the
Biggie and Tupac documentary it is something that may
appeal to more than just hip hop fans because it focuses on
dif ferent aspects such as crime, corruption etc.

7. HOW AFFECTIVE IS THIS DOCUMENTARY
GENRE?
 The performative documentary genre is af fective in reflecting
someone’s personal view on events and trying to convince the
audience of a dif ferent perspective. The fact that it collects
evidence for a particular opinion can be used to change the
opinion of the audience. Although this the case it may be hard
to do this in some cases and due to the fact that the
documentary often tries to portray a minority view it may be
hard to convince the majority of the prof fered reading.

8. IS IT A POPULARLY USED GENRE?
 Per formative documentaries aren’t a commonly used mode.
Although this is the case there are a few famous examples such as
‘Supersize me’, ‘Biggie and Tupac’, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ and
‘Fahrenheit 9/11’. The examples of ten include someone tr ying to
por tray their per sonal and minority view meaning it may be harder
to produce the documentar y and to gain suppor t for it. Many of the
documentaries are of ten low budget operations.

9. HOW ARE PERFORMATIVE
DOCUMENTARIES DIFFERENT?
 They tend to show an individuals view on a certain
event or topic. This view may not be one that is
widely believed or accepted.
 They use investigative journalism to gather
information and evidence.
 They are often low budget documentaries usually
involving a small production team.
 They use both an+ on screen presenter and a voice
over.