A Presentation that delves into conventions of two types of documentaries; 'fly on the wall' and 'throw yourself in' with examples from Educating Essex and Louis Theroux

1. Conventions of a Documentary
By Roy Evans

2. Educating Essex
Educating Essex, in my opinion, is the closest
relevant documentary to the documentary I
am planning to make. This is because the
focus of the documentary was on a school
and the documentary also seemed to follow
one person in particular due to his likeability factor. This man was the assistant
head of the school and is pictured above on the left, his name, Mr Drew.
Mr Drew’s likeability and fun factor made him the stand out teacher of the school
and as an audience, it felt as though the whole
documentary followed his actions around. This
is the type of documentary I am looking to
produce, following my head of sixth form
around, again he is a fun character alike the
main character of Educating Essex and also has
a senior role within the school, giving an insight
into a heads everyday life.

3. Conventions of Educating Essex
Main conventions of a documentary that
stand out in Educating Essex include the fact
that the camera’s all seem to be in positions
where the audience feels like ‘a fly on a wall’
and all the private interviews are done against
a similar recurring backdrop of lockers. The
private interviews are also done in a way that
the cameraman, the reply is sufficient enough for the audience to understand
what type of question the asked.
audience doesn’t hear was question being
asked by
The private interview is always linked
into footage that was just previously
seen or is about to be seen and in most
cases, the private interview carries on
as a voiceover whilst footage of the
subject being discussed is being seen by
the audience. These are the two
conventions I would like to carry on
into my documentary and editing.

4. Louis Theroux Documentaries
Louis Theroux’s documentaries on BBC Two are also a
new style of documentaries where Louis Theroux ‘throws’
himself in and act as a presenter. He has a single
cameraman that follows him into all predicaments whilst
he interviews people about the documentary subject. An
example of this would be Louis Theroux Behind Bars,
where Louis Theroux went into an American prison to
interview wardens and prisoners on their actions and
what being in prison was like.
Louis Theroux’s style of documentaries set a new standard for
the BBC and other documentary channels, this is because it
was one of the first where the camera’s weren't just set up
and were rolling for weeks on end with the editors picking
best bits and a voiceover actor, the presenter was now
putting himself in difficult situations, such as behind bars with
dangerous prisoners, to achieve a professional and
entertaining insight into their documentary.

5. Louis Theroux Conventions
The main conventions of a Louis Theroux
documentary is that ‘answers’ are mainly
found through interviews. An example of
this would be the ‘behind bars’ series in
which Louis Theroux interviewed a
‘dangerous’ person that was handcuffed in
order to protect him. Louis Theroux’s
presence also provides an outside influence in contrast to ‘Educating Essex’
where the camera’s are placed and the people on camera have to ‘pretend’ as
though they aren’t there. This therefore combines with the need for interviews
from Louis Theroux’s perspective.
A final convention of a Louis Theroux
documentary is that there is only one camera
and it is handheld and moving to follow Louis
Theroux around. This provides constant
running and therefore less planning in terms
of what footage is required.