A documentary aims to truthfully document reality using evidence from subjects like politics, history and religion. While the content aims to be authentic, recreations are sometimes needed due to the unpredictable nature of capturing real events as they happen. Documentaries use conventions like narration to anchor meaning and guide the audience. There are different styles of documentaries such as observational, interviews, dramatizations, and styles that mix genres. The intended audience and what can be shown helps determine the type of documentary and advertising used.

1. Conventions of a documentary

2. Documentaries
• A documentary is to be truthful and non bias.
• It shall document reality.
• It shall report on something which has
happened, Using evidence.
• A reconstruction can be used as a substitute if
there is no primary footage.
• Documentaries are made from subjects
varying from political, historical, to religious
topics.

3. Genre
• Target audience used to schedule a documentary, and what
can be shown within the content.
• Furthermore what type of adverts will be used at the time.
• Josh Grierson first created the term documentary and
described it as the creativity of actuality
• In more creative documentaries the authenticity of the
content can be questioned.
• it’s impossible to capture real events as they are happening
as they are unexpected, so therefore reconstructions
become inevitable
• Film crew affects through the people watching them, the
situation is no longer real.

4. narrating
• A documentary can use a narrator.
• A narrator is a convention as it anchors the
meaning of a documentary.
• The usual style is role of god as the narrator
isn't involved and is all seeing and all knowing.
• A narrator can become involved in a
presenting capacity.
• This becomes a participation documentary.

5. Types of documentary
• A documentary can become fictisous around
an event.
• A documentary can be dramatized for effect.
• Fly on the wall is an example of a non narrated
documentary.

6. 5 types of documentary
• 1 – observation contain invisible camera,
audience is an eye whiteness.
• 2 – interview set to the rule of thirds, a
spontaneous interview is called a vox pop
• 3 – dramatization, for effect or when no
footage is available
• 4 – mise – en – scene
• 5 – exposition, description and commentary
combined.

7. Types of documentary
• Fully narrated (off screen)
• Fly on the wall
• Mixed documentary
• Self reflexive, subjects acknowledge camera
• Docudrama / Docusoap

8. Disneyfication (Barnett's theory)
• Need to broadcast positive things
• clean instead of challenging society
• Dumbed down, safe for adverts, cheap T.V.
• Audiences are used to it
• They have traditional conventions of narrative
• Strong focus on conflict, characters, music,
sound effects
• Have defined beginning, middle and end

9. Disneyfication (Barnett's theory)
• Beginning
• Central question
• Action footage
• Middle
• Case becomes complicated
• Conflict strengthened
• Arguments offer an alternative view
• Show evidence
• End
• Exposition should be apparent
• Resolve views
• Conflict between different people with different backgrounds
• Reconstructions