1. Documentary Genre
The purpose of a documentary is to document
something that has happened, it can be using
actuality footage or it can be reconstructed. The
documentary can use a narrator’s voice over to
anchor the meaning or rely on the participants
themselves with the odd interjection by the
unseen narrator.

2. Fully Narrated
• This is an off screen voiceover and it is used to
make sense of the visuals that are shown on
screen and it dominates their meaning.

3. Fly On The Wall
• This type of documentary has roots in a
cinema venite. The camera is set up to be
hidden so people are unaware that they are
being filmed. These types of documentaries
show the full truth because the participants
don’t acknowledge the camera as they can’t
see it.

4. Mixed
• This type of documentary is made using a
combination of interviews, observations and
narration to advance the argument or
narrative

5. Self Reflexive
• This type of documentary is when participants
in the documentaries acknowledge the
presence of the camera and often speak
directly to the document maker and camera.

6. Docu-drama
• A re-enactment of events as they are
supposed to have happened

7. Docu-soap
• This is a recent development, where the
documentary follows the life of particular
individuals within an organisation. It combines
a documentary and a soap opera.