Research for A2 media project on documentary style short films.

1. DOCUMENTARY FILM
RESEARCH
BY RACHEL CRADDOCK

2. INTRODUCTION
• A Documentary Film: is a nonfictional motion picture intended to document some
aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education, or
maintaining a historical record.
• These films were originally shot on film stock but now
include video and digital productions
• It has also been described as film making practice and a mode of audience
reception.
• A Polish filmmaker Bolesław Matuszewski was among those who identified the
mode of documentary film.

3. CODES AND CONVENTIONS
• Actual Footage: may be a recording of the event with real people and not actors.
• Voiceovers: an unseen commentator explains their knowledge and the audiences follows what they say and it is relevant to
what is being shown.
• Showing realism :including natural sound , lighting and shooting on location.
• Interviews: shows authenticity and express the views of the documentary and it allows the people to directly talk about their
views to specific questions. It also gives the documentary a sense of realism and the people being interviewed usually looks at
the person behind the camera rather than the camera because it looks more personal , natural and expresses more emotion.
• Text: inserting dates , times , information as it’s a quick and cheap way to get information across to people directly.
• Sound: the use of diegetic and non diegetic are used.
• Dramatization: The reconstruction of an event played out my actors which is used to give the audience a further insight into
what happened in the real event.
• Set ups: setting up typical scenes this also helps with adding realism to the program

4. 6 MODES OF DOCUMENTARY (BY BILL NICHOL)
• Expository: Doesn't follow the strict conventions of most documentaries. Uses voiceovers and
addresses the audience directly, may gather a variety of material to support argument.
• Observational: Only uses one camera which observes the world. Shoots on location ,no
interviews and doesn’t really use a voiceover.
• Participatory: The documentary maker is visible within the documentary and they would
normally do the voiceover.
• Reflexive: Based on real life moments and objects , these types of documentary's are based on
suggestions and options rather than facts.
• Performative: Based on emotion , the documentary crew may interact with the subject.
• Poetic: Subjective representation of reality.

5. MORE ON MODES OF DOCUMENTARY
• Reflexive: Louis Theroux Louis Theroux is a good example of a film maker who makes reflexive
documentaries and he is well known for a controversial method of film making.
• Expository: an example of this mode of documentary is Night Mail (1936); an early documentary that
follows a postal train’s overnight journey to Scotland in which its mail is sorted, dropped, and
delivered.
• Performative: an example of this type of documentary is Marlon Riggs’ 1990 documentary Tongues
Untied about his experiences as a gay black dancer in New York City.
• Poetic: example Godfrey Reggio’s Koyannisqatsi (1982)
• Observational: The fly on the wall type of filming was shown in Robert Drew’s Primary (1960.) and at
the time film was a breakthrough in documentary film style. A more modern example would be Big
Brother.
• Participatory: Jean Rouche's Chronicle of a Summer, 1960 was an early example participatory of
filming.

6. SINGLE CAMERA PRODUCTION
• Single camera production: a method of film making and video production where
one camera operates at a time during a set.
• Single camera production are shown in may different formats mainly in TV series
such as Revenge.
• In single camera production shots are taken in an order of flexibility then when
using a lot of camera editing the shots will be put in order. Many parts are re
filmed to get the perfect shot as you only have the footage from the one camera.
• Using a single camera is usually cheaper way of production.

7. TECHNICAL (SINGLE CAMERA PRODUCTION)
• Lighting: this types of production allows more freedom for lighting set ups.
• Camera: single camera productions are known for being easier to more create artistic quality.
Easier to set up and better for a small crew.
• Sound: Diegetic is normally used for multi camera production whereas Non Diegetic sound
normally is has been added e.g.: placing sounds in between scenes.
• Editing: The editing process is usually very time consuming as you need to get all the clips in the
right order and everything has to be cut after filming is finished.
• Scripts / building the scenes / stories: this is the process of building realistic scenes. Lots of
single camera productions film in actually buildings / places and add in objects to give it more
realism. Having the equipment on a lower scale means that its better portability and is easier for
zooming in subjects that bigger cameras that take up more space.

8. NARRATIVE STRUCTURES
• Narrative structure: is about two things: the content of a story and the form used to
tell the story.
• Open and closed endings: some programs story lines are left un suspense or
incomplete this leaves the audience not knowing what happens next. On the other
hand in closed ending story's had come to a resolution when finishes.
• Realism and Anti realist: realist narrative structures are believable to the audience
because they appear real or a based on a true story. Anti realist doesn’t match up with
reality and has a lot of effects such as computer generated images.
• Linear and Non Linear: In linear sequences everything is in the right order whereas in
non linear everything is out of order.