Genre analysis, A2 media

1. GENRE ANALYSIS Samantha Fairclough

2. INTRODUCTION TO
DOCUMENTARIES
The purpose to a documentary is to
document an aspect of reality. They also:
inform, investigate, educate and entertain.
They are factual and subject specific with
an exposition (argument/clear point), facts
and different styles.
John Grierson was a pioneering Scottish
documentary maker, often considered the
father of British and Canadian documentary
film. In the 1930s he had a film group
called General Post Office who made
documentaries. Documentaries were
produced for a cinema audience as TV had
not yet been developed. He coined the term
Documentary, he defined it as the creative
treatment of actuality.
“In documentary we deal with the actual,
and in one sense with the real. But the
really real, if I may use that phrase, is
something deeper than that. The only
reality which counts in the end is the
interpretation which is profound” – John

3. FEATURES OF DOCUMENTARY
Observation: The action or process of closely observing or monitoring something or
someone. The normal styling is that the camera is positioned to be unseen and hidden
away from the people within filming, this therefore equates to the audience having more
of watching sensation while viewing the documentary.
Interview: An interview is a conversation between two or more people where questions are
asked by the interviewer to elicit facts or statements from the interviewee. Interviews are a
normal element of documentaries, this can be within a various type of documentaries.
Respondents are asked various questions to gather feedback related to the topic being
discussed within the programme.
Dramatisation: The reconstruction of an event, novel, story in a form suitable for dramatic
presentation. Drama is a key component, as a purpose as well as to inform and document
is to entertain the viewers.
Mise-en-scene: An expression used to describe the design aspects of a theatre or film
production, which essentially means visual theme or telling a story. Costumes, lighting,
setting, props and actors help create the drama.
Exposition: The exposition is the portion of a story that introduces important background
information to the audience; for example, information about the setting, events occurring
before the main plot, characters' back stories, etc. Dramatic parts of the documentary are
specially chosen in order to get the viewer’s attention.

4. Self reflective
TYPES OF
DOCUMENT
ARIES
Fully narrated
Fly on the wall Mixed
Docudrama Docusoap

5. FULLY NARRATED
A fully narrated documentary
contains a voice over the
majority of the programme, this
is called the voice of god as the
narrator is not visible to the
audience yet their input is still
vital as it adds a more contextual
point of view. A direct mode of
address is used as it anchors the
meaning of the visual
representation. It also can be
argued as a figure of authority as
the audience is encouraged to
agree with their opinion. For
example multiple David
Attenborough’s documentaries.

6. MIXED
A mixed documentary contains
both narration with elements of
interviews related to the topics,
giving a stronger argument
throughout. It is a combination
of interviews, observation and
narration. In this type of
documentary, the narrator can be
visible to the audience unlike the
way a fully narrated documentary
is run. For example The Devil
Made Me Do It.

7. FLY ON THE WALL
Fly on the wall documentaries are
mainly observational with limited
commentary or narration. This is to
portray the audience as an outsider;
with the programme is being more
realistic and less staged. This type of
documentary is filmed as and when it
happens i.e. at the point of action; this
helps to give an unsettling experiences
towards the viewers as it is showing
the true events that occurred. However,
a considerable amount of editing is
used in the making of a fly on the wall
documentary which questions the
actual situation seen. The audience are
only seeing what the maker of the
documentary wants them to see, so it
cannot be taken as complete certainty
that all the documentary is true.

8. DOCUDRAMA
A re-enactment of events as they are suppose
to have happened, the story would be based on
a real fact portrayed to the audience as it
happened. . For example crimewatch or the
9/11 tragedy. Investigators track as much as
possible on elements of situations so the
documentary is as factual as possible. I.e.
tracking of mobile phone calls before the plane
crash of 9/11 and re-enact them to how the
situation may have looked, but due to their
being no survivors the documentary can not be
seen as an exact representation.

9. DOCUSOAP
A docusoap documentary is a
documentary that follows the daily
life of a particular individual. A
docusoap no cast, very little crew
involved and are relatively cheap to
construct due only a camera being
needed for filming. An example of a
docusoap would be Benefit street,
teen mom or my big fat gypsy
wedding. These have been disputed
if they are actual documentaries,
however they are very popular and
are a low cost to produce.

10. SELF REFLECTIVE
In a self-reflective documentary the
subject acknowledges the camera
and talks to it directly, as to speak
to the film maker themselves. This is
to try to draw the attention of the
audience. Self-reflective
documentaries are less popular
compared to others seen as they are
criticised for being about the
presenter and not the content that
they are supposed to be discussing.
A self reflexive documentary is
where the narrator of the
documentary contributes the most
input.