Documentaries aim to document real events or situations using actual footage or reconstructions, and may use a narrator's voiceover or rely on participants' accounts with occasional input from the narrator. John Grierson coined the term 'documentary' in 1926 to describe this genre which sets out to record and represent aspects of the real world.

1. Genre Analysis

2. John Grierson came up with the
term ‘documentary’
in 1926

3. The purpose of documentaries is to document
something that has actually happened.
It can be shown using literal footage or a
reconstruction.

4. It can use a narrators
voiceover to anchor the
meaning or rely on the
participants themselves
with an occasional
interjection by the
narrator.