Bill Nichols studied documentary film styles and identified six distinct modes that documentaries fall into. These include the Poetic, Expository, Observational, Participatory, Reflexive, and Performative modes. Students are instructed to research one of these modes by looking at its background, key features, examples, and creating a blog post explaining it. They are provided example blog posts and given tips on resources to use for their research.

1. Modes of
Documentary
Bill Nichols

2. The 6 Modes
 Bill Nichols studied a variety of different documentaries, specifically
looking at their individual styles and construction.
 He noticed that several documentaries had similar styles and
created 6 different categories, or modes that he felt these
documentaries fell into.
 These modes are:
 Poetic Mode
 Expository Mode
 Observational Mode
 Participatory Mode
 Reflexive Mode
 Performative Mode

3. Research!
 You need to research your assigned mode and
create a blog post on it explaining its:
 Background
 Key features
 Important examples
 Two examples of blog posts can be seen here:
 http://heathenmedia.co.uk/a2filmstudies/2013/10/
05/modes-of-documentary-poetic-mode/
 http://heathenmedia.co.uk/a2filmstudies/2013/10/
05/modes-of-documentary-expository-mode/

4. Hints and Tips
 You should find a sheet with all the information you’ll need
on it on Macshared with some key points about your
documentary mode.
 You should also be able to use these websites for some
more information.
 http://thefilmbuff.com/6-forms-of-the-documentary-form
 http://girishshambu.blogspot.co.uk/2006/12/six-types-of-
documentary.html
 http://www.meridianstories.com/storytellers/tool-kit/six-principal-
modes-of-documentary-filmmaking/
 Be creative with the way you present your information, you
can find lots of creative ways to present on
www.heathenmedia.co.uk