This document defines and provides examples of observational documentaries. Observational documentaries follow subjects without interviews and use minimal equipment like handheld cameras to observe events in their lives. The goal is to allow subjects to forget the cameras and behave naturally. Examples given include the reality show Big Brother, which hides cameras throughout the house to observe housemates' natural behaviors without them being aware they are constantly filmed. Clips from Big Brother demonstrate techniques like hidden cameras and voiceovers that are characteristic of observational documentaries.

1. Observational
Documentary
By …
Caitlin O’Mara
Angelika Zubrzycka
Shannon Sloyan

2. Observational key facts
This is where the documentary maker follows the person around to observe the
events that happen in their life.
Equipment can be informal, such as the use of hand-held cameras.
Usually no interviews are included.
Voiceovers are used to tell us about the people we see in the documentary, but
sometimes this might not be the case, a voiceover may not be used at all.
By maintaining the observational mode, the director allowed the subject to
forget the presence of the camera and behave more naturally, there by letting
the audience get a better sense of how people really act.
Social actors pretend and behave that they are not being filmed.

3. Example : Big Brother
The are cameras hidden throughout the house, hidden behind mirrors
and placed in corners of rooms.
Cameras can zoom and focus on certain housemates who are talking.
The cameras are hidden to allow housemates to not act different due to
being aware constantly they are being filmed. This means they will be
them natural selves, allowing cameras to observe their behaviour.
There is footage from the garden of the housemates, these clips are not
produced or edited.

4. Clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVy03m0
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In the clip you have just watch there are many techniques that link back to an
observational documentary for example:
A voiceover is used at the start to explain what has happened previously between
house mates.
The close-ups of faces show their actual reactions to situation that may occur, this is
observational because if there reactions weren’t natural then this wouldn’t be an
observational documentary.
Cameras are hidden so house mates don’t feel the need to not act themselves. Hidden
cameras allow the house mates to be themselves, this makes the documentary more
interesting to watch because we see things we probably wouldn’t see if the house
mates were to see the cameras.
Direct address is used for house mates to express themselves and opinions that they
may have, this is the only camera they know is not hidden there for they put on an
act and over exaggerate so they have a better chance of being liked by the audience
watching.