John Grierson is considered the father of documentaries. He established the national film board of Canada and made over 40 documentary films in the 1920s-30s. Grierson believed documentaries should use real locations, events, and people to inform citizens about politics and social issues in a way that generates excitement. He outlined three principles for documentaries - observing real events rather than staged scenes, using original actors and locations, and believing real stories are more powerful than fictional ones. Key elements of documentaries include observation, interviews, dramatization, mise-en-scene, and exposition. There are six main types - fully narrated, fly on the wall, mixed, self-reflexive, documentary drama, and

1. THE DOCUMENTARY
GENRE

2. What is a documentary?
A documentary is television programme
that reports something that actually
happened with evidence such as actual
footage or interviews.
What is the purpose of a documentary?
A documentary is made to give people factual information
with evidence to support it. Documentaries are designed to
inform, educate, entertain, persuade, Defend a perspective,
attack a perspective, to raise awareness, to critique, to
observe real life.

3. John Grierson
John Grierson was born on April 26, 1898 in Kilmadock, Stirlingshire, Scotland. He
was a producer and writer. He was married to Margaret Grierson. He died on
February 19, 1972 in Bath, Somerset, England.
He made 40 documentary films and established the national film board of Canada.
His famous phrase was “The story of the documentary movement is the story of
how, not without a scar or two, we got by”.
Grierson made documentaries to show his views towards the issues of politics and
democracy which involved citizens in their government and engaging excitement
generated by the popular press. He is considered to be the father of
documentaries.
Principles of Documentary
1. In his first principle Grierson states that the simple act of going out and
observing what you want to film is a new and critical art form.
2. In his second principle he urges that by having original actors and the actual
location where the event took place or is taking place, is more effective than having
to train actors to act a certain way or build the set based on assumptions.
3. In Grierson third principle he says “We believe that the materials and the stories
thus taken from the raw can be finer than the acted article.” This means that
having real subjects who have actually went through those particular events is
more resourceful then having those who are pretending to be those people

4. John Griersons work
The Song of
Ceylon, (Short
documentary), (producer),
released in 1934.
The Brave Don’t Cry,
Producer released in
1952.
Coal Face, (producer)
released in 1935.
BBC The Voice of
Britain (Documentary),
(producer) released in
1935.

5. John Corner – what are the five key elements
of documentary? Explain what they are?
Observation- The idea that
the camera is hidden or
unseen by the people in
the documentary to allow
the audience to feel like
they are witnesses of real
life situations.
Interview- Interviews are
a key part of
documentaries and
allows audiences to
understand people's
opinions or stories.
Either interviews are in
fragments with other
footage in between or
the whole interview is
shown uninterrupted.
Dramatisation-
Documentaries include
dramatised events which
are seen by the audience
through the camera
allowing them to be the
witness.
People or events are
dramatised because the
drama cannot be
accessed in real life which
makes people disagree
that it is fact known as
“biased on fact”.
Mise en Scene- Mise en
Scene means “put into the
shot” Documentary makers
compose shots so that what
is seen supports the
argument of the exposition.
Exposition- The exposition is the argument in a
documentary and what the documentary is
saying.
John Corner believes that the exposition is either
plain and direct or indirect and hidden. Some
documentaries would have no narrator and so
the exposition is understood by the audience
observing strong evidence. The other way is the
opposite.

6. What are the six types of documentary?
Explain what they are?
Fully Narrated
These
documentaries
have a voice
over to
accompany
visuals to and
help audiences
understand what
is going on.
Direct address is
used and these
narrations are
called the voice
of god which
makes people
believe the
information is
the truth.
Fly On the wall
This is where the
documentary has no
narration and creates
a real life feel due to
the camerawork and
editing. The camera is
normally from a
person's perspective
or witnessing people
and the footage is of
events when they
happen and are not
staged which gives
them a believable feel.
Although the editor
chooses what footage
to be shown and so it
is not entirely true
because only the
footage chosen for the
audience is seen.
Mixed
A mixed
documentary uses
a combination of
observations,
interviews and
narration which
helps create a
strong argument
from the creator.
Self Reflexive
This is where the
documentary maker is
seen in the documentary
which has caused
negative opinions. This is
because people believe it
is for self publicity and the
focus of the documentary
is lost and towards
themselves.
Documentary Drama
This is where real life
events are re-enacted
to show audiences
how events happened.
These are criticised
because they cannot
fully understand and
reflect the true event
and can mislead
people to false beliefs.
Documentary Soap
This originated in the UK
and often follows people
around. They are very
popular to audiences and
documentary makers as
they require no cast, very
little crew and cheap to
make. There is a dispute
whether they are an actual
documentary.