2. JOHN CORNERS 5
ELEMENTS OF
DOCUMENTARIES!
1. Observation
2. Interview
3. Dramatization
4. Mise en Scene
5. Exposition
3. Voice Over
All documentaries should have a voiceover in them which
will help the audience know what's going on throughout the
documentary. Also it keeps the audience informed of any
facts or important things they need to know.
4. Archive Footage
Archive footage is very important as people need to see
things that have actually happened in the past to enforce
the point the documentary is trying to make or just to give
evidence.
5. Interviews
A documentary wouldn’t be a documentary without
interview because people need to see other peoples
opinions so they can see if people agree or disagree with
them. Interviews are usually set up so they can get
evidence from experts about the particular subject.
Vox Pops
Vox Pops are small interviews of members of the public so
there is a range of different ages that give answers. The
people you ask should be totally random.
6. Name Titles
This should be displayed over an interview so people know
who the person being interviewed is, it should only be
displayed the first time the interviewee comes on screen so
it doesn’t get repetitive. Also the information should be
relevant to the documentary and so should the persons job.
7. Sound
Both non diegetic and diegetic sound should be in a
documentary because there should be music in the
documentary that fades out when someone is speaking.
The only other sounds should be from either vox
pops, interviews, or voiceovers and maybe archive footage.
