Documentary definitions

There are 6 types od documentrys

Fully narrated

Fly on the wall

Mixed

Self re

Docu-drama

Docu-soap

Fully narrated

Has a voice over to help the audience gain a better understand of the documentary's purpose. This can also be known as the voice of god. The voice over is based and goes along on visuals.

Fly on the wall

This is purely observational with no interviews, commentary or narration. This documentary is actuality and not staged, the camera’s are not acknowledgment.

Mixed

This type of documentary involves interviews, observations, narration and archive footage. All of these features help the audience gain a better understand of the topic of the documentary.

Self reflective

This is the type of documentary when there is total acknowledgment of the camera’s and the film maker is present and could also host.

An example of his is bear grills.

Docu-drama

This type od documentary can be seen like are-enactment or could be reconstructed . This is a factual show but it does involves drama.

E.g 911 documentary

Docu-soap

This is a documentary of people in a particular occupation or location of a period. It does show real life

e.g airline

Documentaries and its history

5 elements of documentaries

Observation – where the audience is the eye witness, and the camera is invisible.

Interviews – mainly used with the convention of ‘the rules of thirds’ in vision. It is a way to gain factual information.

Dramatization – the reconstruction of a event, played by actors, used to give a further insight of event.

Mis-en-scene – to help establish and set a scene

Exposition – the commentary and description behind the scenes.

John grierson

“Creative treatment of actuality”

He created the term documentary and knew how to structure them

He was a British and Canadian film and documentary director/ maker.

John corner

“recorded sound and images of actuality”