FEATURES OF DOCUMENTARIES

Matthew Turnbull

There are 5 main elements to a documentary according to John Carter of the University of Liverpool.

Observation:-This is putting the audience in a role of

eyewitness where the camera seems to be unseen. There is an indirect address towards the audience e.g. the speech over heard is a common aspect of this en-scene observation.

Interview:- Television documentaries have the use of

interviews to make a contrast between observation sequences and are structured in 2 ways. Either intercut fragments or observation, or a completely uninterrupted sequence.

Dramatisation:- All documentaries have a sense of

drama, used to convey people and events that the creator cannot gain access to in real life, the sequences are said to be based on fact, and this maybe closely seen as related to a “reconstruction”.

Mise-en-scene:- This is what directors and producers

actually put into the frame e.g. the lighting and props used in an interview.

Exposition:- This is the line of argument in a

documentary which is what “the doc’s saying”, leading to the audience to draw their own conclusions.