For my advanced portfolio I will be creating a 5 minute extract from a documentary.
What is the purpose of a documentary?
Documentaries are created for many different reasons:
-They can record, reveal or preserve events and situations
- Some are made to pursuade or promote
- Some analyse situations or interrogate particular people or situations
- They can also express the documentary makers' own personal views or opinions
What are the different types of documentary?
Reflexive
In a reflexive documenaty, the film maker would acknoledge their presence in front of the camera and give some sort of narrative guidance. Nick Broomfield is a good example of a film maker who makes reflexive documentaries. He is known for his controvercial method of film making, as he is in front of the camera and is a casual interviewer. Sometimes he takes part in the activities he is documenting, so he can get a real inside look but still remainins detatched and impartial.
This is the trailer for Nick Broomfield's documentary 'Biggie and Tupac' which investigates the conspiricy surrounding the deaths of the two famous rappers.
I created a powerpoint explaining a bit about reflexive documentaries.
Poetic
This is style which focuses more on a story, and are usually human interest stories rather than current affairs. They aren't usually in a typical documentary narrative style and are sometimes seen as 'avant-garde' - sometimes pushing boundaries and experimental. They usually try to create a particular mood by using music to provoke the audiences feelings. Channel 5 is known for it's poetic documentaries. At the moment Channel 5 is showing a series of documentaries called "Extrodinary People".
Below is a link to the Extrodinary People website, which allows users to watch all the documentaries in the series online.
Expository
This is consodored the classic form of documentary. They usually include a voice over which addressed the audience directly (often in the form of a 'voice of God', where the filmmaker can express their views and commentary without being seen or a hidden voice of authority - usually an expert in the subject who is seen and heard). As the name suggests, most aim to expose a situation or person so the viewer sees it/them in a new light and has their opinions swayed.
An example of an expository documentary is 'An Inconvenient Truth' by Al Gore. This is a classic expository documentary because Al Gore is the 'voice of authority' and uses a verbal commintary, supported with images and video clips to argue his views on global warming.
Observational
Observational documentaries are characterised by having a 'fly-on-the-wall' presentation. They usually include very long takes, which are intended to imply that it is uncut and true to life with very little editing. Often a hand-held camera is used to follow the action which make the documentaries seem more 'real'. The filmmaker doesn't intervine with the action - instead they just record what is going on. Interviews are not common in observational documentaries as subjects generally pretend they are not being filmed. This mode of documentary relies on the audience understanding implied meaning and suggestions and usually viewers are left to make their own decisions and form their own opinions about the footage they have seen.
An example of an observational documentary is 'What Katie Did Next' - a documentary following Katie Price.
