RESEARCH: DOCUMENTARIES

Expository Documentaries

• Expository Documentaries use narrators to address the audience directly and to present an explanation interpreting what is being seen by viewers in the mis-en-scene.
• This is done by the use of a narrator or commentator with a ‘Voice of Authority’. This is often used to anchor the meaning of the visual text for the viewer.
• In order to make identification easier, film makers tend to use voices of male, white, middleclass narration which would represent the target audience.
• Expository documentaries often engage the viewer by creating arguments and conflicting viewpoints. This type of documentary also attempts to persuade viewers.
• The typical conventions of an expository documentary include a voiceover, analysis and exposition of a topic and images used alongside voiceovers.

'An Inconvenient Truth' created by Al Gore in 2006 is a great example of an expository documentary.

Observational Documentaries

• Observational documentaries follow a person, or an event.
• This form of documentary tells a story of a journey as it unfolds.
• There are very rarely voiceovers and interviews used in this form.
• Takes are relatively long.
• The typical conventions of an observational documentary includes being filmed on-location, direct sound recording (very little use of non-diegetic sound), documentary maker is behind the camera, participant show no acknowledgement that they are being filmed. This is usually because they don’t know they are being filmed and represents a fly-on-the wall perspective of the text.

'Jersey Shore' by MTV is a good example of an observational documentary.

Reflexive Documentaries

• Reflexive documentaries tend to be much more sophisticated compared to other documentary forms.
• This sophistication is through the explicit acknowledgement of the camera and crew.
• This reflexive style of documentary is usually associated with experimental documentaries where the viewer is equally interested in how the film is constructed as they are the actual content.
• Tend to be the most truthful as it focuses on realism and exactly how events happen with very little special effects and non-diegetic sounds.
• The typical conventions of a reflexive documentary includes documentary maker’s presence is explicit.
Some styles and conventions are present with all documentary forms such as little use of diegetic sound for increased realism.

A good example of a reflexive documentary is 'Fahrenheit 9/11' by Michael Moore. See the trailer: