TYPES AND INFLUENCES ON DOCUMENTARIES

FLY-ON-THE-WALL (CINEMA VERITE)

This type is also called ‘Institutional Documentaries’.

The camera is ‘unseen’ or ignored and simply records real events as they happen. There is often only a small amount of narration, generally unbiased, leaving the audience to their own conclusions.

This is a popular genre which is often informative, humorous and sometimes critical in the way of which the places of work being filmed, such as airports or hospitals are represented.

More recently these documentaries have given way to the popular docusoap genre because of TV stations wanting more ratings which docusoaps (for example, Big Fat Gypsy Wedding) obtain more than full documentaries.

DIRECT CINEMA

A style of documentary produced in the 1960’s.

It came about as a result of widespread availability of cheap, portable lightweight audio-visual equipment.

Aims to achieve objectivity; no biased narration, simply fly-on-the-wall filming of events and people, leaving it up to the audience to draw conclusions.

Approach is in direct contrast to the tradition of the ‘Authored Documentary’, which is clearly the opinion of the individual,

DIRECT CINEMA

Rules of direct cinema:

Documentaries were not to include interviews.

There were to be no rehearsals prior to filming.

No staged events or commentary.

No film lights.

No dissolve edits to be used.

Cinema verite:

Style of European film-making in the early 1960’s using documentary techniques such as hand-held camera to convey life in as realistic way as possible.

Similar to direct cinema but cinema verite believed that the film maker’s opinions should be expressed – art as propaganda. Cinema verite also used interviews whereas direct cinema didn’t.

Linked to a ‘Social Realist’ tradition in fiction film.

VIDEO DIARIES

This style again is descended from Direct Cinema – seen by audiences as reliable and truthful as the subject is filming themselves.

An off-shoot of this are the documentaries which use surveillance technology as entertainment (infotainment), with audiences enjoying their voyeuristic nature.

THEATRICAL DOCUMENTARIES

Film documentaries are released in the cinema and are traditionally about pop stars or sports personalities.

There is a new trend for provocative film documentaries where that subjects are fronted by a charismatic narrator who appears on screen.

These are a return to the concept of the ‘Authored Documentary’ where the piece is clearly scripted and presents the viewpoint of a particular individual.

DOCUDRAMA

This type is a re-enactment of events as though they actually happened, adding more drama on some occasions to make it more interesting to the audience.

It’s a mixture of a docusoap and a docudrama is mainly scripted, so it is made to be more entertaining, for example, Made in Chelsea.

It takes ordinary, common experience and looks at it through the eyes of the public. Can be open to opinions from the audience because of this.

MOCKUMENTARY

A mockumentary is a parody of a documentary which can be done for different purposes, such as:

Parodying the genre

Parodying an area in life

Parodying both

They can be used to take current events and issues and turn them into a joke, or can be used to make fiction look like reality. An example of this would be What We Do in the Shadows, a mockumentary film about vampires flat-sharing in New Zealand.

DOCUSOAPThese documentaries follow the lives of individuals, usually with designated occupations and are very popular. ‘The Cruise’ averaged 11 million viewers.

Common characteristics are:

Emphasis on entertainment rather than instruction.

Based around personalities who often ‘play up’ to and talk directly to the camera. They often become celebrities themselves.

They focus on everyday lives and problems rather than social issues.

Some scenes are set-up and selective editing is often used to portray the personalities or themes in a certain way.

They are called docusoaps because they are similar to soap operas in terms of:

Fast editing

Multi-strand narratives

Part of a series and often end on a cliffhanger ‘next week on…’

FULLY NARRATED

These are documentaries that include a voice over to further explain the events, information and facts to the audience. The voice over is used to narrate the visual elements and reminds the audience of the main exposition of the documentary.

The most common example of these are nature documentaries, due to the fact any other style would be hard to achieve. This then causes an entertaining way to learn about nature based off facts and observations.

MIXED

Uses a combination of interviews, observations and narration to continue the topic or the argument.

Archival material and actual footage will be used, as well as sometimes graphics to make it feel more interactive towards the audience.

More recently more documentaries are a mixed style as it keeps the attention of the viewer.

SELF-REFLEXIVE

This is when the documentary acknowledges the presence of the camera and often speaks to the documentary maker.

They will follow a certain group or person around with hand-held camera shots making it more personal and look more amateur.

DRAMA

These are documentaries that explore a social issue or draw attention to a miscarriage of justice but they are scripted and acted like dramas.

The documentary will be based on a real life event but turned into a film like experience with actors playing the subject of the documentary. The stories may also be edited to make it more appealing to a wider audience.