6 Different Modes of Documentaries

POETIC OBSERVATIONAL EXPOSITORY

PARTICIPATORY PERFORMATIVE REFLEXIVE

Poetic DocumentariesPoetic documentaries are often very subjective in the way that they don’t explain what it actually means, but instead leave it for the audience to decide according to their own personal opinion. Poetic documentaries achieve this through setting the mood of what is happening by using lighting, sound and mise-en-scene which, as a result gives the audience different types of feelings, almost as if it was a blank canvas, ergo people will be able to feel different things towards it and may also be able to relate to it personally.

Baraka is a documentary without any commentary, however it is able to set a mood due to the use of diagetic sounds and non diagetic sounds and different camera shots, in which enables the audience themselves to interpret what is happening thus allowing them to question what is being presented to them.

Also the use of juxtaposition throughout Baraka goes along with the usual codes and conventions of poetic documentaries. The use of juxtaposition Allows feelings to be presented in different ways and compare different subjects to one another in order to try and get a certain point across.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJHPNg7YdgY

Observational DocumentariesThe first set of Observational documentaries were first introduced during the 1960s. It usually aims to observe life by trying not to intervene in any events and cause a minimum of interventions. This sort of documentary usually has some sort of commentary or re enactments.

Poetic documentaries are very hard to keep natural as people often tend to behave very differently in front of the camera even though there is meant to be little or no interaction at all between the camera man and the subject.

Triumph des Willens (Triumph of The Will) (1934) is a documentary based on the Nuremburg rallies, however even though the film maker tried not to influence any of the events which were taking places, the Nuremburg rallies were in fact made for the cameras to film so this is very controversial as the cameras change the outcomes of the events. The documentary shows the construction of the Nazi party, it does this by showing us speeches from it’s leaders, marches through the city's and the growing support for the party even within the youth of Germany who were being taught from an early age what the perfect German was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHs2coAzLJ8

Expository DocumentariesExpository documentaries often talk directly towards the viewer trying to expose a certain topic to the audience. The documentary often uses a commentator who is a voice of authority, this is often called the voice-of-God. Often at times within these documentaries, experts also take part within the documentaries and give their opinion which may have an influence the viewers. These documentaries often talk to the viewer as a group and tries to convince them in a certain way.

Frank Capra’s “Why We Fight: Battle of China” is one episode from a series of WW2 propaganda documentaries where he talks about events which happened during WW2. As this is part of a propaganda series it could influence what is being said and try and make the audience view thing in a certain way and make them think and grow feelings for a specific subject.

The “Battle of China” is a documentary which talks about the events which happened in China. It explains why Japan invaded China and how the battle was fought. It also show the consequences of the battle and the effect on the people of China and why they did to fight back against the Japanese.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4Ebv-FzP60

Performative DocumentariesPerformative documentaries try to express a subjectiveness towards what is being shown within the documentary and try and get an emotive response from the audience his is usually achieved by using events which have had a major effect on many people and things which people hold a strong view for. It is also used to try and get us to experience an event and what it would have been like, it tries to make us create perspective of something we may have not experienced beforehand.

Performative documentaries can often at times be very poetic as it draws up peoples feeling sand emotions when being watched.

Alain Resnais’ Night And Fog is a French documentary with English subtitles. It talks about the Holocaust where it tries to create a perspective of what it was like, it does this by doing it as if somebody is remember back to what it was like as the documentary also looks at what the concentration camps look like now compared to what they were back when they were being used.

At one point the commentator says “The blood has dried and the tongues have fallen silent, the only visitor to the blocks now is the camera” which suggest that this events has left it’s mark on world leaving both emotional and physical consequences.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8qTFuMcDLs

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9frXX1qOqSY

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oA4OBuaWYY&

Reflexive DocumentariesReflexive documentaries often draw attention to how documentaries are created rather than an actual event taking place and tries to portray a sense of realism as if we are watching the film maker personally film his documentary which could draw the audience in.

Reflexive documentaries essential are showing the real truth of how documentaries and shows the lengths the film maker takes to try and get their footage and how long it usually takes them to get their footage which shows the audience that the film maker took a lot of time and effort into making the documentary which is shown throughout Vertov’s “The Man With the Camera”.

Vertov’s “The Man With the Camera” is showing the advancing mechanization of soviet people and technologies during 1929. This is shown by the Camera being the mechanised device and the film maker acting as the subject.

We often see in this documentaries the film actually being constructed, we see how the film maker gets the camera angles and the lengths he goes to get footage for the documentary. This shows his devotion to making something like this.

The image on the right shows the film maker standing on a camera which could connotes that the construction of the documentary is the bigger picture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iey9YIbra2U

Participatory DocumentariesParticipatory try to form emotions and create an experience for the audience to feel whilst watching the documentary. These documentaries tries to put a perspective forward which the viewer usually would have not thought about, this way it allows the viewer to question what they are seeing such as if it is the right thing to do or not.

It also usually involves an engagement between the film maker themselves with the subject which is being recorded. The film maker often sees that by recording a specific event, it will change how people will act and change the event, in the case for Participator documentaries the film makers often are open to this and try and stress this to the viewer.

Louis Theroux’s African Hunting Party is about Louis Theroux travelling to Africa and meets a group of hunters who hunt wild animals. He goes with the hunters when they are hunting the wild animals. The audience sees how the animals are hunted and Louis Theroux questions the hunters on why they hunt and puts his own opinion forward about the subject. This subject could be a concern for many as they feel that hunting animals is a wrong thing to do, so this documentary would be aimed at them to perhaps try and open them up to the other side of the argument.

It also opens up an emotional response from the audience towards the documentary towards the specific topic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwkjvZjclf8