Factual Programme Factual Programme Production for TelevisionProduction for Television

Documentary Formats

Documentary FormatsDocumentary Formats

Expository Observational InteractiveReflexive Performative

ExpositoryExpository

Speak directly to the viewer

Voice of God (narrator)

Strong argument or point of view

Persuade

ExampleThe March of the Penguins (2005)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGAfIx5VQ_M

The March of the Penguins (2005)The March of the Penguins (2005)

ObservationalObservational

Observes things as they happen

Less intrusive

Less control over technical aspects

Allows social actors free to act

ObservationalObservational

Developed from technical advances

Film-maker is a “fly-on-the-wall”

ExampleArmadillo (2010)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVihVeZtQds

Armadillo (2010)Armadillo (2010)

InteractiveInteractive

Participatory

The encounter between film-maker and subject is recorded

Intrusive, excessive faith in witnesses

Not only is the filmmaker part of the film, we also get a sense of how situations in the film are affected or altered by her presence.

ExampleRoss Kemp On Gangs

InteractiveInteractive

ReflexiveReflexive

Awareness of the Process

Can be abstract

Draw attention to the construction of the documentary Eg Lighting and editing.

The Man with the Movie Camera(1929)

Aileen – The Life and Death of a Aileen – The Life and Death of a Serial KillerSerial Killer

PerformativePerformative

personal experience

acknowledges the emotional and subjective aspects of documentary

presents ideas as part of a context, having different meanings for different people

often autobiographical in nature Jenny Livingston’s Paris Is Burning (1991)

PerformativePerformative

Performative docs often link up personal accounts or experiences with larger political or historical realities.

This sub-genre might also lend itself to certain groups to ‘speak about themselves.’

Bowling for Colombine (2002)Bowling for Colombine (2002)