What We Learned

About DocumentariesAhmad Wahab

What is a Documentary A documentary is when someone documents a real life

event, that has happened

The purpose of a documentary is to make a point. Most documentaries aim to inform, investigate and educate their audience but in more modern documentaries, they aim to also entertain the audience since this will keep and attract the audiences attention, which allows them to make profit

A documentary has to be truthful and factual in order to be classed as a documentary and will also try to either preserve, persuade, analyse, express, discuss, explore, intervene or enlighten the audience on the certain subject

Documentary Theorists Famous Scottish documentary maker John Grierson,

who made documentaries for the cinema instead of TV, believes that the focus of a documentary should always be on reality. "In documentary we deal with the actually and in one sense with the real. But the really real, if I may use the phrase, is deeper than that.”

Michael Robinger said in 'Directing the Documentary,' that "Documentaries explore the mysteries of actual people in actual situations". He also says that documentary's will change and evolve and therefore never stay the same

Audience In the modern age the audience has more choices

because of audience fragmentation. This is

caused from digital and satellite television, and more

from the use of narrow casting which means there are

specific channels devoted to documentaries e.g.

Eden, Natural History, Discovery Chanel

Some of the key features of

documentries Observation-This is when they are observing or monitoring

something or someone

Interview-Interviews with people who are specialised in the subject, or with 'Voxpop' to show the general public's views and opinions

Dramatisation-Reconstruction of a specific event relating to the subject

Mise en Scene-This is how the documentary is layered out which effects the different representations and impressions the documentary gives

Exposition-This is when background information and statistics on the subject is introduced to the audience