MODES

OF DOCUMENTARIES
REFLEXIVE
Reflexive Documentaries are similar to Participatory in
that they often include the filmmaker within the film
— however, unlike Participatory, they make no attempts
to explore an outside subject. Rather, they focus solely
on themselves and the act of them making the film.

OBSERVATIONAL
Observational documentaries are the most well known type of
documentary. Observational documentaries are often called Fly-On-The
Wall documentaries as the aim is to capture gritty realism . By definition
the key aspects of an observational documentary is the documentary
maker follows around the subject to see events that happen in their life,
there isn't usually interviews or voice over , the equipment they use is
generally low budget , and they tend to include long takes

POETIC
The focus of poetic documentaries is to create a feeling as
oppose to expose a truth. Poetic documentaries are
primarily attractive visuals that tell a loose story

PARTICIPATORY
Participatory Documentaries, while having elements of
Observational and Expository, include the filmmaker within
the narrative. This could be as minor as the filmmaker’s
voice being heard behind the camera, prodding subjects
with questions or cues — all the way to the filmmaker
directly influencing the major actions of the narrative.