THE DOCUMENTARY

GENRE
It is a factual genre. The purpose of a
documentary is to document i.e to report with
evidence something that has actually happened.
It can show this by using actuality footage or
reconstruction. It can use a narrators voiceover
to anchor the meaning or rely on the participants
themselves with occasional interjections from the
narrator.

JOHN CORNER

He said what distinguishes

documentaries from other genres is the
portrayal of the recorded sound and
images of actuality.
He also said a good documentary should
be about the topic and not the
presentation. However, the content
without any intervention from the
producers would seldom be enough to
make the documentary coherent let
alone interesting. To give a product
enough to give a sense of pace and
structure they draw on many of the
characteristics of fiction in their use of
camera angles, framing, lighting and
editing.
He
coined the phrase Documentary in 1926.
He defined it as the creative treatment of
actuality

JOHN GRIERSON

FEATURES OF A DOCUMENTARY
OBSERVATION:
The programme makers pretend the camera is unseen
and just observes what is going on, this places the
audience in the position of an eye witness to events.

INTERVIEW:
Documentaries rely on interviews, the interviewer is
commonly unseen and unheard. Cut aways are used to
illustrate what the interviewee is talking about.

DRAMATISATION:
Documentaries use a sense of drama through the
observation element so the audience is an eye witness to
dramatic events.

MISE EN SCENE:
Documentary makers carefully compose shots so that
they contain the images they want the audience to see.

EXPOSITION:
The line of argument in a documentary is called the
exposition.
The exposition is what the documentary is saying

TYPES OF DOCUMENTARY
FULLY NARRATED: an off-screen voiceover conveys the
exposition. The voiceover is used to make sense of the visuals
and sound. The narration style is referred to as the voice of
god
e.g. natural history documentaries
FLY ON THE WALL: these documentaries rely almost totally on
observation. The cameras are left to record the subjects without
interference. The camera is unacknowledged by the
participants.
e.g. 24 hours in A&E
MIXED: these use a combination of interview, observation and
narration to advance the narrative.
SELF REFLEXIVE: when the subject of the programme
acknowledge the cameras and often speak directly to the
programme maker behind the camera.
e.g. celebrity profile documentaries
DOCUDRAMA: re-enactment of events they are supposed to
have actually happened. The elements of argument and
exposition are combined with these of a fictional narrative.
e.g. historical documentaries
DOCUSOAP: follows daily lives of particular individuals, usually