Documentary: Genre, Narrative, Realism

We've all seen documentaries as we've grown up in front of the telly. Whether they are Michael Palin's adventures globe trotting around the world or David Attenborough's captivating nature programmes, we use documentaries as a source of trusted information.

The advent of multi-channel TV broadcasting has seen entire channels of documentaries which specialise in various subject matter, so if your interest is history, arts and culture or travel then you will find a channel for you.

As media students we are often less interested in content and more about form - and this is the drive of this project - researching and constructing a documentary exposes what it really takes to find something real and to mediate it for an audience's consumption.

Research Investigation

A good starting place with this essay is with Genre. The most important idea to get your head round straight away is that we are not looking at Genre in terms of the content of the documentary - so you will not be studying a specific subject.

Instead you will be studying what is referred to as the 'mode' of documentary. The key theorist to look at in this project is the writer and academic Bill Nichols who outlined six main 'modes' of documentary:

• Expository
• Poetic
• Participatory
• Observational
• Reflexive
• Performative

...and many others have contributed to his work and ideas since then.

Once you have understood the conventions and functions of these documentaries then you can start to deconstruct their narrative form - that is to say how they engage and position an audience. How do they promote their ideologies and make them seem as though they are common sense.

From here it is not a huge leap to start investigating how Reality is represented and how persuasive these films can be when it comes to making something seem 'normal'.

The key to success in this essay is picking the right documentaries as case studies. You may only choose one - you may have a variety from one genre or across a couple of different genres. However - the best advice is to stay away from documentaries that don't necessarily have a function other than to Inform.

A quick list of documentary filmmakers that might be of interest.

• Michael Moore
• Nick Broomfield
• Frederick Wiseman
• Morgan Spurlock
• Errol Morris
• Godfrey Reggio
• Terrance Davies
• Dziga Vertov

Please note that you cannot study the documentaries of Louis Theroux for this project.

Documentaries are as old as filmmaking itself - and visual style has always been a serious consideration when representing reality.

When posting research always label with your name and : Documentary

Media Product

You will create either a trailer or an opening sequence of a documentary that is based on the findings of your essay. You can choose any subject matter whatsoever to investigate, explore or expose - however the documentary must feel and look as though it fits within the mode(s) of documentary that you've studied.

By recreating the style of a documentary then you should also find that you are representing reality in a similar way - persuading, even manipulating others towards your point of view.

The important thing with this project is to remember that you are going to make something that looks professional and something that has clear connections with your essay - this may make it difficult for you to get exactly the kind of footage you require, therefore...

...script it!

The best way to make sure you get exactly the right codes and conventions for your particular sub-genre of documentary is to write a script, cast actors, storyboard scenes and to know exactly what is going to happen, what people are going to say and when it all takes place. Even if the entire documentary is supposed to look unstaged, unscripted, improvised and spontaneous.

You will be showing the exam board a greater understanding oof how reality is constructed if you can construct it yourself.

 

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