Research and Analyse of Documentaries

Research and Analyse of Documentaries 

Typical examples of Documentaries

• Blackfish
• Cowspiracy
• Racing Extinction 
• Virunga
• Chasing Ice
• Earthlings

Format

The format of these documentaries are typically 1 - 2  hour long broadcast, however there are some documentaries that run in a series, for example 'Making a Murderer' these are less common that the 1 - 2 hour broadcast. Documentaries are scheduled to broadcast when its an anniversary of an event, for example on September 11th there are several documentaries that talk about the 911 attacks.  Or if a topic that relate to the documentary is popular in the news. A typical documentary features videos that have been filmed by the audience and also some professional video clips, it also has people that relate to whatever the documentary is about so for example if it was a documentary about 911 then it would have eye witnesses, members of emergency services talking about the event. 

Appeals

Documentary appeal to audience for many reason due to the uses & gratification model. The audience will have more knowledge about a certain topic meaning they are able to socially interact with people when out. Also the audience will watch documentary to educate themselves about certain events and topics.

Target Audience

I think the main target audience would typically be adults between the age of 20 - 55. In the lifestyle category it will be aimed towards the innovators and the utopians because most documentaries have a message about changing the world and ways people can help.

Opening Sequence 

The visuals in this documentary tell us that the characters in this documentary are not actors and are in fact real people that have a part in the events that happened, the audience know this because you see clips from handheld cameras that feature people that are then interviewed later on in the documentary.
Many of the camera shots are close up during the interviews because the audience are able to see the emotion on the peoples faces as they talk about what happened. Also the editing in this documentary is very slow pace and slow transactions between clips because it makes it seem even more dramatic.

Setting

Documentary's don't have a set setting. They can film the interviews anywhere, however most of the interviews in this documentary tend to be in an outdoor space or what seems to be a studio. But some documentary's film their interviews in various spaces such as that are linked to what the documentary is about.

Technical codes

One shot type that is used a lot through out documentary's is close up shots, close up shots are used during the interviews in the documentary. Close up shots are used