Television- Documentaries

Examples:

• Who Do You Think You Are?
• 9/11: The Falling Man
• Life on Earth- David Attenborough 
• When Boris Met Dave
• Supersize She
• Educating Yorkshire/Essex/Cardiff
• My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding 
• Dynamo:Magician Impossible 
• Gleeful- The Real Show Choir's of America 
• MacIntyre Undercover- Chelsea Headhunters

Format

Documentaries typically run in series' over the course of around 4-8 weeks with a new episode being broadcast weekly. Other documentaries are one off episodes and are considered 'Documentary Films'. This genre often appears on our televisions during the evening at around 8 or 9 o'clock. Documentaries aim to inform, and give the audience an inside view of a certain topic or event. They usually last for an hour and have one or occasionally two presenters. However some documentaries don't have any presenters, such a Making a Murderer. This show has no presenter

Appeals
Documentaries offer the audience information and in some cases, personal identification. A lot of documentaries are filmed in familiar settings such as urban streets and family homes, however they usually follow a more extreme and unfamiliar narrative. This allows the audience to associate with the documentary allowing them to fully emerge themselves in the "story". Hand held, POV shots are also used in documentaries particularly covert documentaries such as MacIntyre Undercover and The Hidden Enemy, making the audience sympathise with the camera man/woman, making the events feel closer to home, creating a sense of personal identification. Documentaries are based on facts and aim to uncover more facts and evidence as the programme goes on providing the audience with information.

Target Audience

Documentaries are often thought of as a programme for a more elderly audience, however documentaries have become so varied and wide spread, they attract a diverse audience. For example, CBBC have started their own documentary series called "My Life" in which they choose a topic each week and explore more about it, such as living with autism or becoming a ballet dancer, this attracts a younger audience from around the ages of 7-12, whilst also maintaining the attention of their parents. Because documentaries do cover such spectrum of topics its difficult to give the genre as a whole a target audience, however most are aimed towards Explorers or potentially Reformers. They fulfil their needs of discovery and enlightenment. They also allow the reformers to make their own mind up about the topic or event because they provide them with more information so that they can make a more informed decision. 

Opening Sequence

 Eg- https://youtu.be/1NenCBS3AQc

The opening sequence of Sir David Attenborough's Life of Mammals, uses a montage of wild animals. Each clip fades into the next, layering the images creating a dream like atmosphere. This feeling is heightened by the use of slow motion, back lighting and calming music. The slow motion emphasises the movements of each animal, making them appear powerful, majestic and some what hypnotising. The back lighting adds to the dream like feel, with the sun often beaming through the gaps around the animal, creating a shadowy outline of the creature adding a sense of mystery. The music is an soothing, orchestral music consisting of trumpets, violins and symbols to create a mature, soothing sound.

Setting

Documentaries are set in real life places such as a desert or street with no studios or special effects involved. This also adds to the authenticity and sense of trust that the audience are placing in the facts and information provided by the documentary.

Technical Codes

Documentaries often use handheld POV shots which encourages personal identification with the audience and also adds a sense of jeopardy. They also use secondary shots from other sources such as security cameras or hidden cameras. This validates the information they are giving and also allows them to get shots that would be impossible to retrieve themselves with a huge television camera. 

Characters & Representations

In most documentaries there are five distinct characters, the presenter who conducts the research, the expert (often a policeman or scientist), the victim, the criminal and the general public who offer an outsiders view. Even though documentaries are non-fiction they still have a narrative and aim to hold their audiences attention just as a drama or soap opera would. In David Attenborough the victims are often the prey, whilst the criminals are the predators. Even though the life cycle is a vital and natural event, theses types of documentaries makes the audience fear for the prey even in cases where they already know the outcome. 

Narrative
Documentaries follow a presenter, uncovering more information, providing evidence and facts for the audience. Like Todorov suggests their is often a disruption mid way through the documentary. The scan be either in the event itself or in the search for information. However it is then repaired or at least uncovered. A lot of documentaries also look at some binary oppositions such as truth vs myth and the impossible vs possible.