Documentary Research and Analysis

Typical Examples:

Planet Earth - BBC
Walking with Dinosaurs - BBC
Life in the undergrowth - BBC
The Insider - BBC
Natural World - BBC

Format-
Documentaries normally come formatted into a single series lasting multiple episodes or as one compact epic-length feature that normally comes in a film like form due to its length, an example of this is National History's 'History of the World in 2 Hours'. Shows like this tend to be scheduled for a later time due its mature nature not being as applicable to children as it is to adults, so normally after the watershed. There are multiple different ways that the episodes themselves are formatted however. For example, a documentary such as ones that follow an event or the life of a person, will tend to have a story that will unfold and draw to a resolution by the end. Examples of this are:

Appeals:

In terms of the uses and gratifications of a documentary, most will satisfy all of them. Social interaction would be a reason for consuming a documentary as friends and colleagues may watch this type of media in order to spark a debate about the event portrayed or about the person portrayed. Someone may watch a documentary for personal identity so they can see more about an event/person which/who is more close to home, for example Hillsborough (2016). Also, documentaries may be used as entertainment or escapism from our lives as we may watch it to view the life of someone else or we may find the documentary about something captivating and so we become immersed in the show. Examples of this are, Planet Earth and Walking with Dinosaurs.
However, the most prominent of all of the appeals is the gratification of education and our desire for information. This is because these documentaries make us feel more informed about our world or about the world before us or maybe even the world in the future. All of the previous mentioned examples would fit this gratification as that is what the main purpose of a documentary is.

In terms of the lines of appeal, only two of these, in my opinion, are satisfied. These being the need for autonomy and the need for escape. The need for autonomy only really comes into certain documentaries such as most BBC documentaries where it allows for the audience to interact with them via email or social media in which it allows for your opinion to be considered however, it isn't a typical convention for the genre as a whole but more dependant on the developer or broadcaster. An example of this is Panorama.
The need for escape is a lot more prominent in documentaries as a whole however, as it immerses the viewer into the environment in order to create a sense of sympathy from the viewer so that the viewer can understand the situation portrayed better. This is done through the use of dramatizations of events which allows for the viewer to be in the same position as the person in question. An example of this is the Hillsborough documentary previously cited.


Target Audience:

The target audience is mostly either those affected or those who would wish to see a different perspective of an event they witnessed such as Hillsborough or something larger scale such as WW2. It mostly targets an older and more mature audience as it is something that requires a certain sense of autonomy in order to consume as well as some maturity in order to understand. Furthermore, many of these documentaries will play of the audiences empathetic and sympathetic emotions which can only be played on if the audience has knowledge of the world. Personally, I believe an aspirer may watch this documentary in order to flaunt a sense of knowledgeability and intellect. However, I believe it mainly applies to explorers or people who wish to get a varied and broad experience of the world and due to their recency, explorers do have the ability to be first on the topic. In terms of lifestyle categories, the most common audience would consist of: Innovators, Puritans and Utopians. Innovators want to leave their mark on the world and therefore, being more informed about the world they live in would make them more capable of fulfilling their needs. Puritans may watch a TV documentary for the same reasons as an innovator however, a puritan has less interest in making their mark on the world with the knowledge gained from the documentary but having that knowledge go to fulfilling their duty. Finally, a utopian would want to know the way of the world and everything inside it and so watching a documentary would make them more knowledgable and possibly more capable of helping to create a utopian society.

Opening Sequence:

The visuals are quite blunt and professional with not gimmicks and no comedic elements. This shows us instantly that is quite serious but the use of an elite person (David Attenborough) shows us that this going to be a documentary, but more specifically a nature documentary. Furthermore, the use of an orchestral opening in terms of the audio shows us that this is going to be more formal in nature however, the use of drums shows that it is also going to be intense or high action. The slow panning of the camera paces us for the show to be slow but with a build up and conclusion which is shown when the name is revealed.