The purpose of a documentary is to document, to report with eveidence of something that has actually happened. It can show this by using actual footage or reconstructions.
It can use a narrators voice over to anchor the the meaning or rely on the participents themselves, with perhaps occasional comments from an unseen narrator.
Types of Documentary:
Fly on the Wall (Verité)- Appears as truthful as possible.
Current Affairs, Topicallity - In-depth look at a news item.
TV and Radio use documentaries a lot. Documentaries have different styles, eg, 'panarama' is serious and formal compared to 'how it's made' which is informal and laidback.
Different Techniques
Observation - The programme makes pretend the cameras are 'unseen'. This genre is also known as 'fly on the wall'.
Interview - Don't look at the camra; look at the person interviewing you.
Mise-En-Scené - Is a vital factor to a successful documentary.
Narrative - This aspect must be perfect. This gives the documentary a clear beginning, middle and end. The beginning shows dramatic footage and gets the audiences attention. The middle adds more detail and involves conflict and arguement into the documentary. The end covers a conclusion and resolves the exposition, leaving you with either a open or closed documentary.
Dramatic Conflict - between two (or more) people of two (or more) different opinions.
Exposition - What the documentary is saying and what point it is trying to get across.
Off-screen Voice-over - The technique which is commonly known as the "voice of God". This is a technique which is used when the documentary is fully narrated.
Mixed Combined interviews, obvservation, narration, found footage.
Vox Pops Street Interviews with the general public - Ask all the same question
Constructions situations + locations, individuals, camera, time, music/sound/edit.
Filmings Cut aways, cut in's, variety of shots, still-zoom-still, varied shots in interviews.
