Codes and Conventions of Documentaries

Editing:

• A cut is most commonly used in documentaries because it does not distract from the story line
• Sometimes superimpositions are used to show the story leading on to an interview or another part of the single stranded storyline
• Editing should be subtle and unnoticable to the audience
• Editing techniques can be used on archive material
• Visuals or chromokey are often used during interviews to show what the interviewee is talking about
• Well paced interviews no longer than 1 or 2 minutes
• Can effect the reality of the situation and allow the audience to see an event in a different way to reality

Voiceover:

• Holds the narrative together and makes sense of the images on screen
• Will be authoritive, making the audience believe that they have specialist knowledge
• Often male voice, although female voicovers are becoming more common
• Well spoken voiceover with no accent
• A voiceover often occurs when an interviewee is speaking and the interviewee takes over the voicover for the duration of their interview
• Calm and clear delivery of the voiceover
• Standard english is used
• They must be of the relevant age and gender

Camerawork

• Depends very much on the type of documentry and can vary lots throughout one documentary
• Camera work is creative and varies for the type of documentary
• Conventional framing is used
• Rule of thirds used in interviews
• Interviewee is framed to the left or right of the screen during an interview
• Often the camera is static on a tripod
• Some documentaries use hand held shots to appear more realistic
• P.O.V shot sometimes used to position the audience in the action
• Establishing shots used to situate the documentary

Interviews:

• If there is more than one interview the positioning of the interviewees alternates
• Filmed in medium shot, medium close up and close up
• The filmmaker rarely speaks in interviews (Questions edited out)
• Mise en scene- background reinforces the content of the interview or is relevant to the interviewee, providing more information about them in terms of occupation or personal environment
• The interviewee looks at the interviewer, not directly at the camera
• Positioning of the interviewer is therefore important. If the interviewee is on the right of the frame, the interviewer is on the left of the camera.
• The interviewer should sit or stand as close to the camera as possible
• Framing follows the rule of thirds-eye line roughly a third of the way down the screen.
• Sometimes anonymous interviews are filmed in very dark lighting
• If the interview is not anonymous there are no bright lights behind the interviewee
• Cutaways are edited into the videos to break up interviews and illustrate what they're talking about and to avoid jump cuts where questions have been edited out
• Cutaways are either of archive material or a reinactment or another part of the documentary which has relevance.
• The interviewee should never be infront of a window or with the sun behind them
• Cutaways are filmed after the interview or they are archive material

Archive Material:

• The camera would move eg, pan, zoom when filming still archive material such as news paper cuttings or photographs
• Use a variety of relevant material to the documentary
• If chromokey is used it is often blurred out or sublte, so it does not distract from the interview
• Relevent music is used during archive material which does not interfear with the voiceover of the interviewee
• Use a variety of material
• Sound is often put with still arcive material, it is relevent but does not take away from the image

Graphics:

• Graphics anchor who someone is and their relevence to the documentary, eg their name, and title. Dr Wilson, Gemmas GP
• Can anchor a time frame
• Simple details usually 2 lines
• Cannot distract from the footage on screen
• Their name is slightly bigger than what their role is