Genre Analysis-Type of documentary

Types of documentaries

• Fully narrated/Expository: An off screen voiceover makes sense of the footage. They tell the audience the meaning of the images
• Fly on the wall/observation: The camera is tehre but it is unseen or ignored by the people within the documentary. It records real time events and allows viewers to come to their own conclusion about the documentary
• Mixed: A mixed documentary uses a combination of features advancing the argument. In a mixed documentary the narrator is usually infront of the camera.
• Self reflective: Subject of documentary talks directly to the camera
• Docudrama: re-inactment of the event as though it has happened/is happening. A fictional story uses techniques of a documentary to enforce realisation
• Docusoap: The programme follows the lives of individuals and the audience get to know the characters
• Gate Keeper: The selection and rejection of information by the editors

Narratives

• Open: Where no answers have been given and there is no conclusion, therefore the audience are left to make up their own mind about the documentary
• Closed: There is one definite outcome, so the ending has a ready made conclusion
• Single-stranded: The documentary follows one theme throughout the entire documentary
• Non-linear: There is no chronological order of information that is given out. Flashbacks are used
• Linear: Documentary is told in order with a beginning, a middle and an end
• Circle: A question is aked at the beginning and then it is revised or revisited at the end

Documentaries rely on a traditional narrative eg. A beginning, a middle, and an end. The most dramatic footage is used at the beginning of the documentary and the beginning of the documentary must pose a question. The middle often explores and examines the issue and it looks at peoples opinions, therefore the conflict at the beginning is strengthened. At the end of the documentary there is the exposition. The audience has no or very little doubt about the argument.

Three main types of documentaries

• Compilation film: made up of archive images
• Interview or talking heads: people talking
• Direct cinema: event recorded as it is happening

Current affairs:

• Mid-way between documentaries and the news,they address news and politics
• Journalist led programmes andd emphasis to points
• Looking at political scandals
• Based around a journalist report-arguing a case or proving it wrong
• Reporter may be infront of the screen or may have a voice over

Examples of current affairs:

• BBC two news night
• C4 dispatchers
• Tonight with Trevor McDonald

Reality:

• Where real events take place known as infotainment-this is a combination of entertainment and information
• Reality TV: an example of reality TV is police camera action, it is a mix of raw, authentic material with a seriousness of an information program. Cam corders, survailence and observation is used to be based around emergency programs which are based recently on ordinary people this allows the audience to find it appealing.