Documentaries

A documentary is a form of non fiction television or film making which usually documents some sort of real world events going on at the time or events that have happened in the past or could happen in the future. Documentaries are meant to be unstaged and is meant to depict real world goings on. the film maker usually takes a 'fly on the wall' approach which means he should simply sits back and observes instead of getting involved.

Expository documentaries

The expository documentaries main feature is the use a disembodied and authoritative voice over commentary combined with a series of images that aim to be descriptive and informative at the same time. The voice over will tell the audience information about the subject that we would not know without the voice over. An example of an expository documentary narrator is David Attenborough. An expository documentary to make note of is 'We Are The Lambeth Boys' (Karel Reisz, 1958) which fully utilizes the voice over mechanic, we are told the thoughts and feelings of the characters in the documentary. Another example of an expository documentary is Attenborough's 'micro monsters' (David Attenborough, 2013) where he would constantly comment on the animals behavior an describe what they would do in certain situations.


Observational documentaries.

An observational documentary is a documentary that is an unobtrusive construction and depiction of  'High School'(1968 Frederick wiseman). It follows students and teachers around a normal american suburban high school. another example is the reality T.V show 'big brother'. the audience watches a number of people in a house for a number of weeks.
real life. there is usually no film maker involved in the goings on on screen. they are simply a bystander who does not get involved and are hidden from the audience. They usually present a neutral and non judgmental view on the subject matter. One example of an observational documentary

Interactive documentaries.
Interactive documentaries are
documentaries where the filmmakers presence  is evident throughout. they are more or less on screen for the whole documentary. there is interaction between the interviewees, the presenter and the audience. in interactive documentaries manipulative editing is far more evident as the filmmaker usually tries to get some sort of message across. though people often criticize this type of documentary because of the manipulation of the text most filmmakers think the image they convey is more important rather than the details. a good example is the Michael Moore documentary 'Bowling for Columbine' (Michael Moore) where the presenter is present throughout and the imagery Moore tries to get across is evident throughout through his use of imagery and editing. another two examples is 'Louis and the Brothel'. Interactive documentaries can cause problems with access and privacy. If you film someone for a news story and they are above the age of eighteen then that is fine because it is most likely in the public's best interest, however if someone films someone under the age of eighteen then they have to sign a form and can not be filmed until they have signed that form. Locations are more or less the same, government buildings and important files cant be filmed without a form being signed .




Reflexive Documentaries
A reflexive documentary is when the film maker directly attempts to point out to the audience the common conventions of a documentary. The whole construction is more or less torn apart and experimented with. The shots are still shots are every day life but are used and put together differently to make a vastly different experience for the audience. an example of a reflexive documentary is 'Territories'(Isaac Julien,1984). Another example of a reflexive documentary is 'man with a movie camera' (Dziga Vertov, 1929).


Performative Documentaries

 The performative documentary represents the world indirectly an the emphasis is more on presentation rather than content. The use of re-enactments is a heavily used tool in performative documentaries and exaggerated camera angels and soundtracks all help draw the audience in to the diegeses. The aim is to present the subject matter in a expressive ,stylised, evocative and visceral manner. good examples of performative documentaries are the British consumer rights documentaries such as 'don't get done, get Dom' and 'cowboy builders.' where Dom would purposely set up situations to catch the 'cowboy builders'.





Conclusion
I think that documentaries are a good way to show real life through a media text. Although the filmmaker has control over what we see I think we are given a good example of reality. I do think that the filmmaker has a responsibility to tell us the truth however, I understand that  if the filmmaker has a message that he/she wants to get across they will want to show make the documentary in a way that conveys that message.