Research:Theories and Concepts

●Documentaries focus on events and actual people
●Documentaries allow the viewer to form an opinion on whom or what we are viewing.
●Documentaries produce on average an hour film presenting us with factual information about the subject.


There are 3 different types of documentaries; Compilation film, Talking Heads and Direct cinema.

Compilation Film- The documentary is made up of a selection of archive images such as news footage and photographs.
Talking Heads- This is also known as interview. This is were interviews take place either formally or informally depending on the documentary style, they are asked about people events and social movements.
Direct Cinema- The documentary will have been recorded as it happens with little/none interference from the crew.

Documentaries usually use a narrative form. They can use several techniques; voice over, interviews, observations, existing footage and existing music. However modern documentaries use fewer techniques as they want them to appear observational as this makes the viewer feel voyeur as a viewer.

To anchor the audience in, documentary makers use parallelism to allow the audience to create parallels between characters, settings and situations.

The codes and conventions to a documentary are closely stuck to however you can use different aspects to create and interesting mind proving documentary. A huge percentage of documentaries used non-character narration otherwise referred to as ‘voice of god’ this is were you cannot see who is speaking. They can use a narrator, and he/she is visible throughout. Using a narrator enables the viewer to understand the plot information at ease. Voices we are familiar with are often used as this encourages us to trust the information we are being presented with.

Lighting in documentaries is usually very natural as they want to create realism as this makes the viewer believe in the validity of the information being given

Hand held camera is the most common technique used in documentaries as this creates the effect of the viewer being personally involved and following the story on a personal level.

Four main editing techniques are used; fade out, fade in, dissolve and wipe. Editing is an essential for all documentaries as it can create an interruption of an event in a simpler form.

Fade Out- This is when an image gradually fades into black.
Fade In- This is were an image gradually fades into white.
Dissolve- This is when two shots overlap each other. They are superimposed from one to the next.
Wipe- This is were a shot is replaced by another shot using a line which moves across the screen.

There are two types of sound; diegetic and non diegetic. Documentaries used a lot of non diegetic sound as this encourages the audience to respond in a certain manner.

Diegetic- This is when the sound comes from the source in the documentary
Non Diegetic- This is when a sound has been added in the editing process. E.g. music

There are 7 different Genre’s of Documentaries; Expository, Observational, Docusoaps, Reality TV, Interactive, Drama-Documentary and Current Affairs.

Expository- The main asset to an expository documentary is the feature of the ‘voice of god’ narration which address the viewer personally. These styles of documentaries are based upon a problem needing to be solved.

Observational- These can also be known as ‘fly on the wall’. The idea is to create dramatic tension/excitement by the viewer feeling that they are there, they create this effect by avoiding voice over’s or narration and the camera being unobtrusive. They also use techniques such as; indirect address, diegetic sound and long takes to show that the documentary hasn’t been edited and you are watching truthful footage. Observational documentaries focus on one person or a family/group.

Docusoaps- Docusoaps are similar to observational as they using the same theme’s however Docusoaps are a series like a soap opera and the follow people on a daily or weekly scheduling.

Reality TV- Reality TV is a mix of ‘raw’ and ‘authentic’ archive. Reality TV is created by a mix of; observational work, eye witness testimonies, studio links and presenter commentaries.

Interactive- This genre of documentary is not as widely used today. It let’s the viewer know that the camera’s and crew are there. They create the idea for the viewer that the information is valid and reliable however this is not always true as they ask loaded questions to specific people.

Drama-documentary- The main asset to this genre is the reconstruction and re-enactments of past events. Drama-documentary is often biased towards the subject being identified. To create impact in reconstructions they use slow motion and specific music.
Docudrama- a fictional story that uses documentary style techniques to reinforce realism.
Dramadoc- a documentary reconstruction of actual events.

Current Affairs- These aim to go into greater depth of news and politics then standard news. These either argue a case or prove it wrong. An example of this style is News Night. Factual accuracy is a priority for this genre.

When creating documentaries you can come across a lot of dilemmas. It is rare for footage to be broad casted unedited as editing can change the meaning of the footage in either a negative or positive way. BBC and ITV guidelines affect the final edit of any genre of documentary.