AN INTRO TO DOCUMENTARY

documentary (dɒkjʊˈmɛnt(ə)ri) n.“The creative treatment of actuality.” – John Grierson.

• John Grierson was a pioneering documentary maker who first defined the term documentary.

• Documentaries are films, television or radio programmes that provide and document factual reports on a topic in order to inform, educate and entertain their audience.

TYPES OF DOCUMENTARIES

FULLY NARRATED• Has a voice-over which helps

the audience understand the documentary by explaining the visuals, giving additional information, facts, historical context, etc.

• Fully narrated documentaries use the “Voice of God” which makes the narrator appear more authoritative and makes the audience take what they say as the truth.

FLY ON THE WALL• The events are portrayed

candidly and are not staged which creates a raw and real element to the documentary.

• Fly on the Wall documentaries is influenced by the Direct Cinema/Cinéma Vérité movement which observes and captures the events in a natural setting/environment.

DOCU-SOAP• A long running documentary

that follows a group of people around in both their professional and daily lives.

DOCU-DRAMA• A film or television show which

portrays real people and real life events.

• A dramatized re-enactment of real life events.

SELF-REFLEXIVE• The filmmaker/subject

acknowledges the presence of the camera and often talks directly to it in order to communicate with the audience.

MIXED• A combination of interviews,

observations, narration, actual footage and archived material.

• Nowadays, this is the most common type of documentary for it combines all the different types of documentary methods.