I would define a documentary as a Programme or film that entertains but also gives information about specific topics to the people that want them. The fact that there can be a documentary for every topic ever means that there will always be one that is suited for someone.
An expository documentary is self-explanatory. They are used to ‘expose’ a person or a topic and usually have a commentator talking over pictures or images. It is all biased on facts and opinions. Some examples would be WWI and WWII documentaries. They show pictures and old movies of the war, paste them together to show what happened back in the war.
An observational documentary will usually be about specific people and how they live their lives. They can often be filmed on hand held cameras but there is never usually a voice over. You only hear the opinion of the person you’re filming. An example of this documentary would be a lot of reality TV like Big Brother and the only way is Essex. Although they may not seem like documentaries, they are all observational as you are watching over someone and how they live.
A performative documentary is where the film maker addresses the audience in a opinionated and emotive way while keeping the form of a narrative structure. The film may not even have a conclusive ending to it. A lot of documentaries that discuss religion and how the world started are made in this form this is because these are topics that are opinionated so you need your film maker to show his or her opinion. Dramatisations are used a lot in this type of documentary as well because it can show you or give an example of what might of happened. These how ever may be fictionalised and people may look at it in the wrong way. Say there was a re enactment of a murder. The people making the programme may not know what had actually happened making the Dramatisation fictional. This then isn't the truth and people will still think it is.
These are similar to interactive Documentaries in the way that the film maker has a opinion on the subject and you will usually tend to side with him. This can then depend on if you actually like the film maker or not. In this type of documentary, the film maker will talk directly to you as if he was trying to push a point to you. This makes the experence of these much more personal.
A reflexive documentary is one where the film maker accepts their presents to the camera and the viewer is just as interested in the content of the film as they are with how it was made. They always focus on realism and they don’t use editing or special effects.
A performance documentary is where the film maker addresses the audience in a opinionated and emotion way while keeping the form of a narrative structure. They film may not even have a concussive ending to it. A lot of documentaries that discuss religion and how the world started are made in this form. This is because these topics are opinionated so you need your film maker to show his or her opinion.
For all documentaries and shows, you will always need to use releases and permissions to shoot and show the product. A location release is a legal document that you would get the land owner to sign for you to have permision to shoot there. You will also need Talent release if your shooting a particular person. You don't always need legal documents to shoot people or places. OfCom is a legal body for film and tellivision and they set the rules and guide lines for shooting. Under the section of Warrents, it says this, “In this section "warranted" has a particular meaning. It means that where broadcasters wish to justify an infringement of privacy as warranted, they should be able to demonstrate why in the particular circumstances of the case, it is warranted. If the reason is that it is in the public interest, then the broadcaster should be able to demonstrate that the public interest outweighs the right to privacy. Examples of public interest would include revealing or detecting crime, protecting public health or safety, exposing misleading claims made by individuals or organisations or disclosing incompetence that affects the public”. This means that they would be able to shoot in that particular Location.
I think a Documentary need to provide the truth as best it can. It is the film maker’s responsibility to do this in as much detail as they can. They must also make sure that the documentary shows both sides of the argument if there is one. The audience need to be able to make up their own mind about something and not just be spoon fed information.
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