Documentary Essay

Documentaries are produced to convey information to the viewer through the use of media. There are five different types of documentaries, Expository, Observatory, Interactive, Reflexive, Performative.

In Expository documentaries the narrator talks actively to the audience telling them what is happening. during this images and videos will be shown on the screen to accompany the voice over. During this documentary non of the camera crew nor the narrator/presenter will be seen on screen. An example of this is The Lambert Boys, during the film the camera crew follows the boys to social events and their workplace with aim to record an average week in their lives.

In Observatory documentaries the audience are given a small few weeks or days into the animal or persons life, An example of a observatory documentary is Africa where a film crew hid themselves out of sight and followed certain animals around 'observing' their daily life.

Two male lions recorded mid fight, during this the camera man is hidden out of sight and the narrator is not present at the seen.

Interactive documentaries are where the presenter is visible on screen and the camera crew are often seen on other cameras,  Bowling for Columbine is an example of interactive documentary as it follows one man as he discovers more about the USA loose gun laws and the link to high homicide rates. In this the documentary the film maker narrates the images as well as stars in some of the video clips. Editing is used to change the audiences opinion of the subject, for example in a scene the filmmaker goes to a bank and creates an account to receive a free firearm, In the documentary the filmmaker fills out a form and recieves a gun the same day but in reality the man had to wait a week and then he put on the same cloths and pretended he got it the same day, this is to show that it would be easy to receive a gun.

 

To film at non public areas the crew need to have permission to film at the selected location as the location owners need to know what their property is being used for. If this is not done the owners can press charges and/or stop the documentary from being aired. When filming a person camera crews have to ask permission to film the individual and if the individual asks not to be filmed because the event is private the film crew must obey. this can limit what actually makes the final cut and what the audience sees and knows.

Reflexive documentaries are where the documentary is focused on a individual and does not have a set agenda on what will be capture but instead will be recorded freely and when the opportunity arises An example of this is a man called Louis Theroux meets Jimmy Savile in this documentary Louis follows Jimmy and asks Jimmy multiple questions of which are quite personal for example;asking about his dead mother and his connection to her. In documentaries like this editing can affect the overall message portrayed by the interview, for example in one scene Louis asks jimmy a question and a long pause is inserted consisting of multiple shots of Jimmy looking at Louis puzzled and/or confused before answering, this makes it look like the answer had to be thought of and could be a lie.  

An example of a Performative documentary is Tongues Tied which is a silent film that shows a clips of a black gay dancer who lives in a homophobic racist New York, the silence throughout the film represents the silence of the man as he feels he cannot express himself. Camera crew and filmmaker are not visible in the documentary. People dramatize their documentaries to show that you do not need a voice over. Some Performative  documentaries have music that originates from where the film is based eg, Australia would use a Didgeridoo. 

In conclusion the filmmaker does not have to be truthful to the viewer as seen in Bowling for Columbine where a scene is shot a week later but shown as though it was the same day. Film makers edit the footage to make it more entertaining or/and to help support a point that the film maker is trying to make.