Documentary

The purposeof the documentary is to document, that is to report, with evidence, something that has actually happened. It can show this by using actuality footage re-construction. It can use a narrator's voice over to anchor the meaning or rely on the participants themselves with perhaps the occasional interjection by the narrator.

"Actuality Footage" - 'real' footage of actual events

John Grierson - General Post Office Film Unit in 1930's
Defined documentary as: "the creative treatment of actuality" (or reality)

Features of Documentaries
John Corner of University of Liverpool said there are 5 central elements of a documentary.
-Observation
The programme makers pretend that the camera is unseen or ignored by people taking part in the events. The audience is preserved as the eye witness, witnessing events as they unfold.
-Interview
Most important aspect of a documentary. Documentaries rely heavily on the use of an interview.
-Dramatisation
All documentaries use a sense of drama through the observation element or dramatic re-construction
-Mise-en-Scene
Documentary makers carefully construct shots.
-Exposition
The line of argument in a documentary. It is what the documentary is "saying"

Different types of Documentary
-Fully Narrated
A voice over is used to convery the exposition
The voice over is used to make sense of the visuals and dominates their meaning
e.g natural history documentaries
-Fly on the Wall
Draws on the french film movement of cinema verite (truth)
The camera is unseen or ignored and simply records real events as they unfold
-Mixed
A combination of interview, observation, actuality and archive footage and narration to advance the narrative/argument
-Self-Reflexive
When the subject of the documentary acknowledges the presence of the camera and often speaks directly to the programme maker
-Docudrama
Re-enhancement of events
-Docusoap
Combination of documentary and soap opera
A group of central protagonists

Structure of Documentaries
-Narrative Structure
Open - loose ends which are not tied up at the end (questions left answered)
Closed - there is a definite conclusion to the narrative
Linear - follows chronological order
Non-Linear - things are not in times order
e.g flshback or flashfoward
Circular - Beginning is the same as the end

-Visuals
Television is a visual medium
The programme needs to be visually stimulating. Maintain the audiences interest
Arhive material, street scenes, open countryside, close up of faces = stock footage

Interviews
An interview can be held anywhere, but the mise-en-scene does effect the meaning

Vox Pop (Vox Populis) voice of the people
Grab passersby and ask the same question and edit them for the most interesting

Construction of Reality
Gatekeeping - The selection of rejections of information/content for inclusion in the media text
Editing Process - gatekeeping happens in a documentary, anchorage
The voiceover can also effect the meaning
Properganda - set out to influence the beliefs and opinions of the audience