The first type of documentary is an expository one, these
usually have a voiceover explaining the images on screen giving facts and
informative information on the topic. It emphasises its points and explains what's going on, on screen in a firm authoritative voice a example of this is The Queen mother, this has moving images of real footage and a voiceover explaining the life of those in the shots.
The observational documentary records and
shows events and real life depictions of those involved with no involvement of the
director, the documentary focusing on having a natural opinion with no biases. a example of this is Nanook of the north, in the hour and 20 minute film it follows the life of northern eskimos, with no narrator and only observational images it shows the life of the people and how they live.
The next type is the interactive documentary in this the director is present
and can be seen interviewing or giving their own opinion on the subject,
arguing and talking face to face with the interviewees, for example Kurt and Courtney, with direct involvement of the director Nick Broomfield and live interviews with participants, on a interesting topic, murder, to make the documentary interesting.
A reflexive documentary
is like the interactive accept the director attempts to expose the true meaning
of the topic and captures everyday life to create a heartfelt and raw message.
Lastly a performance documentary involves movie style footage and recreations
to amplify the severity of the situation to the audience and focus’ on the
stylized version of the subject to make the audience feel more engaged, a example of this is man with a movie camera, a Russian documentary that shows the raw life's of the soviet citizens and the life they live and their struggles.
My personal favourite of the 5 is the interactive or the
performance style of filming, in the interactive the director gets to become
part of the work and gets a chance not to just be stuck behind the camera and
is able to express their opinions freely and become more engrossed with the
process. The performance documentaries are the ones I watch the most, as a
visual learner I enjoy seeing the live action footage and being able to
visualize the events to understand the whole situation and become more
connected with the characters. A example of this is TLC documentary shows like the health stories with reconstructions and real stories.
I find the observational documentary’s the most unbiased as
they don’t contain interviews to present people’s opinions or the argumentative
side of the directors involvement either therefore no feelings about the matter
by the people involved can be expressed.
Personally I feel though some are used purely for
entertainment like medical stories and weird occurrences like my strange
addiction, some genuinely show real issues our planet and the people face in
cultures and different parts of the world, and it is important for us to have
knowledge of the issues others face and understand more about the people we
live with as a society, for example blue planet.
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