Documentaries Genres.

There are many different styles off documentaries. I have chosen to look at six different types.

Participatory Documentary: This is when the film maker gets involved within the actual film. The film maker changes the dynamics of the film with what he says within the interviews. he changes the view on what people say and think. an example that we use for the presentations was a film by Michael moore. In most of his films he likes to contribute and test the people that are involved.

Example: I have chosen to use Living with michael Jackson with Martin Bashir. i have chosen to use this as an example as he is a person that interviews and gets involved with different activites while interviewing, to make it more exciting. He speak over the different activities setting a mood giving a different perspective to what is going on he says about it being 'a different Michael Jackson to what the world normally see'

Poetic Documentary: This is an more artistic type of documentary. it moves away from reality. its  more visual  than others and the music also plays a big part within the documentary. The music sets the mood and then the visual imagery tells the story.

Example: I felt that this is a representation of poetic documentary as over the top of most of the footage there is a subtle song being played over the top. this sets the mood. the music starts slow giving a sense of 'sad' emotion but then it speeds up along with the footage setting a new mood.



Expository Documentary: this type of documentary is more narrative. The narrator speaks directly to the viewers. They may ask rhetorical questions , also the narrator voice has to be a certain tone to draw the viewers in getting their attention. a good example of this is David Attenbrough. his voice is very descriptive. It draws many people in and makes the film more enjoyable to watch.

Example: I have chosen this David Attenbrough documentary as i felt it best fit in expository documentary. he voice is very clear and bold, he speaks to the viewers not t anyone else, he narrates and asks question, but may answer them himself with different facts throughout the documentary



Observational Documentary: The film maker holds the camera in his hands. This is like a pint off view filming. there are no interviews within an observational  there is also no narrator, the filming is just where the film maker goes and what he sees, however in this type of documentary there are different filming styles. e.g. pan shot, extended shot.

Example: I have chosen to use this 'Big joe joyce' as my example of observational documentary as in the  the documentary you can tell that the film maker is holding the camera, the main character is talking to the man and the camera is just filming at the same time.




Performative Documentary: In this type of documentary they reenact differnt scence that happened within the story they are telling. they are dramatized, making it more effective and bigger thanc it actually was. this catches the reader attention making it more interesting. an example of a performative documentary is 'touching the void' based on two men that had a rough experience on a mountain climb. this has re-enacted parts that make the documentary.
Example: Throughout this documentary there are various parts that are acted out to give the full feeling and experience of what the climbers went through, they are professional actors in the same conditions that the real life story would be told, however they are only there for a small amount of time, not As long as the actors where.


Reflective Documentary:The director of the film will cast himself in the film. he will base the story on the film makers own experience. They aid the audience in their understanding. it shows the audience on how the film is made and the complications withing a documentaries with all the different filming re-enactments and interviews. reflective documentaries are normally based on things that have occurred meaning there are all real. an example of this is 'All is mayhem'.


Example: i have chosen this documentary as due to who it is about, is also to producer he explains about how difficult the competition what and what he is up against in the skating competitions.