A documentary can be defined as many different things such as a knowledge based programme with numerous amount of facts which are presented to the viewer throughout the programme. However , a definition which is given to us by John Grierson states that a documentary is a "creative interpretation of actuality". This gives people the opportunity to analyse this in a certain way. Many people would perceive this definition as a programme in which shows us real life with a creativity imposed. This creativity could be in the form of editing , adding music or soundtracks so that the audience get a certain message through the manipulation of the footage. In today's world documentaries play an important part of the television that we watch with channels being created for the purpose of just showing documentaries. These documentaries which are shown on a channel such as the discovery channel can be stereotyped. These type of documentaries are aimed at men/women which are of middle age. However, all documentaries can be manipulated in order to entice a different audience.
As I have mentioned above John Grierson gave us his definition of what a documentary is which he stated is a "creative interpretation of actuality". As John Grieson was a Scottish documentary maker he understood what concepts had to be included within. The definition that Grieson has given us is open to interpretation. John mentions "actuality" which to many people will be the showing of real life. The creativity side of the definition means that the maker of the documentary has again used certain techniques to be able to manipulate certain footage within a documentary to send out a certain message. This can be done with the use of certain music/effects and editing. This then leads to the question of "can real life be captured in the real world". It is hard to capture the real life in a documentary because as soon as the creator starts to inter fear with the footage and starts to add effects such as a voice over and starts editing the footage, this is no longer "real life". I believe that it is an impossible task to be able to capture real life on camera unless the footage is unedited. Another point I would like to consider about documentaries is that fact of is it right that certain documentaries which deal with delicate subjects. There is an ethical element that has to be considered. Documentaries which want to show a certain event which shows horrific scenes from something like a war I believe shouldn't be shown due to the number of ethical concerns.
Documentaries can take on a different forms. These forms are either realist which is the imposition of minimal recorded material such as that in a "fly on the wall" documentary. The next is a formalist documentary in which imposes a particular narrative structure on the recorded material such as that in "fly in soup" documentary. The last form that a documentary can take is a subjective documentary which expresses the film makers personal vision within the documentary. However, any documentary can use a mixture of the three forms above as it is seen in modern day documentaries.
There are also many different types of modes in which these documentaries can take. These are Poetic modes, expository mode, observational mode, Participatory mode, Reflexive mode and performative mode. Poetic mode first appeared in the 1920s, were a sort of reaction against both the content and the rapidly improving grammar of the early fiction documentaries. The poetic mode moved away from continuity editing and instead organized images of the material world. Expository mode means that in the documentaries the the viewer is being directly spoken to viewer by a voice over in a narration. The voice over tries to persuade the viewer to agree with the certain argument that is being put across.
Observational mode are documentaries in which try to observe modern day life in a less intrusive manner because of the improvement in technology. This allowed many documentary makers to make a variety of documentaries without the need to make it obvious that filming was taking place. Participatory mode states that it is highly unlikely or impossible for the filming of the documentary not to influence the events that will take place when filming. In this mode we get an understanding of how the film makers presence influence the events that do take place whilst filming.
Reflexive mode are documentaries in which clearly demonstrates the consciousness of the power of reading within the documentary. These documentaries lead us to think of how the world in represented within the documentary. The last mode that a documentary can take is the performative mode. This type of documentary stresses about the emotional response to the documentary. They are designed to make us experience what it might be like for us to possess a certain specific perspective on the world that is not our own.
Within a documentary there may also be that of editing techniques used to disguise certain aspects of footage. This may be carried out on a interview which certain parts may have had to be re shot for some reason. This use of "cut - aways" will disguise the way that the footage within the documentary has been manipulated. The documentary maker may also want to allocate a certain setting for each an individual person within the documentary. This would allow the audience to recognise immediately who this person is.
In modern day documentaries the use of titles/title sequences would have been used. The opening title sequence will allow the audience to be able to understand the genre of the whole documentary. This should allow the audience to immediately know what the documentary is all about without having to watch any of it. Throughout many documentaries there will be especially when people are being interviewed and or questioned a title on screen to give there name and sometimes their profession (if it is linked with the documentary). This is an extremely good way of allowing the audience to find out numerous amounts of information about people on screen.
Throughout a variety of different documentaries , effects may be added to the footage to create a sense of remembrance to the audience. Many documentaries may have many image montages at the end of the footage to then send a message and remind the viewer of the many important aspects that were shown within the documentary. The effects can be used to create a sense of mystery if something like a fade out and in was used within a documentary. The effects can be used to enhance the footage and evoke certain emotions of the viewers.
Adding music/effects to a documentary is a good way of also evoking emotions of the audience. The documentary makers will have purposely placed music within the documentary to make sure that a certain emotion is created for the viewer within certain points.Lastly, the documentary can have a certain way in which the narrative is shown to the viewer. The documentary maker will have been clever enough to be able tell a story in a particular way in order to make the audience think differently about the subject being discussed.
One documentary that I have watched and would like to analyse is the new channel 4 documentary entitled "Educating Essex". This documentary is based in a secondary school and gives the viewer an insight into the day to day running of a modern secondary school and how teachers deal with the many problems that occur. The documentary consists of continuous interviews with the head teacher, deputy head and many of the student which are featured in the programme. The way the documentary has been constructed I believe is an observational mode trying to show us an insight into a modern day secondary school , but because of the improvements within technology , means that the documentary is less intrusive. The audience of this documentary would be surrounded by more of a younger audience , although I am not out ruling a more mature audience. The documentary has been edited and the footage manipulated so show all of the "trouble makers" or badly behaved students within the school to try and emphasize to the audience what teachers go through every day (although this may not happen in real life). This again means that the documentary maker wanted to represent the school as having a bad reputation when this may not be the case. The documentary maker wants the audience to decode the events so that there may be a different message to be taken from the documentary for different people.
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