Modes of Documentary

For the first couple of weeks of the start of year 13 in Media Studies, we have been doing theory work, learning all about documentaries, the different modes it has and the features that come with these modes. The three modes of documentary are: Expository, Observational and Interactive. We have discussed each one thoroughly and also looked at many examples.

Expository

An expository mode is where a documentary is presented with a clear argument throughout.  This argument can be presented easily through a narrator but the narrator can be different. The three main ways a narrator can be presented is through voice, through narrative structure and/or through script. Expository is the earliest mode of documentary, dating back to the 1920’s.

The features of an Expository Documentary include:

• Has a narrator, either in the form of a voice or title cards, normally called a ‘voice of God’ narrator. They normally explain what the audience is seeing.
• Uses reconstructions/re-enactments.
• Uses a script to create structure and predictability to the documentary.
• Uses stereotypes.

The earliest example of an expository documentary is Nanook of the North by Robert Flaherty (1922) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013427/ . It also was the first documentary ever made. It films an Inuit family and gives the audience an insight into the way the Inuits live, hunt and survive.

Other examples of expository documentaries we have looked at included: T.V Programme The Blue Planet (Alastair Fothergill, 2001).

Observational

An observational mode doesn’t really have a clear argument. Before, documentaries were all expository, structured and clear. But during the late 1950’s early 60’s, the view on documentary’s shifted, like how society shifted. After the war, it seemed people didn’t want to live in traditional times, for example, audiences rejected actors like Cary Grant and James Stewart who were deemed clean cut and traditional, so new actors like Marlon Brando and James Dean became more popular as they marked a new rebellious era and were rough cut. People began to stand up for people’s rights and protest against government, led by people like Martin Luther-King, John F. Kennedy and Bob Dylan. These ideas and changes were present in the observational mode of documentary.

It is sometimes described as Direct Cinema. Robert Drew started the Direct Cinema genre by founding Drew Associates which included filmmakers Richard Leacock, DA Pennebaker and Albert and David Maysles.

The features of an Observational Documentary include:

• Refusal to allow re-enactments, just live experiences.
• No interference from the film crew.
• Prefers the crew to be all but invisible.
• No commentary, narrative or script. The use of the interviewers/journalists already in the film provides a narrative.
• Getting close to their subjects.
• Hand- held unedited shots.

Documentaries like Don’t Look Back by DA Pennebaker (1967) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061589/ follow the observational mode of documentary. It follows Bob Dylan at the prime of his life, during his performances, backstage and during press/journalist interviews.

Other examples of observational documentaries we have looked at included: 9/11 (Naudet, Naudet and Hanlon, 2002) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312318/ , Control Room (Jehane Noujaim, 2004) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0391024/ , The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, 1999) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185937/ and District 9 (Neill Blomkamp, 2009) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1136608/.

Interactive

Interactive documentary, in a way, is the opposite of the observational mode of documentary. This mode wants to engage with their subjects more directly, but not by using the expository voice of God style presenter/interviewer.

Interactive documentaries can sometimes be described as Cinema Verite. Cinema Verite first started as a style of observational documentary in France by Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin. In one of their documentaries called Chronicle of a Summer/ Chronique D’un Ete (Jean Rouch, 1960) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054745/, 2 of the female subjects took a tape recorder around and stopped passers-by to ask them questions.

The features of an Interactive Documentary include:

• Interacts and engages with the subjects, individuals and audiences.
• Subtlety presents their point of view.
• Crew can get involved in events and interviews.
• Provokes subjects to obtain a reaction.

Some famous filmmakers of interactive documentary are Michael Moore and Louis Thereoux. They both engage and charm their subjects into trusting them, so the subjects will tell them their views on a certain topic. But they can provoke these subjects at the same time, by subtlety undermining and mocking their subject’s opinions and manipulating the scene to show their point of view instead.

Examples of interactive documentaries we have looked at include: Louis Thereoux’s Wierd Weekends- South Africa (Louis Thereox, 2000), Bowling for Columbine (Michael Moore, 2002) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310793/ and Chronicle of a Summer/ Chronique D’un Ete (Jean Rouch, 1960).

Written by Martha Shaw