Documentary Mini-Task

A documentary is a film that is made of inform the audience of a topic or to help the audience to understand an issue that is faced every day.

The key features of an Expository Documentary are that it has a disembodied and authoritative voice-over which directly addresses the audience, the voice-over will talk about what is happening in the accompanying images on screen. Facts are arguments will be provided by the voice-over. An example of an Expository Documentary is a documentary called "Aftermath". It is about someones battle with the aftermath of their father committing suicide.


Some key features of an Observational Documentary are unobtrusive construction and depictions (it presents a slice of life). The filmmaker/director is hidden from the audience, it is more centered on what is not contained, e.g. commentary and interviews etc. It makes the audience decide what to think or decode from the text. An example of this would be a documentary called "Born Schizophrenic: Jani and Bodhi's Journey". Throughout this documentary, there are scenes where it is showing us how Jani and Bodhi live their lives with Schizophrenia.

Some of the key features of an Interactive Documentary are that the filmmaker's presence is evident. There is an interaction between interviewees, the presenter and the audience. Manipulation of the text through editing is more evident. These documentaries are sometimes criticized for misrepresentation or manipulation, but they are defended by the filmmakers due to the projected image being more important than the fine details. An example of an interactive documentary would be "Louis Theroux By Reason of Insanity". This documentary is based around people who have committed violent crimes, but have been put into a mental hospital instead of prison by reason of insanity.

The key features of a Reflexive Documentary are the filmmaker attempts to expose the conventions of the documentary to the audience. The construction of the documentary posts are exposed and experimented with, and the documentary will consist of shots that capture everyday life, but these will be used as bricks which can make vastly different or experimental films. An example of this would be a documentary called "A Hundred Orgasms a Day". This documentary is based around 3 women who are tormented every day with the constant need to have an orgasm. It is known as Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome.

The key features of a Performative Documentary are that is represents the world indirectly and emphasises more on the presentation rather than the content. There can be a use of re-enactments, exaggerated camera positions and soundtracks. These help to submerge the audience into the diegesis. This type of documentary aims to present the subject matter in a subjective, expressive, stylised, evocative and visceral manner. I think that a documentary that fits in to this would be "Fagbug". This documentary is based around a woman who's car was vandalised with the words "ur gay" and "fag" written on it in red spray paint. The reason I think this fits into the Performative Documentary features is because at the beginning there is a news story that is shown about the incident. 

I personally like Interactive Documentaries the most as I find them more interesting and I feel like they keep me the most involved.