Expository Mode – Uses heavily researched and constructed to inform and persuade, convincing audience to agree with a certain point of view.
Example – The Dust Bowl (Ken Burns, 2012)
Reflexive Mode – focuses on the relationship between the filmmaker and the audience, pushing viewers to reflect on their perceptions
Example – Chronicle of a Summer (Jean Rouch & Edgar Morin, 1961)
Poetic Mode – presents patterns and associations to create meaning and evoke an emotional response from the audience.
Example – Rain (Mannus Franken & Joris Ivens, 1929)
Participatory Mode – emphasises the filmmaker’s own involvement with the subject
Example – Photographic Memory (Ross McElwee, 2012)
Observational Mode – A type of documentary filmmaking that aims to record realistic, everyday life without intrusion. So the filmmaker watches what happens in the world around them without interfering.
Example – High School (Frederick Wiseman, 1968)
Performative Mode – Focuses on the filmmaker’s involvement with their subject, using their personal experience or relationship with the subject as a jumping-off point for exploring truths.
Example – Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore, 2004)
Mockumentary – a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a documentary.
Example – Borat (Larry Charles, 2006)
