Expository documentary . Expository documentaries set up a specific point of view or argument about a subject and a narrator often speaks directly to the viewer, emphasizing the relationship between the images presented on-screen and offering verbal commentary.
Example: March of the penguins. (Jacquet) 2005
Reflexive documentary: Reflexive documentaries are similar to participatory docs in that they often include the filmmaker within the film. However, unlike participatory, most creators of reflexive documentaries make no attempt to explore an outside subject. Rather, they focus solely on themselves and the act of making the film.
Example: Biggie and Tupac (Broomfield) 2002
poetic documentary: , poetic documentaries focus on experiences, images, and showing the audience the world through different eyes
Example: tongues untied (Riggs) 1989
Participatory documentaries: Participatory documentariesinclude the filmmaker within the narrative. This inclusion can be as minor as a filmmaker using their voice to prod their subjects with questions or cues from behind the camera—or as major as a filmmaker directly influencing the actions of the narrative
Example: free solo (Chin) 2018
Observational documentaries: Observational documentaries attempt to give voice to all sides of an issue by offering audiences first-hand access to some of the subject’s most important moments. The observational style has been very influential over the years, and filmmakers often use it in other film genres to create a sense of realness and truth.
example: Hoop dreams (James) 1998
Performative documentaries: Performative documentaries are an experimental combination of styles used to stress subject experience and share an emotional response with the world. They often connect and juxtapose personal accounts with larger political or historical issues.
Expository – documentaries that aim to inform audiences of a specific topic from a certain perspective/POV. E.G. ‘An Inconvenient Truth‘ (2006, directed by Davis Guggenheim)
Reflexive – documentaries in which the filmmaker documents/records themselves in order to build a relationship with the audience so that their point is clearly made and understood. E.G. ‘Man With A Movie Camera‘ (1929, directed by Dziga Vertov)
Poetic – counter typical documentaries that emphasise images over narration in order to create a story through visuals. E.G. ‘Sans Soleil‘ (1983, directed by Chris Marker)
Participatory – Documentaries in which the filmmaker is included in the film and directly interacts with the subjects of the documentary. E.G. ‘Sherman’s March‘ (1986, directed by Ross McElwee)
Observational – Documentaries that aim to film realistic, everyday life without interference. E.G. ‘The War Room‘ (1993, directed by Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker)
Performative – Filmmakers involving themselves in the events of the documentaries in order to find subjective truths. E.G. ‘Michael Moore in Trumpland‘ (2016, directed by Michael Moore)
Mockumentary – A fictional film that is presented as a documentary for comedic purposes, often to comment on current events. E.G. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016, directed by Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone)
As Nichols stated in his book, the poetic mode “moves away from the ‘objective’ reality of a given situation or people, to grasp at an “inner truth” that can only be grasped by poetical manipulation”. In other words, instead of using linear continuity to create a structure, a poetic documentary arranges its shots by means of associations, tone and rhythm. A subjective, abstract representation of reality is shown to the audience with emphasis on the visuals. Poetic documentaries often rely on colour, tones, sounds and mood. They are usually associated with avant-garde filmmaking.
This tends to be the mode most familiar to us. It is frequently used in nature and TV documentaries. Expository documentaries use the ‘voice of God’ narration where by the author provides a scripted commentary to accompany or illustrate visuals. They are sometimes referred to as essays films because their primary aim is to educate their audience and explain their subject. This mode is famously seen in documentaries narrated by David Attenborough where they will ‘assume a logical argument’, informing the audience of what they are seeing on screen. Expository documentaries will be heavily researched focusing on facts rather than opinion or emotion. That is not to say that these sorts of documentaries cannot purge emotion or shape opinions. They may talk about controversial subjects, however there aim is to inform objectively and supply evidence.
Frozen Planet (2011) narrated by David Attenborough
Observational Mode
The Observational mode, also referred to as cinema verité, direct cinema or fly-on-the-wall documentary is a more specific type of documentary telling. Observational documentaries were essentially born out of a movement in the 1960s and 1970s by a group of filmmakers who referred to themselves as ‘actuality filmmakers’. Due to the advance in technology during this time, sound and camera equipment became easier to use and manoeuvre . This allowed filmmakers more freedom and the ability to observe events without being intrusive to their subjects. The concept of direct cinema is that the best way to see truth is to view it without any involvement or influence. To be a ‘fly on the wall’. This often means that the footage is raw and shaky or jumpy. Nothing is staged and what you see is completely natural. There are of course arguments asking how natural someone can be when a camera is present, despite how non-intrusive it is. However this does not necessarily detract from the mode itself.
Armadillo (2011) directed by Janus Metz Pedersen
Participatory Documentaries
Bill Nichols describes participatory documentary as “[when] the encounter between filmmaker and subject is recorded and the filmmaker actively engages with the situation they are documenting.”
The Participatory mode has become a popular form of documentary telling in the last 30 years or more with names such as Michael Moore, Nick Broomfield and Louis Theroux championing this technique. Often this is also investigative filmmaking where a question is asked or a controversial topic is explored and the filmmaker is showing the audience the filmmaking process of their subject. The filmmaker can become an integral part of the film. This was most recently seen in the documentary Icarus, both a participatory and performative documentary. Participatory documentaries can be done by the filmmaker or director following their subject around and asking questions, a technique often employed by Louis Theroux. The filmmaker does not influence the subject but will attempt to subjectively engage with their subject despite their personal beliefs.
Icarus (2017) directed by Bryan Fogel
Reflexive Documentaries
Reflexive documentaries acknowledge the way a documentary is constructed and that it is impossible to show a purely objective and truthful subject due to how many processes there are. From the use of the camera to the editing and the filmmaker themselves, there will always be subjectivity or decisions that need to be made which will change the story, whether it be intentional or not. As Bill Nichols wrote, the reflexive mode will provoke audiences to “question the authenticity of documentary in general”. Mocumentaries can sometimes fall under the reflexive mode due to their self-awareness.
The Man With A Movie Camera (1929) directed by Dziga Vertov
Performative Documentaries
The performative mode of documentary is the direct opposite of the observational mode.
Performative documentaries will emphasize and encourage the filmmakers involvement with the subject. Performative documentaries tend to be more emotionally driven and may have a larger political or historical motivation. Because the filmmaker tends to be passionately involved, performative documentaries will usually be subjective in one way or another. Unlike many modes of documentary, performative do not set out to reach a truth but show a perspective or ‘what is like to be there’.
Catfish (2010) directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost
Documentary Film – A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion picture intended to “document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record“.
Documentary filmmakers have a responsibility to be truthful to their vision of the world without intentionally misrepresenting a topic.
What is the difference between a documentary film and a documentary TV programme?
Television documentary series, sometimes called docuseries, are television series screened within an ordered collection of two or more televised episodes. Television documentary films exist as a singular documentary film to be broadcast via a documentary channel or a news-related channel.
Documentary Film – A non-fictional motion picture that shapes and interprets Factual information for purposes of entertainment or education.
Examples are:
‘I am Celine Dion’ 2024 – Directed by Irene Taylor, It explores the life of Celine Dion and dealing with her stiff persons syndrome and how its affected her life and singing career.
‘Man on Wire’ 2008 – Directed by James Marsh, he exploits story of famed tightrope walker, Phillippe Petit’s daring performance of walking between the 2 world trade centre buildings to thousands below and many more on television.
‘Superman, The Christopher Reeve Story’ 2024 – soon to release directed by Ian Bonhote. Breaks down the actors rise to fame and life following a near-fatal horse riding accident which left him paralyzed from the neck down.
Observational: Aim to find the ultimate truth, via observing someone or somethings real life without interfering.
EXAMPLE: High School (Fredrick Wiseman, 1968) where Wiseman wanted to discover what really happens in a typical American high school.
Poetic: A highly stylized documentary with visually striking images to tell it’s story rather than adding additional verbal context.
EXAMPLE: Sans Soleil (Chris Marker, 1983) where Marker wanted to show the imperfection of human memory, and how we cannot recall past events or certain nuances with complete accuracy, and how this affects historical events.
Expository: Often featuring a “voice of god” style voice over, and gives a very specific point of view. The cinematographer is responsible for collecting supporting footage to strengthen the spoken argument.
EXAMPLE: Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet (Jonathan Clay, 2021) where David Attenborough wishes to discover and look deeper into the natural world of our planet and it’s biodiversity.
Participatory: The interviewer is just as important as the interviewee as they interact with their subject. These often try to prove the filmmakers point of view as “the truth”.
Reflexive: Focusses on the relationship between filmmaker and audience. This will include plenty of behind the scenes footage as well, showing the process of the documentary.
EXAMPLE: The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012)
Performative: Uses filmmakers personal experience with the subject as a jumping off point for exploring larger, subjective truths about politics, history, or groups of people.
A non-fictional motion picture intended to “document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record”
Examples:
Wild Life (Elizabeth Chai & Jimmy Chin, 2023)
Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive (Ross Wilson, 2006)
The Truth Game (John Pilger, 1983)
The Difference between a documentary film and a documentary tv show is that a film tries to condense a story into one coherent form factor, usually telling a slightly smaller story, whereas a tv documentary will have a much larger story, that can be split into different ideas and chapters that can be explored per episode
A documentary is a essentially a non-fictional film that tells a story about real-life events, presenting factual information about the world outside the film, intending to document reality to maintain a historical record.
Examples:
O.J: Made in America (2016, Ezra Edelman)
David Attenborough: A life on Our Planet (2020, Jonathan Hughes, Keith Scholey, Alastair Fothergill)
Night and Fog (1955, Alain Resnais)
The difference between a documentary film and a documentary series is that while a documentary film seeks to tell a single story within a compact timeframe, a documentary series must break its story into multiple chapters that are each capable of standing on their own, or it has a main theme such as crime and has a different story each episode.
