Culture in a digital age. AC1 Research into media forms

Research into media forms

What is a documentary?

A documentary is an educational film or show that tells a true story and details real life events. it can be used to raise awareness on a certain issue such as climate change as shown in Climate Change: The Facts by David Attenborough. Others are to tell a story about a notable person such as serial killers, controversial historical figures such as Jeffery Epstein: Filthy Rich and The Night Stalker: Hunt for a serial killer. 

Characteristics of a documentary film 

The characteristics of documentary films differ strongly from fictional films. They all mainly follow a similar '3 act structure' structure. Act 1 introduces the topic and significant figures and sets the tone for the rest of the documentary. Act 2 dives deeper into the story and introduces more characters and more information into the topic. Act 3 evaluates the whole story and
gives a conclusion leading up to the ending. 

Different modes of documentaries

Poetic Documentaries- The purpose of a poetic documentary is to evoke a specific emotion in viewers. it puts this at a higher importance than a storyline. Poetic documentaries use narratives, camera techniques and imagery to create a feeling. 

Expository Documentary- This type of documentary focuses on bringing light to real life events through recreations, interviews and real life footage. They use a technique called the 'Voice of God where a narrator reads from script while illustrated visuals play over it. This is the most popular mode of documentary and is used in many well known films such as Netflix's The Tiger King. 

Participatory mode- This mode of documentary is where a documentary film maker brings a camera crew and researches first hand their subject. these documentaries are usually presented by one singular person. Their purpose is to show an accurate account of certain topics. the crew often has to travel long distances to capture footage for the documentary, making them expensive and time consuming to make. Examples of this include Louie Theroux documentaries where he travels the world researching different cultures. 

Observational mode- This type of documentary is when the camera crew observe a subject without interrupting its raw and natural state. the cameras are discreet and the subjects do not know they are being filmed. this is so the subjects don't act differently when being filmed. the purpose of observational documentaries are to capture the ultimate truth of a topic. 

Reflexive mode- This is a behind the scenes document of the making of a film. it focuses on the relationship between the filmmaker and the audience and gives them an incite to the entire production of a film. these are usually included when buying a DVD. 

Performative mode- This is when a film maker documents their experience with a certain
subject. they use their personal experiences to bring information to a topic. An example of this is Supersized Me (2004) where a man eats only McDonald's fast food for 30 days and documents his experience to raise awareness of the dangers of fast food.



For my documentary i am going to use the expository style of documentary. this is because i plan on using real life footage, interviews and the voice of god technique. it is the most popular type of documentary and the viewers will respond positively to it. 

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