Post 8 - Modes of Documentaries Adrianne

1) Poetic Documentaries
First appearing in the 1920’s, poetic documentaries were a sort of reaction against both the content and the rapidly solidifying grammar of the early fiction film. The poetic mode moved away from continuity editing and instead organized images of the material world by means of associations and patterns, both in terms of time and space. Below is an example of a short poetic documentary.

2) Expository Documentaries

Expository documentaries speak directly to the viewer, often in the form of an authoritative commentary employing voiceover or titles, proposing a strong argument and point of view. These films are rhetorical, and try to persuade the viewer. Below is an example of an expository documentary; an extract from an episode of David Attenborough's 'Blue Planet'.

 

3) Observational Documentaries

Observational documentaries attempt to simply and spontaneously observe lived life with a minimum of intervention. Filmmakers who worked in this sub-genre often saw the poetic mode as too abstract and the expository mode as too educative. The first observational docs date back to the 1960’s; the technological developments which made them possible include mobile lightweight cameras and portable sound recording equipment for synchronised sound. Below is a clip from 'Public Housing' by Frederick Wiseman who was famous for these types of documentaries. 
 

 

4) Participatory Documentaries

Participatory documentaries believe that it is impossible for the act of filmmaking to not influence or alter the events being filmed. What these films do is emulate the approach of the anthropologist: participant-observation. Not only is the filmmaker part of the film, we also get a sense of how situations in the film are affected or altered by her presence. Below is the trailer from an interesting participatory documentary which I have seen called Catfish. 
 

5) Reflexive Documentaries

Reflexive documentaries don’t see themselves as a transparent window on the world; instead they draw attention to their own constructedness, and the fact that they are representations. How does the world get represented by documentary films? This question is central to this sub-genre of films. They prompt us to “question the authenticity of documentary in general.” It is the most self-conscious of all the modes, and is highly sceptical of ‘realism.’ Below is a short reflexive documentary about the road.
 

6) Performative Documentaries

Performative documentaries stress subjective experience and emotional response to the world. They are strongly personal, unconventional, perhaps poetic and/or experimental, and might include hypothetical enactments of events designed to make us experience what it might be like for us to possess a certain specific perspective on the world that is not our own. Below is a performative documentary called 'The Confessional'.