COMMON CODES AND CONVENTIONS:
- A range of shot types that convey intimacy and allow the audience to see the people featured in a personal way; for example phone-filmed clips and mid shots of them in their homes.
- Included some digital / graphic design elements, such as statistics that come up on screen, and footage of their YouTube channels and social media accounts. This adds to the diversity of the narration, as it could potentially get boring with one narrator throughout the entire documentary.
- Narrative is usually driven by a journalist, and the documentary follows how they discover and perceive the subject. However, sometimes the documentaries adopt a citizen journalism - style narrative, in which the people featured also act as narrators.
- Extended mise-en-scène, where there are multiple shots of the surroundings in which the documentary is filmed. Helps to convey the mood and backgrounds of the people pictured. Again, makes the documentary more personal.
MORE SPECIFIC FEATURES OF NOTE
- I really liked the way 'Beauty Laid Bare' was filmed, as it seemed that the people in the documentary were given a lot of control over what they could say. There was a lot of footage from many different platforms, such as professionally filmed clips, social media videos and also phone-filmed footage. I think using this eclectic mix is a good reflection of the life of young people, and also allows a variety of view points, therefore raising the intellectual level of the series.
APPLYING THEORY
John Grierson - described documentary as 'creative treatment of actuality', which can be seen in the unique shot types shown in the documentaries; for example in 'The Fight For Women's Bodies', there is a shot of the subject filmed as if it is through a crack in the door. The documentary must look visually appealing as well as academically enriching, in order to allow the audience to come away with more knowledge and their own set of views and opinions.
Bill Nichols - Has six modes of documentary:
Bill Nichols - Has six modes of documentary:
- Poetic mode - Showing a narrative by means of 'associations', for example the extended mise-en-scènes that show the audience their background without explicitly saying it.
- Expository mode - 'Voice of God' narration, which is used lightly in the 'Beauty Laid Bare' documentary. I think this helps the documentary to have variety in its narrative, and is more naturalistic.
- Observational mode - attempt to film 'actuality'. This could be shown in my documentary by including footage of them performing / playing their instruments.
- Participatory documentaries - When the filmmaker participates in the documentary e.g. Louis Theroux or the journalist in 'The Fight for Women's Bodies'.
- Reflexive documentaries - acknowledges that the documentary is not purely objective e.g. a mockumentary. This will not link to my documentary as it is more serious, and it will also be clear that my documentary is from a subjective point of view.
- Performative documentaries - Puts emphasis on the filmmakers involvement with the subjects. This links to 'Beauty Laid Bare' and 'It Might Get Loud' as the narrative is carried by those that feature in the documentary. I like this style of documentary and might use it in mine, as it adds another layer of complexity rather than having a linear narrative with one journalist.
