Documentaries

Introduction
A documentary can be said to be a text that is there to show an idea to its audience.There are many formats that according to Bill Nichols a documentary can be like. This can be an expository, observational, interactive, reflective and performative. A documentary can be defined as a non fiction text rather than a staged text like most other media. Through out my research of film documentary i have come across examples of this that contradict this which I will explain.

Expository documentary
A key feature of a expository documentary is the voice over . This usually is a pre recorded voice that is speaking about the events that happens on-screen. This speech offers arguments and observations of what is going on. One example of this type of documentary is We are the Lambeth Boys 1957 showing the audience a look at London life in the 1950s of male and female members of a youth club. This documentary explores many issues when the group discuss issues with the world like the death penalty. However in some cases like his documentary there can be issues with the voice over as it can't always be accurate as it can only make observations. For example another expository documentary would be Walking with Dinosaurs 1999 which consists of a voice over that talks about dinosaurs.

Observational documentary
The key features of a observational documentary is that there isn't really a clear interviewer or director visible to the audience. Some say that this type of documentary is like a fly on the wall as it is almost like we are observing what is going on on-screen. There are many documentaries like this and an example of one could be McIntyre Undercover: Chelsea Headhunters 1999 which gives us a slice of life (which is very common of observational documentaries) of hooligans. Another feature of observational documentaries is long takes. This is used to capture the reality of what is going on and letting the events unfold on-screen. This can be said to be the most honest of all the documentaries. In High School 1968 they use these long takes when a student and a teacher are having an argument about the students detention. Observational documentary usually to capture the reality of what is going on on-screen rather than looking like the documentary is fixed.

Interactive documentary
The key features of an interactive documentary is the interviewer is mean't to be seen. This means the that he/she interacts with the people to make points on the argument. Some of these points are usually the interviewer's opinion and views on the argument as well as the interviewee. An example of this type of documentary is Louis and the Nazi's 2003 where a journalist (Louis Theroux) went to hear the views of white supremacists and spend some time with them. Many times during the duration of the documentary Louis gave his views completely rejecting the views of the Nazi's which is what happens in an interactive documentary. Another key feature of this documentary type is that it is mainly made up of interviews. This is to show the audience many views and opinions of the people they are interviewing. In most interactive documentaries this is usually to create a balanced argument. An example of a documentary that has many interviews is the Ross Kemp On Gangs 2006 series. In this documentary he makes many interviews with both gang members and the police which creates a balanced argument on the subject. The issue with these interactive documentaries is that sometimes it can be hard to access some of the information you want. This can affect the production of your documentary and the date you want to finish. Privacy is also a major factor that can affect production. In Ross Kemp in Search of Pirates 2009 access and privacy affected it dramatically as during the whole series they only produced 3 episodes when the other previous series had 5 episodes per series. Also in the series they only made contact with one Somalian pirate however there goal was to get more interviews. Furthermore everyone in a documentary is entitled to privacy and shouldn't be forced to do so otherwise, especially on sensitive topics. Most of the time a talent release form is needed to be signed by the person who is being filmed, this is especially needed for under 18s and they also need their parents permission as this is their right. However in some cases for example in the media on top storys, when public demand is very high and they want to know about the story or person, the media is usually allowed to film people without there permission as it is the publics intrest. That is why we see celebrities and other people covering their faces sometimes when they see the news cameras as they know the news is allowed to film them.

Reflective documentary
The key features of a reflective documentary is that the documentary will challenge you to understand the arguments of what the documentary is about. It will also challenge the fact that most documentaries are manipulated to get across a desired idea to the audience. It will do this by showing footage being repeated or going backwards. In the documentary Territories 1984 it shows footage of the flag of Britain being burnt a number of times to try to show the audience a message. Another key feature of reflective documentary is that most of the shots are of everyday life however they are used to make very different films. E.g. Kurt & Courtney 1998 by Nick Broomfield is the perfect example of this however it isn't as distorted and confusing as Territories.

Performative documentary
The key features of a performative documentary is reenactments. These are often use to make a crime scene again and understand what happened. These are used in mostly crime documentaries. An example of this would be The Thin Blue Line 1988 which used reenactments to investigate the crime of the shooting of a police officer. However in this movie the reenactments that were made were based on the accounts of different people which can show that the documentary aren't entirely true. With other performative documentaries like Murder In Scottsdale 1978 this contains dramatisations that are also used in performative documentary.

Conclusion
Documentaries in my opinion can be quite interesting to watch however it is clear that some people enjoy different documentary types to each other. However some documentary filmmakers use these documentary formats to manipulate the audience into seeing a convincing point of view. In my opinion these film makers shouldn't lead people into believing in what they want to believe as this can blow some sensitive subject matters out of proportion. Film makers such as Michael Moore do this and gain a lot of status by doing this which I believe is wrong. However some believe that the message some produce via this manipulation can be sometimes pure which can be beneficial to the audience. Overall I think the film makers of documentaries should have an obligation with the audience because although the messages some film makers produce can be good they can also cause a lot of controversy as some of the documentary film makers exaggerate sensitive issues which can lead up to becoming dangerous to others.