Five Categories of Documentaries:

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• Five Categories of Documentaries
• Shaping Events by Technique

Source Buckland, Warren. Teach yourself film
studies, 2nd ed. London Hodder Education, 2003.
Instructor Lillian Spina-Caza
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Exploration Films

• Documentary derives from the French term
  documentaire, referring to travel or
  expeditionary films.
• http//www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?pavgsql2321
  
• One of the earliest feature-length
  documentaries was director Robert J. Flahertys
  1922 Nanook of the North, which told story of
  an Eskimo's survival. It is well-documented that
  Flaherty created many of the events depicted in
  Nanook through his framing, editing, and
  reenactmentsfor example, scenes inside of the
  igloo were filmed with half the roof removed
  (done out of necessity for fitting bulky
  equipment inside and attaining adequate
  lighting).
• Jay Ruby writes in his bookThe Ethics of
  Image-Making most film audience will comprehend
  documentary images as unmediated and accurate
  representations of reality, unless they are
  explicity manipulated. Film Analysis, A Norton
  Reader.

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• The documentary has its roots in the
  film-going habits of the early 20th century, when
  audiences were willing to look at almost any
  decently made (and often not-so-decently-made)
  visual material in movie theaters.
• http//www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?pavgsql2321
  
• Accessed 08/14/07

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Common Assumptions About
Documentaries

• Are non-fiction
• Events are unstaged (would exist without a
  camera present)
• Documentary makers observe and make objective
  records of real events

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Can Documentaries
Be Purely Objective?

• Does the presence of a camera influence events?
• Do documentary makers manipulate or shape
  events?
• Whats the bottom line?

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Documentary Revenues

• Top Grossing Movies 1977-2007
• Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) 131,753,679
• Everest (1998)
  123,478,387
• Space Station (2002) 83,192,499
• March of Penguins (2005) 83,089,168
• Mysteries of Egypt (1998) 54,053,621
• Bowling for Columbine (2002) 25,342,728
  
• An Inconvenient Truth (2006) 25,014,834
• 10. Sicko (2007)
  24,538,511

Inflation adjusted gross (millions) http//www.t
he-numbers.com/market/Genres/Documentary.php
Accessed 03/13/08
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I. Expository Documentary

• Authoritative voice-over (voice of god)
  commentary with series of images
• Voice-over addresses viewer directly, provides
  information images alone cannot convey
• Classic style most commonly used for TV news
  documentaries

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II. Observational documentary

• Presents slice of life or direct representation
  of recorded events
• Characterized by non-intervention of director in
  recorded events (use of long takes, direct,
  natural sound)
• No authoritative v.o. commentary, no interviews,
  no interior or informational titles
• Aims to simply observe unfolding eventsdirector
  attempts to be completely invisible
• Meant to be neutral and non-judgmental

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III. Interactive Documentary

• Presence of director known to viewers
• Director may ask questions on-camera, and act as
  a mediator
• Content based primarily on interviews designed to
  elicit specific comments and responses
• Allows for different viewpoints and opinions
• Interviews may be used to present arguments for
  or against a particular cause or issue
• Can alter reality, manipulate events,
  propagandize

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IV. Reflexive Documentary

• Exposes conventions/challenges documentarys
  ability to reveal truth
• Primary focus not on events and people, but on
  how recorded
• Properties of/process of making documentary are
  main focus of attention
• Reveals limitations admits own perspective is
  more valuable than one pretending to be neutral
  and objective

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V. Performative Documentary

• Represents the world indirectly
• Presents subject matter in subjective, highly
  stylized, evocative manner (expressive and
  poetic)
• Encourages spectator to experience or feel events
• Subject matter remains intact, but meaning is
  shown to be variable
• Can border on avant-garde emphasis is on
  style