Types of documentaries

What is a documentary?

a documentary is a piece of media that aims to be informative and give the audience the truth about a topic. The true definition is "A Film, TV Programme, or Radio Programme that provides a factual report on a particular subject." The defining characteristic of a documentary is that it aims to provide the audience a factual representation of a subject.

This can be achieved in many ways, and there are many different directors that use different types of documentary to portray the facts. In total, there are five different types of documentaries that a director can produce, depending on what style they prefer and is most suitable to the subject. 

Expository Documentary

An expository documentary usually has a voice-over that will address the audience about what is going on within the scene. This, however, is only giving meaning to what it happening in the scene, not giving opinions about what subject. All the facts that are in the documentary are provided by the voice-over.  The images within the scene are to compliment and show what the voice-over is talking about. 

Expository documentaries has the effect of objectivity, along with direct and transparent representation of what is happening in the subject. 

An example of an expository documentary is one by David Attenborough, called 'Desert Seas'. In the documentary, he talks about two oceans that are right next to each other, yet have completely different characteristics.

(A small trailer about what the documentary is about)

This is an expository documentary as it has characteristics as described above. David Attenborough is simply a voice-over, explaining what is happening within the two seas without actually being there, and it has images that accompany his voice, showing what he is talking about.  It has the aim of objectivity, with showing the audience the beauty of the two seas without including any bias opinions about the subject.

Observational Documentary

An observational documentary presents a slice of life, without getting involved with the scene. The director does nothing to interfere with what is happening within the documentary, and instead is a passive bystander watching how things occur and the end of life.  The recording is neutral, and stays non-judgmental, leaving the audience to decide what they think about the documentaries subject.

An example of an observational documentary is Armadillo, directed by Janus Metz. This documentary shows what is it like in the Danish army, presenting the audience with what happens when they are on duty. 

This is observational, as the director doesn't get involved within the film at all, and instead, simply films what happens as it occurs. It is completely non-judgemental, and just aims to provide the audience with an insight about what happens out on the battlefield. All of the scenes that are in the documentary are how they played out at the actual time, with no major editing to change show the subject in a different light.

Interactive Documentary

An interactive documentary involves the filmmaker has a direct role within the documentary, as they participate as one of the people in the documentary. They will be interactions between the interviewees, the presenter and event the audiences.  Generally, these will have the presenters argument/agendas out in the open. This type of documentary will usually be edited to manipulate the text and what happens within it. Because they are sometimes edited to manipulate the facts, this type will often get criticised, but it is defended by filmmakers saying that the projected imagine is more important than the fine details.

An example of an interactive documentary is Louis Theroux, 'Drinking to Oblivion'. This documentary follows Louis Theroux as he meets those who have an alcoholic problem, and who are slowly killing themselves due to it.

This is an interactive documentary because the camera follows Louis Theroux, the filmmaker, as he interviews and follows the experiences of those who are killing themselves with alcohol. He will usually address the audience when he isn't with an interviewee. Though he addresses the audience, he will only do this if he believes that he has got everything he can from a certain scene, and that it is time to move on.

Reflexive Documentary

A reflexive documentary is one where the filmmaker attempts to expose the conventions of documentary to the audience. This will use shots from everyday life, however, these will be edited in order to portray a subject in a different light than it might appear than if it was unedited. 

An example of a reflexive documentary is 'Driving Me Crazy' by Nick Boomfield. This documentary follows a musical being produced, following all the dancer/singers/choreographers as they put together their musical for the world to see.

This is a reflexive documentary as the filmmaker doesn't get involved, but it is edited in such a way that it produces a different view to what it would have been like at the time, making sure that it was still engaging for the audience to watch.

Performative Documentary 

This type of documentary represents the world indirectly, and has emphasis on the presentation rather than content. It will use a lot of re-enactments, exaggerated camera positions and soundtracks to help the audience become submerged within the diegesis (the world of the manner). This type of documentary aims to present the subject matter in a subjective, expressive, stylised, evocative and visceral manner.

An example of a performative documentary is 'Tongues Untied', by Marlon Riggs. The documentary follows Riggs, as it depicts him growing up. This is a performative documentary as it is very subjective with it's views, and will involve the audience within the documentary by submerging them into the diegesis.  It has an emphasis on presentation rather than the content.

Conclusion:

In my opinion, I believe the best documentaries are those that manage to get the facts out to the audience, without having to twist the footage in order to make it suitable for their needs. How they present this is their choice, but they also have to make sure that it isn't a dry documentary to watch. Because of this, I think interactive documentaries are the best types of documentaries, when it isn't heavily manipulated to skew the facts onto one side. 

However, all documentaries have elements of truth to them, just some more than others, so they're all good for their purpose, allowing the audience to find out about subjects they usually wouldn't be able to.