Component 2 - Section B - DOCUMENTARY FILM

DOCUMENTARY FILM

1. Film Form.
2. Meaning and Response
3. Contexts.
4. Critical Debates.
5. Filmmakers' Theories.

Sample questions:
"Apply one filmmakers theory of documentary film you have studied to one of the chosen documentary. How far does this increase your understanding of the film." (20 marks)

A documentary is a non-fiction account of a certain subject which poses interest to some people. They typically show this account through a number of different facts and often use pictures or interviews to provide evidence of the subject.



EXPOSITORY
Speak directly to the viewer with a voice-over. They use rhetorical techniques and have a straightforward presentation. The viewer is often guided through the material. E.G: Television Documentary.

POETIC
Sacrifices the conventions of continuity editing and sense of a specific location in time and place. They use 'associative' editing in order to create a mood or tone without making an explicit argument about a subject.

OBSERVATIONAL
The camera looks on as the participants in the film go on with their lives as though the camera isn't present. This opens up debates about selection of material, lack of voiceover and editing devices.

PARTICIPATORY
The filmmaker interacts with his or her participants. Relationship between the two is complex. He shapes what is happening on the screen; interviews.

REFLEXIVE
This mode calls attention to the conventions of documentary filmmaking in terms of a direct acknowledgement of the filmmaking process.

PERFORMATIVE
This emphasises the expressive quality of the filmmaker's engagement with the subject of the film and addresses the audience in a vivid way. Very personal documentary.