> 5 minute extract from a TV documentary programme
> Radio trailer to promote the documentary
> A newspaper advert to advertise the programme
Documentary genre:
A documentary is documenting something that has actually happened.
They provide the audience with an insight into a topic, they may not know it.
Documentaries can inform and educate an audience about a certain topic.
This must be done in an entertaining way to sustain the interest of the audience. The audience has more choice because of audience fragmentation due to digital and satellite television.
Narrow casting - Specific channels dedicated to documentaries e.g. Eden
Different types of documentary:
Fully narrated - off screen voice over used to make sense of the visuals and dominate their meaning e.g. natural history. The narrator always seems authoritative, the voice over is known as ''The voice of God''.
Foley Artists - creates the sound effects e.g. ants crawling, water bubbling
Mixed documenting - these use a combination of interview, observation and narration to advance the argument
Fly on the Walll (cinema Verite - truth cinema) - Camera is 'unseen/ignored' and simply records real events as they happen. There is often no narration leaving the audience to their own conclusions.
Self Reflective - when the subject of the documentary acknowledges the presence of the camera and often speaks directly to the documentary maker.
Docusoap - These documentaries follow the lives of individuals usually with designated occupations
Docudrama - A re enactment of events as tho they actually happened e.g. Crime watch
Documentary/ Docusoap - scripted e.g. Made in Chelsea, the hills, The only way is Essex
Narrative structure of Documentaries - the way the story is told
Open - questions left un-answered at the end. The audience is left to make their own minds up about the issue
OR
Closed - no loose ends, everything is tied up at the end, there is a definite ending e.g. 9/11 documentaries _________________________________________________________________
Linear - the program us in chronological order (order of time) e.g. 9/11 documentaries
OR
Non-linear - there is no chronological order, time is disrupted in some way e.g flashbacks
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Single strand documentary - there is only one narrative thread/story line
OR
Multi-strand documentary - more than one narrative thread in the same program these may overlap. most documentaries are single strand.
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Circular narrative structure - at the start a question is posed. The narrative explores questions and then returns to it all at the end i.e. at the end of the program returns to the question posed at the start.
Structure of documentaries
Visual - television is a visual medium. the program needs to be visually stimulating and maintain the audiences interest.Archive material - stock footage e.g. street scenes, open countryside, motor ways, city scapes, Historical footage, extracts from other media, newspaper front pages.
Interviews - most important part of the documentary. They can be held anywhere but the mis-en-scene is important in relating the interview to the topic/issues
Vox pop (Vox populis)- the voice of the people - ask a question to lots of people and use the most interesting/entertaining for the program. It can get a good cross section of the audience that you are aiming the program at.
Voice over - can affect or alter the meaning. Anchors the meaning of the visuals, Acts as a glue holding the narrative together.
Gate keeping - selection and rejection of information for inclusion in the program/text, which bits of the interview will you see.
Construction of reality - by editing and gate keeping we produce/construct an artificial picture of reality.
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