Documentaries


The documentary modes

According to Bill Nichols, the documentary can be subdivided into six sub-genres or modes.

These are as follows :
-         
      Poetic
    
      Poetic mode shares a common terrain with the modernist avant-garde. This mode sacrifices the conventions of continuity editing and sense of a specific location in time and place. These films are allusive and often surprise and challenge the students in what they think documentaries are. They use 'associative' editing to create a mood or tone without making an explicit argument about a subject.

-       Expository

      Speak directly to the viewer with voice-over. These films use explicitly rhetorical techniques to explore points of actuality. They use-over and have a straightforward to tell structure (with graphics/interviews/footage) where the viewer is guided through the material. Other television documentary falls into this category.
-       Participatory


-       Observational 

      In this, the camera looks on as the participants in the film go on with their lives as though the camera wasn't present. THE FILMMAKER steps back from the material he/she who's shooting is taking a 'neutral' stance from the subject matter. Of course, this may well (and should) open up debates about the selection of material, lack of voiceover and editing devices.

-       Reflexive
d
-       Performative
     

      Possible points in favour of smartphone footage being needed to document events

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