However, there are many different types of documentary, and before we start making and planning ours, we decided to research into all the different types of documentaries.
Types of Documentaries
Expository Documentaries:
These are documentaries that tend to voice a strong opinion and argument. Their main aim is to persuade the viewer to agree with them, often by using a voice over to get their points across. Images used within these types of documentaries are usually there to assist the argument and to carry it along and to get the viewer to see things in a certain way.
Performative Documentaries:
These are documentaries that are based around personal experience, often personal and emotional. Events mentioned within such documentaries aim to make the viewer feel like the experiences being spoken about, are experiences that we could have gone through; often making us feel an emotional connection with the narrator/main person within the documentary.
An example of this kind of documentary is Alain Resnais' 'Night and Fog' (1955) which is about the holocaust. As it is spoken by a holocaust survivor it is not a historical documentary and more of a spoken account.
Historical Documentaries
Perhaps the most common type of documentary, the historical documentary aims to inform its audience about an event. Often, they offer numerous perspectives and points of views, normally done through the use of interviews with people related to the topic, in order to make lots of different viewers connect to the documentary. Historical documentaries have received large commercial success, however the controversy around them only grows, with some being labelled as 'docuganda'.
Examples of historical documentaries include, Michael Moores' 'Bowling for Columbine' and James Hanlons '9/11'. Although very different in the manner they are conducted both are classed as historical documentaries.
Poetic Documentaries
These first appeared in the 1920's and stemmed away from the traditional documentary. They lacked continuity editing and instead relied on associations of the world.
Examples of poetic documentaries include Joris Ivens 'Rain' and Francis Thompsons 'NY NY'.
Observational Documentaries
Like the title suggests, these documentaries attempt to simply observe life, with little or no intervention. In these types of documentaries voice overs, re enactments and music are very common.
Examples of some observational documentaries include Frederick Wisemans 'High School' and Edgar Morins 'Chronicle of a Summer'.
Reflexive Documentaries
Lastly, this kind of documentary aims to draw attention to re constructions, rather than a clear image of the real world. They are very keen to get across that they are simply representing the world, and it is not uncommon to see that they try to question the viewer on whats real and whats not.
Some examples of reflexive documentaries include Vertovs' 'The man with a movie camera' and 'Wedding Camels', by David and Judith Macdougall.
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