Narrative Structure of Documentaries

OPEN

There are questions left unanswered at the end of the documentary. This means the audience is left to make their own minds up about the issue e.g. Assisted suicide documentaries, is it right or is it wrong?

CLOSED

No loose ends, everything in the documentary is tied up at the end, there is a definite ending e.g. some 9.11 documentaries

LINEAR

The documentary is in chronological order (the order the events actually happened) e.g. some 9.11 documentaries

NON LINEAR

There is no chronological order throughout the documentary. The time is disrupted in someway e.g. when flashbacks occur

SINGLE STRAND

There is only one narrative thread or story line in the documentary. This is used in most documentaries in order to make sure the audience don't get confused.

MULTI-STRAND

There is more than one narrative thread in the same programme, these may over lap. There is a central theme and whit in that theme you get different narratives. e.g. most soaps use this although they are not documentaries.

CIRCULAR

At the start of the documentary a question is posed. the narrative explores the question and the returns to it at the end (like a circle, hence the name) e.g.at the end of the programme it returns to the question posed at the start.