VISUALS
Television is a visual medium. The programme needs to be visually stimulating and maintain the audiences interest.
ARCHIVE MATERIAL
Includes stock footage (already filmed objects/places) e.g. street scenes, open country side, motorways, city scape's, Historical footage, extracts from other TV, film and radio, Newspaper front pages.
INTERVIEWS
The most important aspect of a documentary. Interviews can be held anyplace but the mise-en-scene is important in relating the interview to the topic or issue.
VOX POPS (VOX POPULIS) THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
One question is asked to lots of people and then the most interesting/entertaining answers are used in the programme. It can get a good cross section of the audience and reflects the target audience.
THE VOICE OVER
The voice over can affect or alter the meaning. It anchors the meaning of the visuals acting like glue holding the narrative together.
GATEKEEPING
The selection and rejection of information to be included in the doctumentary. Which part of the interview will be included in the documentary? The gatekeeper will decide this.
CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY
By editing and gatekeeping media producers construct an artifical picture of reality.
Tuesday 28 June 2011
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.
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.
Different Types of Documentary
FULLY NARRATED DOCUMENTARY
An off screen voice over is used to make sense of the visuals and dominate their meaning. The narrator always seems authoritive: 'The Voice of God' anchors the meaning of what we are seeing e.g. Natural history documentaries.
Uses a combination of interview, observations and narration to advance the topic or argument.
TRUE CINEMA (CINEMA VEINTE) FLY ON THE WALL DOCUMENTARY
The camera is 'unseen' or ignored and simply records real events as they happen. There is often no narration leaving the audience to reach their own conclusions. This is NOT an accurate picture of reality, because from the minute you start editing it becomes unreal. People would also modify their behavior if the camera was seen but the camera can be hidden.
SELF-REFLECTIVE DOCUMENTARY
When the subject of the documentary acknowledges the presence of the camera and often speaks directly to the documentary maker.
DOCUSOAP
A relatively new type of documentary which follows the lives of individuals usually with designated occupations e.g. Arline
DOCUDRAMA
A re-enactment of events as though they actually happened e.g. Crimewatch
DOCUSOAP BUT SCRIPTED
e.g. The Hills, The Only Way Is Essex, Made In Chelsea. These 'documentaries' blur the boundaries between what is real and what isn't because the audience do not know whether what they see is real.
An off screen voice over is used to make sense of the visuals and dominate their meaning. The narrator always seems authoritive: 'The Voice of God' anchors the meaning of what we are seeing e.g. Natural history documentaries.
MIXED DOCUMENTARY
Uses a combination of interview, observations and narration to advance the topic or argument.
TRUE CINEMA (CINEMA VEINTE) FLY ON THE WALL DOCUMENTARY
The camera is 'unseen' or ignored and simply records real events as they happen. There is often no narration leaving the audience to reach their own conclusions. This is NOT an accurate picture of reality, because from the minute you start editing it becomes unreal. People would also modify their behavior if the camera was seen but the camera can be hidden.
SELF-REFLECTIVE DOCUMENTARY
When the subject of the documentary acknowledges the presence of the camera and often speaks directly to the documentary maker.
DOCUSOAP
A relatively new type of documentary which follows the lives of individuals usually with designated occupations e.g. Arline
DOCUDRAMA
A re-enactment of events as though they actually happened e.g. Crimewatch
DOCUSOAP BUT SCRIPTED
e.g. The Hills, The Only Way Is Essex, Made In Chelsea. These 'documentaries' blur the boundaries between what is real and what isn't because the audience do not know whether what they see is real.
Documentary Drama
In 1926 John Gierson come up with the term 'documentary drama'. A documentary is something that has actually happened. They provide the audience with an insight into to a topic they may not know about. Documentaries inform and can educate an audience about a topic. This must be done in an entertaining way to sustain the interest of the audience because if this wasn't done the audience wouldn't continue to watch the documentary as there is so much choice of documentaries and channels. The audience has more choice because of audience fragmentation due to the digital and satellite television. Specific channels now focus on documentaries, having complete channels devoted to them, this is known as narrow casting.
Media A2 Breif
For my media A2 work I will be creating a five minute extract from a TV documentary programme. I will also be creating a Radio trailer to promote this documentary and a Newspaper advert to advertise the documentary.
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