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Initial ideas for documentary

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Documentary modes

The expository mode

This is a mode of adress in a documentary where the documentary makers emphasise on voice overs through out the documentary done by a narrator, also known as the voice of God.  The narrator uses a formal mode of address and focue on being objective. so the narrator gives alot of facts with very little or no opinion. when the narrator is narating he will typically use use elements of narration, description and argumentation.

Here is an example of a documentary that uses the expository mode of adress. its made by David Attenborough who is famous for making these types of documentaries.



Most wildlife documentaries use the expository mode of address  this is because there is no presenter and everything that is being shown needs to be narrated and explained otherwise the audience will not understand what is happening. this narration is also known as the voice of god because of there being no presenter so we hear the speech and don't see who is telling us this information. these type of documentaries emphasize on objectivity so this means there is no opinion being given in the narration. this is good because the documentary can just focus on the facts and narrate the footage and tell us exactly what is happening instead of giving their own input


The observational mode
This is when the documentary makers try to be as accurate as they possibly can be by observing every event that  is being filmed and making themself a neautrul observer to the topic being documented so they do not involve themselves in the documentary or plan or tell anyone to do anything, everything being filmed is natural. in these documentaries the fly on the wall technique is mastered.



sex pistols- the filth and the fury is a documentary about the famous rock band 'the sex pistols' made by Julien Temple. this documentary just shows the bands rise to international fame in the short time period around. it shows what the band wer like off stage and shows behind the scenes performances and footage. this documentary has the typical codes and conventions a observational documentary would have. in this documentary there is no presenter so he cannot participate or force the people to say anything so everything being filmed is natural which shows the fact that the documentary maker is just observing the subject. this documentary also uses allot of archive footage. and all the voice over in the documentary is done from the band members. it also uses a lot of archive footage.

The participatory mode:

This is the mode of address of a documentary where the documentary makers takes interest in the subject being documented and makes themselves involved with whats being filmed. so for example the filmmaker will narrate the story and conduct all of the interviews as well  it emphasizes on the relationship between documentary maker and the subject.



This is a good example of a participatory documentary because Louis Theroux takes an interest in what is being documented. he goes to the prisons and conducts hes own interviews with the inmates and guards. he also gives facts an hes opinion on what is going on. as well as giving facts he gives the audience hes own view  so the audience get a fact and a opinion from someone who has a lot of interest in the topic.  

The reflexive mode

The reflexive mode of a documentary uses all the conventions of a regular documentary so its obvious it is a documentary however the subject being documented is being rein acted so that people get the truth but a reconstructed version of it however it is still truthful



This is a clear example of a reflexive documentary because it has all the conventions a typical documentary would have such as archive footage, interviews and live footage. however in this documentary the documentary maker goes different places asking people how each of the rappers died and he shows the audience going place to place and he shows the audience how he trys to get people to have an interview with him. this shows us that he is not bias because he is not taking sides because he wants to get everyone view on what happened.

The performative mode

This mode focuses on subjectivity so it sits away from being objective, it focuses on giving opinion to the audience and the documentary makers want the viewers to be on their side. also this means it is not very factual.



This is a very example of a prerformative documentary because there are very little facts in the documentary. everything is subjective and it is rein acted. they give a lot of opinions in the documentary on what is happening and how they feel. however the facts displayed are shown in a dramatized manor.

Factual TV rules

Conventions of a news package

Field reporters

Every news package should have a field reporter, editor and a correspondent  these people are very important for a news package because these are the people giving all the information verbally to the audience. there costume would be very smart because it is a formal job. they have to be well presented to the audience as they could be giving serious information to the audience. in every news package there are usually graphics showing the audience who the field reporter is and the location in which they are reporting from. and finally the BBC would need to think about picking the right reporter in terms of gender ethnicity and background for the topic because it will need to be very stereotypical for the certain topics and also they will need to have some knowledge in the topic they are talking about.

The reporter in this is example is not physically involved with the story because we can not see him talking about the topic or in the area. we hear hes voice over some archive footage and some real life footage and he explains what happens and the death tolls. we also here him sign in and out in this example.

Links to studio

Links to studio is when the field reporter, editor or correspondent  signs out from hes report and introduces the studio. this is so that the reporters in the studio know that the cameras are going to be on them again and also the audience will know that the reporters report away from the studio is over. they usually take it back to the studio by saying their name, the location they are in and the news company they work for. also if their is conversation between the studio and the real life location this shows that it is live and not pre recorded.

In the first part where there is a link to studio we know it is pre recorded because there is no conversation. we here the typical lines from the reporter in the studio telling the audience about the reporter in sri laka and we hear him sign out by telling us hes name the location and the news company. in the second part there is a live link to studio because there is a conversation between the reporter in the studio and the reporter on location and the studio reporter asks questions about the topic.

Mode of address to viewer

Mode of address to viewer is another important convention for news packages because how the presenter comes across to the audience is important. the news company need to think about the following things when selecting a news reporter:

• Tone of voice
• accent
• language complexity.

all these things need to be suitable for the report and the topic of the report. Also the news company needs to think about whether they want a fact provider or an analysing expert. these two jobs are pretty self explanatory a fact provider provides facts and a analysing expert analyses the topic so they give facts and opinions they talk about the whole story.

in this example the tone of voice of the reporter is quite depressing and dull as it is a tragic and depressing story. he has no accent so it is easy to understand and the language complexity is not overly complicated so everyone can understand and also its not too simple so t doesn't seem informal.also this reporter is a analyzing expert because he gives more than just facts.

Interviewing experts and witnesses

this is when the report gets really good information from an eye witness that actually saw what happend or an expert that is highly educated in that field. the news company needs to thing about certain aspects when filming these interviews. these aspects are:

• camera technique
• location
• status of interviewee
• graphics
• questions included
• expert 
• witness

in this example there is no interview but there is a vox pop of a witness from the disaster. the camera technique used was pretty basic and used only on shot throughout the vox pop. the location seems to be in her hotel so this shows the audience she is stranded or that this was filmed very recently. and finally this is a witness so the audience only get a real life experience of what happened nothing else.

Report structure

Every news package has a report structure. this is an example of a typical report structure from a news package:

1. sign in and context
2. archive footage
3. interviews and vox pops
4. fast communication
5. on location
6. pieces to camera
7. sign out and framing story
8. outside broadcast
9. cutaways and noddies

news broadcasters will use this report structure because it isn't boring for the viewer. this is because it isn't on going everything is changing at different times so it is very eye catching.

Actuality footage

actuality footage is used in news packages to show real life footage and to show the audience exactly what happened  they use it because it is very reliable and eye catching. the news broadcasters would usually have a voice over telling the audience where the footage was obtained and what exactly is going on. finally this footage is most probably from a witnessed and low quality so for example off of a phone which makes it more eye catching and reliable.

in this example the news broadcasters get real life phone footage and camera footage from themselves of the waves and when the waves take over the city. its used because it shows the audience just ow devastating it is and they only use little bits so it doesn't drag on.

Conventions of a news package

In this news package we had to think of a number of conventions when making the video. these conventions are The presenter/news anchor, mode of address to the viewer and interviewing experts and/or witnesses.
when we had to get a news anchor/ presenter we had to think about:

• what their costume would be and how we would make it appeal to the audience
• The framing of the shot
• the presenter/news anchors body language throughout the news package
• and the choice we would make for who the presenter would be.

Secondly we had to think about the mode of adress the presenter/News anchor would send to the audience. for this we had to think about:

• The language the presenter/News anchor would speak in
• The tone of voice the presenter or news anchor would use throughout the news package or for different stories.
• The accent the presenter/ews anchor had.
• and how much eye contact the presenter/news anchor had with the camera.

And finally we had to think about interviewing experts or a witness to add realism and to show its an accurate piece of footage. when filming this we had to think about:

• Who the interviewee was whether it was an expert or a eye witness from the scene
• Where we would film this interview
• The camera techniques we would use in the interview
• and what graphics we would use to inform the viewer.

However in our news package we decided to make a comedy spoof version of a news package so it was not very serious, but we still tried to include as many conventions as we could in the the news package.