THE CHARACTERISTICS AND CONTEXT OF DOCUMENTARIES
Documentaries originate from the early 19th century from early photography. People used to go out with a camera in every day life and film the people around them; capturing the everyday life of those around them. Documentaries have justifiable reconstruction and are made to widen the human knowledge and understanding of economics, culture and human relations. Documentaries have developed over time from their celluloid film to being recorded digitally and have developed different modes of documentaries.
Modes of the documentaries, or also known as characteristics, do vary depending on the meaning of the documentary. The first mode is expository which focuses on illustrating an argument using images through a rhetorical system, rather than an aesthetic, which is aimed directly at the viewer. These kinds of documentaries are known to persuade an audience into believing the information given to them throughout the documentary, although the view could be bias. This mode of documentary is used to "evoke and gratify a desire to know" as Word press words it in their own essay. A good example of this mode of documentary is a documentary called "The Shock of the New."
In the one I will be analyzing, they are discussing how the development of technology has influenced the change in art during the 1800s to 1918. The main reason of this documentary is to inform and educate those watching of the main events that influenced the difference and development of art and technology. One of the main points that documentaries are made for are to widen the human knowledge and understanding of a topic which The Shock of the New does in this one episode, informing important events as mentioned before and how it became influential to the development of art, one topic being the invention of the plane by the Wright Brothers; a well known topic. This documentary focuses on the economics of the World and how they are changing, informing the audience of this information through a rhetorical tone, making all of the information sound correct and persuades the audience that this is factually correct although some points may be off. They show footage of what they are discussing over the factual information they present to the audience, allowing the audience to see the visual representation of the information. This form of documentary isn't made to be aesthetically pleasing to the audience but does inform the audience well, Shock of The New being no exception. The documentary is also slow paced, allowing information and visuals to connect and for the audience to understand before moving onto another topic, and doesn't use many camera techniques. The music and sound effects do fit to the images shown on screen or the narrative by the narrator, creating imagery in the audiences head of the situation being discussed.
In my opinion, expository documentaries are an excellent fit for documentaries that are made to inform the audience and to give out factual knowledge for the audience to learn, making it great of educational purposes in history classes. I enjoy the factual input of these documentaries but isn't the mode of documentary that I would use for my own documentary as I plan mine to be poetic or informational in a different form to expository documentaries but have learnt some techniques on how to feed factual information to the audience.
Another mode of documentaries is observational documentaries, made to record reality without becoming involved with the human actions and interactions around them. These forms of documentaries use freehand cameras, making the documentary more informal than most other documentaries. They also rarely use interviews or voice over in these documentaries as they want the audience to feel involved in the events and interactions around them, allowing them to observe those around them and to feel the emotion created around them. Some observational documentaries use camera techniques to keep the documentary interesting, speeding up clips of the more boring shots.
"Triumph des Willens (1935)", or "Triumph of the Will", can be an example of an observational documentary as it is set during the Second World War in Germany, allowing the audience to see what Germany was like during the World War. This documentary takes the audience into the situation around them, allowing them to understand the emotions emitting from the people included in the documentary although no one looks directly at the camera, making the audience feel much more involved in the events happening around them, allowing them to observe. This documentary was made by Hitler and his troops to try and persuade those around him that he was superior and who they should follow, putting false hope and knowledge into the public's mind. Triumph of the Will was a form of propaganda to the public as majority of the people during these times were illiterate, making media sources the best form of propaganda to reach the widest audience, the documentary made to persuade the audience it was given to. In this documentary, it is filmed to make Hitler look superior and well liked by getting low angles of Hitler and the shots of the cheering crowd and troops around him, sometimes using close ups to show the empathy on the public's face to make it more persuasive to the audience. The camera is also mostly free hand, allowing it to feel much more natural and more "in the moment" of WW2 Germany. This is categorized as an observational documentary as it allows the audience to see Germany during this time and to perceive it as they wish but those who lack information, like the public it was produced for, will see Germany as superior and joyful compared to other countries. This was exactly what they wanted as the public were in poverty during this time, meaning they would believe the propaganda and be more gullible into excepting the information coming from their leader as he was their "voice of reason" during the time.
In my opinion, observational documentaries are good for persuading or showing emotion to an audience which can be easily controlled. This makes it much easier to put out a picture of the World that the director wants the audience to believe but can also be used in a way to evoke emotion in the audience. This could be a good style of documentary to be expressive but won't fit my idea for a documentary although I will be using the idea of close ups to provoke emotion in the audience.
Participatory documentaries focus on the relationship between the film maker and the film subject, the film maker either interviewing the subject about their life, being the complete opposite to observational documentaries as participatory documentaries are a lot more intrusive into people's lives and their problems. The film maker directly asks questions to take the narrative of the documentary a certain way and to prevent rambling from the interviewee, influencing the major actions of the narrative.
In this documentary, the interviewer questions the locals of Tandok on the lifestyle and issues that they experience such as rabies; one interviewee being a mother of a child who died to rabies. The interviewer does ask some personal questions to the two interviewees in this documentary, sharing the issues and information to the audience to understand the emotions being expressed by the interviewees. These kinds of documentaries can put the subject into perspective for the audience as it is informing the audience of the issues these people face on a day to day basis that they may of never considered beforehand. Although the interviewer has to interact with the interviewee to get this information across, the information is impactful to the audience and can evoke emotion in the audience which in this case is empathy. The interviewer can be seen directing the narrative by the questions they ask, influencing the responses that would be gained from the interviewee to direct and pin point into the topic they wish to focus on, keeping the documentary focused and the audience focused as they won't lose interest with a well planned and developed narrative. They use close ups and shots of the face to provoke emotion in the audience as well as showing the issues they are talking about, allowing the audience to feel empathy or another emotion towards the interviewee. The music pin points the emotion that they want the audience to provoke from the song being slow and sad, making the audience provoke these certain emotions and can be switched on by the images that they show on the screen.
In my opinion, participatory documentaries are well fitted to provoke emotion in the audience and to analyze or express the topic that they are focusing on to the audience. This form of documentary could work with my idea as it is a way to express emotion and thoughts directly to the audience, analyzing the topic with different opinions from varying interviewees. This is one of the options I will have in mind when developing my idea.
Another mode of documentaries are reflexive documentaries. Reflexive documentaries raise the awareness in the means of representation, the camera crew and the film maker on camera during the documentary. The film maker and the camera crew provide narrative to the documentary, putting in their opinions and observations of the situation around them. This makes it very difficult to lie in these documentaries as everything is documented by the crew them selves, making this documentary more reliable in what actually happens around them.
In this documentary, "Far From Poland", the film maker is directly seen on screen interviewing a woman sat across from her and she also does the voice over of her experience speaking to another woman, allowing the audience to see the full experience of the film maker and to understand her experience. The camera crew can also be seen in the crowd, the zoom showing their facial expressions for the audience to understand the emotions that they are experiencing about the situation around them. This can put the situation into perspective to the audience, allowing them to understand the under tone and what is going on in the situation which informs them of the situation at hand. This mode of documentary keeps the audience interested and keeps the situation close as these documentaries stick to realism, although the narrative can often persuade the opinions of the audience. "Far From Poland" doesn't use music throughout, keeping the situation real to the audience and allowing them to hear all of the sounds being expressed by those around the camera crew. Using no music also makes the audience focus on the narrative and the voices, allowing them to be more informed and to understand the information being given to them in more detail as there are no distractions in the sound.
In my opinion, these documentaries are for investigating a situation and expressing the situation to the audience in a realistic way. I don't think I will be using this mode of documentaries as it doesn't fit to the idea and won't be able to express the meaning that I want to provoke to the audience, provoking an emotion and some understanding. Although I will not be using this mode, it is well known and a very good way to be realistic to your audience.
Poetic documentaries are made to create a specific mood or to provoke an emotion in the audience. Poetic documentaries show the audience an "abstract, subjective, representation of reality achieved through techniques such as emphasised visuals and a narrative organised to fit the mood of the documentarian/documentary rather than the linear, logical organisation films followed prior to this" as expressed by Word press.
An example of a poetic documentary is "Rain" which expresses the mood of people about their thoughts of the rain, showing both the negative and positive moods created by the rain. Rain uses a voice over, expressing their feelings of the rain to the audience and what it causes them to feel, the music playing to the words by the pacing and the beats. By doing this, they are provoking an emotion in the audience, creating either a happy feeling, a sad feeling or a rushed feeling. When one person is speaking about doing everything fast to avoid the rain, the music is fast paced which causes the audience to feel rushed and uncomfortable, expressing the person's feeling when they are out in the rain. The shots used are subjective and show the rain in different forms, causing the audience to experience different emotions through the visuals as well as the music and narrative. The idea is simplistic but is very affective on the audience, allowing them to feel the different emotions and to understand the different opinions of the voice overs.
In my opinion, poetic documentaries are very good for expressing emotions and could possibly be the mode of documentaries that I use for my own as I wish to express emotions to the audience, making them feel a certain way. Poetic seems to fit to this idea of mine the most, making it one of my options as I develop my idea.
Finally, Performative documentaries are made to express through poetry and rhetorical tones to the audience, directing the audience in an emotional and direct way and is often narrated into an investigation or search. These documentaries don't just speak about the historic issues of the World but also the issues of representing it, setting out to re-set the assumptions and the expectations of their audience.
A Performative documentary called "Tongues Untied" is an example of this mode as it is expressing an issue through rhetoric and repetitive speaking, the words almost sounding like a song. Tongues Untied shares fierce examples of homophobia and racism: the man being refused entry to a gay bar because of his color; the college student left bleeding on the sidewalk after a gay-bashing; the drag queen being isolated from society. It also brings up the issue of the black gay male experience. The shots shown in the documentary show the issues but almost in a music video style, making it seem like a performance to the audience whilst expressing the issues surrounding the topics in the voice overs. It provokes emotion in the audience as they try to understand the narrative of the documentary, allowing them to emphasize with the people on screen and to understand the issues that they are facing on a regular basis. "Tongues Untied" was a documentary made when racism and homophobia was large in the USA, allowing the back story to create some emotion from the documentary as you know the issues surrounding the documentary in better detail.
In my opinion, Performative documentaries are a good way of expressing issues in a rhetorical way to the audience and to express the issues through emotion and visuals. I won't be using this kind of documentary as it won't fit the tone that I want to express in my own documentary but has some techniques, such as the repetition, that I may use for my own.
Overall, documentaries have many forms of context and characteristics which are expressed through their modes to the audience. For my own documentary, I believe I will either be using poetic or participatory as they will fit the best with what I want to express to the audience and to provoke the emotions in the audience that I want to provoke, both modes fitting into these needs and wants.
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