Documentary mini task (1)

A documentary is a piece of factual programming intended to "document reality, primarily for the
purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record".1 There are five forms of
documentary which include expository, observational, interactive, reflective and performative
documentaries.

Observational documentaries are known for presenting a slice of life using a non-interactive film
maker unknown to the audience. They present a transparent record of an event which is unbiased.
The effect of this form of documentary is to show not tell and allows the audience to draw upon
their own conclusion. Observational documentaries aim to tell true stories but that creates the
question, can people really act naturally in front of a camera. An example of an observational
documentary is ‘Grey Gardens’ made in 1975, it follows two reclusive upper-class women who lived
in poverty in a derelict mansion at 3 West End Road. Both women are called Edith Beale they are
mother and daughter. Although the directors David Maysles and Albert Maysles feature in the
documentary the focus is primarily on the two women, however, it does have elements of
interactive documentary at points. This documentary is simple but interesting to watch as it shows a
different perspective of life, and you hear their stories as they recollect memories from their past.
During a scene where all the women are having a conversation with a photo album, we can see how
the women used to live before they fell into financial ruin. We can draw our own conclusion from
the woman’s speech and the photos shown on screen.

An interactive documentary includes features such as, a clear film maker present who interacts with
the interviewees and present their views on the subject as well as portraying the facts. This

documentary is usually manipulated in post-production through
editing and such.

An example of this is a film called “My Scientology Movie” the film
maker is Louis Theroux who goes on a journey to find out what the
cult of scientology is really like behind the scenes. The film takes an
unconventional approach to the subject matter, featuring young
actors "auditioning" for parts playing high-profile Scientologists in
scenes recreating accounts from ex-members about incidents
involving senior church management. The Church of Scientology
responded by putting the filmmakers under surveillance and
denouncing the film.2 In a scene where Louis Theroux is outside the
studio where he is ‘filming’ his ‘movie’ and holding auditions for
characters, an unexpected visitor is lurking outside and when Louis
confronts them they begin to film him back; this is a very strong

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film
2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Scientology_Movie

example of why this is an interactive documentary. I really enjoyed this approach to documentary
film making and have watched it many times, Louis Theroux is a talented film maker and really
knows how to get the best responses from his interviewees in a respectful and subtle way and that is
why I continue to watch his documentaries.
Reflective documentaries don’t include dialogue, it features a montage of sequences that fit
together to portray a message or value. This type of documentary is very experimental in the way it
is put together, the shots are taken of ‘everyday life’ but are the building blocks used to create a
message that is up to the audience to determine. An example of this is ‘Koyaanisqatsi’ which shows
shots of modern life in industrial cities which helps convey the message of a life out of balance; a
state of life that calls for another way of living3. This movie was designed to have no plot as with all
reflective documentaries.

A performative documentary’s main feature is that it has actors who re-enact past events which help
to submerge the audience into the diegesis. These documentaries are extremely stylised and
expressive of the subject matter. An example of this is ‘The Tinder Swindler’ this Netflix
documentary tells the story of a notorious conman who used the Tinder dating app to live a life of
luxury while defrauding women across Europe4. It seems very cinematic and dramatic in its re-
enactments, showing the action which is important and the most interesting to keep the audience
drawn into the film and to keep the pace of the documentary. The re-enactments help the story to
move along. When it shows the first time they meet via re-enactments, there is a voice over by a
woman who was affected by this man’s antics which is a clear example of a feature of a
performative documentary.

3 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085809/plotsummary
4 https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/who-is-tinder-swindler-real-shimon-
hayut#:~:text=The%20new%20Netflix%20documentary%20tells,convicted%20fraudster%20born%20in%20Isra
el.

Expository documentaries include an authoritative voice over which compliments the images
onscreen and helps the audience to understand said images. The purpose of expository
documentaries is to portray a transparent representation of the subject. These forms of
documentary usually include lots of facts about the images and videos which allows the audience to
learn and be educated on the subject in a very formal way. An example of this is ‘Our Planet Frozen
Worlds’, this documentary’s voice over is Sir David Attenborough who gives a clear and concise
explanation of each image. An image of some penguins are shown, swimming on screen and at this
point he says “Penguins may have lost their ability to fly, but they still form flocks, as so many other
birds do.” When he says this, it gives some context to the imagery and therefore helps us to draw a
conclusion with his help. When His voice is calming and not grating and therefore the audience is
drawn into his intellectual words which makes it suitable for all age groups.

My favourite format is Interactive documentaries because I feel that they are engaging and
intellectual, I feel like it allows the interviewee to really express their opinions on the subject.
However, I feel that they not just give the interviewee a voice but also allows the film makers bias a
voice, which when given to the wrong person this power can be abused. Another example of a good
documentary film maker who doesn’t abuse this power is a man called Werner Herzog his
documentary ‘Into the Abyss’ is about convicts on death row, although Herzog doesn’t appear
directly onscreen like in some of his other documentaries his voice is heard from behind the camera
as he carries out his interviews.

In my opinion observational documentaries are the least biased way of presenting information about
a particular subject. This is because they don’t have the filmmaker imposing their views its just
simply showing a slice of life and the only way they could change this is in editing but the reality of
the images stays the same.
I feel that the documentary producers don’t have a contract with the viewer to show them honest,
unbiased and accurate information because it is up to the viewer to determine which is fake/ biased
and which is unbiased. When I’m interested in a topic and choose to watch a documentary, I watch
multiple documentaries from different sources and make my own opinion on the subject. I don’t feel
like the filmmaker have any contract because they whole point of being creative is to express
yourself and your views freely without the barrier of other people’s opinions, Robin skinner said ‘if
you can't control your own emotions, you have to start controlling other people’s behaviour' I think
that this quote is extremely topical in todays society.