Research into media forms

what is a documentary  - definition

 A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education, or maintaining a historical record. Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in terms of "a filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception that remains a practice without clear boundaries.

6 types of documentary modes

Poetic mode:

A poetic documentary eschews linear continuity in favour of mood, tone, or the juxtaposition of imagery. Since poetic  documentaries  often have little to none narrative content the director of photography is often asked to capture highly composed, visually striking images that can tell a story without additional verbal context.

how its used -  poetic mode

Poetic documentary is a subgenre of documentary filmmaking that uses avant-garde techniques to evoke a certain mood or feeling rather than prove a point through a traditional linear narrative structure.

Expository mode:

Expository documentaries set up a specific point of view or argument about a subject and often feature “voice of God” style voice-over. For expository documentaries.

how its used - expository mode

Expository documentary mode gives the narrator the role to explain or argue the film's rhetorical content. Stories and statements are given through voiceover with images to illustrate the tone of the film. Using this mode, the filmmaker collects footage that functions to strengthen the spoken narrative.

Participatory mode:

Participatory documentaries are defined by the interaction between the documentary filmmakers and their subject. Therefore, a cinematographer is equally responsible for capturing the interviewer as he is the interviewee. participatory documentaries, also known as interactive documentaries, often present the filmmaker’s version of the truth as “the” truth, focusing on direct engagement with subjects and capturing real emotional responses and interactions.

how its used - participatory mode

In the participatory mode, the audience is allowed to see or hear the filmmaker asking the questions. This establishes a clearer relationship between the filmmaker and the interview subject, while also giving the viewer a more "behind the scenes" look at how the filmmaker elicited the subject's responses.

Observational mode:

A style of documentary embraced by the cinema veritas movement, observational documentaries attempt to discover the ultimate truth of their subject by acting as a fly-on-the-wall in other words, observing the subject’s real-life without interrupting.

how its used - Observational mode

Documentary filmmakers use the observational mode to discover the ultimate truth of their subject by observing the subject's real-life without interruption.

Reflexive mode:

 Reflexive documentaries focuses on the relationship between the filmmaker and the audience. Since the subject matter is often the process of documentary filmmaking itself, a cinematographer will shoot behind-the-scenes style footage of the entire film production process, including editing, interviewing, and post-production.

how its used - reflexive mode

The reflexive documentary mode focuses on the relationship between the filmmaker and the audience, pushing viewers to reflect on their perceptions and re-analyse their notions of truth.

Performative mode:

 performative documentaries focus on the filmmakers involvement with their subject, using his or her personal experience or relationship with the subject as a jumping-off point for exploring larger, subjective truths about politics, history, or groups of people.

how its used - performative mode

In Observational documentaries, unobtrusive observation of the subject is the director's aim. A Performative documentary emphasizes the filmmaker's own involvement with the subject. Furthermore, the filmmaker shows a larger political or historical reality through the window of her own experience.

suitable and why

Well some of these might be suitable for my documentary and each of them fit into a category I could use but i think the poetic mode and the performative mode are more suited to me having a documentary where as the filmmaker is involved with their subject is great its creates a sense of passion and easiness also for the poetic mode having a structured almost like movie documentary could be fun, I will be definitely using pictures and striking images talking about the upcoming games and such so incorporating these two could work very efficiently.