5 TYPES OF

DOCUMENTARY
By Luke McCallion
Expository

■ Voice Over: is vital when it comes to these types of documentaries as it acts as a ‘voice
of reason’ or ‘voice of God’. This would usually be someone who is well educated in
the chosen topic.
■ Visuals: are usually made up of interviews, archived footage and stills which are
arranged to follow the chosen narrative that has been chosen for the film, while also
editing for continuity to make the editors life easier when adding the voice over.
■ Persuasion: is often used in expository docs and it is when the narrator is biased to one
side of the argument and often trying to convince you of their/the documentaries point
of view. This would be to try and establish an understanding of why the subject matter
was chosen.
Observational

■ Shooting: will usually be done on site and footage will be filmed handheld with longer
takes than normal for authenticity, as shaky handheld footage seems more real than the
typical shots from a mounted camera which gives off a more cinematic, movie type feel.
■ Synchronous recording: is used to make the viewer feel as if they are in the location at
the time of filming. This is used instead of adding voiceover to explain the situation
after the event has taken place.
■ Realism: is the primary focus of these types of documentaries. This is because they
want to give an accurate reconstruction of what would happen in a real-life situation.
The participants will be acting as if the cameras are not there, and the audio will be live
from the subjects and will also include background noise of their environment or
surrounding passers by, all adding to the realistic effect.
Participatory (inactive)

■ Shooting: is similar in some ways to observational, but completely different in others.

Like observational footage will usually be handheld to again make it seem real.
However, participatory involves the film crew a lot more on screen.
■ Audio: is used in various ways to entice the viewers. Audio will be used from
interviews to show different points of view, while synchronous audio is used when
filming scenes (which is also then narrated using voice over to give the viewer a better
idea of what is being acted out in the scenes.) the voice over will usually be done by the
filmmaker , showing again that their involvement on screen has increased.
■ Creator inclusion: is the main part of this type of doc. It uses the creator’s passion of the
topic to push the narrative they are trying to, which also makes the viewer feel more
involved as it shows the personal motive for the film being created.
Reflective

■ Fictional film techniques are only used in this type of documentary. This is as they are
more representative of fictional film than a typical documentary and aim to get you into
the headspace of the character, while also using emotion and drama to draw the viewer
in. They do this with many techniques, one of which is reenactments
■ Voiceover: is also used quite uniquely in these documentaries as instead of using a
‘Voice of God’ the narrator chooses to have an uncertain tone and to question the
narrative rather than build it up and move it along.
■ Storytelling: is another factor making reflective documentaries unique as instead of
guiding the viewer toward a set narrative to get to a desired point, it makes them think
for themselves and draw their own conclusion to what’s being shown
Performative

■ Creator Inclusion: is a big part of performative documentaries as the creator usually

uses their involvement with the subject as a start off point, with several instances of the
creator giving their view of how the subject is progressing
■ Subject matter: is different to other documentaries as it steers towards more social
matters such as gender inequality, giving it a more emotional feel as the creator is
normally personally invested in the topic. However, this doesn’t help with concluding
the documentary as it doesn’t always have a satisfactory ending in the opinion of both
the creator and viewer.