VARIOUS INFO ON DOCUMENTARIES

VARIOUS INFO ON DOCUMENTARIES

The following boxes are useful for last minute additions for your research and planning and also for preparation for exam section A

TYPES OF DOCUMENTARIES Moving Image Television Documentary  (breaking down the genres)                                                                i.      Observatory  (ones that observe topics or issues)                                                              ii.      Expository  (ones that expose topics or issues)                                                             iii.      Participatory  (ones that audiences participate in to reveal a message) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEP_CugxZCI discussion of these 3 types of documentaries and how they are made Informative                                                                i.      Historical                                                              ii.      Nature/wildlife                                                             iii.      Educational  (science or social issues) Entertainment

http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/Documentary/docu_index.php Documentary - A Definition for the Digital Age In his 2001 book, Introduction to Documentary (Indiana University Press), Bill Nichols (theorist) defines the following six modes of documentary Documentary texts are supposedly those which aim to document reality, attempting truthfulness in their depiction of people, places and events. However, the process of mediation means that this is something of an oxymoron, it being impossible to represent reality without constructing a narrative that may be fictional in places. Certainly, any images that are edited cannot claim to be wholly factual, they are the result of choices made by the photographer on the other end of the lens. Nonetheless, it is widely accepted that categories of media texts can be classed as non-fiction, that their aim is to reveal a version of reality that is less filtered and reconstructed than in a fiction text. Such texts are often constructed from a particular moral or political perspective, and cannot therefore claim to be objective. Other texts claim to simply record an event, although decisions made in post-production mean that actuality is edited, re-sequenced and artificially framed. The documentary maker generally establishes a viewpoint before starting the construction of their text, and the process of documentary-making can be simply the ratification of their idea. Perhaps, to misquote Eco, the objectivity of the text lies not in the origin but the destination? The documentary genre has a range of purposes, from the simple selection and recording of events (a snapshot or unedited holiday video) to a polemic (controversial argument) text that attempts to persuade the audience into a specific set of opinions (Bowling For Columbine). Audiences must identify that purpose early on and will therefore decode documentary texts differently to fictional narratives. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_mode  more on documentary mode (Bill Nichols theory)

http://www.adamranson.plus.com/documentaries%20%5bv6.0%5d.PDF     extremely useful document looking at types of documentaries and elements of documentaries.  Most useful information is about pre-production, production and post-production stages of making a documentary.

http://www.filmsite.org/docfilms.html   website that explores different types of documentaries, documentary makers, lists of examples of documentaries http://listverse.com/2007/12/04/top-10-greatest-tv-documentary-series/ list of good TV documentaries

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film loads of information of definitions and information about types of documentaries. It also has info on contexts exploring why documentaries change/evolve. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_television details of TV documentary http://www.slideshare.net/emhughes/basic-documentary-genres-outline  the first part goes into more detail and examples of different types of documentaries