Blog Post #5: Documentary Styles

Documentary Modes

Expository documentaries involve extensive research. They include interviews, visuals, and narration that support the argument. Their purpose is to educate and explain. This is the basic and most common documentary mode.

Observation documentaries are shot without any narration, commentary, and the viewer is left to interpret it in their own way. It is shot like a "fly on the wall" where the audience views the entire documentary without interruptions.

Participatory documentaries have the filmmaker participating in the scenes or interviews while on screen. This includes an equal amount of capturing the interviewer and interviewee.

Reflexive mode documentaries use interviews, narration, and visual metaphors to explore the relationship between the filmmaker and audience. A cinematographer will shoot behind-the-scenes style footage of the entire film making process, including editing, interviewing, and post-production.

Poetic mode documentaries focus on emotions, valuing cinematography to create an emotional response from the audience. The purpose is to create a tone or mood that allows the audience to explore the world from another point of view.

Performative mode documentaries show the filmmaker's involvement with the subject where they share experiences. A cinematographer is often asked to capture the documentary process, as well as footage that shows personal relationship between the filmmaker and subject.