Documentary key features

Expository - The purpose is to inform and educate the audience about a subject.Screened material can include original and archive footage.Camera and crew are normally invisible to the audience.The material is tightly scripted and often accompanied by a voice-over narration - delivered either by an expert or an actor.'The authority of narration is such that it anchors the meaning of expository documentaries' (Killborn and Izod) examples:natural history documentaries.

Observational - Since the 1960s lightweight film and,later,video cameras have enabled filmmakers to record people in their natural environment with a minimum of fuss.This approach aims for greater degree of naturalness.Again,camera and crew take back seat. Example:Etre et Avoir

Fly-on-the-Wall - An extension of the observational mode,fly-on-the-wall approaches aim to blend into the background as the subjects go about their daily business.Filming might continue over a considerable period of time - six months,say.In a sense the aim is to give the audience unmediated access to the world. Example:The Family

Interactive/Reflexive - In this mode the filmmakers presence is fully acknowledged,even emphasised.By contrast with the above the filmmaker is both author and character in his or her movie,often appearing in shot and interacting with other people in the film might offer suprises,play with conventions,and aim to provoke reactions from subjects and audiences alike.The filmmaker may or may not take sides if their is conflict. Example:Roger and Me,Biggie and Tupac

Poetic/Avant garade - In this instance the emphasis is on creativity as the filmmaker explores,for example,the beautyin the everyday. Example:Night Mail,Lido

Drama Documentary - In the absense of archive material or access to witnesses,the filmmaker might stage dramatic reconstruction of events. Example:Who Bombed Birmingham?,Hillsbourgh

Mockumentary - Fictional films which paraody the forms and conventions of documentary,often for humorous effect. Example:This is Spinal Tap,Best in Show,Blair Witch Project,The Office

Personal - These 'films' are often shot on video and generally feature the maker addressing the camera directly,expounding or sharing his or her views with the viewer. Example:Video Nation