Genre in Short Film- Documentary

Definition: A documentary is a recording of an event, generally based on peoples perspectives or experiences and/or general facts.

Generic Conventions

-Non-fiction
-Real life events
-Natural lighting and sound, no exaggeration in sound or dramatic lighting
-Can be actual footage with real people involved not always actors
-Realism- this can be shown by archive footage, interviews, location shooting and following the action
- Interviews or conversations with experts / witnesses / participants
-Narration is to communicate in narrative form, so the audience understands more
-Its can be in an interview form or voiceover
Lighting
-Low key lighting – social realism / mood / tone / artistic reasons
-High key lighting – moral, idealistic realism / encodes POV
-Key and fill lighting – Documentary realism
Camera
-Close up, extreme close ups
-Establishing shots to set the scene.

6 modes of Documentary (Bill Nichol)

Expository: Doesn't follow the strict conventions of most documentaries, uses voiceovers and addresses the audience directly .
Observational: It focuses on just using one camera and observes the world.
Participatory: The maker is visible in the video and are usually the voiceover too.
Reflexive: Based on real life moments and objects, these are based on suggestions and opinions rather than real facts.
Performative: Based on emotions, the maker may interact with the subject.
Poetic: Subjective representation of reality.

Positives of Documentary Films

-Can record changes/events in society which can have an impact on peoples lives, to inform them or for evidence
-Easy to record
-Can require low budget

Negatives of Documentary Films

-Could easily be a boring topic
-Always a case of being biased towards someone/thing
-Expensive to make it a good documentary that people will be interested in