ExpositoryAccording to Collaborative Documentary (2009) an Expository Documentary is: Expository

documentaries speak directly to the viewer, often in the form of an authoritative commentary
employing voiceover or titles, proposing a strong argument and point of view. These films are
rhetorical, and try to persuade the viewer. (They may use a rich and sonorous male voice.) The
(voice-of-God) commentary often sounds objective and omniscient. Images are often not
paramount; they exist to advance the argument. The rhetoric insistently presses upon us to read
the images in a certain fashion. Historical documentaries in this mode deliver an unproblematic
and objective account and interpretation of past events.
Conventions of this style:

Speak directly to viewer

Often in the form of an authoritative commentary, with strong point of view
Tries to persuade the viewer (done through rich male voice)
No filler, will use all imagery to support arguments
Normally done from an objective account and interpretation of event.

Example- An Inconvenient Truth

Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu6SE5TYrCM
This film falls under expository, it uses a strong sided point of view of a group of people which is
shown through the use of Al Gore stating global warming is a huge problem although people may
be persuaded by his arguments to start a change for the better. It also heavily persuades the
viewer as it is stating the future result of global warming and how we are causing it and then goes
on to show how we can stop it in the future and is persuading people to be more aware of global
warming. It is a very serious documentary so it shows no silly unnecessary clips and uses straight
facts and imagery instead. Lastly it is done in a very objective point of view meaning people can
almost entirely believe him as it uses more facts and figures and truthful statements more than
just general opinions that people can disagree with.

ObservationalAccording to Collaborative Documentary (2009) an Observational Documentary is: Observational

documentaries attempt to simply and spontaneously observe lived life with a minimum of
intervention. Filmmakers who worked in this sub-genre often saw the poetic mode as too abstract
and the expository mode as too didactic. The first observational docs date back to the 1960s; the
technological developments which made them possible include mobile lightweight cameras and

portable sound recording equipment for synchronized sound. Often, this mode of film eschewed
voice-over commentary, post-synchronized dialogue and music, or re-enactments. The films aimed
for immediacy, intimacy, and revelation of individual human character in ordinary life situations.

Conventions of this style:

Tend to observe more than actually be involved

Makes viewers reach their own conclusion about the topic
Some documentaries in this style normally have no music, no interviews, no scene
arrangement of any kind, and no narration. This helps to achieve fly-on-the-wall
perspective.
Long takes and few cuts; this Helps to make it look like a first-hand experience of the
subject.

Example- Armadillo (2010)

This film works because it is entirely done with music and intense shots making it a very cinematic
film. There are also no interviews or voiceover helping to reinforce the point of observation and
instead is just about a live action group of people in a platoon on a tour over Afghanistan. The film
has sync through the music and images making the whole film seem artistic and are done to show
that just showing the footage without any voiceover helps to impact the viewer more.
Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcwrLV-H5UU

InteractiveAccording to Wikipedia (2016) an interactive documentary is: A broad definition of interactive

documentary would include any attempt to document the real that utilises digital technology and
forms of interactivity either in the form of delivery technology or through production processes.
Aston &Gaudenzi (2012) argue that in fact interactive documentaries are not the result of a linear
evolution of the documentary genre. But a distinct and separate mode of practice that goes
beyond simple representation of the real, moving towards one that constructs the real through an
immersive and enacted user experience.

Conventions of this style:

Digital Based
Interaction with viewer
Immersive and gets viewer involved

Example- Casas Hechas Mujer

This website works as it follows the conventions of this type of documentary. It is fully digitally
based with its own YouTube video and many different links and pages on the website to fully have
interaction with the viewer. It also interacts with the viewer by giving a menu full of interesting
and insightful videos for anyone to watch and view for their own pleasure. It also gets the viewer
involved by having no constant talking throughout and lets the viewer go at their own pace and
their own interactions with the website can get them to look at everything on it!
Trailer on website- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRKUjSWSrL4

ReflexiveAccording to Wikipedia (2016) A reflexive mode documentary, considers the quality of

documentary itself, de-mystifying its processes and considering its implications.
In DzigaVertovs Man with a Movie Camera (1929,) for example, he features footage of his
brother and wife in the process of shooting footage and editing, respectively. The goal in
including these images was, "to aid the audience in their understanding of the process of
construction in film so that they could develop a sophisticated and critical attitude." (Ruby 2005)
Mitchell Blocks ...No Lies (1974,) functioned in a notably different manner, as it reflexively and
critically questioned the observational mode, commenting on observational techniques and their
capacity for capturing authentic truths. In this way, the reflexive mode of documentary often
functions as its own regulatory board, policing ethical and technical boundaries
within documentary film itself.
Conventions on this style:

Questioning people. More than voiceover.

Casual/normal clothing.
May observe and join in.

May stay distant and let things play out

Example- Stories We Tell

This fits in with this type of documentary as it is full of different interviews and investigates
many things such as secrets and things through the interviews in the documentary instead of
someone constantly talking into the camera and giving facts. It is interviewing many people in
casual clothing and not being as amazingly professional as other documentaries. It is
observing also the life of this family and their secrets of their lives. It also lets the people talk
and doesnt have an overabundance of questions.
Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytq4VZ2Nyxg

PerformativeAccording to collaborativedocumentary.wordpress.com (2009) Performative documentaries

stress subjective experience and emotional response to the world. They are strongly personal,
unconventional, perhaps poetic and/or experimental, and might include hypothetical enactments of
events designed to make us experience what it might be like for us to possess a certain specific
perspective on the world that is not our own, e.g. that of black, gay men in Marlon Riggss Tongues
Untied (1989) or Jenny Livingstons Paris Is Burning (1991).

Conventions on this style:

Subjective.
Provokes an emotional response.
Personal points of view.

Gain knowledge to what it would be like to specifically be a certain person.

Example- Tongues Untied

This documentary fits this as it is taking a personal take from an objective point of view. It
goes through the life of gay men and of which both being black and giving their thoughts n it
and trying to show why it is not bad and why people should not see it as a bad thing. It can be
emotional as it is a real experience of men struggling with being black and gay. There are
many personal points of view throughout with their thoughts and feelings.
Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2T0UdNaWlo

RealismAccording to http://www.litnotes.co.uk/ (2002) a realism documentary is Something created (and still

create) a sense of truth or authenticity, but it must also be noted that editorial choices and values are still at work
in the creation of the news or documentary texts. What looks like truth will almost certainly have been filtered or
massaged or manipulated or (to use a current term) spun by the editorial process.
Conventions on this style:

An authoritative presenter

The use of voice-over commentaries

Recorded interviews

Visual evidence via location shots or archive film

DramatizationAccording to wisegeek.com(2016) a dramatization/docudrama is A film or television

show which combines the fields of documentary and drama. One might call a docudrama
a non-fiction drama, with a focus on real events and real people presented in a
dramatized way. Unlike a true documentary, a docudrama may include staged footage
with actors. Depending on the topic, little to no documentary footage may be used. In
some cases, docudramas may also create entirely staged hypothetical situations, as in

the case of the 2006 film Death of a President. Some organizations use docudramas to
draw attention to current events and issues, with several environmental films making
docudramas about the effects of global warming, for example, illustrating what might
happen if the sea levels rise dramatically.
Conventions on this style:

Staged scenes
Fictional
Informative
Focus on real events/situations done in a fictional representation.

NarrativisationAccording to http://www.slideshare.net/JakeKemp/documentary-conventions
a narrativisation documentary is An effective way of addressing the audience
and telling the story or in this case the documentary. Leading on from this it
is an effective way of creating a story to the documentary and giving it a
further purpose to help make it feel more connected.

Conventions on this style:

Story/plot layout
Helps to make it feel connected.
Makes it more interesting.

BibliographyExpository:
Name (2009) 6 types of documentary. Available at:
https://collaborativedocumentary.wordpress.com/6-types-of-documentary/ (Accessed:
20 April 2016).
Movieclips Trailer Vault (2012) An inconvenient truth (2006) official trailer #1 - Al Gore movie HD.
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu6SE5TYrCM (Accessed: 18 May 2016).

Observational:

Name (2009) 6 types of documentary. Available at:

https://collaborativedocumentary.wordpress.com/6-types-of-documentary/ (Accessed:
20 April 2016).
Wikipedia (2016) in Documentary mode. Available at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_mode (Accessed: 20 April 2016).
DocumentaryTrailers (2011) Armadillo (2010) - official trailer [HD]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcwrLVH5UU (Accessed: 18 May 2016).

Interactive:
Wikipedia (2016) in Documentary mode. Available at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_mode (Accessed: 20 April 2016).
App, K. (no date) Casas Hechas Mujer. Available at: http://casashechasmujer.com/ (Accessed: 18 May 2016).
Ariel Enrique Arteta Fontalvo (2016) Trailer Casas Hechas Mujer. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=VRKUjSWSrL4 (Accessed: 18 May 2016).

Reflexive:
Wikipedia (2016b) in Documentary mode. Available at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_mode (Accessed: 29 April 2016).
NFB (2012) Stories we tell (trailer). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytq4VZ2Nyxg (Accessed: 18 May 2016).

Performative:
Name (2009b) 6 types of documentary. Available at:
https://collaborativedocumentary.wordpress.com/6-types-of-documentary/ (Accessed: 29 April 2016).
Frameline - Best in LGBT Media (2008) Tongues untied trailer. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2T0UdNaWlo
(Accessed: 18 May 2016).

Realism:
2002, V.P. (2002) Realism. Available at: http://www.litnotes.co.uk/realism.htm (Accessed: 4 May
2016).

Dramatization (docudrama):
2016 (2016) What is a docudrama? (with pictures). Available at: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-adocudrama.htm (Accessed: 4 May 2016)

Narrativisation-

Kemp, J. (2011) HD95. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/JakeKemp/documentary-conventions

(Accessed: 18 May 2016).