1. 6 Different Modes of
Documentaries
POETIC OBSERVATIONAL EXPOSITORY
PARTICIPATORY PERFORMATIVE REFLEXIVE

2. Poetic Documentaries
Poetic documentaries are often very subjective in the way that they don’t explain what it actually means, but
instead leave it for the audience to decide according to their own personal opinion. Poetic documentaries
achieve this through setting the mood of what is happening by using lighting, sound and mise-en-scene which, as
a result gives the audience different types of feelings, almost as if it was a blank canvas, ergo people will be able
to feel different things towards it and may also be able to relate to it personally.
Baraka is a documentary without any
commentary, however it is able to set a
mood due to the use of diagetic sounds
and non diagetic sounds and different
camera shots, in which enables the
audience themselves to interpret what is
happening thus allowing them to
question what is being presented to
them.
Also the use of juxtaposition throughout
Baraka goes along with the usual codes
and conventions of poetic
documentaries. The use of juxtaposition
Allows feelings to be presented in
different ways and compare different
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJHPNg7YdgY subjects to one another in order to try
and get a certain point across.

3. Observational Documentaries
The first set of Observational documentaries were first introduced during the 1960s. It usually aims to observe
life by trying not to intervene in any events and cause a minimum of interventions. This sort of documentary
usually has some sort of commentary or re enactments.
Poetic documentaries are very hard to keep natural as people often tend to behave very differently in front of
the camera even though there is meant to be little or no interaction at all between the camera man and the
subject.
Triumph des Willens (Triumph of The Will) (1934) is
a documentary based on the Nuremburg rallies,
however even though the film maker tried not to
influence any of the events which were taking
places, the Nuremburg rallies were in fact made for
the cameras to film so this is very controversial as
the cameras change the outcomes of the events.
The documentary shows the construction of the
Nazi party, it does this by showing us speeches from
it’s leaders, marches through the city's and the
growing support for the party even within the youth
of Germany who were being taught from an early
age what the perfect German was.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHs2coAzLJ8

4. Expository Documentaries
Expository documentaries often talk directly towards the viewer trying to expose a certain topic to the audience.
The documentary often uses a commentator who is a voice of authority, this is often called the voice-of-God.
Often at times within these documentaries, experts also take part within the documentaries and give their
opinion which may have an influence the viewers. These documentaries often talk to the viewer as a group and
tries to convince them in a certain way.
Frank Capra’s “Why We Fight: Battle of China”
is one episode from a series of WW2
propaganda documentaries where he talks
about events which happened during WW2. As
this is part of a propaganda series it could
influence what is being said and try and make
the audience view thing in a certain way and
make them think and grow feelings for a specific
subject.
The “Battle of China” is a documentary which
talks about the events which happened in China.
It explains why Japan invaded China and how
the battle was fought. It also show the
consequences of the battle and the effect on
the people of China and why they did to fight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4Ebv-FzP60 back against the Japanese.

5. Performative Documentaries
Performative documentaries try to express a subjectiveness towards what is being shown within the
documentary and try and get an emotive response from the audience his is usually achieved by using events
which have had a major effect on many people and things which people hold a strong view for. It is also used to
try and get us to experience an event and what it would have been like, it tries to make us create perspective of
something we may have not experienced beforehand.
Performative documentaries can often at times be very poetic as it draws up peoples feeling sand emotions
when being watched.
Alain Resnais’ Night And Fog is a French documentary
with English subtitles. It talks about the Holocaust
where it tries to create a perspective of what it was
like, it does this by doing it as if somebody is
remember back to what it was like as the
documentary also looks at what the concentration
camps look like now compared to what they were
back when they were being used.
At one point the commentator says “The blood has
dried and the tongues have fallen silent, the only
visitor to the blocks now is the camera” which
suggest that this events has left it’s mark on world
leaving both emotional and physical consequences.
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8qTFuMcDLs
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9frXX1qOqSY
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oA4OBuaWYY&

6. Reflexive Documentaries
Reflexive documentaries often draw attention to how documentaries are created rather than an actual event
taking place and tries to portray a sense of realism as if we are watching the film maker personally film his
documentary which could draw the audience in.
Reflexive documentaries essential are showing the real truth of how documentaries and shows the lengths the
film maker takes to try and get their footage and how long it usually takes them to get their footage which
shows the audience that the film maker took a lot of time and effort into making the documentary which is
shown throughout Vertov’s “The Man With the Camera”.
Vertov’s “The Man With the Camera” is showing the
advancing mechanization of soviet people and
technologies during 1929. This is shown by the Camera
being the mechanised device and the film maker
acting as the subject.
We often see in this documentaries the film actually
being constructed, we see how the film maker gets
the camera angles and the lengths he goes to get
footage for the documentary. This shows his devotion
to making something like this.
The image on the right shows the film maker standing
on a camera which could connotes that the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iey9YIbra2U
construction of the documentary is the bigger picture.

7. Participatory Documentaries
Participatory try to form emotions and create an experience for the audience to feel whilst watching the
documentary. These documentaries tries to put a perspective forward which the viewer usually would have not
thought about, this way it allows the viewer to question what they are seeing such as if it is the right thing to do
or not.
It also usually involves an engagement between the film maker themselves with the subject which is being
recorded. The film maker often sees that by recording a specific event, it will change how people will act and
change the event, in the case for Participator documentaries the film makers often are open to this and try and
stress this to the viewer.
Louis Theroux’s African Hunting Party is about
Louis Theroux travelling to Africa and meets a
group of hunters who hunt wild animals. He
goes with the hunters when they are hunting
the wild animals. The audience sees how the
animals are hunted and Louis Theroux questions
the hunters on why they hunt and puts his own
opinion forward about the subject. This subject
could be a concern for many as they feel that
hunting animals is a wrong thing to do, so this
documentary would be aimed at them to
perhaps try and open them up to the other side
of the argument.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwkjvZjclf8 It also opens up an emotional response from the
audience towards the documentary towards the
specific topic.