Conventions:
DocumentaryGianluca

Conventions: Voiceover
• The voiceover addresses the audience directly.
• The voiceover that is heard in documentaries is normally
authoritative and it will engage the audience making them believe
that they have specialist knowledge of the events that occur within
the documentary.
• When using a voice over, you always need images or footage to
support your point.
We would like to include voiceover of the bands speaking. This dialogue will
be over montage footage and/or photos/pictures that match what is being
spoken about.
Expository:
“Voice of God” Can be heard but not seen Voice of authority

Conventions: Realism
• All events seen in a documentary must be seen as ‘real’ by
the audience, as documentaries are seen as non-fiction and
therefore the events cannot be made up.
Surface Realism - also known as ‘getting the details right’ or
‘making it look real’. You can look at texts in terms of
locations, or setting, or costumes and props, or even the
right accent spoken by a character. It looks right, it sounds
right so it must be right.
Inner & Emotional Realism - The audience ‘knows’ the
character and identifies with him or her because the
character behaves in a realistic way or says the right thing,
or shows an identifiable response or emotion.

Conventions: Interviews
• These are often with experts who are asked
questions in relation to the topic. It gives a sense of
realism and makes the audience believe that the
message delivered is more valid.
• We want to follow this common convention, by
interviewing bands in their own environments or
back stage where the scene would look
appropriate to the people being interviewed.

Conventions: Montage
• A montage sequence will show numerous specifically ordered shots
which will help convey ideas visually. Narrative montages which
involve the planning of a sequence of shots that will be used to
indicate changes in time and place within the documentary. It is
common to see ideational montages in documentaries, this type of
montage will link actions to words, the positioning of shots conveys
different ideas to the viewer.
• Montages in documentaries are usually linked with words that
different people within the documentary’s say. Finally montages
allow for a visually presented progression of ideas on the screen.
• We intend on including montage footage of the surrounding areas
which will have relevance to the bands that we interview. In some of
the montages that we include we would like to integrate a voice over
of the bands talking while some of the montages are viewed.

Conventions: Archival Footage
• Archival footage is material you get from places like libraries
or archive in which you then use in your documentary to
show historical events or to add detail without the need for
extra filming. This aids authenticity and adds to information
the film maker may not be able to obtain themselves.

Conventions: Sound
• Documentaries will usually have some sort of sound track to back it.
It is always relevant and well fitting. The music will always have the
correct sound level in order not to interfere with what is seen.
• Sound is used to create realism, emotion and an emphasis on what
is being documented.
• A lot of diegetic sound is used, and during interviews microphones
are used to capture what is being said.
• We expect to use microphones for our interviews. We want to also
have an iconic soundtrack that can be heard throughout the
documentary. In addition we want to add personal music from the
bands when appropriate.

Conventions: Camera
• Different camera angles are used within documentaries to
display and connote different things. A lot of camera pans
and zooms in and out will be used during documentaries
to add to the realism and engage with the viewer.
• We expect to use a range of different camera angles,
shots and movement. We would like to include some
handheld takes to add to the realism. We would use
handheld takes when talking to the band in their common
environments so that it gives the audience a feel for what
the bands environment is like.

Conventions: Editing
• A Lot of the editing with documentaries will be
straight cuts purely because this makes it more
believable for the viewer. By using straight cuts it
also means that the viewer won’t be distracted.
• We expect to shoot a lot of footage even if it isn’t
needed, this will give us more variety when it
comes to the editing stage. Extra footage when
editing can help fill the gaps when a montage is
needed.

Conventions: Narrativisation &
Dramatisation
• Dramatisation is often seen in documentaries that are
prejudice and bias. Dramatisation is the exaggeration that
gets built up within a documentary. Dramatisation can
sometimes be very bad in the way that its really strong
towards a certain view but also the general narration and the
documentary itself has become over exaggerated.
Narrativisation is normally always seen or heard in a
documentary. Narrative is an effective way of addressing to
the audience and telling the story or in this case the
documentary. Narrativisation can also drag on a bit so you
have to be careful on how much your using depending on
what type to documentary it is.

Documentary
Styles

Expository:
• A non-fiction film that emphasizes verbal
commentary and argumentative logic. An
expository documentary has impact on the
audience swaying their knowledge a side of
the story. This is done on purpose by the
makers of the documentary.

Observational:
• Emphasizing the documentary filmmakers engagement in
observing the subjects daily life and circumstances and
documenting them with an unobtrusive camera.
• By maintaining the observational mode, the director allowed the
subject to forget the presence of the camera and behave more
naturally, thereby letting the audience get a better sense of how
the actors are really feeling.
• Observational documentary has also a big impact on the
audience, the documentary makes a story along the way making
the audience like certain characters and creating a bond with
them. This is a great impact and it creates many thoughts
towards the rest of the documentary.

Reflexive:
• The reflexive mode reflects the quality of documentary itself,
de-mystifying its processes and considering its implications.
• The reflexive mode of documentary often functions as its own
regulatory board, policing ethical and technical boundaries
within documentary film itself.
• Reflexive Documentary has a slight impact on their viewers
because its more of an observation and they are capturing
true facts allowing the audience to learn from the
documentary

Participatory:
• Unlike the observational mode, the participatory mode
welcomes direct engagement between filmmaker and the
subject.
• The filmmaker becomes part of the events being recorded.
• The filmmakers impact on the events being recorded is
acknowledged, it is often celebrated.
• Participatory Documentary is very big on the viewers
because it’s getting them involved with the documentary as
well as getting the filmmaker involved as well.

Performative:
• This mode of documentary highlights the
subjective nature of the documentarian as well as
acknowledging the subjective reading of the
audience. Notions of objectivity are replaced by
"evocation and affect“. This mode also emphasises
the emotional and social impact on the audience. A
performative documentary is extremely effective on
the audience. They are made purposely to
emphasize the emotional and social sides of the
audience. Bringing out there views therefore
making the documentary a lot more interesting.