What is a film/TV documentary ?
The official definition for documentary is " a non fictional motion picture". This means by definition it a film/programme that is created completely based of fact. Documentary film making has become a cinematic practice ground for training film makers it allows them to cover a broad spectrum of subjects and audiences. Documentaries can come in many forms these are known as the six modes of documentry this consists of poetic, expository, observational, particpatory, reflexive and performative. Each of these modes reflect the way the documentary is made and its main purpose.
What is the purpose of documentary?
The main purpose of documentaries are to document reality this will hopefully provide a record of the events and can be maintained to be kept as a historical record. They are created to eaither inform or entertain an audience, this can depend on the documentary itself for example big brother is a documentary and is purely made for entertainment so the audience wouldnt expect to take any information away from it. Documentaries allow eaither the creator or the audience to speak out about events or subjects that maybe of peoples interests . They are mostly used to provide a particular view or interpretation of a subject.
How might the audience react to documentaries ?
The audiences reaction is very realiant on the documentry itself for example in the modern age the audience has become more interactive as they can get there opinions out to an audience of their own. The documentaries themselves will decide how they want their audiences to react for example if their main purpose is to inform they will hope to make a memorable documentary that leaves the audience thinking about the subject and reflecting on the information that has been given. If instead the documentary has been made to entertain they will focus more or trying to keep the audiences attention throughout they will try to make the experience last but this will not make you think like a informative documentary will.
What do you expect to see in a documentary ?
The features we expect to see in documentaries are their key codes and conventions these are the features that we don't often notice but are always there this includes the voice over/ presenter this is the main feature in a documentary without it the show would not go on. The voice will carry the documentary so it will set the tone for show/film so it has to encourage the audience but also be authoritative. There will also be footage of the events or an reenactment whether this is archived footage or live it will always be featured to use mostly as evidence for their argument or to inform their audience by showing what really happened. There may also be interviews eaither with experts or witnesses these will be used not only to show the reality of the situation but also may be used as the main voice for the events. sound will also be added to change the documentary and may be used to create the right atmosphere this may be done with diegetic or non diegetic sound, it is commonly used between scenes to keep the film/programme running. The last main convention is the mise en scene it consists of how the scene is set whether they are going to use sets or props or just leave the background to reality.
What is the purpose of television news programme ?
The main purpose of TV news is to portrait an unbiased view on the current days events. This in basic terms is to inform an audience on what is happening at that particular time. This is why the news is broadcast three times a day on BBC TV news this is so they can keep the audience up to date as much as possible. It is a factual programme that should not have any biased views as this can be seen as misinforming the public.
What do you expect to see in a news programme ?
The first feature you notice when watching the news is the main presenters there are often two, one male and one female this is used to balance out the audience as they can appeal to both sexes. There will also be other contributors for example reporters, experts, witnesses and possibly members of the public which is often displayed through vox pops. They also very strongly use mise en scene this will be used mostly be used to set the studio so that it appeals to the audience. These features will all come together to form the individual stories that create the new programme. There are also many techniques that form the reports these include :
- Piece to camera - This means that the presenter is speaking directly to the camera and directly to the audience.
- Cutaways- This is when the camera will cutaway to show a realated image or film.
- Voice over - This will mostly be done eaither by the reporter or possible the anchorman/woman.
- Interview- These are the most common way to gather witness statements or to gather people opinions.
- Vox Pops - These short interviews allow the public to share there opinion.
- Graphics - These will mostly be use to make facts and statistics interesting.
How do news programmes differ from documentaries?
News programmes and documentaies have similair purposes they both want to inform their audiences in an entertaining way although documentaries can also come in the form of entertainment only programmes. News programmes have less choice of subjects then documentry as the limited to that days current events where as documentaries can choose any subject or issue they want. They also are limited as they must make every story un opinionated an and can show bias in any way unlike documentary which can be used purely to show the makers opinion. They both have many common codes and conventions such as the need for a main presenter/ narrator to carry the show. They also both use archive or live footage to show the reality of what they are saying this is eveidence for their peices. News programmes features a lot of added conventions such as the nees for mise en scene in their studios although documentries do need mise en scene it is not as neccisary in every scene. Overall they are both factual visual documents that show reality in many different perspectives.
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