August 7, 2013

Understanding The Module Of Documentaries

By Cathy Mercer


The industry of filming has been transformed more and more. Rather than the usual films and movies being shown on our screens which are full of fiction and acting, there has been an emergence of documentaries. These are real life films concerning live of people, animals in the bush and the way they live, science and developments being made in the world of technology. They are quite different from the usual films people watch.

In this perspective, there is no censoring of any images and videos being aired. In case they are unfit to some people, parental guidance comes into effect. In reality, all that is recorded is shown regardless of how awful it may appear. That is why they have the name documentaries. In case they are about warfare, viewers can expect real things as they happened on the ground, air and water.

Six types of documentaries are in existent as of today. The first one is poetic documentary. This is among the first to be aired. The basis of this is grammar and has a lyrical flow arising from the rhyming words at the end of each sentence. With this type, appearance of people was basically as entities; in other words, they were used as material possession of the world.

Another type is expository documentary. This one uses authoritative format to communicate directly to the viewer on a certain point of view or argument. In this form, the use of rhetoric questions is high and its aim is to try and persuade the viewers. Another feature of this type is centered on use of deep, male voice where the usage of images is paramount; just an advancement of existing argument.

Observational documentary is centered on observing certain aspects in existence and coming up with a story line on such basis. It inhibits minimum or no form of intervention at all on the life aspect of whatever is being filmed. With this in play, the other basis which comes into play is that of creating a revelation concerning personal human character in normal life.

Participatory one on the other hand has an emulative approach in its making; that of an anthropologist. This means that the people shooting the cast regularly appear both in view and the commentaries aspect. In other situations, the person keeps changing roles and even making the real appearance on the camera the crucial element being encounter of the filmmaker and subject line of the entire film.

As for the reflexive documentary, it tends to draw attention to its own construction and those particular elements it is representing. It has high sense of skeptic and bears a lot of self consciousness with regards to the other types thus drawing attention to its own.

The final type as far as documentaries are concerned is the per-formative documentary. In this type, emotions usually run high as far as the perception of the world is considered. Viewers are given a platform to weight this aspect from a position within the entire script. It is full of experiments and hypothesis formulation at the end of it all.




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