Documentary Formats

• What is a documentary? How would you define 'documentary'?

A documentary is a film or motion picture that is based of non-fiction to give to portray something of reality, to maintain a historical record and teach people about the certain topic.

• Identify the key features of expository documentaries
• Provide your own example of an expository documentary.

The key features of an expository documentary is that it speaks directly to the viewers in the form of an authoritative commentary employing voiceover or titles, proposing a strong argument and point of view. The films are rhetorical and ususally try to persuade the viewer, the commentary often sounds 'god-like' and 'omniscent' also, often objective.
America's most wanted is a form of expository documentary, the show's purpose is to profile and assist law enforcement in the apprehension of fugitives wanted for numerous crimes, including murder,rape, kidnapping, child molestation, white-collar crime, organized crime, armed robbery, gang violence, and terrorism, and also many of whom are currently on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

• Identify the key features of observational documentaries
• Provide your own example of an observational documentary

The key features of an observational documentary are that they attempt to observe simply and spontaneously, the public's lived life with as little intervention as possible. What makes these forms of films possible is the mobile lightweight cameras and portable sound equipment. It aims for immediacy, intimacy and revelation of individuals character is everyday life.

War Photographer is a form of observational documentary, it is about the photographer James Nachtwey. As well as telling the story of an iconic man in the field of war photography, the film addresses the broader scope of ideas common to all those involved in war journalism, as well as the issues that they cover.

• Identify the key features of Interactive documentaries
• Provide your own example of an interactive documentary 
• Discuss how access and privacy can affect a production (Releases and permissions) 

The key features of interactive documentary stays away from traditional forms of media such as, video, audio and photographic by applying a full complement of multimedia tools. Instead it provides documentarians with a unique medium to create non-linear productions that combine photography, text, audio, video, animation and infographics. 
Clouds over cuba is a form of interactive documentary it is an immersive experience that documents the full story of the Cuban Missile Crisis in riveting detail, beginning in 1959 when Soviet missiles were discovered in Cuba and continuing on until the missiles are removed in October 1962. In addition, users get a chance to navigate a thought provoking fictional “What if” scenario, showing how the world might be different today had the crisis had escalated into nuclear war.
Access and Privacy can affect a production if the basis of production is about serious topics like, the government, police investigation or the privacy of individuals, as it would take time and money to access certain forms and to gain verification to use them in the documentary.

• Identify the key features of reflexive documentaries 
• Provide your own example of an reflexive documentary 

The key features of reflexive documentary are that instead of seeing themselves as a transparent window on the world, instead they draw attention to their own constructedness and the fact that they are representations. They question the authenticy of documentaries and is highly skeptical of realism. They may defamilairize what we see and how we see it.
Louis Theroux is a great example of an reflexive documentary filmmaker, he has a wide range of documentaries based on a variation of different topics from: Porn to UFO's, where he interviews individuals to provide views on the topic.

• Identify the key features of performative documentaries 
• Provide your own example of an performative documentary 
• Discuss the use of dramatisations and re-enactments in performative documentaries e.g. why are they used and what are the implications of including them?

The key features of 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. Performative docs often link up personal accounts or experiences with larger political or historical realities.
An inconvient truth is a form of performative documentary, it is about former United States Vice President Al gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate made in the film, he has given more than a thousand times.






They use dramatisation and re-enactments is to provide an image of what happened for the viewers and to help aid to tell the story, the problem and implications with including these are that they sometimes cloud the truth and put a spin on certain topic as it is seen more like a film instead of a documentary, therefore the dramatisation can affect the topic of documentary.

• What is your documentary filmmaking philosophy?
• Do you think that a documentarist has a contract with the viewer to present them them with truth and authentic information? E.g., do you believe that the 'ends justify the means' is an appropriate for documentary filmmakking?

I believe that a documentarist does have a contract with the viewer to present them with the truth and authentic information however, i also believe that to gain the truth if they have to do some unethicall things such as undercover filming like; Panorama, or lying, or may in the end twist the truth to provide a good outcome for the documentary, then it does justify the means. As long as it gives the viewers a helpful and clear outlook on the topic at hand and doesn't stray to far away from the moral compass.