Video assignments: Documentaries

These are probably the least appropriate for most academic film assignments. They tend to be very abstract and experimental, with little clear narrative. They rely on tone and rhythm to create the structure and use visuals and sound to affect the emotions of the viewer. Whilst they are called poetic, and some do use poems or poetic language as part of the soundtrack, they do not actually need any words and often rely on music to set the rhythm of the piece. Whilst they are the least useful mode for academic work, you could still incorporate small sections of poetic mode in an academic film, for example if you wanted to make the viewer uncomfortable with strident sound and impactful imagery, or have a section that is a short montage of images and sounds related to your topic to set the scene etc. 

The film The Trail of Happiness given here is a good example of a short poetic documentary.

These are sometimes also called essay documentaries and are therefore probably a good starting point if you are making your first short film as they have a more familiar structure. They are persuasive films, with a clear narrative that puts forward a specific argument just like an essay. They often have a 'voice of God' narration (think David Attenborough narrating one of his wildlife documentaries) which is the main driver of the argument and the imagery is there to provide examples and evidence for what is being explained/argued. They can  also involve interviewing experts if that is possible. Whilst they are persuasive, they are also normally objective - much like a standard essay.

The film This is Our World given here is a good example of a short expository documentary.

These type of documentaries are designed to tell the truth about the world around us. A bit like a fly-on-the-wall report where the film maker does not ask questions, or step into camera. You can add voiceovers, which explain what people are looking at or the context of what they are seeing - but these films often have only a mix of music and natural sounds.

Observational documentaries developed from the 1960s cinema verité (truthful cinema) movement. They aim to capture real-life events as they unfold without interference from the filmmaker. The goal is to be a passive observer, allowing the audience to witness authentic and unscripted moments. Whilst these may not be suitable for all academic work, observational moments can be combined with other documentary modes to create persuasive academic films.

We give two examples of them here - the first is a trailer to a longer film Harlan County USA from 1976 - the film won the Oscar for Best Documentary Film that year. It does use a voice over in places to explain the context of what you are seeing. The second film, Going to University is more recent and uses only music for its soundtrack.

These often have aspects of the previous two modes, but the filmmaker also actively engages with the subjects, becoming part of the narrative. This involvement can take various forms, from interviewing subjects on camera to participating in the events being documented. They can appear directly or just as a voiceover, but the filmmaker's presence is acknowledged, and the documentary may explore the interaction between the filmmaker and the subjects. They are often opinion pieces - Louis Theroux films are good examples. Whilst the filmmaker influences the story, they remain outside the main subject, it isn't about them or their experiences specifically.

The film Forest Man given here is a good example of a participatory documentary. It is a little longer (16 minutes) but is one of the most watched films on YouTube. It tells the story of Jadav Payeng who planted a forest bigger than Central Park in a desert and it starts by placing the filmmaker very much in the film, explaining how they met and become friends.

Also provided is a short film specifically made as an example of participatory documentary. We see the students and their equipment - both directly and in reflections - as they ask people questions about the nature of humour or get them to tell jokes.

In this type of documentary, the process of making the film is integral to the film. They highlight the subjective nature of the filmmaking process itself and how this can influence the portrayal of reality. This isn't really about the technical aspects of filmmaking (though these can be included) but more about the filmmaker's presence, perspective, or personal journey when making the film.

In reflexive documentaries, the filmmaker may directly address the audience, share personal experiences, or reveal their biases and decision-making process - though this is not essential as long as viewers are encouraged to critically examine the role of the filmmaker in shaping the narrative and the potential for bias inherent in the documentary process.

The most quoted example of a reflexive documentary is a groundbreaking Soviet film from 1929 called Man with a Movie Camera. Whilst it could also be described as poetic, it is reflexive because it acknowledges the filmmaking process throughout. The cameraman is seen regularly going to different venues, multiple images are layered to show different processes happening at the same time and we even see images of an audience watching parts of the film and their reactions to it. We include it here for reference, but be warned - it is over an hour long and very much of its time.

A more recent example would be the other film here about filming political rallies in America. The filmmaker's narration explicitly talks about the effect (or not) of having a camera trained on the participants. It is just an excerpt, so only just over a minute long.

These documentaries can be quite experimental as the filmmaker is very much 'performing' to camera and this can take many different forms - from the relatively straightforward to the wacky!

They are often personalised stories that cover social truths as the filmmaker sees them - they tend to concentrate on the filmmaker's relationship with the subject.

Michael Moore's filmmaking style is performative - whilst his films have a lot of the participatory style (and some reflexive) within them, he goes beyond merely influencing the story to becoming part of the story, making them more performative. Another famous example would be the Borat films - whilst these could be described as 'mockumentaries', Baron Cohen's performance often draws attention to the absurd elements of his subjects.

The example film here, starts with a quick summary of the performative mode and then gives examples from Borat, Morgan Spurlock's SuperSize Me and Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine.