A documentary refers to a film that captures reality and provides a glimpse into different aspects of life. It aims to uncover unique, intriguing, or previously unknown perspectives. The purpose of documentaries revolves around the following: – Documentaries focus on presenting factual evidence. – Documentaries feature real individuals, depict real-life occurrences, and provide insights into historical events and scientific breakthroughs. – The documentary presenter often serves as a spokesperson for the general public.
The purpose of a documentary is to present an argument or case that educates the audience. Documentary filmmakers aim to share information with the audience that they may not be familiar with, especially regarding past or present events. A common convention in documentaries is the use of a authoritative and interesting voiceover, which suggests that the speaker has specialized knowledge in the documentary’s subject matter.
People like David Attenborough are frequently chosen as the voice of documentaries because his welcoming tone makes the audience believe that his views on the subject matter are the correct ones, given his qualifications in the field. The use of “real” footage further reinforces the idea that documentaries present factual events. Additionally, documentaries often include interviews with experts to validate the views being presented.
Sometimes the interviewee may disagree with the message of the documentary, although the film maker will usually disprove them in some way. Documentaries usually use words on screens to anchor images in time and space. This is a quick and cheap way of conveying information. There are different documentary styles that can be used. The expository form uses a narrator to address the audience. The observational mode allows visual material to tell its own story without a narrator. The reflexive form is a sophisticated documentary style that reflects on the production process itself. Lastly, there is the participatory or interactive style, where the documentary maker interacts with the topic.
