What types of documentary

are there?By Jack Archer, Alex Duckett and

Will Laufs

There are 7 main types…

THESE INCLUDE:• Docudrama• Mixed

• Fully Narrated• Docusoaps• Self- reflexive• Reality TV

• ‘Fly on the wall’

DOCUDRAMA…• This type of documentary involves a

reconstruction or the re-enhancement of something which has actually happened. These are commonly used in crime documentaries.

MIXED…• A mixed documentary combines a number of

visual mediums to enhance the content within the documentary, these include: Interviews, observations, actuality footage, archive material and narration.

• Usually, the narration links the narrative of the documentary/ story together. This then allows the documentary to advance and develop.

FULLY NARRATED…• This type of documentary involves the narrator

narrating throughout the documentary. This then allows the viewers to make sense of what they are seeing on screen and to create exposition.

• A good example of this is David Attenborough’s 2011 series “Frozen Planet”.

DOCUSOAPS…• This type of documentary became very popular in

the 1990’s as people were interested in the idea of a documentary being about and reflecting, real life.

• A Docusoap is a hybrid genre that is mainly observational. The majority of these documentaries have long runs and in most cases, follow the lives of an individual, or a group of people.

• An example of this is the Channel 4 series “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding”

SELF- REFLEXIVE…• This is the type of documentary whereby the

cameraman/woman follows a subject that knows that they are being filmed and occasionally talk to the camera. An example of a self- reflexive documentary filmmaker is Louis Theroux.

REALITY TV…• Reality TV became apparent between 1989 and

1999 and provides their audience information, often in the form of entertainment.

• In most reality TV shows, there is a combination of authentic material and also commercial content. Such examples include “T.O.W.I.E”.

‘FLY ON THE WALL…’• A Fly on the wall programme is where the camera

is not seen and is ignored by subjects in order to capture and record events and authentic footage.

• A major example of this is “Big Brother”.

So, after all that… what type of documentary will ours be?

• After much consideration, we have decided that our documentary will mainly be a mixed documentary.

• This is because we feel that a mixture of mediums would help our audiences engage with the content. Furthermore, we feel that our active, sophisticated audience members are likely to be more willing to actively question and challenge any of the content within our documentary if there is a mixture of visual mediums. We also have to consider that our secondary audience is fairly young and therefore again, a mixture of mediums will make them more entertained.