Conventions of the documentary - 21st September

I began research by looking into the major conventions and techniques found within all genres of documentaries. Here I have selected a few I feel constitute as major conventions, and have analysed them explaining what they are and how they could be used in my piece as well as viewing examples of them on YouTube.

Fly on the wall filming

As I have already established fiction films portray footage that has been crafted and scripted. Documentaries however record people going about their lives often unscripted, presenting real events ranging from war and famine to people walking through a town centre. Fly on the wall filming is a convention used in documentaries to record people going about there daily business as they would if the camera was not there. Often this is filmed over a long period of time and is edited down to size showing only the bits of significance or the whole piece is sped up to act as a montage or scene setting tool. Fly on the wall filming is also used as a break up in interviews so that the audience is not constantly watching a person talk.

Although I appreciate the importance of fly on the wall filming as a major convention in documentary filming, I feel that my piece would not benefit from it as I am seeking to investigate a local myth, not gain an insight into local life, a theme that would benefit hugely from fly on the wall filming.



The use of film originally shot for another purpose

Some documentaries often feature footage originally shot for another purpose. The most common use of this is in historical documentaries, where footage of battles or bombings is used on top of a voice over to give a visual portrayal of what the narrator is expressing.

Once again I realize the importance of this convention in documentaries, but as I seek to investigate a myth there isn’t any footage. Hence I will not be using this convention in my documentary.




Voice over

Voice over’s are used widely in documentaries. Traditionally this is the voice of an actor giving a narration and explanation of the footage being shown. However voice over as a convention also includes testimonies of eye witnesses, parts of interviews and opinions from experts.

Voice over is a convention I seek to use frequently in my piece. As with most documentaries I will be conducting interviews as well as narrating the piece, presenting evidence in a neutral fashion so as not to create a sense of obvious bias. For this I will obviously need to use voice over’s on footage.



Interviews and the use of the Expert

All good documentaries are based on extensive research. This research is made apparent through the use of interviews. Interviews are conducted to give the audience another opinion on the matter at hand, and are very useful as subtle persuasion tools. For example an interview with a doctor or respected academic i.e. the “expert”, has a high degree of legitimacy as the audience feel they can trust the source. Often when interviewing the “expert” a footnote appears at the bottom of the screen giving the audience the name and more importantly qualification of the interviewee. These interviews are often highly edited and certain questions asked or answers given that go against the opinion promoted by the narrator are omitted from the final piece. These interviews can take the form of a “talking head” in front of a camera and a voice over on some footage. This is done so that the audience does not get bored of watching a person talking to a camera.

I will be using interviews a lot in my piece as I intend to investigate a local myth; the opinions of experts will be both informative and persuasive for the audience. Who I choose to interview of course will be important. I will need to conduct interviews with experts who will be able to give a researched an informed answer. The mise en scene used in interviews is also important as a subjective bias. For example placing a person in a room with books in a suit will automatically give the audience the impression he is educated and thus knows what he’s talking about.






Talking head

In TV jargon, a shot of someone talking directly to the camera is called a “talking head”. The talking head is often associated with authority and the presentation of facts. It is a convention used in the majority of documentaries as well as news broadcasts.
I intend to use the talking head in my piece a little, combining it with narration, voice over’s and scenic shots to give information with boring the audience by having them just watch the talking head.




Vox Pop

Vox Pop is the term used in film and television for consultation with the “ordinary person in the street”. The term derives from the Latin Vox Populi, the voice of the people. Typically vox pop is a series of clips of mini interviews conducted with the public where the question is only asked once and a series of clips of different people answering is merged together into a montage giving the audience an insight into what the public think.

Vox Pop is a very useful tool used in documentaries to gain an insight into public opinion on any matter, and it is a convention that I may use in my documentary to gain peoples opinion on whether they believe or disbelieve the local legend.



Eyewitnesses or participants

Interviews conducted with eye witnesses and people who were there are a useful tool to be used in documentary. Often an interview with a witness helps establish facts, truth and reality. Interviewing eye witnesses is frequently a convention used in television news broadcasts, but also creeps into documentaries.

I feel that should I be able to conduct an interview with some one who has allegedly seen the beast of the chase, then it would be a great piece of evidence for either side of the argument that my documentary seeks to resolve.