Define the codes and conventions of the Documentary genre. You must demonstrate your understanding surrounding the issues of factual programming for television by comparing and contrasting 3-5 different documentaries
Documentaries have been a part of the film industry since it first began, informing us on controversial subjects, all the way to visually pleasing us with the help of avent garde. So many different types of documentaries have been introduced to us, giving each type of documentary a different twist. With the help of fly on the wall we’re able to observe the uninterrupted and view it for what it really is, as well as many other sub-genres such as interactive and mockumentary. ‘You won’t regret that tattoo’ is a personal documentary, since it offers little to no intervention from the creator of the documentary, but gives complete control to the participant when it comes to the content; the participants being left to themselves and allowed to tell their stories. This type of genera really fits for this documentary because it doesn’t give the sense that the director is trying to force opinions onto the viewers, but instead gives the audience the chance to hear normal, everyday people’s opinions and views. Having this personal documentary is also a great way to help these people, who are clearly older, to try and dismiss the ideology that tattoos will age with you and become unsightly. The documentary is visually pleasing; due to the array of different shot types. The kind of shot types are usually head shots, which gives the feeling that you’re directly talking to you since it’s such a close shot. This is a good technique, since this kind of documentary wants to connect to the audience so that he topic of the documentary really makes an impact on them. That, along with the different cuts between people and their tattoos, really helps engage the viewer and also makes them feel more involved. There’s also a lack of background music whilst the participant is talking, which is not actually recognisable until you watch it again. This helps the audience focus on the words being said, as well as the meaning of their words. They don’t want to distract the viewers with unnecessary music, since the people talking have a point to get across. However, although this documentary doesn’t directly portray the director’s opinion on the topic, you still feel as if it’s bias since they haven’t included the opposite opinion in their video. It tries to paint a better picture of the topic by only including the side that is for tattoos, since otherwise it would defeat the purpose of them making a documentary. They try to make the participants come across as either vulnerable, thick skinned or independent; something that will create sympathy for them and hopefully making the audience question their opinions on the situation. This technique is almost manipulating people, where as if there was a more balanced argument then there’s a bigger chance that there’s be a bigger range of opinions. ‘Bowling for Columbine’ has the same kind of feel as ‘you won’t regret this tattoo’ did, since you can feel as if the director is making his opinion on the situation clear. This expository documentary speaks directly to the audience, trying to expose how gun control in America is ruining their country. There’s a mixture of opinions in this documentary, such as Charlton Heston, who believes that all citizens of America have the right to use guns as their source
of safety. It offers an array of different opinions from people such as Marilyn Manson and Even Michael Moor himself, but the ones against gun control are usually given better exposure. This is because the way it’s been edited and filmed, since he gives Marilyn Manson a chance to speak his views to Moor in a one-to-one environment, where as we see those who are against him, the religious right, speaking to crowds from podiums. This doesn’t give them a chance to connect to the audience directly, since they are in a totally different environment compared to Manson. He’s given the chance to connect to the audience and to get his points across, also whilst being well spoken and also having questions fed to him which almost mould his answers. This manipulates the viewer’s opinions on what’s being said, since when people from the religious rights are being shown in the documentary they’re seen as aggressive and stupid; due to the way this has been edited to show them in a bad light. This documentary