Documentary Conventions

Expository:
An expository documentary's speak directly to the viewer. They often have a voiceover which proposes a strong argument or point of view. These documentaries are there to try and persuade the viewer that their point of view is right. They try to expose a person or topic to get their point across.

Observational:
In an observational documentary, the idea is to observe the events as you see them. This type of documentary generally doesn't have a voiceover so often there is just music playing in the background. Not much editing is involved with an observational documentary as the documentary is meant to be seen as it was really filmed.

Interactive:

An interactive documentary is a documentary made up of mostly interviews which they balance out to give an overall balanced view. An interactive documentary that is made well will allow the people in the documentary to express their opinions and views on a topic. http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2014/jul/23/a-global-guide-to-the-first-world-war-interactive-documentary

Reflexive:
A reflexive documentary is a documentary in which is often in front of the camera and gives a narration. This helps the audience understand the documentary better. It also make the audience aware of the problems the film maker has when producing this documentary. They are also very truthful documentaries as they are often about real things.

Performative:
A performative documentary gives off a lot of personal emotions about the film maker. They are often documentaries that are close to the film makers heart so often they can be bias to one side rather than the other. They are powerful and really grab the attention of the audience.

Realism:
These types of documentaries often use actuality footage in the documentary so it looks like you are there. It is also evidence that this event has happen in real life. Sometimes this footage can be manipulated to make it look like it shows something else. But they are not scripted and do not use actors.

Dramatization:
These types of documentaries are the opposite of realism documentaries. This is because they use staged shots, often with actors in to help the audience understand the documentary better or in more detail.

Narrativisation:
These types of documentaries try to put the events in chronological order so that they are in a story format. It makes the documentary feel like a film/story, where you feel emotion for the characters/people/things involved. They only use actuality footage so they are not dramatised.