Codes and Conventions of a Documentary

Codes and Conventions of a Documentary
What makes a documentary a documentary???
Eyeline one third of the way down.
Backgrounds are always relelvent.
Cut aways must always be relevent.
People need to be on one side of the screen.
Archive footage is used.
Graphics are typically simple.
The light source is always behind the camera.
Fades between interviews.
Voice over is relevent.
Music beds are used to keep the documentary from getting boring.
Informative.
All have clear begining, middle and end.
Some used reconstruction.
Match on action.
Vox pops.
Sound effects.
Location shots.
Mise-en-scene.
Variety of interviews.
All mixed (that we watched).
Ambient sound.
Variety of camera angles.
Editing is appropiate.
Opening and title sequences.
No questions posed on screen.
Names and titles are typically only shown once.


VOICE OVERS
Voice overs are a very important convention when it comes to documentary, there is always a non-diagetic voice, which is most likely authoritative in some ways, this way of speaking gives the audience the impression that the non-diagetic voice is from a specialist in that field which makes the documentary alot more believable. For example David Attenborough with his major links in natural/nature documentaries and the way people know and believe in the words he has to say.

'REAL' footage of events.
A convention in documentaries is that everything perceived on screen is to be seen as 'real' by the audience, also documentaries are known to be non-fiction however there have been debates on whether this is entirely true. Documentarians are also known for going great lengths to convince the audience that what they are watching is real and unaltered in anyway, although editing and voice overs can effect this balance of reality which us viewers see.

Technicality of 'Realism'
In all documentaries its very important to use natural sounds, light and places which people can relate to. This code gives the audience more of a familiar experience when they watch the documentary.

Archive footage and still images
This convention is the process of editing older footage to a new documentary that adds more information about the chosen subject. Plus this convention adds greatly to the feel of authenticity.

Interviews with 'Experts'
Having a interview with a expert in the field in which the documentary is based on adds a great feel of authenticity and discussion to the subject. These experts may also disagree with the documentary however the film maker will prove the expert wrong in some ways. A very important code to making documentaries and needs to be included.

Use Of Text/Titles
With using text and titles on screen the film maker to get information across to the audience very quickly and easily, plus its very cheap. Text is used to anchor images/frames with dates, times, events and facts. When the viewer sees these types of text it becomes unquestionable and convincing to the audience.

Set-Ups
This convention is known as a reality killer in a way, for example in a classroom the film maker will ask for the class to raise their hands as if they had just been asked a question, this breaks the reality of a documentary however the film makers cant wait around to catch everything for real; so speeding up the process in necessary. But if this keeps getting done then the audience will recognise these set ups and break the feeling of reality and becomes unreal. Its a vicious cycle.

Visual Coding
Things like mise en scene and props, also the idea of stereotypes, is a doctor really a doctor if he/she isn't wearing a white coat? This stereotype could just be ruining the reality of the documentary because the person could be seen as a actor. Real people with real professions are needed in documentaries.
Eyeline one third of the way down.
Backgrounds are always relelvent.
Cut aways must always be relevent.
People need to be on one side of the screen.
Archive footage is used.
Graphics are typically simple.
The light source is always behind the camera.
Fades between interviews.
Voice over is relevent.
Music beds are used to keep the documentary from getting boring.
Informative.
All have clear begining, middle and end.
Some used reconstruction.
Match on action.
Vox pops.
Sound effects.
Location shots.
Mise-en-scene.
Variety of interviews.
All mixed (that we watched).
Ambient sound.
Variety of camera angles.
Editing is appropiate.
Opening and title sequences.
No questions posed on screen.
Names and titles are typically only shown once.