Docummentary Conventions.

Documentaries are often filmed in a number of different styles and ways according to what they are trying to show during the film. For example, expository documentaries are designed to inform and educate people but the camera crew themselves are invisible to the audience, whereas during interactive/reflexive documentaries involve the film makers during the shots, and they usually aim to provoke reactions from the subjects and the audiences during the documentary itself rather than simply showing the facts.

However, there are some conventions that run throughout most documentaries. The majority of the time, facts and issues are focused on rather than a narrative, although occasionally - such as during documentaries that focus on something such as a musical band's journey to fame, they will have a slight narrative during the film. Most documentaries are non-fiction and are based on true events, with the exception of mockumentaries which parodies the ideas of normal documentaries to amuse the audience instead of displaying facts.

All the shots and footage used within the film is generally linked together in a way that keeps the viewer engaged and entertained, and both found and shot footage are often included to do so. For example, during the Bowling For Columbine documentary that we watched, Michael Moore used both footage that he went out and filmed, as well as clips from news programmes, adverts, television shows etc. A lot of interviews are used throughout this documentary, as well as during others that aren't completely fly-on-the-wall documentaries.

During most documentaries, voiceovers are used to explain to the audience the facts, or what is happening during the film, and also text can be used to relay these facts too. Text is mainly used to show locations, times and dates, although can be used to relay other information too. Depending on what is happening during different shots of the documentary, both digetic and non-digetic sound can be heard. Say there is a voiceover explaining the scenario on screen, for example, there is normally no digetic sound heard, although if it is an interview there can be.