Documentary Conventions

Documentary Analysis

The Fabric of the Cosmos (2011)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starts with a gripping Voice over

Introduction to the subject matter covered by the documentary

CGI Effects

Establishing shot

Incidental Music  - Brings in excitement

Slow motion and Rewind Effects used for the subject matter about the laws of physics

Interviews with experts on the subject matter

Talking head style of presenting

Title sequence using CGI and keeping with the theme of Physics

Fast Forwarding Shots

Green Screen/ Super imposed

Tabloids, Tories and Telephone Hacking (2010)

Footage, being unravelled – implying data being ‘Hacked’

Bold Titles

Blurry Images

Montage

Voice Over

Long shot of interview

Code imagery used for hacking implication

Fade out

Dissolve – Into images

Panning

Low angle, establishing shot

Sound Bridge, Phone call

Incidental Music

Documentary Conventions

Documentaries as a rule have a certain rule/ code that they stick to in order to try and entice the audience in to what the presenter has to talk about, using some of the main conventions such as a Voice Over to give the documentary a feeling of excitement and drama or like they know the answer to the question they are posing to the audience. In documentaries in order for the information collected to be sound and accurate they set up interviews with experts on the documentaries subject matter, often using Incidental Music to give the documentary an exciting feeling over the top of it, the music often reflects the subject matter e.g. if it is about Nature it will be soft music with a slow flowing tempo, if it was a crime documentary it is likely they would chose some sort of high paced Hip Hop music. CGI is often used to make the documentary look more interesting toward the audience to try and hook them into the audience. Often-video montages of clips on the subject possibly using archive footage giving the audience a first hand video evidence of the event in question hooking the audience even more so because they know it’s true.