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Transcript

ELEMENTS OF A DOCUMENTARY

MACRO ELEMENTS

MICRO ELEMENTS

SYMBOLIC CODES AND CONVENTIONS

Make up:

There is very little make up within a documentary. The interviewer and people being interview will just wear every day make up, the person being interviewed will most likely do their own make up and clothing.

Costumes:

There are no specific clothing for documentaries. The presenter and people involved would most likely wear their own clothes - every day clothing.

TECHNICAL CODES AND CONVENTIONS

WHY ARE THESE C&Cs USED?

Camera Work:

The camera work within documentaries are clean, simple and still mid shots. There will be some close ups of the person being interviewed, if the presenter is going to a destination the camera work will be hand held to highlight how real the documentary is.

There are interviews used to authenticate the views expressed in the documentary. Sometimes, they'll disagree with the message of the film although the presenter will disprove them in some way.

Single cameras are mainly used as they are easy to set up and move while requiring a small crew.

Sound:

Voice over - will usually be authoritative in some way, encouraging the audience to think that they either have some kind of specialist knowledge or, as in the case of people like Micheal Moore and Nick Broomfield: 'the right' opinions the people should pay attention to.

There is some use of non-diegetic sound for example used a sound bridge between scenes and it is also used to give off a certain effect for example in 'Supersize Me' they use childish music to degrade McDonalds. Diegetic sound is mostly used as the voice from the presenter at a particular location and a person being interviewed.

MICRO ELEMENTS

These codes and conventions are used within documentaries to gain audience attention and create different representations. The minimal/natural clothing and make up highlights the realism of the documentary.

Mise en scene:

Lighting - If the interview is located in a room the lighting will be bright to show the person being interviewed's face however, if their identity wants to be hidden the lighting will be dark (usually a single light from behind to just show a silouhette). If the interview is outside the lighting will be natural as the camera will most likely be handheld and natural.

The technicality of realism which includes 'natural' sound and lighting

Location - Depending on the subject/theme of the documentary, the location can be inside such as a room for an interview, an historical building relating to what the presenter is talking about, outside where the subject took/is taking place.

Editing:

There is little editing for a documentary, depending on the subject there might be some stock footage added especially in historical documentaries such as adding video clips from that time period. The titles are simplistic and minimal.

Documentaries are essentially seen as 'non-fiction' - a convention is that all events presented to us are to be seen as 'real' by the audience.

They often go to great lengths to convince us that the footage is real and unaltered in any way, although editing and voice overs can affect the 'reality' we see.

There may be added archived footage/still to aid authenticity and further information which the presenter is unable to obtain themselves. Not all footage shown is the real thing, many documentaries use reconstruction with actors to give a further insight into the real event.

Text/titles are used as a quick and cheap way of conveying information such as dates and locations.

SUPER SIZE ME (2004)

HOW ARE THESE C&Cs USED?

Director and writer: Morgan Spurlock

Comedy/Drama documentary

'While examining the influence of the fast food industry, Morgan Spurlock personally explores the consequences on his health of a diet of solely McDonald's food for one month.' - IMDB

MACRO ELEMENTS

Here is a 5 minute clip of the opening for the 2004 documentary Super Size Me. The very first scene is children singing a song about fast food, this already degrades fast food chains as the song is very childish. Throughout the opening there is childish music in the background further humiliating the companies. There is a narrator telling the audience shocking facts which real life footage of every day people - this highlights the documentary is non-fiction and allowing the audience to relate to the people being shown making them want to watch the rest.

These codes and conventions are used to gain audience attention and create different representations by engaging the viewers. For example the subject of the documentary can be easily related to and with the use of music it can connect the viewer even further for example suspenseful music will create tension and release within the audience.

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