Modes of documentary

When it comes to documentary, there are many modes which can be applied. In his 2001 book, Introduction to Documentary (Indiana University Press), Bill Nichols defines the following six modes of documentary.

• The Poetic Mode: ‘reassembling fragments of the world’, a transformation of historical material into a more abstract, lyrical form, usually associated with 1920s and modernist ideas.
• The Expository Mode: ‘direct address’, social issues assembled into an argumentative frame, mediated by a voice-of-God narration, associated with 1920s-1930s, and some of the rhetoric and polemic surrounding World War Two.
• The Observational Mode: as technology advanced by the 1960s and cameras became small and lighter, able to document life in a less intrusive manner, there is less control required over lighting etc, leaving the social actors free to act and the documentarists free to record with interacting with each other.
• The Participatory Mode: the encounter between film-maker and subject is recorded, as the film-maker actively engages with the situation they are documenting, asking questions of their subjects, sharing experiences with them. Heavily reliant on the honesty of witnesses.
• The Reflexive Mode: demonstrates consciousness of the process of reading documentary, and engages actively with the issues of realism and representation, acknowledging the presence of the viewer and the modality judgements they arrive at. Corresponds to critical theory of the 1980s.
• The Performative Mode: acknowledges the emotional and subjective aspects of documentary, and presents ideas as part of a context, having different meanings for different people, often autobiographical in nature.

Documentary films have comprised a very broad and diverse category of films. Examples of documentary forms include the following:

• 'biographical' films about a living or dead person (Stephen Hawking in A Brief History of Time (1992))
• a well-known event (The Shackleton expedition to the Antarctic)
• a concert or rock festival (Woodstock or Altamont rock concerts (Woodstock (1970)
• a comedy show (Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy shows)
• a live performance (Cuban musicians as in Buena Vista Social Club (1998))
• a sociological or ethnographic examination following the lives of individuals over a period of time (e.g., Michael Apted's series of films: 28 Up (1984), 35 Up (1992) and 42 Up (1999), or Steve James' Hoop Dreams (1994))
• an expose including interviews (e.g., Michael Moore's social concerns films)
• a sports documentary (extreme sports, such as Extreme (1999) or To the Limit (1989), or surfing, such as in The Endless Summer (1966))
• a compilation film of collected footage from government sources
• a 'making of' film (such as the one regarding the filming of Apocalypse Now (1979), or Fitzcarraldo (1982))
• an examination of a specific subject area (e.g., nature- or science-related themes, or historical surveys, such as The Civil War, Jazz, Baseball, or World War II, etc.)
• spoof documentaries, termed 'mockumentaries' (such as This is Spinal Tap (1984), Zelig (1983), and Best in Show (2000)) 

Documentary Practisioners

Michael Moore

Although not every one's favourite documentary filmaker, Michael Moore is one of the best known and best paid documentary practicioners in the world. He is known for his highly controversial documentaries such as "Bowling for Columbine" and "Sicko" and many others. He is known for he very direct approach to interviews, his sense of comedy surrounding the subject his is documenting and his ability to combine modes to manipulate the film to how he wants it.

This sense of comedy may be something that we as documentary film makers should look to emulate in our film as it will make it more interesting for the audience. This combination of modes is something else that we could consider doing but to tell our story rather than to manipulate the situation.

Louis Theroux 

Louis Theroux is a british born documentary practicioner who, like Michael Moore, is known for his hard hitting documentaries and his no-holds-bar interviewing style. He described as a gonzo journalist much like Hunter S. Thompson was. This style of gonzo journalism tells the story through the first person perspective and because makes the documentary film maker the main character of the story.

If we follow the participatory route for our film, this style of gonzo film making may come into play.

Nick Broomfield 

Nick Broomfield is a british documentary film maker best known for his films "Kurt and Courtney" and "Biggie and Tupac". Known for his use of a very minimal crew and his self-reflexive film-making style—a film being about the making of itself as much as about its subject—that Broomfield is best known. His impact on documentary is felt throughout the world with many practicioners such as Louis Theroux and Michael Moore emulating this style.

This style of making the the subject as important the making of the documentary is another which we as a group could try to emulate. I feel that this style makes the audience feeling like the are participating in a journey with the filmmakers.