6 types of documentaries
Poetic
Poetic documentaries were first seen in the 1920s, they are very much what they sound like. They focus on experiences, images and showing the audience the world through a different set of eyes. It’s abstract and loose with narrative, the poetic sub-genre can be very unconventional and experimental in the form and content. Realistically the main idea for a poetic documentary is to be able to create a feeling rather than a truth
Expository
Expository documentaries are most likely closest to what some people consider a “documentary”. It has a sharp contrast to a poetic documentary. The aim of a expository documentary is to either inform or persuade the audience often through omnipresent “Voice of God” narration over footage devoid of ambiguous or poetic rhetoric. This style includes the familiar television style
Observational
An observational documentary is exactly what it sounds like. The main focus of an observational documentary is to simply observe the world around them. Originating in the 1960s with the advances in portable film equipment, the cinéma vérité style is much less pointed than the expository. The style attempts to give a voice to all sides of an issue by giving the audience first hand access to some of the subjects most important, and often private, moments
Participatory
Participatory documentaries, while having elements of observational and expository, include the filmmaker within the narrative. This could be as minor as the filmmakers voice being heard behind the camera, prodding subjects with questions or cues all the way to the filmmaker directly influencing the major actions of the narrative.
Reflexive
Reflexive documentaries similar to participatory in that they often include the filmmaker within the film. However; unlike participatory, they make no attempts to explore an outside subject. rather, they focus on themselves and the act of them making the film
Performative
Performative documentaries are an experimental combination of styles used to stress subject experience and share an emotional response to the world. They often connect personal accounts or experience juxtaposed with larger political or historical issues. This has sometimes been caked the "Michael More" style as he often uses his own personal stories as a way to construct social truths.
Poetic documentaries were first seen in the 1920s, they are very much what they sound like. They focus on experiences, images and showing the audience the world through a different set of eyes. It’s abstract and loose with narrative, the poetic sub-genre can be very unconventional and experimental in the form and content. Realistically the main idea for a poetic documentary is to be able to create a feeling rather than a truth
Expository
Expository documentaries are most likely closest to what some people consider a “documentary”. It has a sharp contrast to a poetic documentary. The aim of a expository documentary is to either inform or persuade the audience often through omnipresent “Voice of God” narration over footage devoid of ambiguous or poetic rhetoric. This style includes the familiar television style
Observational
An observational documentary is exactly what it sounds like. The main focus of an observational documentary is to simply observe the world around them. Originating in the 1960s with the advances in portable film equipment, the cinéma vérité style is much less pointed than the expository. The style attempts to give a voice to all sides of an issue by giving the audience first hand access to some of the subjects most important, and often private, moments
Participatory
Participatory documentaries, while having elements of observational and expository, include the filmmaker within the narrative. This could be as minor as the filmmakers voice being heard behind the camera, prodding subjects with questions or cues all the way to the filmmaker directly influencing the major actions of the narrative.
Reflexive
Reflexive documentaries similar to participatory in that they often include the filmmaker within the film. However; unlike participatory, they make no attempts to explore an outside subject. rather, they focus on themselves and the act of them making the film
Performative
Performative documentaries are an experimental combination of styles used to stress subject experience and share an emotional response to the world. They often connect personal accounts or experience juxtaposed with larger political or historical issues. This has sometimes been caked the "Michael More" style as he often uses his own personal stories as a way to construct social truths.
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