The document discusses four documentary styles: poetic, expositional, participatory, and observational. It provides details on the history and key aspects of each style. Poetic mode aims to evoke subjective interpretation, while expositional uses narration for explanation and persuasion. Participatory involves direct engagement between filmmakers and subjects, and observational merely observes without interaction. Each style is examined through examples and evolution over time.
1. Documentary Mode:
Once we decided our topic we had to determine what documentary style we wished to use
when filming our documentary. From our research we discovered four documentary styles
which could possibly by applied to our documentary and as a result we began to discuss
whether we should solely use one documentary mode or use a mixture of different
elements of documentary modes. The documentary modes we discovered from our
research were:
• Poetic Mode
• Expositional Mode
• Participatory Mode
• Observational Mode
2. Poetic Mode:
What Is Poetic Mode?
The poetic mode is a documentary theory where the filmmaker/director aims to create a
subjective and personal view about the topic allowing the audience to develop to their own
individual interpretation or conclusion about the topic. This theory allows the director to
create an approach in order to make the target audience feel a particular way about the topic.
Poetic mode chooses to disregard the traditional conventions of a documentary such as
individual characters in order to covey a particular tone or theme to the documentary.
History Of Poetic Mode:
Poetic mode was introduced in the early stages of documentaries and film making which
would later go on to be further developed and reinforced in 1920’s by renown soviet
filmmakers including Lev Kuleshov, Dziga Vertov, and Vsevolod Pudovkin together known
as the Soviet montage theory. As mentioned this documentary theory was predominantly
used in 1920’s particularly in French cinema when it was bolstered by a group of French
filmmakers known as French Impressionist. Documentaries today do not use poetic mode in
its entire forum however there are still elements of the poetic mode used in some
documentaries today.
4. Expositional Mode:
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What Is Expositional Mode:
Expositional mode is the documentary mode that the audience can most identify because it
is used primarily in nearly all of today's film and documentaries. Expositional mode uses
verbal commentary to provide argumentative logic, this is also known as a narrator. The
purpose of the narrator is to interpret and explain what is being shown on screen and is
also used to persuade, inform or educate the target audience concerning that topic. The
narrator is depicted as being omniscience having all the knowledge regarding the topic,
that is why this documentary mode is also as the ‘voice of God mode.’
From our research on expositional mode documentaries we discovered that they tend to
use a calm, collective and intelligent sounding narrator which makes the target audience
trust and believe whatever they he/she is saying which adds to the omniscience aspect of
the expositional mode style which in turn makes the documentary appear more
professional and believable which is highly likely to attract a larger percentage of the
target audience and therefore generate a higher viewing rate.
6. Participatory Mode:
What Is Participatory Mode:
The participatory mode uses an unorthodox approach when producing a documentary as
it involves direct engagement between the filmmaker and the subject by investigated. By
using this documentary mode it creates a more personal attitude to be attributed to the
documentary and it allows the filmmaker to have a sense of power on how the events are
depicted which therefore influences how the target audience interprets the topic, which is
similar to the poetic mode.
The participatory mode is being used more frequency in documentaries today as it makes
the documentary have a greater sense of realism in addition, the majority of the
filmmakers engaging in the topic are well known which aids the documentary in
receiving greater rating because a larger percentage of their target audience would
watching the documentary. The participatory mode is used predominantly when
investigating important social, moral and legal topics and therefore it is evident that these
topics relate to a more mature and adult target audience.
7. Examples Of Participatory Mode Filmmakers:
Michael Moore Morgan Spurlock Louis Theroux
Nick Broomfield Joris Iven
9. Observational Mode:
What Is Observational Mode:
Observational mode is unlike the previous documentary modes for example poetic mode as that
mode aims to create a subject theme in the documentary whereas observational mode merely
aims to observe the characters in the documentary and allow the audience to reach their own
conclusion. This documentary mode allows the characters in the documentary to have a greater
sense of power over as the filmmakers, directors or producers are not permitted to interact with
them, they are only allowed to record whatever the characters do.
From our research into observational mode we have discovered that it is a very popular with a
range of audiences, because they either provide a source of information which educates them
or it provides entertainment and therefore the audience receives a sense of enjoyment.
Observational mode as mentioned earlier only records the characters within the documentary
and does not interact with them, however some elements of this documentary mode indicate the
characters being recorded should not be informed they are recorded as they will psychology it
will lead to them behaving differently making the documentaries have incorrect data, therefore
many of the characters being recorder are not aware they are being recorder. In other instances
the characters are aware they are being recorder but do not see the camera recording them and
therefore are not influenced to behave a particular because of the cameras.
10. History Of Observational Mode:
Observational mode developed massively during the 1960’s due to the evolution and rise in
technology allowing for effective and efficient camera which could be transported far more
easily to keep recording characters when they are on the move. Observational mode during the
1930’s and 1940’s was not used in the mainstream of documentaries as their were too many
implications such as it was extremely time consuming and expensive to hire extra staff and
crew assist in the transportation of the cameras to different locations.
However, in the 1960’s technology began to develop and as a result cameras became more
advanced which lead to more filmmakers wanting to explore this documentary mode.
Although, cameras did evolve in the 1960’s observational mode only began to enter the
mainstream during the beginning of the 1990’s and up to the present. Below is an illustration of
how cameras have developed since the 1960’s up to the present which as mentioned has aided
in the developed of the observational mode:
1960’s Camera 1990’s Camera 2000’s Camera
