Wednesday, 23 November 2016
Monday, 14 November 2016
Tuesday, 8 November 2016
Nicholls Documentary Modes
THE EXPOSITORY MODE
The expository mode is the mode that people most identify with in a documentary. This mode makes argumentative logic and verbal commentary more clear to the audience. It is often used in news reports stating facts, giving the accurate answer appropriate to the accompanying report or program.
An example of where the expository mode is used would be in the documentary titled "Habitat of the Orca Killer Whales & Sea Creatures". In this documentary the maker of the documentary is attempting to inform the audience about the nature of these animals, and places cameras in certain areas to show the viewer the animals from different perspectives, and how they behave in their natural habitats, they do this at 2:45 when they highlight the terrain, showing the viewer what the ocean is really like, adding realism to the documentary, which is spectacular to watch. When showing all of the ocean life, it gives the audience something interesting to see, but some times it adds a little drama to the documentary, such as at 4:05 they suddenly switch from calm, relaxing music to very tense music, telling the audience that something bad is going to happen, which is when they show the large octopus, which adds tension since it is so close to the camera man, it makes the audience think that the octopus might harm the camera man, and by having the octopus touch the camera at 3:45 it makes it seem like the octopus is reaching for the audience watching, which might shock the audience. The way that they structure the story makes it seem like the audience is going on an adventure through the ocean while learning about all of these animals, and while the documentary continues, you learn about all the areas and animals that are nearby where you already discovered animals.
THE OBSERVATIONAL MODE
The observational mode is used to catch whats going on as truthfully as possible, where the camera is following the action as its happening, nothing is set up or staged, the outcome is often a shaky film. It is commonly used in wild-life documentaries, where they place a camera near some animals and film whatever is happening or follow the animals discreetly.
An example of where the observational mode is used would be in a documentary titled "Hospital". In this documentary they attempts to inform the audience about what actually goes on in a large city hospital in a local area, and shows what goes on in every single room of the hospital, since not everybody is aware what happens in them. The maker of the documentary tries to add realism when mentioning in the disclaimer at 0:23 that if they got rid of any parts of the film/audio it would not ,make the documentary as realistic as it should be, this will make the audience understand more about what actually happens in a hospital, because if they took out any parts, they would not be able to understand the parts that were taken out. The maker of the documentary attempts to add dramatisation when discussing with a woman discussing about what happened to another woman with an illness at 3:28, when saying that the ill woman did not wake up, it adds a bit of suspense, making the audience thinking that the ill woman has died, but then the documentary reveals that she is okay, which gets some relief to the audience. The makers of the documentary uses narrativisation with the way they structure the documentary, they start off with a disclaimer at 0:13 then followed by showing all the hospital patients, which grabs the audiences attention, making them wonder what is going on.
THE PARTICIPATORY MODE
THE REFLEXIVE MODE
The reflexive mode is when the makers of the documentary are aware of the constructed nature of documentaries and flaunts them, revealing to the audience that it is not necessarily the truth, but at the same time it is the truth. This type of editing makes the audience very aware of the types of sound, editing and recording.
An example of where the reflexive mode is used is in a documentary titled "Cinamatic Orchestra - The Man With The Moving Camera". In this documentary the maker of the documentary attempt to add realism in the documentary at 0:47, they show what every day life is for some people, this would make the audience relate to the documentary more, which will make them want to watch the rest of the documentary. The makers of the documentary try to add dramatisation at 0:03 with the sudden suspicious music, and showing a lot of people sleeping on the streets, it really makes the audience wonder what is actually going to happen. The way that narrativisation is used in this documentary is very interesting, since it does not have any voice over, or just talking in general, and only has music and video, the editing matches very well with the music since they are both fast paced, showing that there is a lot going on in the documentary.
THE PERFORMATIVE MODE
The performative mode is when a documentary makes the subject nature of the maker of the documentary prominent to the audience and shows notions of objectivity and they are replaced by "evocation and affect". This mode often shows the film makers opinions and shows their journey.
An example of where the performative mode is used would be in the documentary called "Katie Hopkins #MyFatStory". In this documentary the maker of the documentary tries to add realism when Katie Hopkins talks about the doctor and what he says, which states facts to inform the audience. The maker of the documentary attempts to add dramatisation when talking about how Katie gained half a stone in under a week, which shocks the audience, since they might not even know if that was possible. The maker of the documentary uses narrativisation by interviewing Katie Hopkins who his talking about her "Fat Story" and is telling the audience everything that she is going through, which informs the viewer what the experience is like.
The expository mode is the mode that people most identify with in a documentary. This mode makes argumentative logic and verbal commentary more clear to the audience. It is often used in news reports stating facts, giving the accurate answer appropriate to the accompanying report or program.
An example of where the expository mode is used would be in the documentary titled "Habitat of the Orca Killer Whales & Sea Creatures". In this documentary the maker of the documentary is attempting to inform the audience about the nature of these animals, and places cameras in certain areas to show the viewer the animals from different perspectives, and how they behave in their natural habitats, they do this at 2:45 when they highlight the terrain, showing the viewer what the ocean is really like, adding realism to the documentary, which is spectacular to watch. When showing all of the ocean life, it gives the audience something interesting to see, but some times it adds a little drama to the documentary, such as at 4:05 they suddenly switch from calm, relaxing music to very tense music, telling the audience that something bad is going to happen, which is when they show the large octopus, which adds tension since it is so close to the camera man, it makes the audience think that the octopus might harm the camera man, and by having the octopus touch the camera at 3:45 it makes it seem like the octopus is reaching for the audience watching, which might shock the audience. The way that they structure the story makes it seem like the audience is going on an adventure through the ocean while learning about all of these animals, and while the documentary continues, you learn about all the areas and animals that are nearby where you already discovered animals.
THE OBSERVATIONAL MODE
The observational mode is used to catch whats going on as truthfully as possible, where the camera is following the action as its happening, nothing is set up or staged, the outcome is often a shaky film. It is commonly used in wild-life documentaries, where they place a camera near some animals and film whatever is happening or follow the animals discreetly.
An example of where the observational mode is used would be in a documentary titled "Hospital". In this documentary they attempts to inform the audience about what actually goes on in a large city hospital in a local area, and shows what goes on in every single room of the hospital, since not everybody is aware what happens in them. The maker of the documentary tries to add realism when mentioning in the disclaimer at 0:23 that if they got rid of any parts of the film/audio it would not ,make the documentary as realistic as it should be, this will make the audience understand more about what actually happens in a hospital, because if they took out any parts, they would not be able to understand the parts that were taken out. The maker of the documentary attempts to add dramatisation when discussing with a woman discussing about what happened to another woman with an illness at 3:28, when saying that the ill woman did not wake up, it adds a bit of suspense, making the audience thinking that the ill woman has died, but then the documentary reveals that she is okay, which gets some relief to the audience. The makers of the documentary uses narrativisation with the way they structure the documentary, they start off with a disclaimer at 0:13 then followed by showing all the hospital patients, which grabs the audiences attention, making them wonder what is going on.
THE PARTICIPATORY MODE
The participatory mode is when a documentary lets the film maker become part of the actions being recorded, and leave an impact on what was recorded, since they give their opinions on the topics to inform the viewer. It allows direct interaction with the film-maker and the subject and what is being filmed at the time.
An example of where the participatory mode is used is in the documentary called "Capitalism - A Love Story". In this documentary the maker of the documentary attempts to add realism when stating facts about what goes on in the area that the documentary is set in at 2:20, by stating these true facts, it makes the documentary more reliable and more trustworthy, since the audience will know that everything in the documentary is the truth. The makers of the documentary tries to add dramatisation when at 4:37 when they show a sense of danger, by showing people phoning the sheriff, and then showing a group of men trying to barge in through the door, this adds a lot of tension to the viewer making them wonder in suspense if they are going to get in, and what happens if they do. The maker of the documentary uses narrativisation very well, by having a lot of different people tell the audience what is happening, such as at 8:35 where there is a narrator telling the audience what the documentary is based on, which is the topic about capitalism, this lets the audience understand what is happening more.
THE REFLEXIVE MODE
The reflexive mode is when the makers of the documentary are aware of the constructed nature of documentaries and flaunts them, revealing to the audience that it is not necessarily the truth, but at the same time it is the truth. This type of editing makes the audience very aware of the types of sound, editing and recording.
An example of where the reflexive mode is used is in a documentary titled "Cinamatic Orchestra - The Man With The Moving Camera". In this documentary the maker of the documentary attempt to add realism in the documentary at 0:47, they show what every day life is for some people, this would make the audience relate to the documentary more, which will make them want to watch the rest of the documentary. The makers of the documentary try to add dramatisation at 0:03 with the sudden suspicious music, and showing a lot of people sleeping on the streets, it really makes the audience wonder what is actually going to happen. The way that narrativisation is used in this documentary is very interesting, since it does not have any voice over, or just talking in general, and only has music and video, the editing matches very well with the music since they are both fast paced, showing that there is a lot going on in the documentary.
THE PERFORMATIVE MODE
The performative mode is when a documentary makes the subject nature of the maker of the documentary prominent to the audience and shows notions of objectivity and they are replaced by "evocation and affect". This mode often shows the film makers opinions and shows their journey.
An example of where the performative mode is used would be in the documentary called "Katie Hopkins #MyFatStory". In this documentary the maker of the documentary tries to add realism when Katie Hopkins talks about the doctor and what he says, which states facts to inform the audience. The maker of the documentary attempts to add dramatisation when talking about how Katie gained half a stone in under a week, which shocks the audience, since they might not even know if that was possible. The maker of the documentary uses narrativisation by interviewing Katie Hopkins who his talking about her "Fat Story" and is telling the audience everything that she is going through, which informs the viewer what the experience is like.
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