2. Grouping the Voices of
the Documentary
Each documentary has its own voice
There are six modes of representation that function like sub-genres
of the documentary film genre itself
Each mode arises through a growing sense if dissatisfaction among
filmmakers with a previous mode
The six modes are:
Poetic
Expository
Participatory
Observational
Reflexive
Performative
3. The Poetic Mode
Stresses mood, tone, and effect more than displays of
knowledge or acts or persuasion
Began as a way of representing reality in terms of a series of
fragments, subjective impressions, incoherent acts, and loose
associations
Draws on historical world for raw material, transforms the
material in distinctive ways
Moves away from the objective reality of a situation to grasp at
an inner truth
4. Example of Poetic Mode
Robert Flaherty’s Man of Aran
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc1SkNsYHig
5. The Expository Mode
Addresses the viewer directly, through either a voice of God
commentary (speaker heard but not seen) or through a voice of
authority commentary (speaker is heard and seen)
Voice of God commentary is useful because it has the capacity to
judge actions in the historical world without being caught up in them
The tone of the commentator strives to build up a sense of credibility
through qualities such as distance, neutrality, disinterestedness, or
omniscience
Relies heavily on an informing logic carried by the spoken word
Emphasizes objectivity and well supported argument
6. Expository Mode Continued
Commentary serves to organize the images and make sense of
them
With spoken word as the emphasis of expository documentaries,
images serve a supporting role, illustrating, illuminating, evoking,
or acting in counterpoint to what is said
Editing in this mode serves to maintain the continuity of the
spoken argument. Known as evidentiary editing
The ideal mode for conveying information or mobilizing support
through a film
8. Observational Mode
Mode in which all forms of control that a filmmaker might exercise over
staging, arrangement, or composition of a scene are sacrificed to observe
the lived experience spontaneously
Exemplified by the Direct Cinema Movement
Attempted to accurately capture objective reality w/filmmaker as natural
observer
Nothing is staged, so camera has to rush to keep up with the action, can
cause the footage to be rough or shaky
Filmmaker is supposed to film the action as if he were a fly on the wall, do
nothing but observe
9. Observational Mode
Continued
Films in this mode have no voice over commentary, supplementary
music, sound effects, intertitles, historical reenactments, or interviews
This mode raises some ethical questions like:
Is the filmmaker intruding on the behavior of others?
Does the filmmaker seek out others to represent because they possess
qualities that may fascinate viewers for the wrong reasons?
Example of Observational Documentary is Frederick Wiseman’s
“Hospital” (1970).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_jZRlh5QTc