Documentaries employ several conventions to appear authentic and factual to audiences. These include a knowledgeable or opinionated voiceover, presenting footage as unaltered recordings of real events, using natural lighting and sound, archive media to provide context, interviews with experts though their views may be disputed, on-screen text to establish time/place, non-diegetic music to influence meaning, and set-ups of typical scenes for efficiency though they recreate rather than document reality. These techniques aim to convince viewers of the documentary's validity, but risk prioritizing familiar images over new perspectives.
![Voiceover ,[object Object]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)