1. Codes and Conventions
of the Documentary
Genre

2. Cinematography
• Interviews:
the subject is framed either to the
left or right of the screen
usually in close up or medium
close up, can be big close up
rule of thirds applies
eye line is a third of the way down
the frame

3. Cinematography
• Interviews:
static, on a tripod
interviewee sat still on a chair
light source in front of interviewee
• There is variety of camerawork used – common
types are: zoom, pan, crane shot and dolly shots
• Handheld camerawork is actuality footage and
this is used when camera crews have to respond
to events. For example, if a celebrity shows up

4. Archive material
• Still images – used to anchor what the
narrator or interviewee is talking about
• Can be camera movement as well to anchor
what the narrator or interviewee is talking
about
• Chromakey, of green screen can be used and
this will show moving images, still images or
footage of films, programmes or games to
signify relevance to the topic or again, anchor
speech

5. Mise-en-scene
• The mise-en-scene always relates to the
interviewee or subject.
• This is done to further emphasise what the
audience is hearing and seeing and to make
the subject matter or interviewee reference
clear and understandable

6. Vox Pops
• Vox Pops (or vox populis) means, voice of the
people.
• This is done at the start or through the
beginning of a documentary.
• It is a series of interview shots and shows
members of the public or relevant
interviewees answering questions related to
the topic and creates enigma within the
audience at early stages to make the
documentary interesting

7. Graphics
• Usually two lines – Name
Relevance
• As above, the top line is bigger than the
bottom line. The graphics are there to anchor
the relevance of the interviewee to the topic
• It is also used to anchor place and time when
necessary in a documentary

8. Sound
• Music is often used relevant to the topic. For
example, if the documentary was about a
specific music artist, their music would be
used throughout
• However, copyright clearance must be on all
songs used in a documentary to avoid legal
issues

9. Editing
• Mainly cuts are just used to separate scenes
and parts of the documentary.
• Rarely other edits are used.
• This is because editing isn’t the focus of a
documentary.
• Sometimes slow motion will be used to
emphasise a point or fast motion to lapse time
or maybe elliptical editing for the same
purpose.