Techniques in Documentary Film

What is documentary film? : Documentary films are non-fictional films meant to document reality, usually to educate, instruct, document events, and more recently, to entertain.

In order to achieve the purpose of a documentary film, there are various techniques that a director may utilize. These are known as persuasive techniques and are used to elicit a particular reaction from the viewer.

The persuasive techniques can be split into 4 categories:

1. What viewers see

2. What viewers hear

3. What viewers read

4. The organization

What Viewers See

• Primary Footage

  • scenes shot/created by the filmmaker specifically for the film (think of location, interviews, re-enactments)

• Secondary Footage

  • scene shot by other filmmakers that is gathered and used by the documentarian

• Still Images

  • Photographs instead of videos

What Viewers Hear

• Dialogue

  • Communication between 2 or more people.

  • Conversational in wording.

• Narration

  • Single speaking individual that tells the story or ads context to what is being seen. Sometimes the individual speaking is seen, others they are not.

• Diegetic Sounds

  • Any sound that the character(s) or individuals can physically hear. Originates within the video or film’s world. (voices, background, an instrument)

• Non-diegetic sounds

  • Any sound the audience can hear but the characters/individuals on screen cannot. Generally added in during post-production (narration,score, effects)

What Viewers Read

• Subtitles

  • add additional information to images

• Graphics

  • images, charts, graphs, that add additional information to spoken words

The Organization

• Sequence

  • How events unfold

  • The order of the film elements presented

• Transitions

  • Video and audio techniques that filmmakers use between film elements

• Cohesiveness

  • Consistent look and feel given to the entire film