Documentary Formats

Poetic • Expositional • Performative • Reflexive • Participatory • Observational • Docudrama • Docusoap

In Bill Nichols’ overview text, ‘Introduction to Documentary,’ he outlines the six formats (also referred to as ‘modes’ or ‘types,’) of documentaries. Often a documentary can overlap into a range of these categories, and there are few documentaries that don’t fit into any of the formats. However, these are the six primary categories of documentary films:

Poetic.

This format of documentary originated in the 1920’s, and they focus on a subject, made up of experiences and images, in an artistic style. The style is often abstract and unstructured in terms of narrative; poetic documentaries rarely follow conventions, but rather experiment with content and visuals. Instead of communicating a truth, it creates a ‘feeling.’

Expositional.

Expositional documentaries are usually considered the most common format — they juxtapose poetic documentaries, and focus on educating, persuading and/or informing the audience of an agenda. This usually uses ‘Voice of God’ narration, commenting over the top of relevant footage. You’re most likely to find expositional documentaries on channels such as The History Channel, or ‘Accident and Emergency.’

Performative.

This is an experimental combination of formats, where the filmmaker will connect personal experiences with larger historical, ethical and/or political issues, in order to construct footage supporting their agenda.

Reflexive.

Similar to participatory documentaries, the documentary filmmaker will partake in the on — screen actions, however, they will make no attempt to discuss an agenda or theme other than themselves and the act of making the film.

Participatory.

The documentary filmmaker will work in unison with the subject/agenda, to deliver the aim of the documentary to the audience. This often involves elements of observation and exposition, and allows the filmmaker to subtly question the audience and hint at a theme, or directly influence the actions of the narrative and structure of the documentary whilst on screen.

Observational.

In this format, the documentary filmmaker will strive to observe the happenings around them, rather than becoming part of the documentary and breaking the ‘outside’ perspective. They originated in the 1960’s, in attempt to give the audience as much access to information as possible, without forcing an opinion on them. Active audiences can delve into observational documentaries and conduct their own conclusions from visuals, semiotics and connotations.

Two other sub-formats of documentary that may be seen on television are:

Docudrama.

This is a documentary style which uses reenactment to recreate events from the past. Often this type of documentary is based on Kings and Queens of England.

Docusoap.

A documentary which follows a category/group of people in a certain profession, through their professional and/or personal lives. It’s similar to reality television shows, but features unscripted day-to-day happenings. An example is ‘Airport,’ a docusoap which documents the workers at London Heathrow Airport.