The techniques of Documentary Film
Actuality Footage: Actuality is the term for film footage of real life events, places and people. This is where the documentary filmmaker shoots what she/he wants in the film, going to relevant locations and covering appropriate subject matter. There needs to be an emphasis here on whether this is going to be interesting, entertaining and also aesthetically pleasing for the spectator.
Archival Footage: Also called ‘Stock Footage’, this is film or video that can be used in other film productions and it is commonly used in documentary. Stock footage can come from a variety of sources, mostly obviously archive news footage or interviews from the past. That said it can also establish setting and situation as well by focusing in on specific subject matter that supports the filmmakers point of view. This wider footage can also take in personal footage (Super 8/16, video, DV, CCTV, mobile phone material). With access to this growing amount of footage a much broader sense of the subject matter can be examined. Of course the selection and construction of all this material in the final cut is crucial to establishing meaning.
Use of Still Images: This will use photographs of relevant subject matter to construct meaning or support points made by the filmmaker. This will be produced in a studio with the use of a rostrum camera. This is different to using a still shot of an image say within an interview.
Voice Over Narration: The use of a non-diegetic (not part of the narrative) voice that assists in explaining information, primarily in a documentary or news feature. The use of the voice positions the spectator to the point of view of the filmmaker. This can be the filmmaker themselves or someone used to convey a sense of meaning behind the images. The narration can also be interviewees whose testimony is crucial in constructing meaning and engendering a response. That said not all documentaries need to have a voiceover.
Voice Over Exposition: The use of a non-diegetic voice to introduce information to the audience. Typically this is factual in nature, and this may occur at the beginning of a documentary feature.
Archetypal Characters: The term ‘character’ is a problematic one when discussing documentary as this most obviously suggests a construction or representation of a person, rather than focusing on someone who is ‘real’. In the case of documentaries, these characters will be selected by the filmmaker to support his/her point of view. This is fundamentally different to casting actors for a fictional role.
Contrasting Characters: Also selected will be people who might be used to create tension and offer differing points of view for an audience.
Interviews: Interviews can be both direct and indirect. A direct interview involves asking questions in a way that the responder understands the purpose of the question, and the intended response. Indirect interviews involves asking questions when the responder is unaware of the purpose, or the intended response. These interviews may be shown in a face to camera situation or may well have been recorded in a sound capacity and then used over film images. Both of these techniques will produce a different set of effects and meanings.
Montage: Selecting and carefully editing of selected pieces of film to form a continuous whole. This final selection of material is crucial in constructing meaning and generating an appropriate response.
Cross-Cuts: Used to establish action occurring at the same time, cross-cutting involves the camera cutting away from one action to another to give the impression of the action occurring simultaneously.
Jump-Cuts: A cut in film editing that gives the impression of the subject “jumping” forwards in time. This is done by showing almost the exact same shot in successive frames with only a slight variation in the subject.
Frankenbiting: An editing tool that allows for scenes, usually with spoken dialogue, to be edited into smaller sound-bites, and in effect changes the meaning of the scene. There is a great amount of debate over the ethics of this, particularly in reality television.
Confessional Monologue: A direct to camera ‘confession’ of a character in the film. In a documentary this occurs in response to a particular event or action.
Dialogue / Duologue: Dialogue is the conversation that occurs between many people in a film. Duologue refers to conversation between only two people.
Graphics/Captions: Use of titles or other written information displayed on the screen. This may be used as a shortcut in terms of offering crucial information such as names/status of the interview/interviewer. It may also convey information about dates and places which might
be vital to understanding a sequence.
For obvious reasons of technological development, graphical images and special effects are increasingly important in documentary film, especially in the form of CGI. Traditionally this might have been in the form of a map illustrating geographical context or a hand built model. With an increasingly visually sophisticated audience this is growing in importance. That said CGI also adds significantly to the cost of film production.
Music: This is important within scenes or through scenes to complement visual images. The broader soundtrack, any recurring musical theme, the use of a montage of music has to be applied external (asynchronous) to the visuals. Equally there is no reason why music can’t be employed contrapuntally as well.
Ambient Sound: This is sound that is present, or available, in the context of the scene being filmed. It may consist of the background sounds (of traffic, birds, wind, planes flying overhead, machines working, children playing, etc.) It is always applied synchronously; that is, the sound emanates from within the scene (not external to the scene). If we hear music, for instance, we hear it because someone is playing a car radio or is attending a performance or is present in a scene where music is playing.
Establishing Shots: Used in filmmaking to set up the context for a scene by allowing the audience to see where it is taking place, and the relationship that the characters have within it. This is also fundamental in establishing place and situation in documentary.
Point-Of-View Shot: By using the camera in a specific way, usually after a shot of a character or person, the camera is able to film a short scene that is exactly what that character or person would be looking at – it shows their point of view. This may well be the direct point of view of the filmmaker themselves.
Reaction Shots: Usually a cut-away shot to indicate the reaction of a particular character. This is usually in response to a specific action or emotion, and is used primarily to show the audience the full traits of a particular character. This might be employed in a variety of situations in a documentary film within interviews or even within stock or archival footage.
Re-enactment or reconstruction: These are staged reenactments of events from the past in order to recreate the feel of real life events. The settings may be recreated or staged and the people involved are actors. That said they are carefully framed with the documentary itself, alongside more obvious documentary techniques (interviews, archival footage). This can be also seen as a technique referred to as docu-drama, but it is not a standalone film. This is also different to say a fiction film covering ‘real-life’ events or more specifically the bio-pic which concentrates on the past life of a famous person.
Looking at this list (by no means definitive) of documentary techniques, does this suggest that documentary can do more creatively than might have been previously thought?
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