Documentary Codes & Conventions

A documentary is a recording of an event, usually based on peoples perspectives and backed up with facts. Documentaries, like any other film, have codes and conventions that help to define it.

Key conventions of a documentary include real footage, interviews (which are vital to a documentary) and a voiceover or narrator that helps move the film along. Sound is an important aspect to documentaries with both digetic and non-digetic being used in order to convey different messages and emotions. Text and graphics are also important as they help to support the message of the film. The use of cutaways and archive footage is commonly used to keep the film flowing and to provide visual representation as to what the host is saying. There are also a number of shot types that are often used such as establishing shots at the start of the documentary and close ups and medium shots when the host or an interviewee are talking.

Some of the best examples of recent documentaries are the award winning Blue Planet 2, Michael Palin in North Korea and Senna. Blue Planet 2 is a nature documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough and it combines stunning visuals with a host who really knows the topic. Michael Palin in North Korea provided a completely new insight into a country that very little is known about. The success of this documentary is down to the curiosity and intrigue that it created within the audience due to the subject being unknown. My personal favourite documentary is Senna which is an example of a feature length documentary. This documentary is made to appear as a fictional film through its structure but combines many of the aspects of a documentary such as interviews and archive footage.