Applied Animation- What is Documentary?

What is Documentary?

Their are different types of documentary, more than I had realised. For this seminar, the different types were explained to help us to determine different documentary types, as well as which one ours would fit into.

Poetic Documentary

This type of documentary is more about the feeling it can create, their aren't many words present so its all about the influence it can have on the audience.

Expository Documentary

This type is more about talking at the audience, showing information about a certain subject.

Observational Documentary

Showing private moments and first hand information is what this documentary would show. Shows like Big Brother and MTV.

Participatory Documentary

This is where the person doing the documentary is doing what is shown, Louis Theroux goes to people and includes himself is what is happening.

Reflexive Documentary

This goes through a process of understanding, the person filming is just as interested in the process of it being made as well as the outcome.

Performative Documentary

This is another form of getting an emotional response, Michael Moore is someone who does these types of documentaries.

Didactic Filmmaking 

Everything depends on the scenario, whether it is funny or entertaining. Adam Ruins Everything showed this type of filmmaking.

Fiction & Non-Fiction

No matter the audience, some truths will always need to be hidden or changed, this can alter the audiences perception, which is why documentaries are used to inform and force the audience to think. This is also why music plays an important role as this can bring in people and keep their attention.

Creature Comforts shows peoples stories and replaces them with animals to gain more attention to the story they are telling.

Animated Documentary

Animated documentaries are able to show difficult subject matters and material that if filmed, would not gain nearly as much of a response.

Animation can show different visualizations from thoughts and concepts while keeping peoples anonymity which can further the real-ness of the documentary, as the person being filmed cannot diver the audiences eye. It is all about the story they are telling.

Animated Documentaries show people what they cannot imagine, giving a visual to topics and matters others cannot fathom.