Nichols (2010) – How can we differentiate among documentaries? (Poetic and Expository modes)
Notes On Six Modes Of Documentary
1 Expository: speak directly to viewer with voice over.
2 Poetic: emphasise visual associations, tonal or rhythms, patterns and the overall from of the film.
3 participatory: filmmaker interacts with his or her social actors. interviews are a prime example.
4 observational: look on as social actors go about their lives as if the camera were not present.
5 reflexive: calls attention to the conventions of documentary filmmaking and sometimes of methodologies such as filed work.
6 performative: express of filmmakers’ contact with film themes speak to the audience in a vivid way.
Sasha 