Codes and Conventions of a Documentary

Analyse the codes and conventions of a documentry film. You should comment on the following along with any other points you feel are relevant:

1.What TV Channel it's Broadcasted On?

2. What is the Title of the Documentry?

3. What Type of Documentry is it?

• Historical: The Rise and Fall of the Egyptian Empire
• Biographical: The Life of Sir Stanley Matthews
• Investigative: The Truth Behind the Disappearance of Madeline McCann
• Artistic: The Work of Van Gogh
• Wildlife: The Anatomy of the Blue Whale
• Political: The New Labour years
• Drama Documentries: Margaret Thatcher
• Reality TV: The Kardashians
• Celebrity: David Beckham's New Tattoo
• Scripted Reality: TOWIE, MIC

CCTV is the most realistic type of reality tv footage.

4. What Style of Documentary is it? Think in terms of:

• Narrative Structure: Linear/ Non-Linear
• Editing: Fast, slow, dissolves, fades, superimposing etc
• Voice-Overs: Narration, register, tone, mode of the address
• Archive Footage: Style, type, place, time period
• Graphics: Pie charts, images
• Text: Captions, subtiles, banners
• Music: Songs, instrumental, ambient

5. What is the Subject Matter/ Content of the Documentary?

6.What are the messages and meanings behind the documentary- What is it trying to communicate to the audience?


Author: Kiran Paul