An observational documentary allows the film maker to document life or a situation in an unobtrusive manner while still moving with subjects and staying in the action, allowing subjects to forget about the presence of the camera to behave in a more natural manner. In doing so, it allows audiences to view a more realistic situation i.e. the content including sound, image and words of the subjects being filmed is recorded at the moment of filming without any scripting, scene arrangement or narration. The documentary is not built on editing to distort the frames, which allows an emphasis on the realism of the situation. In addition, there is also less, and even no control of lighting within the documentary. More than any of the other documentary modes, the film maker has less control over the events filmed in contrast to voice-overs evident in the expository mode of documentary.
The reality TV documentary '16 and Pregnant' is an example that uses observational filming techniques. It follows the lives of 16 year old mothers showing how they deal with the stress, difficulty and hardships of being such a young mother while still at High School. It is observational in that it follows the girls around their daily lives and they are able to speak through and explain the processes of their actions, expressing their feelings and possible outcomes. Here is a trailer previewing one season of various girls and how they cope, their parent's reactions and thoughts to them being pregnant and their state of mind:
Expository
The expository mode of documentary has a distinct emphasis on narration - a 'voice of God' narration. This narration allows the film maker to directly address and convey issues, particularly social issues, by shaping them into an argumentative frame through the intertwining of the voice-over and images which builds a dramatic sense of involvement, perhaps around a particular issue that the film maker would like resolving.
This is evident in film director Michael Moore's documentaries, for example in 'Bowling for Columbine' he takes the role of the 'voice of God' to argue his message and opinions, though he reinforces it with his more primary use of the interactive/participatory mode. Below is a trailer from the documentary, beginning with a voice of God narration to outline his points, to a scene where he interviews Marilyn Manson in regard to the Columbine shootings:
Interactive
An interactive or participatory mode of documentary relies on the film maker as being both the author and a character within the documentary, so they are visible on camera, to engage in interacting with individuals or groups in relation to their topical argument, thus enhancing the validity of their argument through the viewing of real life situations.
Michael Moore is again another great example for this documentary mode as he uses multiple modes. This is a clip from his documentary 'Sicko' in which he interviews a British doctor in regard to how much they are paid, by what means and asks questions in relation to people paying for healthcare in the UK, comparing the American healthcare system with the UK's. By using an interactive style documentary by means of participatory interviews Moore is able to show validity for his points to back up his intended argument:
Personal
A personal documentary involves the film maker addressing the camera directly to share their thoughts, opinions and views of their intended topical matter.
Justin Lee Collins made a three part documentary called 'Justin Lee Collins: Turning Japanese' in which he intended to film himself in an environment as far away from what he knows is possible, by travelling to Japan. He learns about their amazing culture to which he finds unusual and in this he shares his thoughts with the camera regarding his opinions and feelings towards their traditions and ways:
Poetic
Bill Nichols defines the poetic mode of documentary as 'reassembling fragments of the world' to transform intended content into a more 'poetic' form, where there is an emphasis on creativity by the film maker in order to explore interpretations of its subject. As a result, this may open up the possibility of alternative forms of knowledge of an audience as opposed to a manipulative transfer of knowledge.
Mockumentary
A mockumentary is presented in documentary format but parodies the forms and conventions of a traditional documentary, sometimes as dramatic but more usually in the form of humour.
Mockumentary style is used in the sitcom TV series 'The Office', which is about the every day lives of office employees. While being a scripted series, the camera is acknowledged by the characters to parody a real documentary in a humorous way, thus being a mockumentary:
Fly on the Wall
A fly on the wall documentary intends to record people in a natural environment by observing them over a period of time as they go about their daily lives in an unobtrusive manner, though subjects are sometimes interviewed or asked questions usually by an off-camera voice so as to not disturb the realistic portrayal of the participants; so the focus is entirely on them and not any external disruptions.
'The Family' is a classic example of a fly on the wall documentary mode which observes the lives of family members. The purpose of this documentary was to attempt to show a real example of family life by means of no camera obstruction; cameras would be set up and just observe and there would be very little editing used to try and enhance the naturalness of the situation and keep it raw. It would show how families interact with one another and how they may resolve any conflict.
As embedding is disable by YouTube for all the videos of this documentary, click here for a trailer.
Drama Documentary
A drama documentary is a genre of documentary that intends to create dramatic reconstructions of actual historical events, and this is sometimes supported with real archival footage.
An example a drama documentary is 'Fair Game', which is a biographical film drama based on former United States CIA Operations Officer Valerie Plame's memoir 'Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House':
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