Codes & Conventions of Documentaries

 

Documentaries, like any other medium, follow codes & conventions. To investigate these elements, I watched two documentaries and analysed them in detail.

Supersize Me and Loose Change 2^nd Edition were the two documentaries I watched, both documentaries have very different styles, but the basis in each follow the same codes and conventions as all documentaries.

          I will firstly begin with the most common of documentary conventions, ‘Talking Heads’, this is the term for the people interviewed in documentaries, on whichever topic of interest is relevant. In Supersize Me talking heads are used very often, this is because the subject in hand can be discussed widely, as it is a well known fact how obese America has become, also there are many specialists in this field, such as dieticians, doctors and the obese people themselves, along with the business men behind fast food chains. Loose Change on the other hand uses very little footage of talking heads, this is most probably because the conspiracy theories of the 911 bombings is not a widely spoken about subject, atleast not loudly, and the only real specialists available are bomb experts and the US government, who im sure would not wish to comment on such issues. However documentaries differ, talking heads are a basic principle behind documentaries, but for some it is far easier to do so.

          The second convention I have found within all documentaries is the use of ‘cutaways’, these are relevant pieces of footage, archive or direct, and stills that help to fill in the documentary when narration is all that is necessary. In Supersize Me there are a lot of cutaways of obese people walking, this is an easy thing to shoot as in public places, this is perfectly legal. Loose Change however, as a consequence of its subject matter, has had to use all archive footage and

cutaways, but makes great use of Google earth when demonstrating what and where the attacks took place. Cutaways are used in all documentaries, as it is not practical or entertaining to have constant interviews flowing, cutaways also form a good visual base for when statistics and facts are being spoken, to keep the viewer interested.

          The third and final, main convention of a documentary, in relation to Supersize Me and Loose Change 2^nd Edition, is that of a voiceover/presenter.

The Supersize Me presenter/voiceover is the person undertaking the ‘experiment’, that supersize me is based around, whereas the Loose Change voiceover never reveals himself, why? This becomes apparent at the end of the documentary, as it tells the viewer that being in possession of the film can lead to Guantanamo bay. However a voiceover is a valuable tool in documentaries, as it gives the viewer a constant story telling device to listen to and understand. It helps us digest statistics better, rather than them being presented on a screen, they are read to us, and also to fill in any blanks not given through the visual work or interview.

          There are many documentary codes and conventions, and they are used widely across the board, I chose two very different documentaries as I thought this would give for a more interesting essay, also I think it shows how conventions can still be present in such different circumstances.

.