Documentary Essay
Watch a short documentary and write a 250-word minimum response in a Google document that answers the following questions.
1. What was the name of your documentary and what was it about? Give me a brief summary.
2. What main mode was used to create this documentary? Explain your reasoning.
3. Was any other secondary mode used in making this documentary?
- If so, give specific examples from the documentary that shows this mode.
- If not, if you could change the mode for this documentary, what mode would you use and why?
Reminder: The six modes of documentary are poetic, reflexive, observational, performative, participitory, and expository.
1. What was the name of your documentary and what was it about? Give me a brief summary.
2. What main mode was used to create this documentary? Explain your reasoning.
3. Was any other secondary mode used in making this documentary?
- If so, give specific examples from the documentary that shows this mode.
- If not, if you could change the mode for this documentary, what mode would you use and why?
Reminder: The six modes of documentary are poetic, reflexive, observational, performative, participitory, and expository.
Below is an example documentary and response on One Day in the Life of a Rice Farmer. Please use this as an example.
The documentary I chose was One Day in the Life of a Rice Farmer. It is about 22 minutes in length, and follows a rice farmer from the Phillippines, as work around the farm is being done. This work includes feeding farm animals, working the rice field, and packaging the final rice product.
The documentary was filmed using observational mode. We know this because while there is a filmmaker present, he does not interfere with the day to day activities of the farm. In addition, interviews and narration are absent from the film. The viewer is totally dependent on what he/she is viewing.
There were no secondary modes used in filming this documentary. However, I think this would have been a stronger documentary if the expository mode had been used. If the filmmaker had interviewed the farmer and added some narration to help explain what was going on in the film, this would have given the viewer a better understanding of the subject being filmed.
The documentary was filmed using observational mode. We know this because while there is a filmmaker present, he does not interfere with the day to day activities of the farm. In addition, interviews and narration are absent from the film. The viewer is totally dependent on what he/she is viewing.
There were no secondary modes used in filming this documentary. However, I think this would have been a stronger documentary if the expository mode had been used. If the filmmaker had interviewed the farmer and added some narration to help explain what was going on in the film, this would have given the viewer a better understanding of the subject being filmed.