Research: Textual Analysis of documentary

Older media: The Night Mail

https://youtu.be/zmciuKsBOi0 

Similarities/ Differences with contemporary media? 
-Facts and figures used to reinforce the points being made, also adding reliability and realism.
-Foley sound used to add realism to the events taking place.
-Dissolving between fast paced takes. 
-Black and white due to colour technology not being available. 
-Footage very shaky due to lack of technology to stabilise images. 
-Lack of superimposition.
-Digetic sound (speech) used. 

Research: Theorists Related to Documentaries

John Corner
Professor at Liverpool university 
Features of a documentary
- "What distinguishes a documentary is the portrayal of sound and images actuality"
- Documentaries rely on interviews in order to give a balanced argument. 
- They must have a sense of observation to be used as evidence.
- Mis-en-scene is vital when constructing a representation of reality.
-There must be a clear meaning to the documentary, a goal they want to achieve in the production of it.
- Dramatisation is used to create more interesting viewing. 

http://www.johncorner.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/documentary_studies.pdf


Michael Rabiger 
Looked at features of a documentary and also wrote the book, The Documentary, Sixth Edition, in which he talks about the construction of a documentary.
-Says that a documentary is "Creative treatment of actuality" 
- Mentions the importance of the social representations in a documentary over aesthetics.
- Your job is to know what motivates people, what psychological blocs you must remove, and what subtle pressures you can exert to catalyze behavior, or uncover hidden narratives.
- Established the national film board of Canada in 1939.

http://www.masteringfilm.com/author/michael-rabiger/