Documentaries

Observational Documentaries
Observational documentaries follow the person to observe what happens in their day. There is no set up scenes for the person to do, its what do daily, allowing the audience to reach whatever conclusion they want. The equipment needs to move around a lot, light equipment is used like hand held cameras. It uses long lasting shots. Little use of narrative and no interviews. Some examples of observational documentaries are, MTV's Teen Cribs, 16 and Pregnant, Road Wars.

Docusoap
A docusoap is the combination of documentaries and soap operas. It has multiple characters with shorelines and set around a loction. The drama of the characters is mostly scripted and shown in a chronological order to entertain the audience. Docusoaps includes interviews, dramatic reconstructions, editing that heightens suspense and story lines that follows between weeks. Some examples of docusoaps are, Made in Chelsea and Airport.

Reality TV
Reality TV programmes continuously film ordinary people, it follows people around through there daily lives for a period of time. The time where nothing interesting happens is cut out, and the most interesting parts are to entertain the audience not inform. Usually there are confessions, where the characters can express their thoughts, which can also be used as a narration. Some examples of reality tv are, Big Brother, The Real World and Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

Docudrama
A docudrama is the combination of documentaries and drama. It follows people through their lives as they go through planned and scripted situations as if it was real. Docudramas stick to facts and give the audience basic information leaving them to draw their own conclusion. Docudramas can be used to draw attention to current events and issues. Some examples of docudramas are Band of Brothers, Argo, 127 Hours and Into the Wild.

Wildlife Documentary
A wildlife documentary's subject is animals, plants or other non-human living creatures. Also known as Nature Documentaries, these documentaries observe the subject in its natural habitat. If the subject is an animal then it will be tracked and followed by the camera during its days. These documentaries inform the audience about the subject, there is a commentary which gives out the information. Some examples of wildlife documentaries are Life, Plants are Cool Too, Planet Earth and March of the Penguins.

Fixed Rig Documentaries
A fixed rig documentary is where a lot of cameras are placed in fixed positions around a location to capture every angle. The subject is the location, there can be people in it or animals, there is no script or planned events. Some examples of fixed rig documentaries are Educating Yorkshire, One Born Every Minute, 24 Hours in A&E and The Fried Chicken Shop.

Single Camera Documentaries
Single camera documentaries are where the entire documentary is shot with only one camera, it isn't one long shot, but edited to cut parts out. Using only one camera will be useful if the documentary is about travelling because it is easier to get around. Some examples of single camera documentaries are An Idiot Abroad, The Moaning of life, Family Tree and peep show.

Interactive
An interactive documentary is where the audience can interact and interfere with the subject. Usually the audience will have to pay for them to make a vote on what happens next. Some examples of Interactive documentaries are Seven Days, X Factor, Big Brother and Im a Celebrity get me out of here.

News Reactive Documentary
A news reactive documentary is about a subject that has recently been popular in the news. The documentary may have been made before it was in the news and then released after so that it is relevant. Some examples of news reactive documentaries are when a famous person dies, when a company gets exposed in a bad way or something to do with the war.

Chat Show
A chat show is where people or mostly celebrities are gathered to talk about a wide variety of topics. It is to entertain the audience in a humorous way. Some examples of chat shows are The Jeremy Kyle Show, Jonathan Ross and The Graham Norton Show.