Examples of different types of Documentary

There are many different reasons and formats for documentaries, here is a list of the main subjects for a documentary:

• Biographical Films - documenting a persons life (living or dead)
• A well known event, usually a disaster
• A concert or festival
• A comedy show
• A live performance (music, bands, play)
• A sociological or ethnographic (dealing with human cultures, societies, anthropology)
• An expose
• Sports documentary
• A compilation film (collected from governement sources)
• A 'making of' film
• An examination of a certain subject area like nature, WW2 etc
• Spoof documentaries - mockumentary
• docu-drama's/soaps
• Reality TV - Fly on wall, observation

- Filmsite [Internet] http://www.filmsite.org/docfilms.html - Accessed 3/2/2013

As well as having different styles of documentary depending on the purpose there are also many different mediums that can be used to make up a documentary film, here are some of examples:

• Can be made up of actual, real footage - actuality.
• Narration/Voice of God - guiding the audience through and offering additional information.
• Reconstructions - an event is re-filmed using different people, normally actors, to try and give an idea of what actually happened if no actual footage is available.
• Re-enactment - when an event or something is done again using the same people as what it originally happened/was filmed with.
• Archive footage or found footage - old footage, particularly used for historic documentaries.
• Interviews - to get the peoples perspectives and feelings on things. These could either be with people who were actually there or the people the documentary is about or it could include interviews from professionals who know a lot about the subject.
• CGI - computer generated images and graphics which can be used to maybe show something that isn't around now e.g dinosaurs.
• Hidden camera footage - people don't know they're being filmed - good for expose's.
• Photos - useful if no actual footage is available.