Codes and conventions of a Documentary

Things you will need to include into a documentary:
- The opening needs to capture the audiences attention as quickly as possible.
- The central question of the documentary has to be posed at the beginning in order to communicate to the audience what the programme is about.
- Needs intriguing topics - E.g: Why is Britain the teenage pregnancy capital of Europe? Will we survive a double dip recession? Are university fees excluding generation from higher education?
- Some quick snippets of interviews with good responses can also draw an audience in.
- Incidental music or even a soundtrack, relevant song should usually accompany the opening sequence during some visual montage. The music must not however override the voice over.
- Titles are important; you need to announce the title of the documentary in some dramatic form. The name of the show should burst onto the screen.

Actuality: Filming real events as they happen are a convention of real documentary, but this could prove difficult with certain things like trying to film a hurricane or explosions in Iraq and thus you may need archive footage.

Fly on the wall: This is when you film real people as they do real things focusing on their lives. In terms of your documentary you may be able to film things like people having a genuine conversation about issues relevant to your topic, a live sporting event, following an individual around as they do a job etc.

Voice over: Most documentaries have a voice over, a narration of what the programme is about, giving key information and introducing the topic of debate.

Graphics: Documentaries often use graphics with written text. Maps, drawings, still photographs can be incorporated into the opening sequence through jpeg files. Graphics should also appear as a banner at the bottom of the screen when showing who your interviewee is and what they do for a living. E.g. Andrew Mitchell, Conservative MP

Interviews: An expert interview with someone who has ample knowledge of your topic and can give a clear insight into issues is vitally important. This could be a real expert, parents, students etc.

Vox pops: This is more of a random interview with ordinary people on the street with a hand held camera and no tripod, with a microphone popping up asking people what they think about your topic.

Talking Head: A shot of someone talking directly to the camera as a presenter of the documentary could also be used. This is called a 'talking head'. The talking head is the authority figure and presents the facts.

Music: Music is critical for the opening sequence but the sound of the song or music should not dominate and override the sound of a voice over. You need to balance sound and images very carefully and fade them in appropriately.