Different types of documentaries.

Fully Narrated - off voice screen voice over is used to make sense of the visuals and dominate thier meaning, e.g. natural history documnetaries. The narrator always seems authoritative,"voice of god" also foley artists add artifical sounds such as footsteps.

Mixed Narrated - These use a combination of interview, observation and narration to advance the argument.

Fly on the wall - The camera is "unseen" or "ignored" and it simply records reak events. e.g. the family. There is often no narration and leave the audience to make their own conclusions.

Self Reflective - When the subjects of the documentary aknowledges the presence of the camera and often speaks directly to the camera man or documentary maker, this does not normally mean the presenter, it gives the impression that they are speaking directly to the viewer of the documentary.

Docusoap - This is a relatively new subgenre which began in the late 80's, these documentaries follow the lives of individuals usually with designated occupations e.g. 'Airline'

Docudrama - This is a renactment of events as though they have just happened e.g. a reconstruction of crimes on the programme 'Crime Watch'. 'The Only Way Is Essex' and 'The Hills' are examples of a docusoap but taken to the next level, they are scripted. This blurrs the line between the documentary genre and the soap genre.