Bill Nichols' Documentary Structure Styles

After watching and analysing several short documentaries, I have decided to do more research into the different types of structure that a documentary can have. Whilst researching this topic I came across Searle Kochberg's book 'Introduction to Documentary Production: A Guide for Media Students'. This book contains a chapter on the different approaches a documentary filmmaker could use, which includes a list of Bill Nichols' four different narrational styles for creating a persuasive documentary.

The four basic divisions of rhetorical style are:

Observational (Fly-on-the-Wall) Documentaries

• Naturalistic form; natural lighting, long shots/takes, synchronous sound, no direct address,
• No voice over commentary,
• No interviews,
• No Re-enactments,
• Editing emphasises 'real time' and uses linear continuity,
• Filmed as if the filmmaker wasn't there.

Expository ('Voice of God') Documentaries

• Realist format,
• Authoritative voice over commentary ('voice of god') 'speaking on behalf of someone or something' (Nichols 1991:48),
• Non sync sound and/or interviews,
• Images that illustrate the main verbal arguments,
• Elliptical editing - sequences are shortened to condense time.

Interactive/Participatory Documentaries

• Interactions between filmmaker/social actors/audience,
• Filmmaker is a part of the film,
• Interviews generating debates and contradictions,
• Direct address,
• Juxtaposition of images/sounds to show different viewpoints,
• Antirealist interventions.

Reflexive Documentaries

• Breaks the appearance of being true/real,
• Self-concious fabrication, e.g. imaginative re-enactments,
• Use of genre conventions as a challenge to any 'window-on-reality', creates more of narrative, 
• Facts are often distorted to make the piece more bias,
• The viewer is just as interested in how the film is constructed as they are to the content.

After doing some more research online about the structural styles of documentary filmmaking, I found that Nichols later found another two rhetorical styles.

Poetic Documentaries

• Very artistic/stylised,
• Shots are constructed before shooting to get the most visually enticing shots,
• Sacrifices genre conventions, e.g. editing for 'real time' or linear continuity,
• Typically uses music to create emotional response,
• No real rules or conventions, often very experimental.

Performative Documentaries

• Filmmaker is present within the camera frame and often narrates the film,
• Stresses subjective experience and emotional response,
• Focuses on the experiences of the filmmaker,
• Often unconventional or experimental.