Types of Documentaries

 Participatory Documentary 

    In a participatory documentary, the people in the film are typically interviewed. It provides a first-person narrative and is very direct. It also includes the direct involvement between communities and people who are exploring a topic in depth.

    The Burger documentary I watched in class clearly represents a participatory documentary. In the film, the director focused on the topic of a burger and how that is impacted by western culture. When I first watched the documentary I was very unsure of the structure and how it could be used to convey some sort of meaning. 

    After watching it multiple times I noticed I was more drawn to the film and it was one I could remember. It included interviews and presented different sides of the story which added to the film and met the requirement of showcasing meaning and the research done to present the story or concept being discussed.

    The documentary stood out to me because it was unconventional. I wasn't used to seeing it done so I thought it was an issue and dismissed it. Through my research, I found that it is very typical to do in documentaries and it's a great way to further expand on a concept or theme being portrayed in the film.

Poetic Documentary

    A poetic documentary is a documentary that invokes feelings in the audience. It allows the audience to understand the tone, mood, and juxtaposition of images.

In the video Samsara, there were no words but the images made it easy for me to figure out the importance behind the film. I noticed that there are multiple shortcuts but it's not abrupt and flows nicely throughout. The audience is able to understand the message being conveyed and what particular group of people or culture the film is about.

 I think I enjoy this documentary style because I find it beautiful it is expression without words and mage flashed means something. The cinematography is also handled very well especially the types of shots and how it is edited.

The difference between participatory and poetic documentaries is the way the story is told. In participatory it is told by word of mouth and through social conventions while poetic does the complete opposite. Poetic reminds me of the concept "a picture says a thousand words". In the video, it was all images and it said more than most trailers and also held my attention.