David Attenborough

Sir David Attenborough is a naturalist and a broadcaster. He is most famous for being the voice and face of documentaries for the BBC, predominantly those regarding nature such as 'Blue Planet' and the 'Life' series. He usually narrates his documentaries rather than presents them, therefore they are shown in a poetic nature more than any other style.

Over the last 25 years he has established himself as the world's leading natural history programme maker with several landmark BBC series, including:

Life on Earth (1979)
The Living Planet (1984)
The Trials of Life (1990)
The Private Life of Plants (1995)
The Life of Birds (1998)
The Life of Mammals (2002)
Life in the Undergrowth (2005)

Attenborough worked on a multitude of documentaries, one of his most famous being the 'Life' series, where he looks at evolutionary history of animal species and the like. He is also famous for his narration of 'Planet Earth', and has a knighthood for his famous voice and passion for his subject.

Due to Attenborough's interest in the subject, he has gained up most respect for his work in the natural documentary industry. Recently, warned and informed the country of the climate change issues surrounding the planet, and warned of an 'ecological disaster'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Attenborough

http://www.davidattenborough.co.uk/biography/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/7631314/David-Attenborough-warns-of-ecological-disaster.html

Nick Broomfield

Nick Broomfield is a British film and documentary maker, who films with as minimal a crew as possible, giving his documentaries his signature style which is very easily recognised. His style is very much on the reflexive side - he is usually seen dictating to the camera at some point. He has won a multitude of awards for his documentaries, such as the BAFTA Lifetime Achievement Award for Contribution to Documentary, and honorary doctorates from the University of Essex and the University of Surrey. Broomfield's earliest documentaries are prime examples of his use of Cinéma Vérité - the juxtaposition of observed scenes, with minimal use of voice over, text and dialogue.

Kurt and Courtney: Possibly one of Broomfield's most famous documentaries was on Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and his suspicious suicide. He looks into Courtney Love's lifestyle, accusing her of supporting the suppression of free speech and much more. This is one of his many reflexive and controversial documentaries.

Other films/documentaries:

• Fetishes
• Biggie and Tupac
• Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam
• Ghosts

And many more...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Broomfield
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cin%C3%A9ma_v%C3%A9rit%C3%A9

Michael Moore

Michael Moore is an acclaimed American film maker, who uses his documentaries to portray his political nature in the most expository format he can. He is a Liberal political commentator and an author, and he has spent his life directing, producing and occasionally acting. He has made a number of famous controversial documentaries and films, criticising and analysing globalisation, the ownership of assault weaponry, large co-operations and the like. Moore started his life in documentation after having dropped out of university, starting his career in film after creating the short documentary 'Roger and Me' in 1989, which displayed his neo-liberal view of globalisation.

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004): Possibly his most famous documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11 looks at George W. Bush's presidency in a critical manner, analysing the 'War on Terror' and the situation in Iraq. The documentary attacked George Bush, and was consistently critical, leading to a massive controversy and a huge reaction from the public and the media. Fahrenheit 9/11 is, to this day, the highest grossing documentary of all time, and received a 20 minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival of 2004, showing an enormous support from his audience. Moore wrote a formal letter to Bush, encouraging him sarcastically to watch the film that directly insulted him. He writes:

" I write to invite you to the inaugural showing of "Fahrenheit 9/11" in
Crawford at the Crawford Peace House, Wednesday, July 28 at dusk...
If you graciously accept my invitation, I will also have the chance to thank you personally for being one of my Axis of Actors who star in the film (along with your Vice President and your Attorney General). And let's face it -- you've got the funniest lines in the film! We may even have an audience reading of "My Pet Goat" to celebrate "Fahrenheit 9/11" breaking through the $100 million mark at the box office."

Sicko (2007): This documentary of Michael Moore's recognises the issues within the health and pharmaceutical industry in the USA. Moore received an Acadamy Award Nomination for his efforts in Sicko, and it was very popular with so called 'Health Care Activists' who commended him for his successful attempt in exposing the corruptness of the American healthcare system.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Moore
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_9/11
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicko

Louis Theroux

Louis Theroux is a British - American journalist who creates in depth and engaging documentaries. Some of his most famous and successful documentary series are 'Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends' and 'When Louis Met...', where Theroux travels around the world to experience and report unusual and often very disturbing ways of life. For example, having travelled to South Africa, Theroux interviews a Boer separatist leader; the leader of white South African inhabitants from a Dutch background, who still believes in the South African apartheid and have arguably racist views.

Louis Theroux uses reflexive and expository forms in the majority of his documentaries, as he is always in front of the camera, discussing his topic of choice, and exposing situations as they develop around him. He is well known for his use of 'Gonzo Journalism'; where the reporter has the ability to be so involved in the report that they are almost part of the story through using a first person narrative.This technique is so engaging for the audience, as there is direct communication between the reporter and the audience.Theroux uses this technique as it presents his documentaries to be 'gritty' and hard-hitting. Some features that commonly feature in Gonzo journalistic documentaries are themes such as use of profanity, sarcasm and dry humour.

The Louis Theroux documentaries usually revolve predominantly around human interest with an expository format, aimed at a more educated audience. His documentaries are very controversial, as he reports on mostly 'taboo' subjects; those that aren't commonly discussed. Theroux has developed an almost 'cult' following, where his audience admire him for exposing the truth about multiple cultural aspects of the world. In the past, he has looked at religion, the porn industry, body building and muscle worship, Black nationalists, White supremacists, plastic surgery and many more aspects of culture that is considered to be abnormal and undiscussed.

Some of Theroux's documentaries have experienced a disapproving reception due to their controversial nature. His documentary on paedophiles in a Californian mental hospital called Coalinga State Hospital showed the patients to be having a much too positive a lifestyle considering they had such serious convictions and mental conditions. The patients were allowed soft porn of young adults in the rooms of child molesters, a gymnasium to keep fit and a shopping mall and DVD library for recreational purposes. The exposition of such a sensitive issue was both commended and reprimanded, as for some people they felt that seeing the life of such mentally ill people was disturbing, despite being warned of the content at the beginning of the documentary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Theroux

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0857621/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzo_journalism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Louis_Met%E2%80%A6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Theroux%27s_Weird_Weekends

Forms and Types of Documentaries

The concept of the documentary contains four predominant ways of presentation to the audience. Here is a brief description of each one:

• Reflexive - In which the film-maker makes their presence known to the audience. They are shown to be presenting and giving narrative guidance in front of the camera.
  
• Poetic - Artistic narrative is constructed. Usually more human interest (celebrity documentaries and the like) rather than current affairs.
  
• Observational - Being there as events unfold. Observational documentaries follow a person and document their journey as events unfold.
  
• Expository - The exposition of a topic or potential analysis of a person throughout the documentary.

Advanced Portfolio - An Introduction to the Documentary

A documentary film is one which aims to literally 'document' real events and situation in an informative and engaging manner, with the aim to interact with the audience and be educational at the same time. Documentaries are usually shown in either film or television format, presenting informative facts about a specific person or and event.

These films can be based on any non-fiction situation, meaning that documentaries can be aimed at any audience to an extent. The aim of such programs is to present a non-fiction narrative in an analytical way to showcase important real life events or people. A prime example of a documentary which is representative of a real life story would be Channel 4's 'Katie: My Beautiful Face', a documentary about a woman who's face was burnt by sulfuric acid.

There are sub-genres of the documentary, such as a 'mockumentary', also known as a 'pseudodocumentary'. This sub-genre of televised documentaries are essentially fictitious story lines, presented in a format which presents them as fact, or in a non-fiction manner. This technique can also be used to comment on real events but in a way which presents them to be fictitious.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockumentary

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/katie-my-beautiful-face/4od