Narratives in documentaries

A narrative in documentaries is the way various scenes and events come together to make a storyline. The voiceovers that are so conventional in documentaries act as narrators, who help contribute to help creating the narrative of the documentary. There are many different types of narratives and  they all have different affects on the audience. Linear/ non linear, montages, reconstructions, voiceovers, enigma code, binary opposes, 3 part structure and key characters are all forms of narratives.

Linear/ Non linear Narratives: Linear narrative structures are ones that go in a specific order and normally in chronological order. For example, a story may start from the beginning (present day) and will slowly develop as time goes on so that as an audience, we can see how things progress. This is commonly used in documentaries as it is how life works and audiences generally find it easier to be engage in something that is in order and makes sense.
Non linear narratives is the opposite of linear, and the storylines will often start maybe back wards or from the middle. Naturally this will not make sense to the audience and they will instantly be put in a state of confusion as they have been through straight in without having any knowledge of context. This is a good technique to use in documentaries because of the fact that viewers will want to comprehend what is going on, providing they have the patience to continue watching without knowing what's going on.

Montages: A montage narrative is one that contains a collection of footage that is combined together to create one big story. These may be footage from completely different events, but they are all link in some way sop that a clear theme is established. These are often good techniques in documentaries as it shows how everything is connected and linked together, as well as how certain events affect others. Combining different versions and interpretations also give the audience a choice do decide how they feel about stories and issues.

Reconstructions: A reconstruction narrative is one where the real life situation could not be filmed again, therefore actors are hired to re-enact that scenes so the audience can understand what happened. The scenes are often dramatized to emphasis certain ideas and issues are made clear. These are good techniques to used in documentaries as it allows the audience to have a clear comprehension of what happened and can make their own decision on how they feel.

Narrative Enigmas/ Enigma codes: This was a theory developed by Roland Barthes that suggests that all narratives contains codes that help plots develop. These codes are called semantic, enigma and action codes. Semantic codes suggest that there are hidden meanings in things that are said and done throughout narratives. Enigma codes present the audience with certain events/characters that aren't completely clear and resolved. By having enigma codes, it keeps the audience engaged and intrigued so that they can find solutions to these enigma codes. Action codes are present when there are disputes and problems within the storyline. This means that when problems arise, audiences are interested in the issues being resolved through actions scenes and conflict.  These are commonly used in narratives for documentaries as if keeps the audience hooked and gives them the desire to carry watching to see how things develop further on in the documentary.

Binary Opposites: A theory developed by Claude Levi Strauss suggest that all audiences understand certain feeling better when there is an opposite feeling, e.g. happiness vs. sadness. By presented contrasting feelings, it helps drive tension between two subjects. Furthermore, by presenting both feeling, it allows the audience to pick for themselves how they feel about certain events. THis is good for documentary narratives as it assist the audience in feeling particular ways and helps them to connect ion an emotional level with the film. Audiences are more likely to enjoy certain media produt if they feel linked or connected with them.

3 part narratives: A theory developed by  Tvzvetan Todorov that states that all narratives follow a particular structure; a beginning middle and end. The beginning, also known as the equilibrium, is when all is normal and everything is calm. This is considered to b the start of all storylines as well documentaries, and presents society as tranquil. The is followed by the middle, also known as the equilibrium disruption. In this stage, a certain event or character disrupts the peace in the story line and causes an issue that forces the other character to react in order to restore the peace. Most narratives finish with the equilibrium disruption being eliminated and going full circle so that a new equilibrium is established. Then the cycle may begin again in the same order. This is often used in documentaries as it allows it to have a clear storyline and drives the tension with characters and groups of people. Without the equilibrium disruption, it would be hard to create a storyline as there is no problem to be fixed. and nothing to be done.

Key Narratives Characters:  This type of narrative was developed by Vladimir Propp and is very common in most stories. This states that in all media stories, there are always characters that fit "hero" and "villain" figures. This is often done to create tension and conflict between two characters and encourages the audience to root for a certain character or subject. For example, in crime documentaries, the criminal are typically represented as the villains/ antagonist who are conflicting to the police, inspectors and court of law. Therefore, the audience automatically feels that they have to root for the police as they are represented as the ones who are protecting the citizens and doing the right thing.