Nicholls Modes of Documentry

What is Nicholls' Modes of documentary?
Nicholl was a documentary theorist that came up with modes which could distinguish between each type of documentary. He came up with 6 Modes which people can identify a documentary by which are Participatory, Reflexive, Observational, Perfromative & Interactive. Each of these modes will help the audience identify a documentary as each mode has a unique reason why a documentary should be in that certain mode.


One of Nicholls modes for documentaries was called Participatory. This is where the actual cameraman is part of the documentary and is contributing towards it. While this is occurring, the film makers impact on the events being recorded is acknowledged. By participating in the documentary itself the audience can see the authenticity of the whole documentary. In this example I will be using Biggie and Tupac. The cameraman here is going through people who had known Tupac and even Tupac's teacher. He goes through the process of gaining information on his life wile informing the viewers of the documentary at the same time. It gives the audience more proof that he was actually there asking these questions and people who have worked with Tupac are here to provide further information into the life of Tupac. Also participatory modes are often differentiated because we as the viewer of the documentary can hear the voice off the camera. This again adds to the effect of being there as well as that to indicate to the audience that there has been no editing involved which can reduce the accuracy of the documentary.
The film maker here is explaining the story that has happened between the two megastars Biggie and Tupac. At 0:49 we see images that show the death scene of Tupac and hear a voice over of a Policeman saying people go home ect... At 1:02 we hear the voice over of the film maker himself talking about Biggie and Tupac's friendship. Straight after that introductory opening to the documentary he twists the whole story straight away by saying that they had a fallout which made them mortal enemies. This tells the inside of the story about Tupac and Biggie to the viewers so they know. Also he tells us later on that he is going to find information about the two rappers of what may have caused the conflict, At 1:15 the film maker is explaining how they were together all the time, the clip here shows Biggie's birthday and Tupac hugging him to exaggerate the point that they were friends. Also all these clips shown here is actuality footage which gives he audience/viewer an insight to the rappers' lives. The film maker is trying to get a better insight to the story by asking and interviewing people who played a major part of Biggie and Tupac's lives. He Interviews Tupac's dad at 12:07 and Biggie's mother at 21:28. This is done so that the audience get not only a thorough vision of how they were as kids and how they became legends. Also the two rappers are seen as Gangsters, Criminals, Drug Dealers when in essence they are loving people who respected everyone around them.

Into the Abyss is a very good example of a Reflexive Mode of Nicholl's Modes. This is where we see the awareness of the process that has occurred. Reflexive Modes tend to include the "Voice-Of-God" where we are guided by a voice narration. For example here at 33:46 there is a shot where shotgun shells were found. That segment without audio would mean nothing to the viewer as it is not telling them that this was evidence. Some people may understand what is going on in the screen but with the voice over they will understand the situation better. Also this documentary would be mainly focusing on making the audience re think any assumptions they have made towards the situation. The reflexive mode tends to show and tell the truth to the viewer so they know what information is true and what information is false. Throughout this documentary we only see a small portion of the film maker. Most of the time he is asking questions to witnesses and investigators about the whole crime that has taken place. Also this is done via voice-overs so that the audience could get much better quality while he was recording. Also this could be done live where he asks the interviewee the question and he answers directly.


An example mode of Performative would be Mcdonald's Super Size Me. Performative Modes show the audience a more scientific approach to a documentary where the person physically shows what will happen during the circumstances they are under. For example here at 0:01 we are told that he needs to keep a calorie control over what he eats. This informs the viewer on what is going to happen throughout the documentary. Also we as the viewer can see that the film maker is the centrepiece of the whole documentary where he takes up at least 98% of the whole documentary because it is based on him. An example of where we can see this is from 0:00 - 0:29 where as the audience we don't miss him of the camera for one shot or two. As the film maker is the centre of attraction on this documentary the audience should automatically understand that this will be completely his own point of view and that he will be truthful on what he says. As this is a "scientific" experiment he cannot risk making any anomaly in the results he is about to give to the audience. From 1:10 we are told the happenings on screen via a voice over. This is telling us how his body is being measured for the test he is about to carry out whether it is capable or not. Again the Voice Of God element is used in most of Nicholls' Modes.



Observational Documentaries do not have the director or film maker present in the video but they show what is going on through the use of their camera. Here an example of this would be "The Penguin Story" where we only see what the penguins are doing and no form of human activity in the video itself which may show the film maker or other observers who have come with the film maker to help them out. To show that it is an observational mode the lighting at 0:17 is natural showing the audience/viewer that not any of the clips have been edited or altered for aesthetic purposes. We can see that they are protecting the egg. The close-up here shows in detail what is going on. For example if the same segment of the clip was done via a long shot there would be too many things to look at on the screen. At 0:02 we are greeted with an introductory voice over which tells us what is about to happen in the video in this case they are setting the location of the whole documentary on penguins. We could also say that the Observational Mode is the "Window of the World" where they are observing the historical world as it happens in its natural form. At 0:59 we can see a Low Angle Mid shot of the egg being protected as it is the main element of this whole documentary. We can see that the observational mode focuses on mainly one thing which is then taken into great detail.



An interactive based documentary would be Catfish the Movie. Here the film maker is "interacting" in the movie. He is trying to find out the true indetities of the people who have stolen others' foruse on the internet. For example at 4:35 we are shown the household area of where Abbey lives. This is to show the audience of what area the film may take place in. At 5:26 the audience is shown a graphics still of what is happening next in the investigation of Abbey. It is said to the audience that Abbey and Nev's relationship as friends would be recorded. After this still we are invited to a shot of the film maker asking the camera man whether the audio is working or not. This is to show the audience this was done legitimately and not for the movie purposes. Also it adds to the realistic side of a documentary where no editing is shown but the documentary is just left to run by itself to show the audience a clearer understanding of what is going on. To add to the realism of the whole documentary we are shown a phone call between Abbey's Mum and the film maker to gain evidence to show to the audience and for the investigation they are carrying out. We can also hear the distortion of the call to further show that there have been no alterations done towards the audio we have been shown.