expository documentary
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Answer:
Bill Nichols defines expository documentary mode as the mode that gives priority to the spoken word to convey the film’s perspective from a single, unifying source allowing the reader to better comprehend the combination of images with words (154). Expository documentary mode is the category in which most documentaries would fall into. The easiest way to recognize this mode is by determining voice. In expository documentary mode the narrator speaks directly to the viewer through voiceover, in which the audience usually does not see the speaker or narrator throughout the film. This mode focuses specifically on the impression of objectivity. Objectivity, meaning different modes, how things are organized, and how the filmmaker shapes the voice and feeling. Documentary is about the filmmaker’s perspective on the world.
The film Stranger with a Camera is a documentary that investigates the aftermath of the murder by Hobert Ison, of Canadian filmmaker Hue O’Connor. Director Elizabeth Barret films the documentary using expository mode. The narrator speaks directly to the viewer using voiceover to inform and persuade the audience. Expository documentary mode gives the narrator the role to explain or argue the film’s rhetorical content. Stories and statements are given through voiceover with images to illustrate the tone of the film. Using this mode, the filmmaker collects footage that functions to strengthen the spoken narrative. Expository documentary mode also executes a shift in visual tactics so that images are used as evidence to the voiceover. In Stranger with a Camera, the rhetorical element used in Pathos. The narrator states stories and statements that are true and emotional which persuades the audience to see the story through the filmmaker’s perspective. I liked the documentary Stranger with a Camera. I think it contributed a lot to modern day filmmaking in that it informs and persuades the audience from a rhetorical perspective, using Pathos, rather than telling the audience what to believe.
Stranger with a Camera also fits into the reflexive mode of filmmaking.
Expository documentaries speak directly to the viewer, often in the form of an authoritative commentary employing voiceover or titles, proposing a strong argument and point of view. These films are rhetorical, and try to persuade the viewer. (They may use a rich and sonorous male voice.)