Types of form in documentaries:

CATEGORICAL FORM:

-Categories are groupings that individuals or societies create to organise their knowledge of the world.

-We tend to group the things around us based on common sense, practical approach or on ideological views of the world.

-Categories and sub-categories may provide a basis for organising the films form.

-This form normally begins by identifying its subject.

RHETORICAL FORM:

-The filmmaker presents a persuasive argument.

-The goal is to persuade the audience to form an opinion about the subject matter, and to the act on that opinion.

-It tries to make an explicit argument.

-There are 4 main attributes to this form:

1. It addresses the viewer openly, trying to move him or her to a new emotional attitude or action.
2. The subject of the film is usually a matter of opinion, where a person may take a number of equal attributes. Filmmakers do this by resenting their different types of arguments and evidence.
3. If the conclusion can’t be proved beyond question, the filmmaker often appeals to our emotions, rather than presenting only factual evidence.
4. Film often attempts to persuade the viewer to make a choice that will have an effect on his or her everyday life.

-There are 3 main types of arguments a film may use:

1. Arguments from source
2. Subject-centered arguments
3. Viewer-centered arguments

EXPERIMENTAL FILM:

-The filmmaker may wish to express personal experiences or viewpoints in ways that would seem eccentric in a mainstream context.

-Types of Experimental Film:

1. ABSTRACT FORM:

-There is no argument or no survey of categories.

-Slowly changing pictorial qualities of line, shape, tonalities and movement.

-An abstract pattern becomes a means to an end, and is often organised in a way that we might call theme and variations.

-Experimental filmmakers often start by photographing real objects.

2. ASSOCIATIONAL FORM:

-Systems suggest ideas and expressive qualities by grouping images that may not have any immediate logical connection.