Documentaries are shown on television in a production known as a television documentary. There are two types of television documentaries: television documentary films and television documentary series. Television documentaries can be viewed as a single documentary to be aired on a news- or documentary-related channel. Sometimes, documentaries that were originally created for television may be shown in a theatre.
The production companies’ adaptation of the design and concept for documentary production to current affairs and real-time occurrences is also predicted to support television documentary market growth in the coming years. Additionally, the pandemic COVID-19 epidemic has increased the number of people watching various documentaries globally, which has favorably influenced television documentaries.
People of various racial and ethnic backgrounds have started to express interest in TV programs with cultural material as self-identity has become more and more of a hot topic. The focus of documentary producers is also being drawn to this, and they are beginning to get more involved in such subgenres of documentaries. White, Latino, Asian, and Black are the main racial groups covered in racial films. There are many categories of documentary films which are:
- Expository Documentary
The term “documentaries” most closely resembles expository documentaries. Expository documentaries differ from poetic documentaries in that they aim to convince or inform. It lacks any ambiguous or poetic eloquence. This format combines Ken Burns with television.
- Observational Documentary
Observational documentaries concentrate on observing the outside environment. It first appeared in the 1960s with the development of portable film tools and equipment. By allowing the audience to explore the subject’s most significant and occasionally most private moment, they were able to convey nearly all aspects of a problem.
- Participatory Documentary
Participatory shares traits with observational and expository writing. They integrate the storyteller into the film. The voice of the filmmaker can be heard asking the interviewees a variety of questions from behind the camera. Thus, the filmmaker has a direct effect on the stories’ essential functions.
- Reflexive Documentary
Participatory documentaries and reflective documentaries are similar in that both include the filmmaker as an integral element of the final product. Contrary to interactive documentaries, they don’t try to look into a different topic. Their purpose is primarily to attention to themselves.
- Performative Documentary
It is a distinctive and original blend of styles utilized to convey a moving message to the world and to place emphasis on practical topics. They frequently include intimate human stories and experiences alongside enormous historical and political themes. This is also known as the “Michael Moore” approach since he frequently used his own experiences to illustrate how society produces reality.
- Poetic Documentary
In the 1920s, poetic documentaries made their debut. Their primary goal is to emphasize imagery, and experience, and show people the globe from a variety of perspectives. They mostly portray an emotion rather than reality and are loose and abstract. Its shape is experimental and idiosyncratic.
