This and the next blog post will be a deep dive into Bill Nichols’ Modes of Documentaries. In this first part I will give an overview into what these modes are, how they can be used to classify documentary films and how they developed over time. The two sources I used are both books written by Nichols, one published in 1991 and one in 2010. I also briefly talk about the changes made between the two books, but will occasionally combine informations found in both of the books as I deem them fitting for specific passages.
The In his book Representing Reality (1991), Bill Nichols first introduced what he called “Documentary Modes of Representation”: The Expository Mode, The Observational Mode, The Interactive Mode, and The Reflexive Mode (NICHOLS, 1991, p. 32).
These initial four modes have since been amended with two more, Poetic and Performative, which are explained in depth in Nichols’ 2010 book Introduction to Documentary, Second Edition. Furthermore, Nichols changed the name of The Interactive Mode into The Participatory Mode, while the ideas stayed more or less the same (Nichols, 2010, pp. 149–153).
Additionally to the initial modes of documentaries, Nichols also talks about another way of categorizing documentary films: different models for documentary film, taken from other nonfictional types of media such as biographies, reports, or essays. In comparison, models for documentary film are a categorization lent from other types of media which are also nonfictional, while the modes of documentary film are categories which can also applied to other, also fictional, types of film, but not to other media. These two systems of classification, when used in combination provide a useful tool for analyzing documentary films (Nichols, 2010, p. 148). While Nichols also gives a brief overview of the different nonfictional models, as well as many different documentary example which he categorized according to model and mode, the main focus of the chapter in his book, as well as this part of this thesis will be on the six different modes of documentary film (Nichols, 2010, pp. 149–153).
In his 1991 book Nichols talks about the development of the different Documentary Modes of Representation. While he does state that some of the modes have predominant time periods as well as geographical areas, this does not mean that one followed after the other or that some are inherently better than others. All of the modes have existed next to each other and still do. Moreover, a film can usually not just be categorized as one mode, but is usually a mixture of two or more (NICHOLS, 1991, p. 33). Nonetheless, Nichols tries to give some insights into what might have motivated the emergence of each of the four initial modes. The expository mode of documentaries was developed as a reaction to fiction films, which were considered to be too distracting and too focused on entertainment instead of conveying information. The poetic mode was created with the desire in mind to talk about historical information while showing the world in a new and different way. With the emergence of newer, more mobile technologies in the 1960s, observational documentaries emerged. They were also a counter-reaction to the morales in expository documentaries. Once the observational documentaries felt too passive and limiting, interactive documentaries were created, establishing more interaction with the subject and enabling filmmakers to visualize past events through witness statements instead of reenactments. Finally, reflexive documentary films were driven by the desire to question the representation of the topics itself as well as conventions of documentaries (NICHOLS, 1991, pp. 32–33). Seemingly, new modes have always been developed when old ones were found to be lacking. However, Nichols suggests that this might just have been due to the world meant to be represented in documentaries had changed and thus also the modes of representation had to adapt and still do. Especially developments like technological advances have had tremendous effects on documentary films throughout history. Also now, the fact that almost every major event is being filmed by multiple phone cameras changes the available footage immensely (Nichols, 2010, p. 160).
To conclude, while the different modes have developed out of some dissatisfaction with previous ones, each of these six modes is still being used in modern documentaries and has its application. With changing topics, filmmakers, subjects and frameworks, the ideal way to approach a documentary project will vary greatly and will most of the time require aspects and ideas from more than one of the different modes.
