Subgenres on Factual Television

There are 12 main Sub genres of Factual Television

Docu-Drama

Definition - Docu-Drama is a genre of television where there is a television documentary to provide information, however it is a dramatization documentary

127 Hours

127 hours is a biographic survival docu-drama. Its is based on the true story of Aron Ralston, who was a real life canyoneer that accidentally got his arm stuck in a boulder. After getting stuck, he was left on his own in the trap for approximately 5 days. The movie follows all of the things he had to go through before finally setting himself free at the end by amputating his arm off.

Captain Phillips

Captain Phillips is a Docu Drama as is a dramatization of a true story. The story was that there was a hijacking on a ship that was travelling by Somalian Pirates. It is a docu drama as the actors played the roles of the real people that took part of the story. From the trailer you can see that there is a lot of hand held camera work, this may be to make the audience feel as if they are in the film themselves during the gripping scenes. In the clip I have shown, there are many hand held scenes, such as at 0:10 when the break in happens it shows the Captain surrendering and the pirates come in with their guns, the camera is never still and keeps moving from side to side in each shot and this is to make the audience feel as if they are in the scene with the actors, sort of like an eye to eye situation.

           

12 Years a Slave


12 Years a Slave is another docudrama, it is a recent film which is about a free african american man who gets abducted and sold into slavery. It is a docudrama as it is a true story about Solomon Northup and it follows what he went through. It is known as a docudrama as the film is a reconstruction of what actually occurred to Solomon.



Docu Soap

Definition - A docu soap is also a documentary based show however it is not a dramatization, in a docu soap, the documentary follows real life stories and people in their stories. However as it follows real life people, the documentary is still normally scripted as the institutions will create the character and the script.

          

Made In Chelsea - Made in Chelsea is a docu soap as they follow real life characters but they script the situations, for example, they contain multiple storylines at the same time. In a docu soap you will most likely see a lot of drama going on, this is because they are reality television shows and they are made to engage the audience with real life events to make the audience feel as if these sort of things happen in real everyday life. The clip I have found is an argument which happened on the show, we can tell that the characters are created by the institution as we can see that they all know each other. The scene could be planned as the two girls come up to the couple at 0:05 and say 'I think you owe Louise the truth', they picked a party to come and confront the man as it would make more of an impact as more people would have been watching around them. In a docu soap we are most likely to see a lot of professional lighting and this is because the institution want the scenes to look as real as possible, in this scene we see a lot of party lights around the characters. The camera work is also very professional as we can notice that there is more than one camera used to film the show and this is because the shots keep changing about every 2 seconds. In the argument at 1:25 we see an over the shoulder shot from Spencer showing Millie looking very angry saying 'Spencer this is what you've done', then a second later at 1:26 the shot changes to an over the shoulder from Millie's point of view and shows her slap Spencer on the face, if it was filmed with one camera it most likely would have shown a long shot of the two characters and showing her slap him, but with more cameras it adds a more real feeling.

Laguna Beach



Laguna Beach is an example of a docu soap as it is based on real life people who live in the Orange County. It focuses on the lives of many students who live in the Orange County.

The Hills



The Hills is another Docusoap as it was a show which focused on the lives of young women who lived in Los Angeles.

Infotainment

Definition - Infortainment is normally an entertainment based show which still contains much information. These kind of shows are sometimes know to decrease some of the viewers knowledge about specific things.



Top Gear

Top Gear is a television show which is in the infotainment genre, it is an entertaining show which is based on cars as the presenters review new and old cars, however it is also quite information based as they give a lot of details about cars. In these kind of shows there is normally a presenter which goes around testing the cars, in this show the main presenter is Jeremy Clarkson. They normally introduce the car by giving some facts about it, such as at 0:20 in the clip provided, the two hosts introduce the car by giving facts about it then it goes to footage which they have made containing the host and the car sort of another short show in the main show, it follows the host driving the car, giving his opinion and giving information about it.

Gadget Show



Gadget show is also a form of infotainment as it has presenters who review different gadgets every week. They also give facts and opinions on the products to give the viewer an idea of what the product is based on.

An Idiot Abroad



An idiot abroad is also an infotainment based show as it is an information based programme which also includes entertainment as the main character is Karl Pilkington.


Reality TV

Definition - Reality TV is a unscripted television show that follows real situations, this is called 'actual occurences and unscripted situations'. As they are normally unscripted, they are still very highly structured, meaning that most of the locations and cast are in an organised place by the institution.

                           

The Real World - The Real World was the first ever reality tv show to start on television, it is about strangers that audition to live in a house together, it is quite similar to Big Brother. It was shown on the channel called 'MTV' which normally shows quite a lot of reality television shows such as '16 and Pregnant'. The clip which I have shown is an episode of the real world. The show has many interview type scenes as from the whole clip it shows the characters talking to the camera talking about themselves, such as at 13:15 the girl tells abit about herself and says 'I have never failed anything in my life', then it changes to a past clip of her doing different things so that the viewer at home can get a jist of what the character is like. These kind of shows are highly structured by the institutions as they want there to be drama throughout the show so that it can engage the audience

Big Brother



Big Brother is a reality tv show as it contains many contestants that come and live in a organised house for a certain period of time with cctv cameras following them.

The only way is Essex



The only way is essex is also a reality tv show as it follows real life people in their everyday lives that live in Essex.

Educational Television

Definition - Educational Television shows are shows that have a purpose of educating the audience that is watching from home


                           

Sesame Street - Sesame street is a childrens television show which is an educational show that has a lot of humour which is added to the educational aspects for children to learn in a more fun way. The clip that I have shown was a good example to show how it is educational for children. Firstly from 0:00 we see a pupper character trying to get its radio working but it doesn't work. It then says to the woman that it wants to listen to music but the radio doesn't work, then the woman says 'music please' and the music starts, with the song she sings a fun way of the ABC's. This is educational for children as it gives them a more fun way of learning the alphabet instead of just having a professor on the screening giving the alphabet in a dull kind of way.

Dual Survival



Dual Survival is an educational programme as it has two people who go around forests and different places in the world giving information on how to survive if you were in the same situation.

Bear Grylls



Bear Grylls is also an educational programme as it follows a man going through different places in the world, the same way as Dual Survival and he gives tips and tricks on how to survive.


Wildlife Documentary

Definition - A wildlife documentary is normally produced like a film, it is still a documentary but in a film style format. They are normally based on a wide range of topics such as wildlife, natural history or nature. You would most likely see a wildlife documentary on the natural geographic channel.




The example that I have given is a documentary about plants. It is by David attenborough. In this show David also does the voiceover throughout the whole show. In the show we see that he gives us a lot of information about what is being shown in the scenes, he also goes around experimenting with the plants, such as at 8:17 it shows a shot of him saying 'watch what happens when I pour water on this leaf' then the shot changes to a close up of the leaves and he pours the water on. In these type of shows you would think of them as films as the camera work is so professional, they are also very educational programmes as they give the viewer at home a lot of information about what is being shown in the shots, they are made so that they can expand the viewers knowledge. The music is also quite movie-like as they want it to have a theater-like feeling to it, this is shown at 13:14 when there are shots of the wildlife and there is slow music going on in the background.


Cheetah Against All Odds



This is a wildlife documentary however it is based on an animal which is a cheetah, it is based on the life of a cheetah.

Wild Horses



This is also a wildlife documentary called Wild Horses, it follows wild horses and seeing how they are endangered.

Review Show

Definition - A review show is a show that is televised to review new products which are based on a specific genre or field. In a review show you would tend to see a presenter who reviews the product, the sole purpose is for the audience to get information about the product and a jist of how it could effect them in whatever way.




Alex Zane

Alex Zane's show is a movie reviewing show, in the show we normally see the presenter Alex talking about the movie such as giving the plot sypnosis, then he also shows the trailer for the film so that the audience can get an idea of what it is about and what to expect. After that, he gives his opinion on what he found of the movie as the presenter has already seen the movie beforehand. Shows like this would normally have a presenter as they are there to give their opinion on what the product is

Chat Show

Definition - A chat show is a show which is normally based in the studio, it focuses on everyday issues. The issues are normally overexaggerated to engage the audience.



This show is Maury, the show normally focuses on poeple coming in the show to dicuss their problems. The people normally come on the Maury show and he interviews them infront of a live audience, normally the stories are quite bad so there is normally quite a big reaction from the audience. The show is made to make the view at home also have a reaction to what is being shown. To do this they normally have quite bad characters on the show who have no respect and knowledge so that it can have more of an impact on the audience. The presenter normally asks the guest on their side of the story before developing the matter further, the clip which I have chosen is called 'Mum, I'm 14 you can't stop me from having a baby', just from the title you can tell that it will have a lot of reaction from the audience and the viewers at home because it is a story that will come as a shock to them as you would not normally expect to see stories like this in everyday life.

Jerry Springer



Jerry Springer show is similar to The Maury Show as it has the same sypnosis.

The Ellen Show



The Ellen Degeneres show is also a chat show but it is not a serious type chat show, it features a pleasant host which has guests and also celebrities.


Magazine show

Magazine shows are normally studio based shows which focus on many different segments



Soccer am - The reason I have chosen soccer am is because it is a good example of a magazine show. This is because the show doesn't just have an interview, the show normally contains a lot of features which appear on the show as different segments. The segments are normally entertaiment based as it never really has a serious tone to it. The show normally has guests who appear on the show for intervierws with the two presenters, also the show is normally shot in a live format as there is a live audience on set.

The one show


BBC Breakfast





Special Interest Documentary

A special interest documentary is a documentary based on one subject mainly, it isn't normally based on a wide target audience as it is targetted at a smaller audience who have an interes



The documentary which I have chosen for this sub genre is a documentary based on JF Kennedy. It is a national geographic documentary which is based on the final few hours of the former presidents life. In this type of show you will most definitely see archive footage, by this it means there will be past footage of the thing that the documentary is based on, in this documentary there are many archive footages of the president throughout the whole showm this was to give a more real feeling to the documetary and give the viewer a feeling of how it was at that time. You will also see a lot of interviews in these type of Special Interest documentaries from people that may have been there at the time of the situation or people at present date which have knowledge of the story. There will also most likely be a voiceover giving a narration of the whole show.

20 animals that will kill you


This is a special interest documentary as it is about animals that are very dangerous and someone who is interested in animals would find this interesting.

Taboo Drugs



This is also a special interest documentary as it is based on drugs.

Make Over Show

Makeover shows are the programmes where people get makeovers done, either it being with themselves or houses or possessions.


Extreme Makeovers is a show which is based on people who's homes are normally not in a good condition, then it normally has a host who comes and evaluations the home having an interview with the guest and they give their side of their stories as to why it isn't in the best shape possible. The show also normally has a voiceover which narrates what is going on. These type of shows normally build on suspense so that it can have more of an impact on the viewer at home, it is because they will want to know what the makeover was like after it was finished. At 28:25 the guests go in and check their property and look in shock to see how much of a makeover has been done.

Hoarders: Buried Alive



Hoarders is a show which is based on people who have no intention of cleaning their house as they give hoarding everything they have.

60 Minute Makeover

60 minute makeover is also a makeover show as it is based on DIY.

Discussion

Discussion based shows are normally filmed in a studio and it focuses normally on a debate between two different parties on their stories. These are normallu quite serious type shows as they focus on an important topic which would involve a

The big question is a discussion based show which is normally based on political topics, there are also many debates which take place between the audience. There is normally a lot of debate that goes on in the show as the show is normally based on quite a serious tone. The topics are quite serious and they tend to make them on situations that can also effect the viewer at home so they can also have a reaction from the show.  Normally we don't see audience involvement in other shows however in Discussion based shows we do see audience involvement as they participate in conversations with the guests that appear on the show.

Question Time

Question time is a discussion based show as it features a host and it is similar to the big question.

Loose Women



Loose women is a discussion based show as it features women presenters who talk about everyday things.