Sub genres of factual television

DOCUDRAMA

This genre is the combination of documentary drama hence the name "docudrama". It consists of a reconstruction of true events which tends to accommodate the use of archive footages which may have been modernised or reproduced by actors.

Examples of Docudramas:

• Iron lady 
• Mandela
• Roots 

These can all be described as being subjective as the message being carried is coming from the creators point of views which means sometimes some of the actions/scenes are made up in order to move the story/plot along. For example, Roots by Alex Haley which was initially a novel in 1976 but then aired on TV in the following year (example of dramatisation), 1977 may be seen as inaccurate, as a result of exaggeration, in order for the audience to sympathise and understand the events that happened during slavery and the hardship. However, it is arguable that the extreme footages and occurrences may have not been exaggerated as the description of slavery in other texts and movies are relatively the same as Alex Harley's images.  Docudrama's like this may avoid commentary as the actors will be acting out the events in order to achieve realism. 

DOCUSOAP 

A docusoap is a documentary following people in a particular occupation or location over a period of time which helps the audience get a true representation of the actors  real life, the actors are also aware of the filming process (consists of actuality footage).

Examples of Docusoap:

• One born every minute
• The call centre
• Crime watch 

Docusoaps take the aspects of an observational documentary accompanied by everyday like soap which are reconstructions of everyday life which can educate audiences. This means interviews are taken in to account in order for audience to understand the stories. Also, voice-overs are used in order to comment on the actors actions and movements. The story lines tend to continue week after week with the intention to follow how life is.  For example, The call centre is a reconstruction of an actual call centre which helps the audience understand what happens in a call centre (day-to-day). This would be most useful for audiences who have interests in working in a call centre but widely humorous and interesting for other audiences.  Editing docusoaps are quite fast as editors aim to achieve realism so they tend to combine shots together only.

REALITY

Reality TV shows consists of real life ordinary people who are being filmed throughout for entertainment. This mostly involves already famous celebrities as audiences are most likely to watch it hence the increase in numbers over recent years.

Examples of reality TV shows

• Keeping up with the Kardashians
• TOWIE
• Big brother 
• Real housewives 

Shows like Keeping up with the Kardashians do involve already made stars which follows their day-to-day events which viewers enjoy watching by the means of how long it has been streaming for. I think audiences enjoy watching this show as the people have a lifestyle which most viewers cannot obtain and watching this is somewhat entertaining (maybe for escapism). There are no voice overs nor non-diegetics sound, the main source of information you get is from the dialogue as well as soundtracks which match the peoples and/or celebs lifestyle. In keeping up with the Kardashians, the soundtrack played are mostly hip hop and R'n'B which goes with their lifestyle as hip hop mostly consists of people bragging about how much money they have. This is another reason for reality shows.

INFOTAINMENT 

Information and entertainment combined together. This I'd say is a good sub genre to engage viewers as entertainment connotes comedy and humorous which audiences tend to view the most. This means people enjoy what their watching while being informed.

Examples

• Oprah
• Mock the week 
• E-news 

Mock the week is a infotainment show which informs viewers of what has happened in the week, delivered with humour. However, this is not always the case as the most silliest things are mostly mocked and the serious things are actually taken seriously. This gives an idea of what people take seriously and what they don't. They also involve interviews with experts and specialists in order to discuss these issues and their inputs which is another source of the information as well as archive footages to show the actual events which makes them accurate.  

EDUCATIONAL 

Educational shows/programmes are meant to teach viewers new skills and new experiences. This can help viewers relate it back to their lives.

Examples

• Great British Bake Off
• Jamie Oliver shows
• Dora the explorer
• Countryfile

The Great British Bake Off is a great example as it is based on food which people may be interested in in order to try it out or learn how to bake. Therefore, most viewers will take notes which is a prime example of engaged viewers. Editors and directors also take notice of the 'mise-en-scene' with the way the competitors are coordinated in order to show that is a competition which is another way of engaging viewers .

WILDLIFE 

Wildlife shows can be mistaken for the educational genre because it is educational and you learn new facts and skills. Shows like this normally consists of animals facts; their habitats and lifestyle.

Examples:

• The crocodile hunter
• Deadly 60 
• Planet earth

Deadly 60 is a prime example of wildlife documentary's as it has all aspects. For example, it's expository which means the creator is also involved and is visible in the documentary. Wildlife shows are not opinionated nor do they require arguments just facts which is either Steve Backshall, the creators general knowledge or from an expert which he tends to use in his documentary's/shows. They also consists of archival footages which shows exactly what happened as the footages were filmed and were combined together to make Deadly 60. This is because filming it live would be time consuming, costly and is unpredictable as some animals filmed are quite deadly and anything could go wrong. 

SPECIAL INTEREST

Special interest shows are shows which individuals watch and take 'special interest' in.

Examples:

• Henry and Anne
• North Korea: the great illusion
• The Roman empire

I am able to say that these examples especially 'North Korea: the great illusions' depicts special interest as they are all about history which I'd say is a special interest and would mostly have a target audience of historians and explorers. A footballer would rather watch Match of the day (could be classed as special interest) than these examples above. Shows like these are often based on one subject and are also factual. It could be subjective as the shots would've been made to make the audience believe what is being said and has only one motive. The North Korea: the great illusion was very subjective in my opinion; audiences heard from the president and the leaders of North Korea (perspective) about their plans and their system however it was clear that the voice overs and narrative voice was used to sort of mock as well as point out how foolish the leaders were and the absurdity. 

MAKE OVER 

Make over shows show contrast of a before and after; the start being the before and the end being after.

Examples:

• Snog, Marry and Avoid
• 60 minute makover 
• 10 years younger 

Snog marry and avoid is a TV show which shows the transformation of peoples appearance which will allow many more attractions from the opposite sex or even the same sex hence why people are changed from being tacky to sensible and mature. This would have a wide range of viewers as it's part of  the 21st century conventions and is entertaining. So at the start we see the 'tackiness' and at the end we see the sensible attempts. 

DISCUSSION 

Discussion shows are topical and requires people sitting together and discussing it.

Examples:

• Loose women
• Top gear 
• The Jonathan Ross Show 

These shows are purposely made to create a conference and erupts arguments and form sides hence why shows like The Jonathan Ross Show use sofas and Jonathan Ross desk to create that physical opposition in some discussions. Therefore, talk shows are objective and allows perspective from both sides and tend to be multi-cam to show different reactions from different angles, especially during interviews. They tend to be live, actuality footages but later on archive footages are shown to back some discussions and topics. 

REVIEW 
Review shows consists of people reviewing previous events or review products which is informative.

Examples:

• The gadget show
• The film review
• Match of the day 

Review shows such as match of the day is good for social interaction as viewers get an update on matches they might have missed and may involve the team that they oppose which creates conversation between individuals. This is done by displaying archival shots from the matches and interviews are popular in review shows in order to have wide opinions, especially in the book review. Match of the day mostly obtain interviews from the coaches and few players which makes the messages and information released accurate. 

CHAT SHOW

Chat shows are similar to discussions which is when celebrities are invited to give their opinions and views on various topics.

Examples:

• The Graham Norton show 
• The Jeremy Kyle show 
• Alan Carr: chatty man

The shows above are very humorous and entertaining which is one form of gratifications that audiences may take from it. Alan Carr: chatty man (the genre in it's name "chat") proposes issues and sometimes topics about the celebrities themselves which is basically a form of an interview. Audiences get to hear from the celebrities themselves.

MAGAZINE

Magazine shows consists of discussions about the latest issues that have erupted in magazines and newspapers but in depth as well as specialists and professionals inputs.

Examples

• The one show 
• Day break 

The one show tends to invite inspirational people on to the show about their journey and their success which the newspapers mostly do not show/tell. This is often effective for viewers who also want to make a change and sort of advertises the individual/s.