Documentary: Presenters

Presenters.

Presenter-led documentaries create a certain style that is easily engaging for the viewer. They have a sort of 'reference point' to focus on and that feeds them the information they need, while asking the questions they're wondering.
As presenter of our group documentary, I want to know what's involved in being a presenter and why a presenter is used for some documentaries, but not others.

The Role

As a presenter, it's your job to, as you would expect, present the show. Using research that has been done in the pre-production the presenter is able to inform the viewer. They also interact with contributors asking questions, and essentially tell the story of the documentary. It's useful to have a presenter as it means we are likely to get more information from actuality if the presenter asks questions as it's happening. It also adds to the story as the presenter is usually on a journey to learn about the topic of the documentary- this is shown by the questions they ask, which are usually well planned before shooting, but this means that the viewer and presenter are learning at the same pace, and this lets the viewer relate to the presenter in a way.

Address

Different presenters have different ways of presenting information to the viewer, and the way they choose to do this can affect the style of the production. Their voice and facial expressions, or their address, can affect how a viewer takes in information.

For example, David Attenborough, although he's not often seen on screen, uses voice overs to tell the stories within the documentary. He is very well-spoken which means he's easy to understand for everyone. This means that a David Attenborough documentary is easy to watch as you're not having to concentrate much on what is being said.

This can be said about most presenters. It would be distracting to have a presenter that doesn't have a clear voice, which could lead to the documentary being difficult to watch and less informative, if the viewer doesn't understand certain language being used.

Attenborough has a more formal approach to presenting although he doesn't use confusing language. But some presenters have a more informal approach, which changes the style of the documentary.

Reggie Yates, presenter of Reggie Yates' Extreme is still well-spoken and very understandable. However, in comparison to Cambridge-studying Attenborough, Yates has a more London accent. He uses more informal words such as "guys" instead of "men"; this subtle difference makes the documentary seem more directed to a younger audience.

Presenters use voice overs to present their thoughts as they move onto the next section of the programme. It creates a more streamlined viewing as it adds a bridge between 2 different stories.

Appearance

The way a presenter dresses also affects how we as a viewer interpret the documentary and who it might be aimed towards.

 In these images you can see the difference in what the presenters are wearing depending on the style of documentary. As previously mentioned, Reggie Yates' Extreme is an informal documentary. We can see this in his outfit. He still has a smart sense of style as he's wearing a button-up shirt and long blazer-style jacket, however he's also wearing a beanie, earrings and slim trousers with the shirt un-tucked. His style is more prominent and noticeable, and shows that he's aware of current fashion trends. This suggests that as a presenter he's aimed more towards a 16-25 demographic, who might be recognising clothing that he's wearing (such as an Alpha Industries jacket or pair of Common Projects shoes he wears). This also fits the target audience of BBC 3, on which the documentary first aired.
In the second image, Ellie Harrison is presenting Countryfile, a docu-magazine show focusing around life in the British countryside. She's wearing natural tones (blue and brown) and thigh-high boots that look a lot like riding boots. Her jacket also looks weather-proof which does suggest towards maybe farm or stable-wear, which is reminiscent of the content of the show. If Ellie were to wear this in a show where she's presenting in Central London with a story like Reggie's, she would look quite out of place, especially with the boots. She still has a more informal appearance with the un-tucked shirt and skinny jeans, however it suits the show as it's not a very, for lack of a better word, 'tidy' show; presenting in a field doesn't tend to bring smart-wear to mind.
Although the way a presenter dresses may not be immediately noticeable, it should loosely reflect what the content of the documentary is. This way, the viewer doesn't feel as though the presenter is out of place, and it seems it's best for the presenter to blend into the setting, as this way it feels more natural and any actuality will look more realistic.

How This Has Influenced Me

As presenter of the documentary we're making, I know it's an important role and will be key to keeping the viewer interested. I want to be able to appropriately deliver information and represent the documentary in the right manner that will suit our style. 

I know that I don't really have an accent, or one that's hard to understand at least, and so I won't need to really try to speak clearly, but I know I'll be aware of speaking at the right volume as a clip-on mic that I'll be wearing is sensitive to volume.

As a group we are discussing what I should be wearing on screen, and we are aiming for pretty casual; on days where we're speaking to contributors outside, I'll be wearing clothing that to me most resembles a generic dog walker (it's hard to narrow down), something similar to what Ellie is wearing in the image above.

I think overall I'll be aiming to be well-understood and well-presented. The other group members are giving me good feedback on everything I've mentioned so far and I'm working with Esme to make a script that suits my style of speaking.