Here are some terms that are thrown around a lot by documentary filmmakers. They’re useful for tossing into casual conversation as a way to impress your friends with your proper use of film lingo.
Nat sound: Natural Sound. This refers to ambient sound or the naturally occurring sound in an area where you are shooting. Some examples are, the sounds of traffic on a busy street, the sound of voices carrying on conversations in a diner, waves rolling in on beach, etc.
Observational style: An informal style of shooting video/film where you don’t set-up shots, sets, interviews etc. You simply start rolling and shoot whatever happens.
Activist film: A film that promotes a specific social goal, or political view. It is design to stir the audience to action, hence the term activist film.
Personal documentary/personal narrative: Like a video diary. The personal documentary features the filmmaker as the central character and follows their life through the day to day trials and tribulations of living, with a specific theme, journey or goal in mind.
Staging: When something is done for the benefit of the camera. For example, you have someone walk through a door, so that you have an establishing shot, that establishes that they have just entered a building or a room. Staging
Formal interview: The kind of interview you generally see in historical documentaries, where the interviewee is usually seated in a chair facing either screen left or screen right, and with 3-point lighting.
Informal interview: This is where the filmmaker lobbies questions at the subject off camera in an informal way, while the person is busy attending to some other business.