Documentary Analysis

When we were first introduced to documentarys we were asked to look at two main documentarys to get use to them and to help us for when we finally plan and make our own documentary. We also looked at them so we could understand the codes and conventions of documentary and to understand how to construct a good interview and how to make it look and sound professional.
We were given two documentaries to focus on. The first one is

- In the Teeth of jaws part 1

This documentary was very succsesful as it defined what a documnetary should be like and what it should have in it. The documentary is about the making of the film jaws and how it was put together. It is a mixed documentary as it has voiceovers, archive footage and much more. It put the point across well and made people enjoy the making of jaws and made people intreeged to watch the actual film. It included interviews with all of the cast and also the audiences of who has watched the film. The interviewer is placed just off centre of the screen looking to the other side. This is because it makes it look natural as if he is speaking to somebody and not just himself. This also shows that they are the main focus and the main point of topic. There was a lot of cutaways shots to make it very effective and to make it relate to what the documentary was talking about. Another part of the documentary which stands out is the background of where the people are being interviewed. This is because it relates to the topic and relates to the person being interviewed and it fits well to what is being said and what the documentary is about, What is shown is posters of films and pictures of sharks heads etc this is to relate to the topic of the documentary again. Throughout the clip, they also use cutaways of footage such as clips of merchandise and clips from the show its self, to keep the audience entertained and to anchor meaning to the interviews. It also features alot of cut aways using graphics, such as the image of the world, again to anchor meaning to the clips and to give the clips power.
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Then we were given another documentary to look at

The simpsons 20th anniversary special in 3D on ice part 1

This documentary was about how the simpsons is a big inspiration in everybodys lives. This is a mixed documentary because it has many interviews, voiceovers and archive footage etc. This documentary also had many cutaways to make interviews look important and effective. The backgorunds in this documentary is also very effective as it relates to the topic well and relates to the person being interviewed at the same time. The documentary interviews real public people who are huge fans of the simpsons who go to extreme lenghs to have everything label'd the simpsons. The person bein interviewed again is sat into the corner of the screan talking to the other corner this is because it makes it realisitc as if he was having a conversating with somebody about the subject of topic. This Documentary was appealing to many viewers as it is very dated and it is interesting as the simpons is a big hit show which is in everybody day to day lives.

These clips gave us an idea of how a documentary is filmed and how interviews are shown and consrtucted through the use of film and camera angles and shot etc. It gives us a structured idea of how to make a documentary our selves and lets us anlayse it also. In these documentarys i noticed they used a large amount of cutaways edited into interviews. This is to break up the interviews and to illustrate what the interviewee is talking about exactly. This has helped me a lot for when i come to create my own documnetary in a group.

Also another reason why many cutaways are used is to avoid jump cuts when questions have been edited out. Cutaways can be either archive material or suggested by something said in the interview and therefore filmed after the interviewInterviews o they are never filmed with a light source behind them. For example in front of a window or with the sun behind them; the light is always in front of them.

We then watched some documentarys in class to analyse to makes us more involved with documentarys and to help us understand more of the meanings and the codes and conventions of them.

The first one was called- The devil made me do it.

The devil made me do it is a documentary which involves Marilyn manson, music and crime. It is a narrative about a group of girls who murder a nun. The question is why did they do it? what made them do it? was manson an influence or not? This docmentary tries to make you lead to the one side of the debate. It is very affective as it makes the audience feel for the storyline and it is a true story of what can happen in real life situations. This was a mixed documentary as it has observations and interviews, voiceovers, experts and archive footage and reconstructed footage It shown stereotypical people such as goths, emos etc The colour of the documentary was dimmed down to represent the colour black which represents death and the devil. It uses different camera angles such as close ups and extreme closeups to show importance in what the interviewee is talking about. There are also two shots and midshots of the teenage girls to show how similar they are. The music being played sets the tone of the scenes as it was very church like for when the archive footage of the nun being murdered was shown. Soundtrack music was played at the Maralyn Manson concerts and when he was being interviewed. This is because it relates to him and to the genre of music and makes the viewers realise that Mansons lyrics are not appropriate and this could be the reason for the killing of the nun.

Another documentary we looked at was called marketing movies. I could not find the video of this documentary afterwards.It was about choosing the right target audeince for the right movies and how merchandise effects films and peoples lives etc. This was also a mixed documentary this is because it used voiceovers, interviews, experts and archive footage. It was set in the right places to get a feeling of cinemas. for example it had archive footage of film premiers and the red carpet. The background related to the topics of each itnerview and went well with the person being interviewed.The beginning was up beat and fast editing was used and the documentary shown the importance of marketing and how it can decide the success of a film. The middle of the film also shown how marketing was important and shown how the lion king made money. Bits of evidence was also shown in these parts as evidence was used from the film mouse trap. The ending shown the finished product and was a persuasion to go and watch the film in a way to the viewers of the documentary as they will want to see the final product after watching the documentary. This leaves it to the audience to decide whether the film was a success or not.

We then also had to choose two of our own documentarys to look at and analyse. I chose a documentary on 9/11

I chose this because it is very effective as it is a real life sitatuin which affected many peoples lives in mahy ways.They used archive footage and real footage of the crisis what went on. They used full shots of people who witnessed 9/11 to show importance and to show how regular people can be effected by such a big cause. It made the audience feel something which makes it a succeseful documentary,

Another documentary i chosen was Hannibal Lector

I chose this documentary because it is a real life sotry and would make the audeince feel something for it. It is a mixed documentary as it has voiceovers and archive footage etc. They used many cutaways to make the interviews work and make them affective. The reason we are looking at many different mixed documentarys is because our final documentary we make is going to be mixed. The setting is very dull and colourless, This is to get into the feeling of something bad has happened or that something frightening is happing in the documentary. The opening graphics are had red then dull colours also. This expresses the devil and blood. as this relates because it is about somebody evil. A lot of cutaways were used to and back from interviews. this is to make it affective and to make it fit into the documentary.