The Lost Film of Dian Fossey

Type of Documentary - Mixed

A still from a Dian Fossey Film

Themes

• Nature
• Animals
• Death

Narrative Structure

• Closed narrative
• Linear

Camerawork

• Interviews
• Codes and conventions of an interview
• Eyeline third of the way down
• Framed to left or right of the screen
• Handheld with tour of house
• Stock footage of African communities
• Extreme close up of letter writing
• Close up of moon

Mise en Scene

• African jungle
• Interview with jungle in the back
• Jungle out of focus keeps attention on interview
• Shadow of reconstruction, mystery
• Stock footage of Washington DC
• Dead gorilla with camera sound showing Bob took the photos

Sound

• Voiceover
• Woman
• Calm
• American accent
• Music
• Tradition african
• Pop influences 
• Camera sounds when pictures show

Editing

• Editing of pictures of maps
• Camera tape with interview and archive footage both related
• Interviewee talking over footage as well as voiceover

Archive Material

• Dian Fossey's old programmes
• Maps
• Pictures of Bob filming
• Pictures of Bob's life and family
• Letters
• Magazines
• Photos of Dians grave

Graphics

• Green sans serif font
• White sans serif font to introduce interviewees

The 9/11 Faker

The 9/11 Faker

A clip from the '9/11 faker'

Type of Documentary – Mixed

Themes

• ·         Disaster
• ·         Real life
• ·         News

Narrative Structure

• ·         Circular
• ·         Open narrative
• ·         Linear

Camera work

• ·         Interviews

o   Conventional properties of interviews

o   Eye line third of the way down

o   Mid shot

o   Occasionally switches to close up

• ·         P.O.V of person driving
• ·         Tracking of offices
• ·         Extreme close up of reconstruction, adds mystery to Tanya
• ·         Focus on interviewee keeps the audience focused
• ·         Stock footage of ground zero
• ·         Zoom into photos
• ·         Extreme close up of writing, adds mystery.
• ·         Filmed reflection in glasses
• ·         Handheld camera of Tanya.
• ·         Two shot interview, also with occasional close up.

Mise-en-scene

• ·         Re-inaction of offices, smokey
• ·         Dark feel to the whole programme, shows dark subject
• ·         People walking round in the background of interviews, showing life in New York carries on.
• ·         Stock footage of people outside ground zero.
• ·         Documenter filming media, showing they don’t belong to them.

Sound

·         Tanya reading out email (reconstruction)

o   Woman

o   American accent

o   Shows tanyas emotions through the way she speaks.

·         Voiceover

o   Male

o   Standard English

o   Calm

• ·         Camera sounds, shows how much attention was on her.

Editing

• ·         Blue filter on stock footage
• ·         Interview with archive footage laid over.

Archive material

• ·         Archive footage of Tanya Head meeting mayor of new York
• ·         911 tower footage
• ·         Photos of Tanya
• ·         New York times article
• ·         Photos of Welles (victim of 911)
• ·         Spanish news footage

Graphics

• ·         White sans serif
• ·         Name and relation to the case on interviews
• ·         Title for documentary is similar.
•  

That thing - Lara Croft

That Thing – Lara Croft

A screenshot of a Lara Croft game

Type of Documentary – Mixed

Themes

• Phenomenon of Lara Croft
• Representation of Women
• Power of the media
• Influencing peoples thoughts about the representation of women.

Narrative structure

• Closed narrative structure
• Non linear
• Single strand

Camerawork

Interviews

• left or right of the screen
• Eye line third of the way down the screen
• Close up/medium close up/big close up
• Low angle was used

Other sequences in the documentary

• The Barbie sequence was in extreme close up.
• Whips pans
• Tracking shot of the cyber cafe
• Extreme close up of keyboard and the screen.

Mise-En-Scene

• They use chroma key, chroma key is a green screen which is used in interviews to get a moving background.  In the interview it is out of focus to not distract attention from the interview.

Sound

• Voiceover

Calm

Clear

Male

Age 20’s

Someone who would of played the game when it came out.

Editing

• Cuts
• Interview of man on computer screen was filtered – he was the creator of the computer game so they put him in the computer
• Fast motion of man going up and downstairs in the cyber cafe.

Archive Material

• Tomb raider film
• Tombraider game

The Music Biz - The Marketing of Meatloaf

The Music Biz - The Marketing of Meatloaf

 The Album Art for the album the documentary was based on

Type of Documentary – Mixed

Themes

• ·         The marketing of music
• ·         Creation of image
• ·         Power of the media to influence an audience
• ·         Behaviour

Narrative structure

• ·         Non Linear
• ·         Closed Narrative Structure
• ·         Single Strand

Camerawork

·         Conventional Interviews

o   Framed to the left or right of the screen

o   Medium close up or close up

o   Eye line third of the way down the screen

• ·         Variety of camera work used
• ·         Close up of mics
• ·         Extreme close up of CD covers
• ·         Panning and zooming
• ·         Handheld in the media room
• ·         High and low angle
• ·         POV walking into the betting office

Mise-en-scene

• ·         Chroma key (green or blue screen)
• ·         Background is what the interviewee is talking about

Sound

• ·         Voiceover

o   Sarcastic

o   Male

o   Standard English

o   Calm and clear

o   Delivery intertwined with the footage

• ·         Meatloaf’s music.

Editing

• ·         Interviews dissolve in and out
• ·         Cut between the interviews to link together/cross cutting to construct the narrative.
• ·         Free chroma key to keep attention on the interview rather than the audience.
• ·         Cross cut between behind the scenes and finished video
• ·         Slow motion.

Archive Material

• ·         Magazine covers
• ·         CD covers
• ·         TV clips of performing
• ·         Music videos
• ·         Brit awards
• ·         Newspaper headlines
• ·         Magazine review pages
• ·         News footage

Graphics

• ·         Titles
• ·         Series logo
• ·         Name of person on screen and their jobs
• ·         Serif white, left or right of screen, capitals, italics.

Public Ememy Number One - The Devil Made Me Do It Analysis

Public Enemy Number One – The Devil Made Me Do It

Part One of the Documentary

Type of Documentary – Mixed

Themes

• ·         Devil worship
• ·         Crime
• ·         Religion
• ·         Youth of today
• ·         Power of the media

        Narrative Structure
·         Open narrative structure
·         Non – Linear

Camerawork

Interviews

• ·         MCU
• ·         CU
• ·         Framed to the left and right of the screen
• ·         Eye line third of the way down the screen
• ·         Low angle used on Manson’s interviews, connotes power
• ·         Man selling posters – handheld camera interview (not pre arranged)

Other camera angles and movements used:

• ·         P.O.V used from the P.O.V of the inspector
• ·         CU of faces
• ·         Stock footage of churches and religious iconography, filmed in low and angle and high angle
• ·         Tracking and panning is used particularly in Manson’s concerts.
• ·         Tracking of Manson walking through the city and going into McDonalds.
• ·         Crane shot of cemetery
• ·         Zoom of newspapers and pictures makes the shots more interesting.

Mise-en-scene

• ·         Cap of officer shown big while the officer in the background.
• ·         Nun in dark alley, isolated.

Light is the most important aspect of the mise-en-scene in the documentary particularly in the stock footage. Light is used to connote power or weakness. It is also used on Manson when he is getting interviewed, half is face is in the light and half is in the dark, asking the audience the question; Saint or Sinner.

Sound

  Voiceover

o   Male

o   Standard English

o   Very calm

o   Holds the narrative together.

·         Mansons music and orchestral music

o   Show the main themes of the program

o   Both completely opposite.

·         The attack

o   Sound effect used when describing the attack

o   Heartbeats

o   Footsteps

o   Hitting

o   Stabbing

o   This paints a picture of the attack in the viewers mind without being too graphic.

Editing

•          Cut shots
•          Choral music played over footage of Manson – Juxtaposition
•        During the whole interview of the priest the priest is never seen talking just shows slow motion footage of him driving, gives a dramatic feel to the sequence as he is about to go and meet one of the murderers

Archive Material

•          News footage
•          Nuns funeral footage
•          Police investigation footage
•          Talk show
•          Music videos of Manson.
•          US news footage of a massacre
•         Pictures and newspapers.

Graphics

• ·         The graphics anchor the meaning to the topic
• ·         White sans serif font with name and relation to the trial of each interviewee
• ·         Main titles are black and gothic style and feature a cross.
• ·         White text at the end explaining what happened to the girls, text is the same as used throughout the programme. 

TV Scheduling

TV Scheduling

The Schedule for each day is broken into clear segments. These segments are:

·         Breakfast

·         Daytime

·         Kids

·         Family

·         Adult

Each of these different segments has a different target audience, these are:

·         Daytime T.V is housewives.

·         Evening T.V is adults.

·         Morning and breakfast TV has a wide spread audience

·         Family and kids are for mostly children and their parents.

The most popular genres of television are:

·         Soaps

·         Gameshows

·         Talk shows

·         Films

There are 5 terrestrial channels each of which also has its own target audience these are:

·         BBC ONE – BBC one has a mixed target audience as there are programmes for everyone throughout different times of the day.

·        BBC TWO – BBC two is for intellectual adults and is often seen as a minority channel.

·         ITV – ITV also has a mixed target audience as it caters for everyone. ITV and BBC ONE are direct competitors as they both appeal to a large range of people.

·         Channel 4 - Channel four’s target audience is young adults from programmes such as Skins but it also appeals to educated adults.

·         Five – Also caters for all audiences but doesn’t compete with BBC one or ITV.

A large percentage of each channels schedule is taken up by repeats; this is to save money as it cheap to put a repeat on.

Channel 4 and Five import many of their programmes; this is because ITV and the BBC get money from either advertising or TV licenses to pay for funding for their programmes. Popular programmes such as CSI are cheap to put on and attract a large audience.

The term the watershed means that at 9 o’clock all viewing becomes unsuitable for children and some young adults.

Codes and Conventions of a Documentary

Codes and Conventions of the Documentary Genre



Single strand narrative



Editing: Cut is most common edit - does not distract from what is going on, on screen



Voice over - holds the narrative together (glue) Variety of relevance


Relevant depending on topic, relevant age to the topic, standard english, calm and clear delivery



Creative and Varied Camerawork - conventional framing on interviews - sitting on a stable chair


Camera usually static on a tripod not hand held



Images (moving and still) - Camera movement when filmin still images


Archive material



If Chromakey is used it shouldn't detract from an interview



Relevant music - doesnt abtract ot interfeer with the interview


Graphics - Anchor person - time, place and relevance to programme 0 usually 2 lines

Different Types of Documentary

Fully Narrated
A voiceover is used to convet the exposition. The voiceover is used to make sense of the visuals and dominates the meaning. E.g Natural history documentarys.

Fly on the Wall
Draws on the french film movement of 'cinema verite'. The camera is unseen or ignored and comply records real events as they unfold.

Mixed
A combination of interview, observation, actuality and archive material and narration to advance the argument/narrative.

Self - Reflective
When the subject of the documentary acknowledges the presence of the camera of often speaks direcly to the programme maker.

Docudrama
Re- enactment of events

Docusoap
Documentary and soap opera. A group of central protagonists and follows the characters. E.g Airline

Features of Documentaries

John Corner of the University of Liverpool said there are 5 central elements of the documentary

• Observation - The programme makers pretend the camera is unseen or ignored by the people tking part in the event. This puts the audience in the position as an eye witness.
• Interview - People give opinions and information. Documentaries often rely heavily on interviews.
• Dramatisation - All documentaries use a sense of drama through the observation element.
• Mise-en-scene - Documentary makers carefully contruct shots.
• Exposition - The line of argument in a documentary. It can be viewed as what a documentary is saying to an audience.

Documentary Definition and Purpose

The purpose of the documentary is to document that is to report with evidence, something that has actually happened. It can show this by using actuality footage or reconstruction. It can use a narrators voiceover to anchor the meaning or rely on thr participants themselves with perhaps the noccasional interjection by the narrator.

John Grierson ran a team called the general post office film unit (GPO) in the 1930's. In the second world war the GPO made documentarys showing everyone working hard, laughing and singing they were seen to be used as a propaganda tool.

John Grierson defined doumentary as: "The creative treatment of actuality"