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.