Analysis of similar

productsBy Eleanor Carter

Documentary 1

Title of documentary: ‘Don’t Blame Facebook’Channel: Channel 4Time/Date: 10pm, Monday 22 July 2013Target Audience: Mainly teenagers, some parents of teenagers

Summary: The main controversy of the documentary is about social media. From the beginning, the documentary presents it’s biased opinion as against social media- using the line ‘some of us are just one click away from a c*ck-up.’

The first minute of the documentary:

The opening 10 seconds• There is a pan of somebody using a computer and it’s slightly blurred. • There are also some effects- a spark noise is used which resembles an electrical fault sound. • There are wipe transitions leading you from one clip to another. These clips are used in a montage. • There is an over–the-shoulder shot of somebody watching a child on a computer, and a shot used

involving lots of screens, with different forms of social media on them. • There is then a fade out to the title screen.

Sound used• Just a voiceover is used at first, then vox pops are introduced.• Most likely, the questions asked for the interviews were: what happened to you on social media?

What did you post which you regret?• The voice over provides facts and immediately provides a biased opinion ‘some of us are just one

click away from a cock-up.• They have used non-diegetic music (a woman singing, pop song) to begin the program, leading up

to the title screen. There are also zapping sounds (like electrical fault). It then changes to upbeat high pitched music.

Facts and stats: ‘There are over 750 million of us with facebook on phones’, ‘6 billion hours of video watched each month on YouTube’.Vox pop: There are vox pop interviews as a montage involving people who have been in trouble with social media- posted bad things which have got out of hand- medium close ups, medium shots, zooms into their face.

Images used• Image of child on computer - indicates how social media dominates children’s lives.• Image of somebody on their phone• Images of lots of tablets wired together.• Pan of somebody typing reflects the topic of the documentary.• Images of the ‘like’ button on facebook; twitter dashboard- accentuates how popular the logos are

for the sites.• Image of a girl taking a ‘selfie’- modern day norms in society.

1-3 minutes:Mise en sceneLaptops and phones are used- relating to the topic. Casual clothes are worn in a normal living room for the reconstruction. This shows wherever you are you can post from social networking sites and average people are behind the screens. Also, the location of John Pegg’s interview is outside Hall Green Boxing Club- relating to the boxer Curtis Woodhouse.

Sound usedA voiceover is used as well as the voice of Curtis woodhouse describing his negative experience of social media.Curtis was most likely asked: Why do you use social media? What sort of things does your twitter troll post about you? John Pegg, trainer was probably asked how Curtis reacts to mean twitter posts.There was a voiceover throughout this time period, except when interviewee’s were speaking.There is upbeat music when introducing Curtis woodhouse- the boxer- alongside a medium long shot of him boxing--the music matches him punching- therefore the sound is synchronous. There is a ‘Ping’ sound as a mean tweet appears on the screen. Also, sad, low paced music plays after Curtis discusses the mean tweets he’s received and when the voiceover mentions Curtis losing his English boxing title.

Captions: Captions are used to introduce the interviewee’s. For example, the caption ‘Curtis Woodhouse, boxing clever’ and ‘John Pegg, trainer’.

Images used:• Someone typing at a keyboard• Reconstruction of a man on his laptop tweeting mean tweets. • Quick cuts from reconstruction to the interview. • Image of man boxing- introduced before story of Curtis is introduced. • Over-the shoulder shot of Curtis on his mobile phone. • Cuts from medium shot to medium close up of Curtis.

3-5 minutes:Mise en scene: • Curtis in athletic gear- reflects his profession.• Facial expression of twitter troll as he apologises on national television- looks embarrassed and

ashamed- this portrays the issues with posting mean status’ on the internet.

Sound used:• There is a mixture of the voiceover and interview of Curtis. • The interviewer is not heard, but questions have been clearly asked to direct the interviewee on

what they should discuss. The question which is likely to have been asked is: what happened when you drove to Sheffield to find your online hater?

• At this point in the documentary, there is an upbeat tone as the boxer drives along the motorway towards the house of the mean tweeter. This is an example of asynchronous sound as positive music is mixed with the negative atmosphere of the documentary.

• There are also non-diegetic pinging sounds of the twitter posts whilst he is driving.

Images used: • Quick cuts of different angles of the motorway on the way to Sheffield to find his mean tweeter. • Cuts from reconstruction of the mean tweeter to Curtis in car on the way to find him.• There is a tracking shot when Curtis is in the car on the way to find his mean tweeter.• Medium shots of him.• Close up of tweeters face.• Low angle shot of sky.• Archival footage of twitter troll apologising on national TV.

5-9 minutes:Sound used:• Jed being interviewed, his mother talking about him.• The interviewers were likely to have asked what’s Jed like as a person (to mother), and ask Jed

to describe what happened.• There is a voiceover which reveals part of the story, and the interviewee expands on it, giving

extra detail.• High pitched upbeat tones are used when he’s telling story- this is asynchronous sound as he is

telling a negative story with positive music playing in the background.• It consists of mainly the interviewees talking.• There is less voiceover.• A statement from facebook is used. • Jed says when you type his name into the internet, it comes up that he’s a drug dealer- it’ll

never be removed from the internet.

Images used:• Medium shot of Jed in his house.• Zooms in to a medium close up of his face.• Long shot of him getting into car.• High angle shot of him running up the stairs as his mum describes him as lively. • Reconstruction of him and his friends – pan shot of beers and laptop.• A long shot of Jed in bed receiving a phone call.

Conventions of this documentary which we will consider for our own

• Medium shots and medium long shots during interviews.• High angle shot of somebody using their mobile phone.• Using a wide variety of shots whilst interviews are taking

place- cutting to other shots.• Montages.• Voiceover.• Synchronous music in the background.• Tweets appearing on the screen.• Relevant archaic footage.• Vox pops introduced before expert interviews.

Documentary2

Title of documentary: ‘Panorama: The Killing Scene’Channel: BBC OneTime/Date: 9:30pm, 1995Target Audience: Mainly adults, some teenagers, not suitable for children

Summary: The documentary focuses on the influence of fictional screen violence on real life aggression. It tells the story of a boy called Nathan Martinez who watched the film ‘Natural Born Killers’ and was influenced to murder his family.

The first minute of the documentary:

The opening 10 seconds• A summary of Nathan Martinez’s story.• A long shot of him being arrested.• Narrative goes straight into the story.• An Ident of the Panorama symbol.• Archival footage from the film ‘Natural Born Killers’.

Sound used• Sound consists mainly of voice over.• There was formal speech to present a serious topic.• Narration explains what has happened.• Nobody else speaks in the first minute, besides the narrator.• Narrative speaks over an image of archival footage and the boy being arrested.

There is an establishing shot of the Ident of Panorama.There is a voiceover over a majority of shots.There are no vox pops or interviews.There is a montage of violent footage.There are facts and stats about events- Nathan Martinez is American, 17 years old and killed two members of his family.

Images used• Close-up image of Nathan Martinez’s hands handcuffed in the back of a police car.• They show archival footage of the murder scene from ‘Natural Born Killers’ which the boy was

influenced by.• Archival footage of a boxing match on the television and a man aggressively clenching his fists.• A low angle tracking shot of a car.• A high angle shot of a young boy acting violently in a ball pit.

1-3 minutes:Mise en scene

Sound used• Dialogue- the friend talking about Nathan and how it’s abnormal to be influenced by the movie:

‘They’d never do it or even think of doing it’.• Sound from the archival footage of Natural Born Killers: ‘He’s dead, he’s dead’.• There is a voiceover giving facts about the friend, Brian and introducing him while showing images

of him.• Interview with the friend, Brian.• Sting- non diegetic while Brian’s speaking.

There is a voice-over providing facts about Brian whilst introducing him on the screen.There is an extreme long shot of Brian walking, creating he impression he wants to be alone to think.There is an interview with Brian.There is a sting to add interest for the audience as well as adding a sinister effect.There is a fact saying Nathan is from Utar in the USA.There are no captions as the voiceover introduces Brian.

Images used:• Extreme long shot of his friend walking and views of fields and the sun. This is contrapuntal as it

contrasts to the upsetting storyline.• Low angle tracking shot of Brian with the sky behind him.• Close-up of the friend, Brian’s face while he is being interviewed- shows his emotion.• Archival footage of Natural Born Killers.• Tracking shot out the window of the car.

3-5 minutes:Mise en scene: • Props used were cars.• The setting was mainly outside, including fields and mountains in the background.• The friend is wearing a hoodie, reflecting his young age and showing him in his everyday clothes.

Sound used:• There is a voiceover of Brian describing what happened in the car and relevant footage of a car.• Diegetic sound of the car and wind.• Non-diegetic sound from the movie with fireworks when the characters are in a car.• Archival footage of people shouting in a protest.

There is a voiceover of the friend.There is a close up of the car tyre.There were no vox pops.The friend recalls the facts to inform the audience.There is a reconstruction of the experience the friend and Nathan had in the car, where Nathan reveals his murder to his friend.

Images used: • Close up of wind mirror.• Over the shoulder shot viewing fireworks from archival footage.• Extreme long shot of the sun.• Close-up of other friend.• Archival footage of people protesting.• There is a shot of a music store.

5-9 minutes:Sound used:• Voice-over.• Non-diegetic upbeat music from the soundtrack of the movie.• Expert interview with two different men.

Images used:• Long shot of a music store whilst talking about the soundtrack of the movie.• Close up of the car’s tyre.• Information on screen in front of a shot of crime scene tape.• Shot of victims and medium shot of expert interview.

Conventions of this documentary which we will consider for our own

• Medium shots and medium long shots during interviews.• Cutting to other shots during interviews.• Montages.• Voiceover.• Music in the background.• Relevant archaic footage.• Expert interviews.

How has this research helped me?This research into documentaries has allowed us to discover the codes and conventions of documentaries similar to how we want ours to be. This has enabled us to prepare and plan for filming with a clear indication of what a documentary is supposed to look like. By studying each minute of the first 9 minutes of documentaries closely, I could see the conventions used to introduce the documentary, which we can take on board during our own work. As well as learning codes and conventions, I have become aware of shot types and angles used to effect the audience in certain ways. I also discovered how mise en scene and sound are used to create effect. For example, parallel sound- fast pace music used alongside a happy image to create a sense of happiness for the audience.