Task 2.2- Documentary Film Research - Michael Cartledge and Harrison Marlow

Documentary Analysis

Documentaries as a rule have certain rules/codes that they stick to in order to try and entice the audience in to what the presenter has to talk about, using some of the main conventions such as a Voice Over to give the documentary a feeling of excitement and drama or like they know the answer to the question they are posing to the audience. In documentaries in order for the information collected to be sound and accurate they set up interviews with experts on the documentaries subject matter, often using Incidental Music to give the documentary an exciting feeling over the top of it, the music often reflects the subject matter e.g. if it is about Nature it will be soft music with a slow flowing tempo, if it was a crime documentary it is likely they would chose some sort of high paced Hip Hop music. CGI is often used to make the documentary look more interesting toward the audience to try and hook them into the audience. Often-video montages of clips on the subject possibly using archive footage giving the audience a first hand video evidence of the event in question hooking the audience even more so because they know it’s true.

Films

Title: The Fabric of the Cosmos (2011)

The Fabric of the Cosmos is a documentary about physics and how the universe is put together. It begins with an establishing landscape shot, with a voice over, in the background incidental music can be heard faintly, as to not overpower the voice over, which is introducing the audience to the subject matter of the documentary.
There are a number of CGI images showing space and planets. There are images in reverse to illustrate points that the voice over is stating which shows that illustrations can be used to better help get a point across and help the audience understand.
We see a number of interviews with experts which are used to make the documentary seem more reliable as these people have studied the subject deeply and know their stuff, these experts are shown in a "Coming Up..." part which would allow the audience to see what they can expect to see and learn which, if somebody takes an interest in science, sound very interesting.
Titles begin and we can see that the theme of space and science continues as the words fly in in a professional looking font. After these titles we see a city that has been sped up with a voice over over the top, this time the voice over is done by the talking head that we were introduced to before the titles. The talking head is then superimposed above the image of the city and everything around him freezes in an attempt to explain a point he is making.

Title: Prisoner X (2013)

Prisoner X is about a mysterious prisoner that was being kept in Israel that the identity was kept hidden, it starts with an establishing aerial shot, it has a voice over explaining the story to the audience. We see archive footage and reconstructed events to help the audience better understand the event, these pieces of footage and reconstructions are filmed using a handheld camera. Ambient sounds and incidental music can be heard behind this, the incidental music is used to connect with the audience and make them feel for Prisoner X more, while also adding atmosphere.
Interviews with experts are shown, these people are people who were involved so they are a trustworthy source of information on the matter, they do a lot of paralinguistic features to keep themselves interesting while also using them to illustrate or exaggerate a point. We are introduced to a talking head who also seems knowledgable on a subject so that we trust that they know what they are talking about.

Title: A Very British Gangster (2007)

A Very British Gangster is a documentary about ex-gangster Dominic Noonan, who has gone straight and tells the story of his experiences, his opinions on different things and the temptation to go back to a life of crime to the reporter Donal MacIntyre.
The documentary starts with an establishing shot of the skyline of Manchester at night (night because the voice over from Dominic Noonan states that night is when "the gangsters own the city"), the camera then pans down to Noonan standing with two other men, the juxtaposition of these men shows that Noonan is in charge as he is in front of them, and in the middle. There is then a sound bridge of stereotypical gangster music as the title sequence begins, this sequence shows the men we have just seen walking around empty streets and in less than reputable places. The shows title is in the style of a helicopter's spotlight, which could link to a police helicopter, which links with the theme of crime, as well as black and white shots that are made to look like CCTV footage. The director's name and other creators are superimposed onto the screen. We see low angle shots of the gangsters to show their power.
We then cut to an interview with Dominic Noonan, there is an extreme close up of his hands for the first part, which bare a lot of golden jewellery while also creating an air mystery, then a cut to his face, also in an extreme close up to show the expressions on his face as he recalls a story of one of his many exploits.
Archive footage is also present in the first five minutes to give the audience a better idea of what has happened in Noonan's life, footage that the film makers would have been unable to show otherwise.

Conventions of Film

• Establishing shots at the beginning introduce the audience to the subject matter, usually with a voice over on top.
• Archive footage which allows the documentary to show footage they otherwise would not have.
• Talking heads who connect to the audience.
• Incidental music, quietly behind the talking head or interviewee's speech or loudly otherwise to give a sense of atmosphere.
• Interviews with experts which give the audience confidence that the documentary is trustworthy.

  

Adverts

The 9/11 Faker

One Born Every Minute

An Idiot Abroad

Conventions of Adverts

• Channel name, so people know which channel the documentary is on.
• Time and day, so people know when the documentary is on.
• A picture that shows what the documentary is about.
• The documentary's title.
• A form of tagline to entice the viewer.