Purpose of Documentaries-
To document i.e. report with evidence something that has actually happened. It can show this by using actuality footage or reconstructions- Record of events (Mediated).
Types of Documentary (six main types)
Fully Narrated- An off screen voice over is used to narrate a programme. It makes sense of the visuals and anchors their meaning. Voice over links everything together to create the narrative. E.g. Natural History
Fly on the Wall- Origins in cinema verite. The camera is unobtrusive and filming (observing) real life (honest). E.g. Katie and Peter.
Mixed- Combination of interview, observation and narration to advance narrative.
Self-Reflexive- Where subjects of documentary acknowledge the presence of the camera and often speak directly to the film maker.
Docudrama (drama documentary)- A re-enactment or reconstruction of events as they are supposed to have happened.
Docusoap- Most recent (last 15 years). Follows a group of individuals or people. E.g. Airline.
Construction of Reality
Gatekeeping- Selection and rejection of information (edited).
Narrative Structure
There are different types of narrative structure.
1. Open v Closed
Open- There are loose ends and questions are left unanswered so the audience can make up their own mind.
Closed- All loose ends are tied up and there are no questions remaining.
2. Single Strand v Multi-Strand
Single Strand- There is on narrative running throughout.
Multi-Strand- There is more than one narrative and they sometimes cross over or converge.
3. Linear v Non-Linear
Linear- The documentary is in chronological order from the order of time.
Non-Linear- The documentary doesn’t follow time. E.g. Flashbacks, Elliptical editing.
4.Circular Narrative (Open)
Begins with a question and throughout evidence is used, often two sides to the argument and at the end it goes to the original question- Full circle.
The first documentary we analysed was called 'The Devil Made Me Do It'.
Here is our anaylise-
TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY- Mixed (consisted if interviews, actuality footage and archive material).
THEMES- Religion, youth culture, the power of the media and good v evil (binary oppostion)
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE- Open (question answered), Single Strand (one story line about nuns murder), non-linear.
CAMERA WORK- Interviews were shot in close up or medium close up and framed to the left or right of the screen. Marilyn Manson was filmed in low angle to show his power compared to others so he stands out. The lighting only half lit his face- Good v Evil.
Long shots of desserted street in high angle and slow pans all of quiet empty streets in contrast to the end of the documentary where the streets are very busy (direct contrast).
Various shots of religious iconography.
Handheld actuality footage- used so camera can respond to action.
Camera corrects lens to maintain shot on several occasions.
Camera observes other media- we are not postioned as members of that media.
Camera used as if we were the audience at the music concert- places audience in the shoes of the crowd.
Tracking used down corridors- creative and helps to create story and narrative.
MISE-EN-SCENE- Interviews provide information about personal people. (Two shot at home, police with hat on his desk, these both anchor the occupation of the interviewees).
Religious iconography.
Contrast between traditional Italian town and busy streets with teenagers at the end.
Interviews often have naturalistic lighting accpet when interviewing Marilyn Manson.
Hypocricy- Marilyn Manson is against capitalism yet goes into Macdonalds.
SOUND- Non-digetic music is religious (choral).
Sound effects Eg. Heartbeat, whispering during dramatic reconstruction.
Church Bell- religious.
Voice over- Male, young, standard English with no clear accent, he holds the whole narrative together.
Other Voice overs- Translating Italian, each voice reflects the age and gender of the Italian person.
EDITING- Cut is the main editing technique used as it doesn't distract the audience from the subject matter.
Fade to black/from black- Signals end of something or passage of time.
Montage- Short extracts from programme itself at the beggining to give the audience a taster of what the programme is about.
Juxtaposition (two opposit things put together)- direct contrast.
ARCHIVE MATERIAL- Marilyn Mansons music videos, Italian talk show, American TV news and newspaper cuttings.
GRAPHICS- All text was simple and white in a sans serif text.
Text was used at the end to infrom the audience what happened to the murders.
The name of the interviewee and often the occupation appeared on the screen to anchor the relevance of the person to the topic.
Graphics used to indicate time and date.
Subtitles used to translate.
The title of the programme had a cross used within it- artistic interpretation, gothic style again shows Good v Evil.
The second documentary we analysed was called 'Marketing of Meatloaf'.
Here is our analyse-
TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY- Mixed as interivews, archive material and actuality footage were used throughout the documentary.
THEMES- Marketing and the music industry, image creation and manipulation of audiences (power of media).
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE- Non-linear, single strand, closed (question answered) and circular.
CAMERA WORK- Low angle was used. Interviewees were positoned to the left or right of the screen in close up or medium close up.
One interview was filmed in profile which was unusual and breaks the conventions.
Handheld camera used during actuality footage, it observed the other press, tv crews filming and the press conference Meatloaf was attending.
POV shot used.
Zooming and panning used on still images- makes it visually interesting.
A number of the interviews with Meatloaf were handheld.
MISE-EN-SCENE- Chromakey (blue/green screen) animated images in the background which were relevant to what was being spoken about.
SOUND- Voiceover was male used standard English (he holds everything together). He was sarcastic and opiniated which was not typically conventional.
Tense music (string music) which was non-digetic.
Sound effects- heartbeat.
During interviews there was no other noise and all the questions were edited out.
EDITING- Cut was the most common editing technique.
Dissolve used to go from one interviewee to the next.
Spinning effect.
Montage of different American TV news programmes which all answered the same question.
Fast motion used to film crowds outside shops.
Slow motion used when Meatloaf was walking.
ARCHIVE MATERIAL- Acutality footage at Grammy awards, Meatloafs music videos, Newspapers and magazine articles about Meatloaf, News Programmes.
GRAPHICS- Grammys (anchors where we are), Title of programme, credits, Buckies and the countdown of the charts.
The final documentary we analysed as a class was called 'That Thing- Lara Croft'.
Here is our analyse-
TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY- Mixed (interviews and archive material used)
THEMES- Video games, icons, feminism and presentation of women and the power of the media.
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE- Non-linear, closed and single strand.
MISE-EN-SCENE- Interviews shown on top of game graphics.
Interviewees positioned to the left/right of screen.
Chromakey- game and film footage which was out of focus.
Interviews wells lit.
Creator put into computer screen.
SOUND- Constant background music, dance music and male voice over.
EDITING- Cuts between interviews and fast motion.
ARCHIVE MATERIAL- Tomb raider game, tomb raider film, websites and emails, nike advert and an interview with Angelina.
GRAPHICS- Grpahics of person and relation to topic, which were plain white and in sans serif. Graphics always shown on the opposite side of the person. Name bigger than relation and lowercase lettering. The title was in a speech bubble.
We then discussed the typical codes and conventions of the documentary genre which were-
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
- Open or Closed and Circular.
- Linear or Non- Linear.
- Single Strand.
CAMERA WORK
- Interviewees are framed to the left or right in medium close up or close up.
- Handheld camera used for actuality footage, to enable camera to react quickly.
- Variety of shot types and camera movement used to sustain audiences interest.
- Pan/Zoom used on still images.
MISE-EN-SCENE
- Background of interviews (chromakey, location, backdrop etc) anchors person to subject matter.
- Lighting used creatively on interviews.
SOUND
- Voice over (narrator)- Standard English usually the age of the target audience, can sometimes be a celebrity but always holds the narrative together and sets the scene, introduces the topic, links items and concludes the narrative.
- Music is used as a bed (music bed), it is relevant to the topic and heightens emotion.
- All questions in interviews are edited out.
- Background sound during interviews is kept to a minimum.
- Sound effects can be used during a reconstuction.
EDITING
- Cut is the most common editing technique as it is simple and unobtrusive so the audience aren't distracted.
- Dissolve is used.
- Editing effects are kept to a minimum Eg. slow motion.
- All questions in interviews edited out.
- Fade to black/from black.
- Montage, often at the beginning to grab audiences attention or used to show interviews and archive material.
ARCHIVE MATERIAL
- Film extracts, videos, TV, newspapers, mags, audio, websites and still images. All of which are relevant to what i sbeing talked about.
GRAPHICS
- Title is unique so it stands out.
- The name and relevance of interviewees anchors them to the topic. The name is in a larger font and a simple colour and typography are used.
- Credits (scroll up conventionally). There is a tribute to archive material.
- Logo.
- Graphics can be superimposed over archive material.
- They anchor a period of time.
- Subtitles are used were necessary.
We then had to analyse two documentaries individually.
Here is the link to watch the documetary.
The first documentary I analysed was called 'James Bulger- A Mothers Story'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX8syQSwNYM
Here is my analyse-
TYPE- Mixed, consisted of a voiceover, interviewees and archive material.
THEMES- Abduction, crime/murder, sense of community, justice within the legal system, safety of children.
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE- Non-linear, closed and single strand.
CAMERA WORK- Low angle establishing shots (sets scene). Interviewees shot to left or right of screen in mostly medium close up. Handheld, tracking, panning and long shots used without. High angle establishing shots. Birds eye view in interview room to show the layout of where everyone was seated. Low angle of bulidings such as court and police stations as it makes them seem powerful and more authoritive. High angle of coffin, to exaggerate how small and defenceless James Bulgers was. Panning over letters and pictures. Background of interviews out of focus- attention is then kept on interviewee.
MISE-EN-SCENE- Interviews based in environment that anchors the person (offices, police station, home). Interviews well lit. Shopping centre and the scene of the crime. Police station for the interviews of the murders.
SOUND- Voiceover was male and spoke standard English. Background music (eerie) before title appears with CCTV still shots of James being abducted grabs the audiences attention. Tense music when following James on CCTV with a loud drum sound everytime James had been sighted. Clock ticking during search- creates tense atmosphere. Press cameras. String music quietly played through majority of documentary as creates sad/tragic atmosphere. Phones ringing in offices and talking.
EDITING- Zoom on still images captued by CCTV. Straight cuts main editing technique to keep audience focused on story line instead of being distracted. Montage of shots setting the scene of the murder (railway etc). Fade out to a picture of James Bulger. Blurred renactment makes it seem surreal. Zoom in and dissolve pictures of James. Slow motion of family video. Camera spins slowly again creating a surreal feeling.
ARCHIVE MATERIAL- Family video. CCTV in shopping centre. News Bulletins. Interviews with mother and police. Actuality footage of communtiy and flowers after murder. Clips from crime watch and actuality footage of the funeral.
GRAPHICS- Unique font for title- flashes on and off screen. Subtitle (A Mothers Story). Name of interviewees- anchors who we are watching. Time and Date- establish when it happened making it realistic. Credits at the end.
The second documentary I analysed was called 'Beneath The Veil'.
Here is the link for documentary on the channel 4 website-
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/episode-guide/series-27/episode-1
Here is my analyse-
TYPE- mixed as consists of arhcive material interviews and a narrator, self reflexive and fly on the wall.
THEMES- Religion, human rights, womens rights, poverty, murder/execution and civil war.
CAMERA WORK- handheld (actuality footage). Low angle of mountains and establishing shots of country. Panning/zooming on still images and a lot of wide shots showing the damge to the country. Point of view shots to place audience in the narrators shoes. High angle of people begging to make them seem vunerable.
MISE-EN-SCENE- Mountains, poverty an football stadium.
SOUND- Narrator is a woman originally from Afghanistan but can also talk standard English clearly. Drumming and forgein/oriental music in background. Tense music during executions and wide shots of the devastation left from civil war. Translator during interviews- matches the same age, gender and nationaltiy of the intrerviewee. String music creates a tense atmosphere.
EDITING- All questions are edited out during the interviews. Montage of clips from the documentary grabs the audiences attention. Fade to balck/form balck shows the passge of time. Most common technique used was straight cuts so as not to distract the audience.
ARCHIVE MATERIAL- Actuality footage of life in Afghanistan, executions taking place, inteviews with Afghans and high security police within Aghanistan. Pictures of the narrator when she was younger.
GRAPHICS- tells us when a hidden camera is being used. Title of programme is in a simple sans serif font which is white. Name of interviewees and their occupation anchors who we are watching and there relevance to the topic.
We then made notes on all the different types of TV scheduling which were-
INHERITANCE- Scheduling a programme immediately after a popular programme in the hope it will inherit some of its audience.
PRE-ECHO- Scheduling a programme before a popular programme. The hope is that the audience for the popular programme will tune in early before it starts and will catch the end of the new programme which might grab their attention and they will watch the whole programme next time.
HAMMOCKING- Scheduling a programme between two popular programmes so it will benefit from both inheritance and pre-echo.
TV scheduling deliberately doesn't say the correct time of the start of the programme so as when you tune in there will be an advert on for another programme.
Channels have a harder job to compete for an audience nowadays as unlike when there were three main channels and the audience had channel loyalty, in which the audience would watch the same channel for the whole night. Audience loyalty is no longer a concept today as there are so many channels and the audience has fragmented so there is no shared experience.
We produced a detailed mind map of all the ideas we had to make a documentary about.
As a group we decided to base our documentary on the topic of make-up.
We decided our documentary would be called 'Beneath the Mask' and the target audience would be late teens and early twenties (14-25) male and female.
(Typical female from our target audience)
It would be scheduled on Channel 4 on a Wednesday night, as out target audience go out over the weekend and it would be before the watershed at about eight.
We created a questionnaire to conduct research into our target audience. This will provide us with information about what our audience would most like to see in the documentary therefore gaining us more viewers.
Here is our questionnaire-
Questionnaire
Are you Male or Female (Please tick)
How old are you?
14-17 18-21 22-25
What is your favourite colour? …………………………..
What is your favourite type of music? …………………………
When do you wear make-up?
Everyday When I go out Very Rarely Never
Where do you buy your make-up? …………………………………………
What brand of make-up do you buy? ………………………………………
How much do you spend on make-up each month?
0-£5 £6-£10 £11-£15 £16-£20 £21-£30 £31+
Why do you wear make-up? …………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………
What do you think of males wearing make-up? ………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….....
Is image important to you? ……………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………….
Would you wear make-up if celebrities didn’t? ……………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………….
How old were you when you started wearing make-up? ……………………...
Would you ever go out not wearing make-up? ………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………
We then had to decide what to include in our documentary so as a group we listed all the different aspects of make-up we thought relevant to our documenatry.
Here are the results of our questionnaires-
Steven 16
Richard 22
1. Are you Male or Female?
Male - 7
Female – 17
We asked more females than males and therefore our results will be baised towards female
2. How old are you?
The target audience of our documentary is between 14-25 however we asked more 14-17 year olds so therefore our documentary will appeal more to the younger half of our target audience.3. What is your favourite colour?
The favourite three colours of the results are Blue, Pink and Purple, so we will include these colours within the opening titles and thorughout the programme so as it contionously appeals to our target audience.
4. What is your favourite type of music?
Pop music was the highest and therefore will be the background music of the documentary so our targat audience will enjoy listening to it.
5. When do you wear make-up?
This shows that most people within our target audience wear make-up everyday and 26 out of 30 have worn make-up so our documentary will appeal to this age group.
6. Where do you buy your make–up?
This shows that the most popular shop to buy make-up in is Superdrug, so we will include shots of Superdrug stores in our documentary so it will appeal to out audience.7. What brand of make-up do you buy?
The most popular choice was Rimmel so we will interview members of the public who buy Rimmel make-up.8. How much do you spend on make-up each month?
Most people spend £6-£10 or £11 -£15 pounds each month on make-up. So we will use these satistics when the voiceover talks.9. Why do you wear make-up?
Results show mainly that people wear make-up for self-confidence, to highlight features, to look pretty and to cover up spots. Again we will use these statistics in our voiceover.
There were the same amount of people who thought that men who wear make-up are gay and acceptable which shows that if we address the topic of men wearing make-up being accpetable Eg. Drag queens and also interview people who think it’s gay we will appeal to our target audience.
11. Is image important to you?
The majority of people say image is important to them so as our programme is about soemthing that can change your image, our documentary will appeal to them.12. Would you wear make-up if celebrities didn’t?
Most people would still wear make-up if celebrities didn’t which shows that our documentary doesn’t have to involve the influence of the media and celebrities influence on make-up as it won’t appeal to our target audience.13. Would you ever go out not wearing make-up?
Most of our target audience said they would go out without make-up which contradicts why over half our target audience wear make-up everyday. So we would mention this in the voiceovers script.We then created a fromal proposal with our final plans for our documentary.
Formal Proposal
Topic- Make-Up.
Type of Documentary- Mixed
Style of Documentary- Informal, informative and entertaining.
Scheduling- Channel 4, Wednesday 8 pm.
Target Audience- 14-25
Primary Research- Questionnaires, interviewees, locations for filming (Liverpool) and props/make-up items.
Secondary Research- Music, archive material, footage of drag queens, someone having a make-over, extracts of celebrities, magazine articles and advertisements.
Narrative Structure- Open, single strand and non-linear.
Outline of Content- Interviews with drag queens, celebrities, public and make-up artists. Archive material- footage of drag queens, people buying make-up, someone having a make-over, male celebrities getting ready backstage. Shots of make-up shops, Liverpool, public buying products, establishing shots.
Resource Requirements- Tripod, computer with Adobe Premier and Photoshop, digital video camera and voice recorder.
We then conducted all the research needed for our documentary.
Primary Research
Interviewees-
Drag queen, mise en scene is dressing table with mirror, his make-up and outfits in the background.
Public, filmed in centre of Liverpool.
Boy & Girl, mise en scene- both seated in front of a wall covered in advertisements and posters of make-up.
Make- up Artist filmed in own shop at make-up counter.
Locations for filming-
Liverpool
Night Clubs in Liverpool
Dressing Room
Make-up shops
Centre of Liverpool (shopping centre)
Secondary Research
Music- results of questionnaires show pop music is most popular so will we use pop music in the background.
Voiceover- will be male and within our target audiences age and will talk about the results of the questionnaire.
Emails shown from male make-up lines.
http://www.themenpen.com/
http://taxicosmetics.com/taxi_guyliner.asp
Running Order
Montage of different people saying what they think about make-up and naming their favourite type of make-up. 20 secs
Opening titles. 20 secs
Establishing shots of Liverpool and shots of people walking in and out of make-up shops. Voiceover introduces topic and mentions statistics on make-up from our audience research questionnaires. 20 secs
Interview with make-up artist about how many people have make-over’s and why. 30 secs
Footage of the make-up artist doing a make-over. 30 secs
Shots of make-up shops and people buying make-up. Voiceover revealing how many boys would wear make-up. 10 secs
Interview with a boy who wears make-up and a girl. 30 secs
Interviews with members of the public asking what they think of boys wearing make-up and drag queens. Stop male members of public to see if they would put make-up on. 40 secs
Actuality footage of drag queens in night clubs. 20 secs
Interview with a drag queen whilst applying make-up ready for a night out. 40 secs
Actuality footage of people accepting drag queens in night clubs with quick interviews of the people in the club saying what they think about drag queens. 20 secs
Archive material- low pan and zoom on male make-up companies emails with voice over reading parts of the emails out as to why male make-up lines have been created and why men buy the make-up. 20 secs
Montage of images of make-up and culture. 20 secs
Actuality footage of foreign countries and their cultures and make-up- clips of their dancing, theatre, religious practices and anything related with make-up. 2 mins
Interview with a make-up artist from India about what make-up means to them and why they wear it. 2 mins
Shots of theatre and acting industry including close-ups of faces with stage make-up on. Voiceover talking about make-up within the theatre industry. 20 secs
Interview with stage make-up director about how make-up helps the theatre industry and whether males are reluctant to wear make-up. 2 mins
Archive clip of theatre production play were make-up is used to portray characters, ends on an extreme close-up of face with make-up and fades out. 30 secs
Close-up of boy with mask on and he removes mask to reveal his face which is covered in dramatic make-up. 5 secs
Advert Break 3 mins
Close-up of boy with mask on and he removes mask to reveal his face which is covered in dramatic make-up. 5 secs
Slow pan and zoom of archive material (magazines and articles of fashion industry). Voiceover introduces topic about the fashion industry and why make-up is so important within it. 2min
Interview with fashion designer about why they want their models to wear make-up. 2 min
Archive clip of models on the catwalk with close-ups of models faces. 30 secs
Interview with fashion make-up artist about the demand for make-up within the fashion industry. 2 min
Archive material of someone airbrushing a picture of a model. Voiceover talking about the importance of make-up and airbrushing. 30 secs
Archive clips of the results of animal testing. Voiceover introducing the topic and the effects of animal testing. 40 secs
Interview with make-up company that uses animal testing about why they use animals and if it affects their sales. 1 min 30
Interview with Body Shop manager about why they don’t animal test and if their sales increased when they stopped it. 1 min
Interview with members of the public about what they think of animal testing and whether they would wear make-up brands if they animal test. 1 min
Closing credits superimposed over the title written in lipstick over a mirror. 30 secs
We then storyboarded the title sequence for our documentary and drew a single frame of each of the interviews we were going to conduct which showed the framing and the mise-en-scene.
Title Sequence.
Interviews with make-up artist.
Interview with boy and girl who wear make-up.
Interview with drag queen.
We then wrote the questions we were going to ask during our interviews.
Interview Questions
Interviews with public for montage.
What make-up could you not live without?
Do you always wear make-up?
Would you leave the house without make-up?
What’s your favourite item of make-up?
Interview with make-up artist.
Tell me about your job.
How long have you been a make-up artist for?
What made you want to be a make-up artist?
What make-up do you always wear and why?
What are the best tips you have learnt about make-up?
On average how many people do you make-over a day?
What’s the most popular product?
Do you make-over more girls or boys?
Why do you think people have make-overs?
Interview with a male and female who wear make-up.
Why do you wear make-up?
What make-up could you not live without and why?
What make-up do you wear?
How much do you spend a month on make-up?
When do you wear make-up?
Would you go out without it, if not why?
What do you think of males who wear make-up?
Do you enjoy wearing it and why?
Public Interviews.
What do you think of boys wearing make-up?
What is your opinion of drag queens?
Do you think it’s acceptable for males to wear make-up?
Drag Queen Interview.
Tell me about your job as a drag queen?
Do you wear make-up everyday?
What makes you want to do your job?
When did you first dress as a woman, and why?
Do you still dress up outside your career?
Many people view males who dress up as drag queens as gay, what do you think about this?
Have you got a partner, if so do they mind you dressing up?
How long does it take you to get ready?
Where do you buy your make-up?
Do you wear male or female make-up?
What makes you want to dress up?
Interview with public in a drag club.
Do you mind drag queens being in the same club as you, if not do you talk to them?
What do you think of drag queens?
Do you think it’s good that drag queens have a place to go where they can be themselves?
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