Different Styles of Documentaries

For this task we had 4 different documentaries to look at: Kidnapped and Drugged, A Tribute to Bomber Command, Blue Planet and Can We Trust our Police? We had to identify the form of documentary, the interview/narration/voiceover style and the media language, for example, camera angles and Mise-en-scene.

Kidnapped and Drugged

Form of documentary – Observational/expository

Interview, narration or voiceover – Voiceover, very informative with lots of facts to back up the points explained.

Media languageCamera angles – Close ups: shows the emotions of the people involved and show their expressions clearly. Medium shots: helps to show the costumes and how the actors body language is being shown. Two shots: Shows the relationship between the two people.Editing – Has a fast pace for when the police are on screen to show they are authority and that they are they main figures to focus on but majority of the time it is slow paced.Sound – Tends to be quite slow and sad which matches the atmosphere of what is going on and is non-diegetic.Mise-en-scene – The police are in their full uniforms to allow others to see their authority. The interviews are very formal.

Blue Planet

Form of documentary – Observational

Interview, narration or voiceover – Voiceover, very informative, lots of detail about what is on screen to help the audience understand what they are seeing as the audience will usually be unfamiliar to what it is seeing.

Media languageCamera angles – There are many long shots so they are not to startle the animals that they are filming. Close up: This allows the audience to see animals up close that they wouldn’t ever see which really grabs the attention of the viewer. Aerial shots are used to give a different angle of viewing the animal they are filming.Editing – It will usually be a slow relaxing pace when observing the animals. Fast pace when an animal starts attacking and hunting for its prey.Sound – Music is put over the of when the animal is attacking its prey to make seem more intense.Mise-en-scene – N/A

Form of documentary – Reflexive/expository

Interview, narration or voiceover – Interviews, narration and voiceovers, seems casual and informal.

Media languageCamera angles – Extreme close ups: shows detailed emotions. Close ups: shows the emotions of the people involved and show their expressions clearly. Medium shots: helps to show the costumes from waist up. Two shots: Shows the relationship between the two people.Editing – Is fast paced when they look back at the clip with the police and their guns. The guns add drama and tension to the clip. Sound – Synchronous and non-diegeticMise-en-scene – Has a lot of personal opinions, acting is good and realistic, also the police uniforms show their high importance, but is ironic because the documentary as a whole is questioning their importance and how trust-worthy they really are.

Can we Trust our Police

Form of documentary – Observational

Interview, narration or voiceover – Serious and formal interviews with war veterans but with an informal voiceover. Media languageCamera angles – Medium shots that show from the wait up to show what they are wearing. Two shots to show the relationship between two of the veterans. Long shots: shows the veterans dressed in full uniform. Wide angle shot: helps to show many war veterans on screen at once, establishes that they all have the same importance.Editing – Cut away: it cuts away to different scenes to emphasise what the veterans are talking about. Sound – As it is a sad time the music is slow to match the atmosphere. This helps the audience to really understand the sadness that the veterans have and are going through. Mise-en-scene – All the veterans are dressed in full uniforms and everyone else is dressed in suits to show the importance of the occasion. The acting is good and professional. As it is a sad occasion it gets the audience really interested and engaged.

A Tribute to Bomber Command