Kenny Rogers-Cards on the Table

Documentary AnalysisOlivia Bent

What is the type of documentary?

Kenny Rogers- Cards on the Table is a mixed documentary and it was broadcast on BBC 4.

What themes are shown throughout this documentary?

There are several themes shown throughout the documentary. Such as; Kenny’s life now, success through adversity, star status and the nature of fame. Also, the changing face of music.

What is the narrative structure of this documentary?

The narrative structure is , closed, non- linear, single strand.

Camerawork ( Interviews)When the interviews were filmed, the shot was always a medium close up or close up. The interviewee was always framed to the left or the right, in this case Kenny Rogers is framed to the right.

The interviewee is always the focus of the shot. We know this because of the shallow depth of field.

The interview filming always follows the rule of thirds, which allows us to notice that the interviewees eyes are always a third of the way down.

Camerawork

One of the first shots we are shown in the documentary is this wide shot of Las Vegas where Kenny Rogers was holding a concert. The wide shot lets us know where the concert was without showing us a name, however us the audience can work out where it is due to the famous landmarks that are shown.

In the documentary, a lot of old images were shown. The camera would do a slow zoom in and out on them. Here is an example of a image that is zoomed.

This image is a still image of a video. Handheld camerawork of actuality footage was used quite a lot. For example , old concerts, rare videos and more.

Mise-En-Scene

Interviews

Running through all the interviews with Kenny and his ex-partners, was the theme of music. This was enforced by the props and equipment that was in the background; Piano’s, awards, Jukebox’s and mixing desk’s.

During Kenny Rogers interview for example, there were connotations of a rough, poor environment as we were shown footage of where he was born.

We got an insight as to some of Kenny’s hobbies, as there was one image that suggested a gambling lifestyle.

SoundVoiceover

The voiceover was a female voice, with no accent and she spoke standard English. She gave a very calm delivery. A voiceover constructs the narrative and is the glue which holds all the different elements together in order that it makes sense.

Other sound

Some other sounds that were in the documentary included a lot of Kenny Rogers original music that was played in the background. There was also gospel music played over shots of where Kenny was born.

Editing

Montage Editing

Montage editing is when there are a number of images that are shown all together , one after the other. Here are some examples of clips and stills of Kenny Rogers.

Cut Editing ( most common type)

The properties of cut editing are, cross fade/ dissolve between photographs. In the documentary, effects were used to connote that Kenny was under the influence of drugs. Another thing that cut editing is used for is to edit out all of the questions that are asked in the interviews, however it isn't noticeable at all unless you really concentrate. In this documentary and a lot of others, the producers would edit together all the responses of different interviewees on the same topic , therefore it would flow easily.

Archive Material

All of the above are archive material such as; old photos of Kenny, old pictures and video screenshots of concerts, lots of album covers. Also included in the documentary was old photos of Texas, music videos, Glastonbury clips, newspaper headlines and articles and even some footage of Ray Charles, along with lots more archive.

Graphics

Interviews

When being interviewed, the interviewee’s name is shown in capitals, and the subline, which is in smaller font anchors their relevance to the topic.

Also, the text always ranged left or right of the screen, and the interviewee is only on screen for about 3 seconds.