Consider the similarities and differences Between a TV news report and a TV Documentary Drama film of the same Incident

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Martyn Osborne

Consider the similarities and differences

Between a TV news report and a TV

Documentary Drama film of the same

Incident

Here I will be discussing the similarities and differences, the responses and the power to shock inform and creature change for the before-mentioned drama documentary 'Warriors', and an 8-minute news clip broadcast at 23rd April 1993 by the BBC.  The reporter was Martin Bell from the BBCM and it was shot on location at the village of Annichi (Bosnia).  Warriors is a BBC Drama Documentary, filmed on location at the same place as the news report, and at about the same time.  A 'Drama Documentary' is usually classified as a Documentary with dramatic elements, and which serves to entertain to a degree as well as inform.

Both the news clip and Warriors aim to inform and educate.  This can be backed up as the sole reason news programs exist for is to inform and educate, and Warriors is a Drama Documentary and documentaries exist to educate and inform, and to create change.  Also not all things shown that are unsuitable for a universal audience are ‘covered up’, so they both inform and educate to a higher degree.  To some degree is provides entertainment too, as some people enjoy scenes of violence as shown.  These things revealed are facts, which hold the potential to educate in some way.  Another similarity is that both Warriors and the news clip have limits, violence and content mainly, including disturbing scenes.  This is because both will be shown to a universal audience.  In both the news clip and the drama documentary, the solder’s real names remain anonymous, except for the CO, and fake names and identities fill the gap.  Both Warriors and the news clip cover things up.  If done correctly this can be used to inform and educate, but instead of telling the truth, the truth can be twisted so it is transformed into an agent of change.  I can’t tell if this is the case here, but I think not.  Covering things up puts a limit to what can be learnt, so it informs and educates to a lesser extent.  This can be backed up by the fact that virtually zero of the total number of dead bodies that can be shown are not shown, and the camera is carefully steered away from them.  This covers up the truth and keeps a lot from the audience.  This last point ties in with my next point, which is they both are prepared beforehand for a general audience.  If they want to show it to, say, under 10s, they can’t have too many disturbing scenes, and have to tone down what is displayed.  In the scene in Warriors when the soldier walks into the cellar, which is full of burnt bodies, they are not real and are artificial.  This gives the film crew a chance to tone it down, and hence the bodies are made not to reflect what really happened there in every detail, but they are made to comply with the standards that are needed for young people to be able to watch it, and to comply with what is needed to make it suitable for a universal and general audience.  Both the news clip and Warriors are sympathetic to the victims of what happened.  This is shown by the soldier’s actions, which are scripted beforehand, and are scripted by people who are sympathetic to the victims, which most people are.  Virtually all that is shown is from the soldier’s/victim’s side of the story, there is not a shred of anything to backup the actions of the enemy, and the other side is shown as the enemy.  Also there is a scene when one of the soldiers sees a house that has a cross marked on it and hasn’t been touched by the people who torched the rest of the village.  He gets really angry and out of control.  Another similarity between warriors and the news clip is the use of mis-en-scene, which is utilized a lot, and this ties into a pervious point a bit, as mis-en-scene can also be used to control what the audience sees, to make it suitable for a general audience.

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The use of the camera is different.  In warriors there is no attempt to keep the camera still while moving, to achieve a sense that you are that person.  In the news clip the camera is still and fixed most of the time, like when the reporter is talking the camera is fixed on him.          Violence limits are higher for the drama documentary than the news clip, this can be proved because I don’t think a shot was fired once in the news clip, yet in warriors there are quite a few gunshots, and a few people are dying ...

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