In the documentaries we studied, there were a variety of different styles, for example, in the documentary, “Donal Macintyre”, there were lots biased views from different people in the documentary, and that drug Methamphetaine (Yabba) was represented as a drug that the poor people of Thailand were addicted to, and they thought that if they took it, they could work for longer hours and get paid more money. In one of the other documentaries that we studied, called “The Salon” all the employees of the salon had different roles and different character, for example, Ricardo was the and funny worker, and others such as Sandra and Sabrina were much quieter and carefree.
The first documentary I chose to analyse was “Lads Army”, because I enjoyed watching it, and I thought that there were lots of different and interesting characters to refer to, such as Jamie Dodd, who was characterized as the invalid, Michael Tunsig as the joker, Corporal Nyokis as the father figure and Corporal Murray as the Bully. In my opinion a male narrator has been used to represent the theme of the programme and tell the audience it is all about men and how they cope with life in the army. calm and gentle music is used at sad times in the documentary, to make the audience fell sympathetic towards the soldiers, but in other parts of the documentary authentic music is used to suit the mood of the characters, all the music in the documentary is non-digetic. The whole of the documentary is set in the army camp, which includes the sleeping quarters, outside and in the dining area. A number of different camera shots and angles were used in the programme, including, close ups and extreme close ups, to give the audience a further insight into how the men are feeling and what they are all going through, the majority of shots used were medium shots, and video diary and hand held style was also used. The narrator is a voice of God and he tells the audience what is going to happen, and what is happening throughout the documentary. The only use of titles in the programme, were the name of the documentary, at the start and finish, and some of the cameras have titles with the name and profiles of the soldiers displayed on them. The edits used in the programme were mainly cuts form one scene to another, to keep the fast pace, and so that the audience does not get bored. This documentary was expository because of the use of narration, but it was also observational, but not at all interactive.
The second documentary I chose to evaluate was “School”, this documentary also used voice of God narration, to tell the audience about the school and what is happening in the programme, it is a female, non character narrator. There are a number of different camera shots in each frame, including the pupil’s point of view, to let the audience become more involved with the school and the pupils. Indent titles are used at the short intervals in the documentary, and the title of the documentary is displayed throughout. The music used in the documentary is a mixture of and non- digetic, for example depressing music is played when one of the characters is depressed, and example of digetic music would be at the party when all the pupils are dancing and having a disco. The majority of the scenes are set in and around the school that the pupils attend, but the interviews with individual pupils are shot in their personal space, which is usually their bedroom. The characters at the school are very stereotypical, for example there is a bully, a popular girl and a very clever “geeky” boy that play the leading roles in the documentary.
I think that “Lads Army” appealed to both male and female, because the male viewers would be able to compare themselves to the men, and the female viewers, are able to pick out their favourite character and compare them with all the others. I think this was an informative and enjoyable documentary, because it educated the audience by giving them the chance to see what it is like to live as a soldier, and it was enjoyable, because the audience is able to form a bond with the characters, and get to know about their personal life.
I also enjoyed “School” because, I felt as though I could relate to some of the pupils. I think that the documentary is aimed at school children, because many, like me, will be able to relate to the characters, but I also think that the documentary is aimed adults, so that they can see what it is like, and what goes on in modern day schools.
I have enjoyed working, and learning about documentaries, and feel I have learnt a lot, about how different camera angles, music, lighting, etc, can tell the audience a good story and encourage them into another persons world.
