Documentary analysis

Documentary Analysis by Kameron Brown


Documentaries are programmes that reveal different views on happenings in places common people may not get to see upfront personally. Documentaries come in a wide variety from wildlife to interactive, to sports and even reflective; the genres are limitless. A strong example of a sports documentary would be Bones Brigade by Stacy Peralta which is a features names from the former childrens skate group Bones Brigade including Rodney Mullen and Tony Hawk. This type of documentary has in depth interviews with the skater and is interview based and makes it very personal, emotional and clear to the viewer. An example of an interactive documentary would be Bowling for Columbine which is about a school shooting massacre which took place  in 1999 at Columbine high school in Columbine.

The reason it's an INTERACTIVE documentary is because what took place on screen was driven by Michael Moore himself rather than through narration or video and interview, it differs from traditional documentaries and is more personal and direct. Michael Moore gave a real time following of events, showing all aspects from meetings which led to scenes, failed requests as well as him meeting new people and speaking to them to even his organized protests. He used a number of tactics to give clear evidence on the cause and corruptive spirits behind the school shooting and how it could've been avoided. What made the film so credible is because Michael Moore appears to be a very average man by sight and is seen struggling and fighting to compromise with companies and executives as well as plead to acquire interview time with big names who play huge influence on the theory of guns. A scene that stood out from a lot of the other was a scene set in the house of Charlton Heston, the president of the National Rifle Association who Michael more had stated hosted a huge gun related event right after the school shooting leaving many hugely distressed and causing uproar within Columbine. Mr. Moore after numerous accounts of request finally acquired time with the President after turning up to his front door on-camera to ask personally for an interview which even then was held off until the next day.

When Moore then got in he added immense pressure to the president who couldn't answer or give valid reason for his choice and eventually called the interview off and left when he came to the realization that Moore was very much exposing his ways and clearly on the winning end of the interview. Michael also pointed out the way media review situations like this and got interviews with musician Marilyn Manson who was blamed on a huge scale for what had happened, which in the documentary Michael set out to expose that it wasn't artists and video games as the media was saying but the media itself which played the biggest role. Michael Moore gave an in depth view on how the media harnessed fear and use it against people. He then showed how easily accessible firearms and ammunition was and protested outside the Walmart headquarters on a great scale after the higher ups had shrugged him off serveral times. Michael Moore had a distinctive point he was trying to make a was very bias in making his point throughout the documentary.

A second documentary I watched was Errol Morris' 'The Thin Blue Line' made in 1998 which is based on the story of Randall Adams who was a convict for Murder charges against a police officer which he didn't commit. He spent 12 years in jail and was released only because of the documentary and soon after died. David Harris who later confessed to the murder at the end of the documentary (which added a huge twist to the documentary). The murder of the police officer took place in Dallas, Texas. This documentary is a performative genre documentary because it is pure realism and factual, with interviews from the people involved and interviews included. It shares it's style with other formats of film like a feature film and this is simply due to it's use of shot and dynamics to help tell it's story, adding intensity purposely in close ups or by using shots of an old tape player instead of a person when playing back an interview. These all appear coincidentally but however are very much intentional and have huge addition and impact on the outcome and effectiveness of the documentary as a whole, shots included tracking shots, close ups and mid shots to name a few which included non-diagetic sound to be used with the interviews and credits more in the beginning of the documentary. It's very distinctive in style and is very interactive with it's viewer and doesn't use voice over and has more of a television show aspect in terms of how it feels to watch. To compare to Bowling for Columbine, Michael is in shot throughout whereas Errol isn't in a single scene or voice over which makes Michael Moore's project interactive.

The Night Mail by John Grierson and released in 1936 is a expository due to it's direct approach to it's points and concept. To convey messages to the viewer it uses voice overs in an informative format of what night mail is including it's history and how it works/what is inclusive and how it would've felt. The whole documentary was staged because there wasn't space for the camera on a regular train. The voice over is factual along with dates and more isn't bias in any way, Traditional formats of documentary are Expository and the purpose was to enlighten people's opinion on the large mail operations and mould or change the overall views on it.
It wasn't to one point as seen in Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine and had more points and wasn't as much of a sensitive subject .

To conclude, I believe Bowling for Columbine was the most moving and interactive to watch, it kept me interested and kept me learning interesting and relevant information which shaped my own living as well as everybody around me and for that It stood well out of the pack out of the three documentaries.

Evaluation (James)

Evaluation

Me and my fellow classmates had got the opportunity to film and organise the Staff Awards 2013. The Staff awards is an annual event held within the college grounds which aims at giving recognition and showing appreciation toward the hard working staff over the year. As a class we had to film the interviews and vox pops including comments and brief insights to the views on colleagues by fellow staff members as well as produce the title sequence for the live event.

My role for the day was Director and as the director I made sure the show ran smoothly and gave direction to the vision mixer as well as kept the floor running smoothly through the audio headsets. I was also in charge of giving adjustment orders to the camera operators which included changing shots, adjusting shots and getting in position for upcoming shots. My expectation of the role was that I'd be running around like a headless chicken having to look at a thousand things at once, I was extremely nervous and prepared for embarrassment and a day from hell; I was still going to give it my all. As the show began it got easier and soon after I had found my rhythm and began understanding how the job role worked. I also took part in filming majority of the video inserts (Voxpops and interviews) as a camera man. My job role was thrown at me by my teacher and initially was pretty shocking considering I asked to be  a lighting assistant.

I learnt a lot before, during and after the day of the awards. Before the day during the pre production process I learnt a lot about camera work for example I trained my skill of improvision as there were a few cases where people needed re recording or didn't have a straight forward plan for shots or the lighting wasn't as expected. I learnt on the day how well I could handle new experiences and not crack under pressure which was very nice and boosted my confidence in my own abilities. With that being said I now feel like I can do a lot more, as if to say I have expanded the world I live in around me by now having fewer limitations on what I will allow myself to do and where I call my comfort zone.

We had to pick first, second and third choice for job roles individually. A lot of people got their first choices however, my teachers wanted to show me I could do more than be a camera man and put me out of my comfort zone, agreeing to put me in charge.
I loved the challenge and believe it couldn't have gone much better for me on the day.

I feel the staff awards went very well and everyone stayed strong under the pressure even though the show got off to a rocky start with us starting a little later than planned, the team worked hard together to make it a well earned success. Not long after the client and our team had a meeting to acquire feedback. The feedback was straight forward and extremely positive, the client stated everyone was brilliant and that it was a good event. She did however state that the only negative was the late start. Besides that the feedback was positive and definitely pleasant for me and everybody who took part in the show.

The following week I kept on getting hand shakes and congratulations for me and my teams efforts on the day and that it was a superb show.

To conclude, I think it all went smoothly and near enough to plan and the experience it's given me is priceless, I'm more confident, daring and my leadership skills have enhanced plenty since the day of the event. It was very fun and brought smiles to everyone. I'd do it again any day and was worth the hard work inputed into the whole buildup.


Kameron Brown

commenting on classmates work (Sue)

Photographic evidence (Sue)

I showcased my video installation to my peers and received positive feedback saying they like my colour use and framing, I got a negative comment saying that it's slightly difficult to understand and could be more direct in it's approach.

Photography video pitch (Sue)

Script for photography video pitch (Sue)

My idea for this task is to recreate vintage photos chosen from my mood board. I will have my model sit in a school photo type position with a basic backdrop and one lighting stand. I will then reduce the photos saturation in post production and add a gold gradient and reduce the opacity to get my end result.

Vintage Life Magazine is a magazine that features practically everything that's vintage From styles and fashion, hair and beauty, house and home, to music and film, everything great about the 20s right through to the late 70s all in one magazine.

With a wide collection of experts sharing their knowledge and many featured articles each issue, Vintage Life aims to put it's reader in touch with memories past and bring them alive all over again.

It's has nearly half a million Facebook fans and nearly 40 thousand twitter followers. Subscribers are worldwide from America to new Zealand, Europe to Hong Kong.

The magazine has featured The Great Gatsby, Paloma Faith, Downton Abbey, Caro Emerald, Dita Von Teese, Breathless, Call the Midwife and Mr Selfridge to name a few.

I believe my photos fit with the magazine because of it’s vintage/antique style and simply because that’s what the whole magazine is based on and looks for when they’re choosing which photos to execute and use.

Unit 23 Multi Camera techniques (James)

Eastenders

The shooting style of this particular programme is very dramatic and up close. I come to this opinion due to the constant use of OTS, Close ups and mid shots in comparison to how often a long shot or wide shot is used. Shots like long shots are only every really used to introduce a location which technically would make them establishing shots. By using close ups and mid shots it makes the viewing very personal and in depth, adding to and enhancing the dramatic appeal the show has on it's audience.

It relates to others in terms of content through it's use of characters, constant trouble and single location as found in shows as Hollyoaks Later which is also a multi-camera production. It relates in audience expectations because of it's constant drama, the audience watch on expecting feuds, lies, and secrets to run the overall entertainment of the show. The programmes both share the same genre and are both British soap operas and both come on roughly around the same times between 8-10:30 latest however Eastenders is on BBC three and Hollyoaks is on channel 4 most commonly.


Everybody Hates Chris

The shooting style of this particular programme anchors purely of humorous and comedic shooting styles, angles and it's use of shot style helps heighten the affects a joke has to the viewer. This often means lots of OTS and equal eye lined shots.

It relates to other shows with the same format in terms of content, lots of comedy and laugh worthy scenes and story lines as found in scrubs. Both audiences expect to be entertained, expect no swearing and lots of comedy, They're both comedies and come on very late/early hours, around 1-4 am



The cube

The shooting style of this particular programme is very dramatic in more of a thrill and adrenaline rushing way in comparison to Eastenders social drama. It's shooting style is very observing and there's a   large variety of long shots and close ups as if the cube was it's own character. These shots of the cube consist of bird's eye view shots especially.

It relates to other shows in it's formats (game shows) because it has the same element of having everything to lose and that a single wrong move can sabotage a contender's chances completely. The audience expect no swearing or offensive terms and expect lots of nerve raising close calls and near misses while the cube is being challenged. This can be compared to another game show like 'Win In a Minute' which is also a game show with the whole short time big win nerve triggering idea. They both come on at different times, The Cube comes on at Sunday at 8:30 whilst Win In a Minute is Friday television for NBC instead of ITV.

800 word evaluation (sue)

My work and how I think it went

For my photography task I had to produce photographic images. This task was recreating a chosen photograph that I found interesting and liked most out of my mind mapped ideas. I found it very fun and interesting and learnt a lot during the undergoing. It gave me a lot more photography experience in both taking photos, adjusting settings as well as post production, use of online editing suites and a lot more confidence in my abilities in terms of camera my work. I think the task went down well and I got much positive feedback from my class mates and peers.



What was good about it

I think it went so well for me because I planned it properly and with a few tweaks stuck near enough to my original ideas and plans from my mind map. I feel as though the images came out near to exactly how I wanted and were all well shot, nicely focused considering lighting and angles as well as backgrounds and even clothing and shadows. I also took in skin complexion and what skin tones would've looked better for the colour correction I had to do to obtain my result. It wasn't as challenging as I thought it would've been to get the right look for my idea and to actually get that done in the editing process. The studios were available and ready to be used, the lights were already set up and the models were willing to take part on first request after I had decided who I wanted to take part. I originally had another person in mind for my idea which was a bit of a let down when they hadn't been present on the day of shooting the photos however luckily I found new subjects who in the end worked better than the original first choice. They were very professional and didn't get distracted, focused and were open to adjustment. Also I loved how they were extremely patient and didn't mind me looking around for potentially image enhancing things I could do or find around in the photography studio we were in at the time.
They were very cheerful and easy to work with which all helped the end product to be much better and overall a stronger and more favourable and desirable image. The models played a huge role in the outcome of the image and I believe the photos as well as the overall idea wouldn't have been as strong and affective had I used other models instead of the ones I chose finally.


Why it was bad

There were also negative aspects of the whole outcome and process of the build up to my end results.
I believe the main downfall to my whole project was the bad use of time planning. I could've done a lot more to meet my planned deadlines and stay up to date with my task. This made a little late in actually getting my photos done and taken, this also meant that post production editing was drawn back and this made the end product a bit more rushed than should have been. I could've maybe made it a little better had a managed my time better. So all in all the biggest issue about the task was my time management. Another negative of my work was that the model  who originally was supposed to take part was a no show. This made the process of getting the photos taken much longer and meant I had to make more effort to find and decide on who I now was going to replace the original model with. Although this wasn't necessarily my own fault or doing it does come back to me and my own project. I believe if I had chosen a more reliable model my work process would have been sped up greatly as I had to wait a whole weekend to get back to college to even think of asking my replacement models to take part which again, hadn't been planned already. So not only was it a matter of unreliable models but also a matter of lack of planning in terms of a plan B and not considering that my original ideas may go wrong as unlikely as it may have seemed during the making of my plan and first draft of my ideas which should've ulitimately been the first thing I had thought to get sorted and organized. Another downfall is that during the actual production work (The actual day of the photo shoot) I couldn't quite get the lighting to hit the subject how I intended, It kept either over powering the subject and coming out over exposed on the camera or just over lighting the subject and getting rid of the all important shadows, because both models were boys, shadows were HUGELY important to adding that little bit more masculine effect which may not sound all important but the subtle change makes a huge impact on the end product of a photo, more with males subjects/models than female. Luckily the teacher was on-hand to help me sort out the lighting and eventually get the photo I had pictured in my planning stages. I think this held up the shooting and potentially could've made the shoot longer and more boring than it had to be not only for me as a photographer but for my friends as models and for my teacher as a supervisor. Also, other students were waiting to use the photography space. This unfortunately added a small amount more pressure on me and had I not been so willing to obtain my end product to the nearest to exact outcome the photos would have been a lot different and probably not been so affective.


I could've done better by sticking to my time schedules and maybe researching a manual for the lighting operations.
My feed back however was excellent and my peers really seemed to enjoy my work.
I also left productive feedback on their work and am very pleased with the feedback I recieved.

In conclusion, my project went superbly and was very productive, teaching me much more about photography and how it works. I gained plenty experience and lots of feedback and enjoyed it very much.

Vintage Life Magazine is a magazine that features practically everything that's vintage From styles and fashion, hair and beauty, house and home, to music and film, everything great about the 20s right through to the late 70s all in one magazine.
With a wide collection of experts sharing their knowledge and many featured articles each issue, Vintage Life aims to put it's reader in touch with memories past and bring them alive all over again.

It's has nearly half a million Facebook fans and nearly 40 thousand twitter followers. Subscribers are worldwide from America to new Zealand, Europe to Hong Kong.
The magazine has featured The Great Gatsby, Paloma Faith, Downton Abbey, Caro Emerald, Dita Von Teese, Breathless, Call the Midwife and Mr Selfridge to name a few.

Mind map for my photography project (Sue)

 Creative photo - I like this idea because It's very creative and a more unique style of photography than most.
I'd recreate it by doing the same methods used in the photo of having models lay down on a floor and get my camera up high (probably with a camera jib to get my shots.

 Artistic photography - I like this idea because it's as creative as the other creative photography genre but has elements of physical art (drawing/painting) involved and it can be messy which is a downfall, however for the outcome is well and truly worth it.
To recreate this my idea will variate and be more around a facepaint type of art and be a standard portrait shot with a also painted (whether to blend the model to the backdrop or to make the model stand out intensely) background

example -

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photoshopped photography - I like this idea because it has near to no limits and It's changeable in every way.

To recreate I would edit hands onto the skin of a model and embed it into the skin with photoshop as an addition overlayed layer.

Antique photography - I like this idea the most because of it's look, style and history. I like the colours and old age and to recreate it I would place my model in an almost school photo type position with a plain back drop and convert the image to black and white, make a new gold layer and turn down the opacity, then tweet the contrast of the photo and the opacity of the layer til correct. Maybe add a grey or white gradient layer with a gaussian blur to soften the colour or change the layer mode soften for that extra dull look.
If not this method I will do all the same but edit with colour and colour correct and enhance the gold and browns and the dull the saturation and dull the brighter colours remaining.

Nature photography - I like this idea because it's calming and awe filled. I also like that it's obtainable without any budgets and with near to no effort in finding.

To recreate this photograph I would probably find a nice park or garden and take shots of the different colours and enhance the colour vibrancy in editing.

DVD screenshots (Sue)

Eastenders screenshots (James)

 This shot shows an extremely wide ots shot of a character. It is a mid close up to show the distress on his face. The slightly off horizontal angle shows comes across to the audience as odd and makes the characters distressed facial expression a lot more enhanced and affective.

 It then changes to a mid shot of the opposing character speaking in response. The shot is more horizontal to the characters shoulders and not as low as the last shot showing he is currently not in any emotional state.

 The shot changes to a close up reaction shot of the character in shock. We can see here that the camera is now back to it's lower angled position and making the character's upset more intense.

 The scene then changes to a mid shot of a character speaking to another character however off focus. The camera is on the side she has lost focus on to help highten the knowledge of her facial expressions which gives the audience a greater insight to what she may be thinking.

 The shot then changes to an OTS of the male character responding to the loss of focus. The OTS is also a mid shot to capture the hand gestures and movements, this helps show the audience the frustration in the character.

The shot changes to a long mid shot with a wide ranged angle and a larger depth of field to the last shot in the previous scene.This is to show the characters bumping into each other and shows all the hand gestures and body language more closely than the facial expression which in comparison has the same affect on the viewer and gives them insight to how the characters are feeling and what emotions they are conveying.

Everybody hates chris screen shots (James)

 This shot is a OTS (Over the shoulder) Close up of Chris in conversation. It shows the characters facial expressions and body language above the shoulder.

 This is a shot reverse shot showing who chris is speaking to. (Close up) The eye lines are shot at an equal height even though this character is a lot shorter than Chris.

This is a close up shot of chris' hands and the book he's reading. This type of shot is commonly used to keep the audience interested in the story line and make the story more detailed and affective.

Close up shot of chris' mother fixing her apartment door. It shows her also giving a very detailed facial expression which is why the choice of a close up was made.

this is a wide mid shot ots of the landlord and chris' mother having a conversation. It has a larger depth of field than the next shot to make the mother appear smaller and more feminine/ womanly. The shot is above her head making her appear smaller and on the defensive side of the conversation, the eye line is also off in comparison to the next shot.

Finally a reverse shot of the pastor and chris' mother having a conversation.The shot is at a lower angle and the eye line is completely slanted down. This makes the landlord appear much more powerful and intimidating the mother.

The Cube Screenshots (James and Barrington)

The challenge starts with a long shot through the cube's glass which I believe displays the cube's intimidation factor and belittles the challanger.

It then proceeds to a close up of the challanger gazing at the cube with a nervous look on her face, shot from the side of her fringe it hides her face making her seem more closed off from her the viewer.

 

It changes to a long shot again this time a bit further out and the challenger is proceeding along to a now red and scarier, evil looking cube much bigger than her in size. This makes the audience feel helpless as to what happens now that she is to fend for herself.

It then changes to a bird's eye view, showing her pushed into a corner barely visible as though the cube had engulfed her. This is to show the sheer size of the cube to the viewer, making her challenge more entertaining as it seems harder than already imagined from the last shot to the viewer.

The cube then brightens up as though taken to a new world, still a birds eye view shot a little closer zoomed as the challenger begins the challenge.

 The shot then changes to a mid shot of the presenter shouting words of encouragement to the cube's challenger and reminding her of the remaining time.

 The shot then changes to a mid shot a little further out of the challenger working away in the cube.

 The shot changes to a close up of the challengers hands showing the movement with much more detail than in the other shots.

 The shot changes to a long shot of the challenger halfway through the challenge with only moments to go.

 The challenger fails the shot changes to a mid shot of the audience reactions

Finally the shot changes to a close up of the face of the distressed challenger, capturing all the emotion and pure nervousness of the challenger.

"Monophobia - The Fear of Being Alone" By Kameron Brown (Sue) (Video Installation)

"Monophobia - The Fear of Being Alone" By Kameron Brown.

photography unit (Sue)

blurred movement:

In this photo my subject is shaking her hand left to right, I obtained this by using a sliightly slower shutter than normal, around a second or two roughly. The subject couldn't move her body, which explains why her whole figure isn't blurred and smudged in movement like her hand is.

how to: 

to obtain blurred movement, simply carry on as though you're taking your everyday shot, only this time have your shutter speed turn down to around half a second to 2 seconds depending on how harsh you want your blurs. even slower shutter speeds for a  long, extreme blur. 

Panning technique:

This photo shows a moving car speeding down the road, I obtained this shot by using a very fast shutter speed and panning with the car to capture it's fast movement. As a result of the panning the background beyond the car is more blurred due to movement blur. 

How to: 

Fast shutter speed around 1/100 or faster depending on how fast the object or focus of your shot is moving.

shallow depth of field:

This is a photo of a static subject, however if you look behind the subject the background appears to be a huge distance away, this is due to the shallow depth of field technique used in this image, in fact the background was a lot nearer than it appears in this photo however with a adjustment to the focus, targeted and fully focused on my subjects face on manual focus the background blurs very harshly, giving you shallow depth of field. 

how to:

Shallow depth of field is attained by focusing distinctly on a subject, make sure there's some room between you and your subject so the camera lens can pick up distance, then focus on your subject and the background will have a soft blur.

Large depth of field:

A large depth of field is when the range in width of what is in focus is a lot wider to the edge of the photo making it larger in depth. I obtained a larger depth of field by capturing more of an open space where the camera won't find a main focus so easily when adjusting the focus. I found my open space and made the focus pretty much even across the whole photo. My shutter speed was around 1/300.

Interesting framing:

I chose these photos for this task because I feel they veer from my usual style of photography, the angles appear odd and strange, however when looked at from a technical point of view, all make sense and are properly executed for the purpose they serve. I like the second from last the most because it has a weird scary element to it, like a horror film, but when I return to technical thinking I see the subject is fully lit and the reasons for it's nerve unsettling affect on me is something I'd say is down to the strange framing and other elements in the mise en scene.

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Rule of thirds:

The rule -

"The theory is that if you place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally. Studies have shown that when viewing images that people’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points most naturally rather than the center of the shot – using the rule of thirds works with this natural way of viewing an image rather than working against it". (http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds)

Light Graffiti

The light graffiti camera effect is obtained simply with a VERY slow shutter speed and movement of a bright light's movement (works better when light is direct and detailed, a torch for example)

The shutter speed for this photo was between 10-30 seconds and the light had been moved vigorously to gain that drawn light effect which is essentially the point of light graffiti.

using shadows creatively

In this series of images  shadows were used creatively by using a sheets of black (light blockers) and reflectors to enhance the masculine features of the subject. More subtle shadows were used on the female subject to soften her appearance and enhance the feminine aspects to the photo

Shutter zoom

Shutter zooms are done by zooming simultaneously to taking the photo

Portraits using different lighting techniques

In this series of photos I've used tungsten lighting and gel lighting. These both have different affects on the images and both give a nice ambient (the well lit room) and very dynamic and futuristic (gel lit photos) vibes.