Research

This post is where I document all the research I have done and found for my project

Research 1: The Final: Attack on Wembley

(trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYH7gRgJ2Bc) 

1. What is the subgenre?

Sports, Riots, Crime Documentary

2. Who is the target audience?

English people, Sports fans

3. What Documentary conventions were used?

It uses Interviews, shots of the location, reactions of the people, second hand footage from the day, a plot twist/changing the narrative vibe from positive to negative.

4. Does it conform with the genre?

It conforms (In my opinion) because it uses most of the common shots often found in crime documentaries. It also uses a narrative switch around from positive to a negative note.

5. How does it create suspense with technical elements?

Camera

    - Shaky cam

    - Medium shots to show the reactions of the people affected

Sound

    - It was cheery music from the start until the part where a breach was mentioned

    - The shouting/chanting from the crowd turns from happy/cheering to shouting and rowdy screaming

Mise-en-scène

    - Lots of English people

    - Wembly 

Edit

    - Fast cut

    - Placing the rioting after the calm England bit

6. What parts did I find inspiring ?

The parts where they used hand held footage

Research 2: Netflix's Worst Roommate Ever

(trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI5Vg-17t4s)

1. What is the Sub-Genre?

Attempted Murder Conspiracy, Betrayal  

2. Who is the target audience?

Young adults, people with roommates

3. What documentary conventions were used?

Shots of the location, reactions of the people, interview with the victim

4. Does it conform with the conventions?

Conform (In my opinion) because there were interviews, tense feeling throughout the intro and also shots of the location was shown.

5. How does it create suspense with technical elements?

Camera

    - Over the shoulder

    - Low angle of the house 

Sound

    - Tense, loud music the whole time, setting up the suspenseful mood

    - Discordant sounds 

Mise-en-scène

    - Dimly lit house

    - Photos of the victim help us empathize and feel a more worse way towards the assailant.

Edit

    - Fast cuts

    - Showing pills when the narrator was talking about the assailant building a correlation between the two, enforcing that the assailant was guilty.

6. What parts did I find inspiring?

I like the suspenseful edit and the shot selection while the narrator was speaking.

Research 3: What Jennifer did

(trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-ppnYEAqSE)

1. What is the Sub-Genre?

Murder Conspiracy, Betrayal  

2. Who is the target audience?

Young adults who are interested in crime documentaries.

3. What documentary conventions were used?

Shots of the location, pictures of the scene and people related to the crime, narration, interview(?), dark overall colors.

4. Does it conform with the conventions?

Conform (In my opinion) lots of interviews, scenes shot in the location of the crime, narration.

5. How does it create suspense with technical elements?

Camera

    - Medium shots of the assailant to focus on their body language as they were being talked to, making me try to guess how she              feels during the time.

    - Establishing long shot of the scene of the crime helped set the mood especially with the music setting up a tense scene.

Sound

    - Police recording of the assailant made me try to put into perspective on how the girl had the mentality to commit the crime

    - Discordant sounds making the vibe uneasy and sets up for letting the audience know her crime

Mise-en-scène

    - Dimly lit house

    - police lights, quick flashing contrasting colors disorient the viewer further adding to the uneasiness 

Edit

    - Fast cuts make the intro more stressful as there is no slow time to comprehend what is happening too much

    - The choice to reveal what she did after her interview, hermeneutic code making the audience wonder before getting an answer

6. What parts did I find inspiring?

I like the way that the phone call was used with the images being shown to make hermeneutic code on why Jennifer would do what she was implied she had done (murder)

Research 4: A British Horror Story

(trailer link: https://youtu.be/Hrc_uQnVRdU)

1. What is the Sub-Genre?
Celebrity Crime

2. Who is the target audience?
Older people who idolized Jimmy Savile, or younger people wanting to know what Jimmy Savile did 

3. What documentary conventions were used?
Interviews of people directly/indirectly affected, footage of the Celebrity back when they were most popular, same with Attack On Wembley, they started the intro in an inspiring way, idolizing Jimmy Savile before shifting the tone.

4. Does it conform with the conventions?
Conform (In my opinion) It followed the conventions such as using medium shot for interviews and it also uses the narrative switch around where the intro starts off light hearted and positive before having the second half be more negative and serious.

5. How does it create suspense with technical elements?
Camera
    - Medium shots of the assailant and interviewees to focus on their expression.
Sound
    - Old recordings of Saville to contrast the negative tone he is talked about with, with the times when he was praised
    - Music shifts from positive to a discordant tone as the intro goes on to further show that there has been a pivot in the perspective of how people should view Saville.
Mise-en-scène
    - Vintage/retro footage showing that this is a dated issue and 
Edit
    - Narration of his wrong doings with positive shots of him doing good things

6. What parts did I find inspiring?
I enjoyed the vintage footage, it really adds to the fact that the man was a two faced criminal even then.

Research 5: American Murder: The Family Next Door

(trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep8iKiQNSrY)

1. What is the Sub-Genre?

Homicide, Family

2. Who is the target audience?

Young adults or single adults

3. What documentary conventions were used?

Recordings of the victims/assailant, second hand footage, police/detectives present

4. Does it conform with the conventions?

Conform (In my opinion) there was lots of second hand footage used, which is one of the primary conventions of crime documentaries, whether it'd be second hand footage regarding the victims, the crime itself or the assailant.

5. How does it create suspense with technical elements?

Camera

    -  The second hand footage/hand held makes it feel more personal and further reinforces the fact that the victims were just regular people who post amateurishly on social media like the viewer probably does.

Sound

    -  little to no nondiegetic sounds when the second hand footage was played to focus on the family

Mise-en-scène

    - Dimly lit house made the mood more tense as it made our eyes focus more on the bright colored details, focusing our attention to that in this case it made me focus on the details of the house and how it was just a regular house that has had a tragedy happen in it

    - Photos of the victim 

Edit

    - The choice to display the second hand footage first to introduce the family so that we get invested and sympathize or relate to the family making the reveal have more weight

6. What parts did I find inspiring?

The inclusion of second hand footage and the choice to use it as the opening bit of the intro was a smart choice in my opinion as it really hooked me in because it was almost relatable to me.

Research 6: American Vandal
(trailer link: https://youtu.be/zfZT81ZpbUk)

1. What is the Sub-Genre?

Spoof, Mockumentary, Comedy, Satire

2. Who is the target audience?

Young adults people who are in college or school

3. What documentary conventions were used?

Recordings of the victims/assailant, second hand footage, police/detectives present

4. Does it conform with the conventions?

Conform (In my opinion) because there was lots of interviews which narrate over shots or pictures of the location of the crime and some photos of the crime itself

5. How does it create suspense with technical elements?

Camera

    -  There were close ups to the main actor's face to try and help us understand how they felt during the time

Sound

    -  little to no nondiegetic sounds, putting most of the focus on the narrator so that their story has a larger impact

Mise-en-scène

    - The presumed assailant was shown wearing sloppy clothing in a messy background, trying to lead us to believe they were the true assailant. This confusion helps make the actual reveal of the true assailant have more impact

Edit

    - The constant sudden cuts to the vandalism, edited to match the rhythm of what the narrator was saying

6. What parts did I find inspiring?

I enjoyed the way that the pictures of the vandalism was shown over and over again to try and hammer in the point. It was also funny as as result of the rhythmic pace of the interviewee speaking and the cut to the vandalism photos.

This post has helped me with creating the storyboard for our script as there were many conventions which I chose to take ideas from such as the narration, and interviews, even the framing of the interviews as I chose to do a medium angle to focus on the body language instead of having a close up to focus on facial acting, along with that our team also decided on the inclusion of second hand footage in order to further conform with our genre.