Documentary Analysis of 'The Devil Made Me Do It'

Analysis of a documentary 'The Devil Made Me Do It'

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Murder scene:
Long shot down the corridor, light on the door, ambient light (from the window)
voice over stops as the door closes, Echo of the door reinforcing emptiness
slow pan across the town from the rooftop
sound effects - heartbeat, muttering, the blow to the nuns head, build up to the blow, heartbeat gets faster, thudding, dog barking (emphasizes being alone)
Sound: getting knives out of her bag, stabbing
3 camera shots - pan, stock footage shot, tilted Point of view as if the nun id lying on the floor
Edits on heartbeat as it slows down
all shots related to religion
then pause - high angle shot of grave yard. single bell emphasizes death.


At the Manson concert:
Juxtaposition - 2 opposites together to create meaning
Manson's fans in comparison to the music (operatic)


Manson's interview & McDonald's
Manson filmed in a low angle, light on one side of his face visually giving the audience the question Good or Evil. the low angle shows power
the voice of opposition (explaining himself)
after saying he's different he goes into McDonald's which isn't different in anyway to any other chain McDonald's restaurants anywhere they go (the audience could see him as an actor because he is a different person to his music)

Documentary genre and structure

For my coursework I will have to develop three different types of media to create, promote and advertise a documentary:
> 5 minute extract from a TV documentary programme
> Radio trailer to promote the documentary
> A newspaper advert to advertise the programme


Documentary genre:
A documentary is documenting something that has actually happened.
They provide the audience with an insight into a topic, they may not know it.
Documentaries can inform and educate an audience about a certain topic.
This must be done in an entertaining way to sustain the interest of the audience. The audience has more choice because of audience fragmentation due to digital and satellite television.


Narrow casting - Specific channels dedicated to documentaries e.g. Eden


Different types of documentary:
Fully narrated - off screen voice over used to make sense of the visuals and dominate their meaning e.g. natural history. The narrator always seems authoritative, the voice over is known as ''The voice of God''.


Foley Artists - creates the sound effects e.g. ants crawling, water bubbling


Mixed documenting - these use a combination of interview, observation and narration to advance the argument


Fly on the Walll (cinema Verite - truth cinema) - Camera is 'unseen/ignored' and simply records real events as they happen. There is often no narration leaving the audience to their own conclusions.


Self Reflective - when the subject of the documentary acknowledges the presence of the camera and often speaks directly to the documentary maker.


Docusoap - These documentaries follow the lives of individuals usually with designated occupations


Docudrama - A re enactment of events as tho they actually happened e.g. Crime watch


Documentary/ Docusoap - scripted e.g. Made in Chelsea, the hills, The only way is Essex 

Narrative structure of Documentaries - the way the story is told

Open - questions left un-answered at the end. The audience is left to make their own minds up about the issue

                                                                   OR

Closed - no loose ends, everything is tied up at the end, there is a definite ending e.g. 9/11 documentaries 
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Linear - the program us in chronological order (order of time) e.g. 9/11 documentaries
                                                                  OR
Non-linear - there is no chronological order, time is disrupted in some way e.g flashbacks
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Single strand documentary - there is only one narrative thread/story line
                                                                  OR
Multi-strand documentary - more than one narrative thread in the same program these may overlap. most documentaries are single strand.
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Circular narrative structure - at the start a question is posed. The narrative explores questions and then returns to it all at the end i.e. at the end of the program returns to the question posed at the start.

Structure of documentaries

Visual - television is a visual medium. the program needs to be visually stimulating and maintain the audiences interest.


Archive material - stock footage e.g. street scenes, open countryside, motor ways, city scapes, Historical footage, extracts from other media, newspaper front pages.


Interviews - most important part of the documentary. They can be held anywhere but the mis-en-scene is important in relating the interview to the topic/issues


Vox pop (Vox populis)- the voice of the people - ask a question to lots of people and use the most interesting/entertaining for the program. It can get a good cross section of the audience that you are aiming the program at.


Voice over - can affect or alter the meaning. Anchors the meaning of the visuals, Acts as a glue holding the narrative together. 


Gate keeping - selection and rejection of information for inclusion in the program/text, which bits of the interview will you see.


Construction of reality - by editing and gate keeping we produce/construct an artificial picture of reality.