Here is the research for my (Jason) documentary
1. Making A Murderer - 2018 S1E1
2. Life in a Day, 2020
3. Gordon Ramsay Uncharted S2E2, 2021
4. American Vandal S1E1, 2017
I. Introduction
Title: American Vandal
Filmmaker/Director:
Release Year: 2017
Duration: 34min
Brief Overview/Summary:
II. Genre and Subgenre
American Vandal is a crime mockumentary about a case in which a unknown student has vandalised 27 cars in the staff parking lot
III. Target Audience (demographic & Psychographic)
It seems to target young adults and high school students. We could see this from the choice of actors. The entire cast was almost entirely made up of people who "look" like high school students, this may make it more likely for high school students to associate themselves even more with the documentary. The choice of language was also quite informal and inappropriate. It matched more the standards of day to day language for young adult-high school age. The subject matter was also of high comedic value, which subverts the crime documentary conventions in a way that may appeal more towards the high school student
IV. Technical Elements
A. Visual Elements
Cinematography:
The camera was used in a way typical of many crime documentaries. For interviews, it was mainly fullshots or midshots typically with the camera also at eye level, this may be used to create a more one-to-one feel with the actual people involved in the story. Sometimes the handheld camera was used when following Dylan around through his daily life, this may be done to make it feel as though we are closer with Dylan as the movement was more natural.
The visuals used highly contributed to storytelling. Often times, there would be B roll footage of Dylan going about his life, playing with the dog or taking walks by the beach. Often the scenes with Dylan had warm colours which may be used to show his possible innocence in the case. In many of the scenes incriminating Dylan, the camera was low quality, had a very dark vignette or was homemade which may be used to show that his ways of evil was past.
Editing:
The pace of editing was incredibly slow. Apart from the montages, which were fast paced to show hysteria, the documentary was slow and rarely had any sudden cuts or fast cuts. This allowed the audience to take in the information more easily
VFX was used to show names of interviewees- typical of crime documentaries. VFX was also used to show audience how things work which may make it more easily understood (eg. how to delete CCTV footage). Apart from that VFX was rarely used as to help the documentary feel more lifelike
B. Audio Elements
Soundtrack and Music:
The music used in the documentary was dark and foreboding. This followed the conventions of the typical crime documentary however it absolutely contrasted the main topic of the documentary: Phallic drawings. The documentary may have taken some of its comedic value from this simple clash. It turns the serious tone around and makes it feel far more satirical
Voiceover and Narration:
Narration was highly essential as there was a lot of information to take in and to link to one another. It was a good guide as his tone also helped guide the audience to take his side of the argument (eg. how can the nerd get to third base?). This was essential as active audiences can take sides while watching the documentary and so the voiceover kept them on the preferred reading of the documentary
Interviews and Soundbites:
Interviews and soundbites were used as primary sources of information throughout the documentary. Soundbites were essential throughout the initial part of the documentary as it showed the inconsistencies of the wayback boys' testimonials which was one of the driving forces of the school's argument. Apart from that, the interview with the nerd was brilliantly used as a cliff hanger to go into the second episode, this may be done to increase audience retention with the show.
V. Meaning and Message
The purpose of the documentary is to solve the case of the phallic drawings at Hanover Highschool. From the beginning of the documentary, there may have been biases in Dylan's favour as the writer brilliantly used our prejudice against Dylan, this puts us immediately at a sympathetic position for Dylan's cause.
VII. Personal Response
- It was a good mockumentary and I found it funny. It had its satirical moments (nun humping) I like the editing style of the montage as it felt more modern and it was made up of real footage of the incident. I do not have a problem with the opening other than the fact that it fits too well with the conventions, failing to be unique enough (genre theory).
5. Cosmos: Possible Worlds S1E1
I. Introduction
Title of the Documentary: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Filmmaker/Director: Jason Woliner, Larry Charles
Release Year: 2006
Duration: 1h 24min
Brief Overview/Summary: Reporter Borat Sagdiyev and Producer Azamat Bagatov travels across America to report on cultural findings but gets distracted by Borat's love affairs.
II. Genre and Subgenre
Borat is a Travel mockumentary
III. Target Audience (demographic & Psychographic)
Borat is intended for adults because of its highly inappropriate and sensitive jokes. It features Sacha Baron Cohen who has history of making content catered for adults.
It may be targeting Americans and central Asians as the movie often brings up those two regions and the humour often needs context that is possibly only known by Americans
IV. Technical Elements
A. Visual Elements
Cinematography:
Borat often used cameras filmed from the eye level which captures half or the whole of his body. The camera is very often handheld which shows how primitive or improvisational this documentary is. Things are often shot in one long continuous shot (eg. naked fight) which helps make it feel a lot more amateur. Sometimes things are filmed in closeup where the camera is held by the character (naked fight, escaping the homestay scene). This overall contributes to the amateur feel of the documentary
There are little to no computer graphics in this documentary. This is likely done to make fun of the stereotypical technological capabilities of third world countries such Kazakhstan
Editing:
The documentary cuts only when necessary, to highlight speakers, objects of importance and reactions. This makes it feel slow, however it feels more natural for a pace of a documentary. It allows the audience to take in the jokes which often require the reaction of people for the laugh. Some scenes had faster cuts, especially in montages when travelling or drinking. They also used fast cuts in the end of their fight to show chaos as they break into the convention
Visual graphics are often used in opening/closing sequences or in maps to show the movement of the crew through the USA. The visual graphics are reminiscent of those to soviet-era content. This may be used to further accentuate the third world identity of the movie
B. Audio Elements
Soundtrack and Music:
The role of music is often used to show emotions (eg. operatic wailing when Borat shoos the chicken away) other than that it was used as program music during the intro which supported the third world feel through the horrible production and simple keyboard melodies
The soundtrack all felt traditional, folk, and third world. It really fed into the documentary's "origin". It really fits into the satirical stereotypical representation of ex-soviet bloc countries
Voiceover and Narration:
Narration is often used to give exposition on topics which would be later explored upon much like an educational documentary
It is voiced very properly and formally, including "local" greetings (chenkui) as if its meant to be a proper and formal documentary
Interviews and Soundbites:
Interviews were used up until the point where Borat found Pamela Anderson. Interviewees were chosen based on their cultural impact (Feminists, republicans and joke specialist) which they feel may bring the greatest benefit to Kazakhstan
Testimonials and interviews were basically ignored in the movie as Borat would make jokes or inappropriate comments which made the interviews of no use at all but for comedic value.
V. Meaning and Message
The main theme of the movie is finding love and new ways for Kazakhstan
The filmmakers had intended this movie to be comedic, hence the exaggeration of third-world characteristics such as anti-Semitism and a lack of hygiene
It never really succeeded in delivering its original message as Borat was quickly distracted by Pamela Anderson and so he took the documentary down with him and filmed himself in his struggles to reach California
VII. Personal Response
- The mockumentary is very funny and shocking. The shock factor really took over in some of the jokes
- I really liked the fact that there was no fancy editing in this documentary, it made it feel incredibly natural, almost like a wildlife documentary for Borat. The only problem I had was that it was inconsistent, It claimed that they were only travelling as a duo but the cameras suggested otherwise, it might've been better if Azamat kept filming the whole time only to make occasional appearances for jokes
