This is my research for my documentary project
#1 The Final: Attack on Wembly NETFLIX Documentary (2021)
1) What sub-genre of crime documentary would you categorise this as?
+ sports
+ true crime
2) Who is the target audience?
Demographics:
+ Age 17 - 30 years old because it involves alcohol which created drunk people, involves violence and the use of drugs.
+ It targets all people around the world but it mainly targets UK citizens because that is were the incident took place.
Psychographics:
+ People that have an interest in sports (specifically football fans)
+ People that want to know more about the incident and the reason behind it
3) What typical documentary conventions were used?
+ survailence of the chaotic location, many policemen at the scene trying to control and maintain authority to prevent anymore tresspassers from entering the stadium, real footage from the people's perspective (through social media), and interviews with the people nearby - asking them what happened
4) Did this opening conform or subvert the conventions for this genre?
+ It conform to the convention because first it highlights that everything was going normal and going as planned then it suddenly switch to a chaotic atmosphere and lead to a downward spiral of many differnet issues which is common in a crime documentary. It also uses suspenseful music to create tension and there's lots of hecticness in the scenes.
5) How does it create suspense using the following:
+ Camera: Random camera movement by being hand held to add realism to the footage and makes the audience feel like they are there at the stadium - experiencing the hectic moment for themselves which creates suspense. Also, the video uses many shots from above to empahsis on the amount of uncontrollable fans that are present at wembly.
+ Sound: Crescendo of people celebrating the England football team to a hectic situation where people punched each other and there obnoxiously loud crowds everywhere). Interviewee saying that there are people getting trampled on which is harmful for people and make the audience feel tense.
+ Mise-en-scene: People drinking alcohol which suggests that there are going to be drunk people in the audience which then makes them unpredictable. This is because drunk people are often insane and lose control of themselves which ultimately creates tension for the viewers. Also people there took coccaine, being violent with one another, and created many smokes and further adds onto the chaos. Additionally, countless amounts of fans with limited police presence to connote that it is impossible to control that many people which made the police seem useless and lack in power - which further create a suspenseful atmoshpere.
+ Edit: fast pace cuts, used a brief analepsis of the fans running to foreshadow the carnage and the mess that was going to happen.
6) What parts of the opening did you find inspiring?
+ Interviews with victims/people nearby to get their prespective on the incident which helps to creates suspense
+ random movement produced by hand held camera to add realism to the footage so that it is more unpredictable and make the audience feel tense.
#2 Worst Roomate Ever NETFLIX Documentary (2022)
1) What sub-genre of crime documentary would you categorise this as?
+ true crime
+ betrayal
+ murder
2) Who is the target audience?
Demographics
+ Age o both genders who are 16+ years old
+ Target primarly females as the actors are females but can be enjoyed by both genders
Psychographics
+ People who have trust issues
+ People who have an annoying roommates as they go about their day to day life activities and they want to relate to the documentary (having things in common) - which makes the audience want to watch more.
3) What typical documentary conventions were used?
+ Dark lighting to convey a sense of danger and unknown. In this case it was to highlight the mysterious door that is infront of the house. It also included suspenseful music to add onto the eerie atmosphere and the use colour red to connote muder which makes the audience tense.
4) Did this opening conform or subvert the conventions for this genre?
+ It conform to the convention because first it shows the main character's roommate seem all innocent but then there was a switch up and there was many foreshadowing/hints that her roommate ws attempting to commit a muder. This usually happens in crime documentaries as they tend to show the good in people then hint that there is something wrong with them such as using sketching looking pictures. Also, the video uses discordant sounds which makes the scene eerie and mysterious which are often used in many crime documentaries.
5) How does it create suspense using the following:
+ Camera: Low angle shots of the enterance of the house, to make the door look ominous and threatning which also creates a mystery atmosphere that makes the audience curious about it. This increases the suspense as the audience don't know what on the other side of the door. Another technique used was a zoom in to the picture of the suspicious roomate to connote that there is more than what meets the eye and something hidden about her - making her look mysterious.
+ Sound: Suspenseful music that gradually builds up. This makes the audience anticipate as if something were to happen and makes the audience feel on edge. Futhermore, the non-diegetic eerie sound keeps the audience watching as they want to know what would happen if it reaches the climax.
+ Mise-en-scene: Dimly lit house to create a mysterious mood and highlight that the house is unknown. This makes the house seem dangerous to enter and not open to any visitors Also there are pictures of the women using hospital equipment to emphasis that she almost died and futher highlight on the damage that her roommate did to her in the attempt of muder. The use of hospital equipment makes the audience feel sympathy towards the girl (that got injured) and feel worried of what might happen next to her thus increaing the suspense.
+ Edit: quick cuts of photos to show the past and characters involed which is a way to briefly introduced all of the characters and there would be a scene were the duration was slightly longer than others to connote that the roommate is different from the others and potentially pose a threat in the future.
6) What parts of the opening did you find inspiring?
+ I find the use of pictures of the perpetrator in the past which makes her seem innocent (in a good light) inspiring since my documentary is similar to this concept and I could use it for the actor that acts as the prepetrator.
+ I find the zoom in to create emphasis on a certain person, to be useful and inspiring since it's a simple way to highlight on a particular person and it is an easy way to make someone look suspicious - which is exactly what I want to steal and utlize for my project.
#3 American Nightmare (2024)
1) What sub-genre of crime documentary would you categorise this as?
+ kidnapping
2) Who is the target audience?
+ people who have enjoys watching mystery type videos, both genders, age 16+
3) What typical documentary conventions were used?
+ Suspenseful music, interviewing with victim, police, sirens, cctv footage, dark lighting
4) Did this opening conform or subvert the conventions for this genre?
+ It conform the convention because there are alot of documentary convention used such as police sirens, victims being interviewed, and blood.
5) How does it create suspense using the following:
+ Camera: a high angle of the suspect making them look inferior, medium shot of a subject looking upset/worried
+ Sound: discordant & suspenseful sounds, digetic sound of the people asking questions about the scene
+ Mise-en-scene: police sirens, cctv footage, actors acting anxious,
+ Edit: quick cuts of different scenes to emphasis that alot has happened and adding to the tension
6) What parts of the opening did you find inspiring?
+ people asking questions about the scene that makes the audience wonder more about what happened. Such as: Can this get any stranger? Who's really behind all of this? Did we all get this wrong?
+ each cut results to more and more suspense music
#4 The Guilty (2021)
1) What sub-genre of crime documentary would you categorise this as?
+ abducted/kidnapping
2) Who is the target audience?
Demographics
+ Age 16+ years old since it invloves kidnapping and it wouldn't be suited for children as they won't understand as much
+ both genders can enjoy the documentary, however it is more leaning towards targeting the male audience because the 'main character' is a male
Psychographics
+ People who enjoy solving mystery of kidnapping (finding the culprit and catching them red-handed)
+ Peopel who enjoy car chases (potentially a car chase might happen since it revolves around a white van and police tend to chase it and documentary would make a scene about it)
3) What typical documentary conventions were used?
+ 911 emergency call to create a sense of urgency and panic which are commen in crime documentaries. The dim lighting in the office to suggest that it is a serious job which adds onto atmosphere and the suspense. Also, weapons and white vans are involved which are typical for a crime documentary.
4) Did this opening conform or subvert the conventions for this genre?
+ It conform to the convention because the genre is kidnapping and the conventions is that it has a white van to kidnap people, invloves the police (particularly the emergency call of 911) and the victim being in a state of panic and panting heavily.
5) How does it create suspense using the following:
+ Camera: Close up of subject's face looking worried to highlight that there is nothing he can do except giving insttructions so that the women gets out of danger fast and return back to safety. This further emphasis that the guy who answer the 911 call seemed to be determined to find a way to save the women that has been abducted but is uncertain of exactly of how he is going to achieve that which makes the audience tense up.
+ Sound: Women in the call was about to cry and is seeking for desperate help. This makes her the victim of the documentary and makes the audience feel sympathy towards her. The words "I'm gonna die" that is stated by the women at the end of the call, means that it is unpredictable to know what is going to happen to that women so then the audience feels more worried about her which makes the scene more suspenseful.
+ Mise-en-scene: The man listening to the victim carefully to extract as much information as he can to analyse the danger that the victim is in so that he could save her. This suggests that the women is in a dire situation and needs help immedietly which creates suspense. Also the use of the black screen makes the audience focus more on the audio which decreases the amount of information that the audience can get thus them having limited information; and results in being more worried about the women. Not only that, the suspense then continues to increases and intensify, when the victim started to gasp heavily which connote that she is preparing to do something risky so that she can escape to safety.
+ Edit: Long duration of texts to highlight the message and the audience have time to take the information in. This leads to the audience have more context on the story which then they could follow and feel as though they are right there solving the case which adds that sense of realism and helps to to create tension.
6) What parts of the opening did you find inspiring?
+ I find the man knocking down a table lamp to be inpiring as I could use it in my documentary when someone feels frustrated that they didn't get what they want and I can show this by them throwing a rampage such as knocking down items from a desk.
+ I also find the use of black screen to be inspiring as I could utilize it for a pause in my documentary to act as a chance for the audience to take in the information and let their imagination run so that they can create an image of how the interaction would look like inside their head. This would make the documentary flow more smoothly and the audience gets to understand the message of video.
#5 Black Bird (2022)
1) What sub-genre of crime documentary would you categorise this as?
+ murder
2) Who is the target audience?
+ both genders, age 16+, likes watching the prison atmoshpere, more male viewers since more male actors involved.
3) What typical documentary conventions were used?
+ police, handcuff, jail, inmates
4) Did this opening conform or subvert the conventions for this genre?
+ It conform the convention because there are murder involved, jail, prisoners, and police which all suggests that it's a crime documentary.
5) How does it create suspense using the following:
+ Camera: long shot of the jail cells, close up of face to show reaction
+ Sound: eerie voice of the 'killer's' voice, discordant sounding women singing in the background
+ Mise-en-scene: dull lighting, messy jail environment (clothes everywhere),
+ Edit: insert and cutaway to show reactions of what the other people say (ex: when the women said 'for freedom' and it cuts to the main character's face)
6) What parts of the opening did you find inspiring?
+ the camera is behind jail bars coupled with the edit of the text 'inspired b true events.'
+ use blocking technique to emphasis on a key character.
key words to use: ominus, anticipation, faster/slow pace, more on edge, tension, drawing attention to, analepsis
Self Reflection:
The research helped me to analyse many different sub-genres of crime documentary to highlight the types of camera angles, camera movements, mise-en-scene, sound and edit used in it. This made me know the conventions that are implemented in these documentaries and simultaneously think of way to subvert from it (to make keep it new and interesting). I also listed down the aspects of the documentary that I found inspiring thus I could steal it and use it for my own. Problems that I encounter when doing the research was having difficulties finding crime documentary openings in youtube for free and even if I found a few, it is often very limited unlike Netflix. Also, after watching the first few openings, I was not sure what to type about, which leads to having not so detailed research and thus having to rewatch it serveral times - which was very time consuming. To solve it, my friends told me to find it in other websites so that I have more options to watch and analyse. Futhermore, I would take notes while watching rather than doing it seperately, inorder to save time and I could focus more on the research.
