Documentary Analysis

The devil made me do it
The devil made me do it is a mixed documentary because it has a voiceover in at certain points, which pushes the narrative. It also had observation elements which were used to support the evidence. Reconstructions were also used in it to dramatise situations like the murder.

The big theme in the documentary was murder, as a nun had been murdered in a small religious town in Italy. As the documentary progressed the murder then linked with how teenagers were rebelling through musical influences like Marilyn Manson.

This documentary started with the murder of a nun in a small religious town, with no motive. In the middle of the documentary the case became complicated because they unmasked the killers, who turned out to be three teenage girls as they confessed. The story progressed and Marilyn Manson was accused as the puppet master. The resolution of the documentary was that one of the killers had repented and the sentences of all three girls had been reviled, and the town was back to normal.

At Manson’s concert there were many low angles used which made him look powerful and like the puppet master of all the audience. There was a woman who was a psychology expert and she had close up shots on her, which gave her importance. Whenever the cameras showed the town, high angles were used to make the town seem vulnerable as a murder had taken place. Also in the reconstruction of the murder the camera was cantered, which made the killers seem psychotic and villainous.

In regards to mise-en-scene the psychologist expert was dressed in red as she was relating to the killers in a small way, making her seem evil also. All of the interviews which took place were in the interviewees own environment, which would have made them feel comfortable and so more likely to give out information. At the Manson concert the audience which were shown on camera all looked the same as Manson, this was the documentary showing his influence on teenagers. However, you must remember that documentaries don’t show a true picture as there would have been a number of “normal” looking people at the concert. Two sides of Mansion were shown, him at the concert and then him at the Vatican. In the interviews Mansion was also shown to be a very intelligent person, disproving the things said by others. You could also argue that the girls weren’t shown to let the audience imagine what they look like, but the voiceover said it was due to them being only 16.

There were various non-diegetic sounds throughout the documentary, for example because it had a religious theme as a nun had been killed there was religious music like organs. The reconstruction of the murder had a big impact of sound because there was a heart beating which slowed, the sound of someone running up the stairs and sounds of beating which resulted in the heart beat to stop. There was also diegetic sounds like at the concert where some of Marilyn’s controversial lyrics were exposed with the crowd seen singing along. Then there was background noise during interviews sound effects to help raise importance.

Cut away shots were used as evidence, when people were talking in the interviews. There was also match on action used in the concert, which kept the action and showed the crowd enjoying the concert and an investigator finding it disturbing. There were also many point of view shots, like the eye line match in the reconstruction of the murder which made the audience feel like they were part of it. Long takes were used in the town which connotes as time running out to find the killers. Fast paced editing at times made the documentary have drama and excites the audience.

The documentary uses a number of different archive materials. A lot of these were of Marilyn Manson, either in his music videos or at concert which showed him to be odd and unusual. This made the audience worried because this was the person who was a role model to a lot of teenagers. Also footage from the trial was used, which would have had to be filmed at a different time also the same with the nun’s funeral. Finally the last piece of archive footage which they used was of the columbine shooting, which compared this case to another where people had been influenced by Manson.


The graphics for the documentary were simple and were just white writing at the bottom of the screen, which didn’t distract from what was happening on the screen as they were not on for more than five seconds. At the end when the killer’s sentences were revealed it was just white writing on a black video, which is also simple.

Marketing Movies BBC2 Educational Documentary
This documentary was a mixed documentary because it contained a voiceover, helping the audience understand what is happening in the narrative. Observation was also used with trailers and merchandise being shown, to give examples of what was being said in the interviews.

The main theme of this documentary was marketing films, as it was informing the audience how films are marketed today. This then progressed to showing why it is important to attract your target audience. The documentary also had themes of education because the documentary was made for an educational purpose, to teach GCSE classes about marketing films.

The documentary had a clear linear narrative, with a beginning, middle and end. The beginning had fast editing and fast passed music, making the documentary seem important as the experts were talking about why marketing is important in regards to films. The middle showed the importance of other parts of marketing like merchandising when marketing a children’s film. In the end we saw the finished product of the trailers for a film Mousetrap, but two trailers were shown targeted at different audiences. It was left to the audience’s decision if the trailers were affective or not, as the film had only just come out.




During the interviews the camera was static and a close up was shown, which makes the interviewees look and sound important. There was a transition from deep focus on the interviewee to shallow focus on a poster when one of the experts was talking about decisions made when making the poster. There were many high angles on London, making it seem vulnerable and insignificant compared to America in regards to marketing films. Zooms were used on the important people, which looked bad and seemed amateur. There was also other close ups used on objects relating to cinema, which were used as cut away shots when the experts talked about the cinema. The camera did pans on merchandise when the experts in the interviews talked about merchandising with films, the pan showed how much merchandise is made for one film.

The mise-en-scene in this documentary was almost irrelevant in regards to the setting of the interviews because film posters had been set up which anchored meaning to what the experts were saying. This also links to documentaries being creatively controlled, as someone has set that poster up to give meaning to the audience. The premiers were all in London and no American experts were interviewed, which was ironic because Americans specialise in marketing films, as most are made in Hollywood.
There was diegetic sound used which was natural in the interviews, There was also none diegetic sound like in the opening and end of the documentary, which excited the audience and made them want to carry on watching. However, you could argue that the music was underplayed with the narration and music bed being rarely used. So sound did not have a big impact on the documentary.

The documentary started with very fast cuts which was exciting and made the audience want to carry on watching the documentary. This also gives the documentary a chance to get an audience by accident by starting off fast so people are less likely to change the channel. Relevant cutaways were used from the expert’s interviews, which helped anchor meaning. However, the documentary also contained some amateur methods. For example they used a fade, which made the documentary look cheap and amateur as there is no need for one as a cut away shot would look more professional.

The archive material used in this documentary was quite vital to the documentary because it was looking at how they have marketed the film mousetrap so it was vital to show clips from the trailer. When the experts were talking about merchandising with the lion king and the little mermaid, they showed clips of the films, to act as cutaways and emphasise their point. It also gives the audience a point of view on the successfully marketed films. There was also archive material from premiers where important people were seen.



The graphics in this documentary were constant and driven because the documentary was meant for school teachers and had a man introducing each part of the documentary in a graphic. The words introducing people however were simple and white at the bottom of the screen.

The Music Biz
This documentary was in a mixed style as it had lots of different parts to it for example it had interviews with important marketing people which adds evidence and explain how the Meatloaf marketing campaign worked. The documentary also contained a voiceover which anchored meaning to what was happening on the screen.

The documentary contained various different themes to it such as, the rise and fall of Meatloaf because the documentary showed his success after Bat out of Hell and then his bankruptcy after it. It also contained theme of the race to the Christmas number one, it also showed how important it was to have a number one twenty years ago whereas today it isn’t important to music artists. There were also explicit themes of music and marketing with the documentary showing meatloaf and the campaign which people had drawn up for his new album.

The documentary had a clear linear narrative structure. At beginning we are told a little bit about the music industry and we learn that Meatloaf want to re-launch himself to the public and create an album. The middle showed the new re-launched Meatloaf and we got to hear his new song, however the issue was made that the production team had spent too much money and so they all had to mortgage their houses to afford to do the video. In the end we saw that Meatloaf had become successful but he wasn’t the Christmas number one but he did win his first Grammy.



Throughout the documentary there was various close ups on Meatloaf and Michael Bay during the video shoot, highlighting a power struggle between the two of them. The camera also did pans on important people to show that they have During the interviews they used mid close-ups and they sometimes flipped the interview, to try and add variation however the technique looked amateur. Another technique which didn’t make the documentary artistic was the zooms which were used frequently with Meatloaf on location shots.


The interviews were done on a blue screen and then a relevant background was added later, this helped the voiceover anchor meaning into the documentary. The camera also filmed the music video on location which aligned the audience with Meatloaf and added interaction with the camera which isn’t usual of mixed documentaries. We also got to see Meatloaf’s old concert footage, which let the audience see how good Meatloaf once was. There was an anti climax at one point in the documentary because the voiceover said that one collaboration with Meatloaf and another man would be brilliant but then they never said anything of it again. Meatloaf’s makeup in the music video can also be commented on, as he was dressed as a fictional character and so this means that Meatloaf is also just a character and not real.



There was diegetic sounds in the documentary of the interviews and the voiceover, as it was within the narrative. There was also diegetic noise at the press conference, which was loud and chaotic which showed that everyone wanted to hear about meatloaf. There was also none diegetic music of Mr blobby, the village people and Meatloaf and the song I’d do anything for love was overplayed throughout the documentary. The only sound effect which was used was a heartbeat when the camera showed a picture of the new album, connoting that it would have to do well but it was unknown if it would.

There was a shot reverse shot used at the video shoot between Michael Bay and Meatloaf, connoting a power struggle between the two of them. Cutaways were used to reinforce what was being said in the interviews and to anchor meaning. At the beginning we saw fast paced editing of interviews between marketing people and journalists and this highlighted the conflict between the two of them.

There was archive material used in the documentary of the Grammys and of Meatloaf performing there. There was also a lot of music video archive footage from videos like Meatloaf, Mr Blobby and the village people.




At the beginning there was a magazine cover and there were interview’s blue screened inside it, showing that what they were saying was important like news on the cover. As the interviews were shown they were introduced by simple white writing at the bottom of the screen.

Laura Croft That Thing
Laura Croft That Thing was a mixed documentary because it contained interviews with the creator of Laura Croft and feminists, who tackled some of the debates about Laura Croft. Evidence was also used in the form of archive footage and footage from the game, to back up the experts points.

There were various themes used in this documentary, the main theme was games and this then progressed to how the audiences are growing and that older people are beginning to play video games. A problem which was made apparent in the middle of the documentary was that CGI is becoming realistic which has a different affect on different audiences. For example Laura is becoming a sex object for the male teenagers and fan sites have been made for her.

This documentary had a clear linear narrative structure, with a clear beginning, middle and end. At the beginning Laura Croft is made out to be revolutionary because she is the first real independent strong woman. The middle showed an issue that boys have sexualised Laura, which isn’t good because people have compared her to Barbie which women then want to live up to. Some of the fans have also become obsessed with her and have created websites where they can live some of these fantasies. The end shows how some people have mimicked her, and concludes by saying that the game has given too high expectations for men which women then try to copy.

A Dutch shot was used on Angelina Jolie and the creator of Laura Croft in their interviews, which was unintentional. There were many close up shots of Laura Croft throughout the documentary which made her look important. There was also an over the shoulder shot of people playing the Tomb Rader game, closely followed by a pan over all the people playing the game which showed how popular the game is.

The Dutch shot which was used on Angelina Jolie and the creator could have been bias from the creators of the documentary because Angelina tried to mimic Laura Croft and the creator might have seemed crazy when he was first creating a game with a female lead in the 90’s. But these shots differ these two people from all the other interviews because they are important. The interviews are centred and the game is playing in the background, which is relevant to what the interviews are talking about. The game was done by projector and not by blue screen which is done because it would be easier than a projector when showing a game.

There was diegetic sound of the game but only quietly when the interviewees were talking, sound from the interview also and from the film clips. There was an upbeat music bed which played throughout because the documentary was only short so the upbeat and fast style could be kept for the whole documentary.

The editing was very fast because of it being a short documentary they could keep it fast paced and upbeat for the entire documentary so that the target audience was interested for the whole documentary. There were also cutaways used of people playing the game, fan websites, the game itself and adverts for the game. This gave the audience some evidence of what people were saying in the interviews.

There was only a small amount of archive material used which were adverts and clips from the film, this is because most of the footage was from the game and this is not archive material as they could just easily film the game for the documentary.


The graphics for this documentary were quite complicated at times because you had the creator talking on a computer like he was a recorded message. Also at one point Laura Croft ran across the screen. But the other graphics were just simple white writing at the bottom of the screen.

Jimi Hendrix Guitar Hero
The documentary had a mixed style to it as it had a voiceover, slash, which was relevant to the target audience because they are both famous guitar players. The documentary also contained observation in the form of pictures and archive footage, which backed up what the musicians were saying about Jimi Hendrix.



The guitar hero documentary contained the main theme of music because Jimi was a musician and this developed into showing how in the 60’s the artists had friendly competition because the members of the Beatles and Cream would come to his gigs. The documentary also progressed to show issues of race and how London was free spirited and accepted Jimi as an African- American artist, whereas America rejected him. Towards the end of the documentary there were themes of drug abuse as it showed how it controlled his life, affected his playing and ultimately was the death of him.

This documentary had a linear narrative, with a clear beginning, middle and end. At the beginning the documentary covered how Jimi came to London and all of the big musicians talked about their first experiences meeting him. The middle covered his family life and how the death of his mother affected him. Later on the experts start to talk about technical things about Jimi’s playing style, like the unconventional formation of his chords and how he never used many effects pedals. In the end the people who knew Jimi talk about his drug addiction and how this got him into other trouble with the law. They also ask the question what he would be doing today if he were still alive, and most people say that he wanted to write symphonies.

It starts with a big close up of Jimi’s face whilst he is smoking which is fades away and you see a point of view shot of a rollercoaster. In the opening titles there are extreme close-ups on famous musician’s faces as they talk about Jimi. But in the normal interviews there is just a close up used on the musician’s faces, but sometimes a mid-shot is used if the person was playing a guitar. Most of the camera movement was on photos of Jimi because they would zoom into his face or pan across concert posters to see The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

In the opening titles shots of Jimi came up on the screen with the sound of lightening, which connotes as him being powerful and could also signify him as being a god like figure. The opening titles also have a point of view shot of a rollercoaster, which could describe him as he was exciting on stage or his link with drugs as that is what it made you feel like. In one of the interviews someone even describes him as a rollercoaster when he was on drugs. There were many archive shots of London in the 60’s to show the audience where he was playing and to anchor meaning to what the musicians were saying. Some of the famous musicians had their interview in front of drum kits, which helped the audience, understand who they were, if they did not recognise them. One interviewee even was holding a guitar in the interview, which gave the audience even more of an explicit idea of what he does. Also in all of his interviews Slash was smoking and this links with him being a rock star and being rebellious. There is a moment in the documentary where one of the interviewees says that Jimi bought a jacket and then there is archive footage of everyone queuing up for these jackets, which shows that Jimi was a style icon in the 60’s. The audience is encourperated into the documentary because in two occasions the camera is asked questions by the interviewee’s and the cameraman answers. This differs to the convention because the camera is meant to be hidden away and not be able to be seen.



The sound had a big part in this documentary because it was on Jimi Hendrix, and so his songs would be expected to play a big role in the documentary about him. So the documentary contained a lot of none-diegetic music, with purple haze playing in the opening titles, but the opening titles also contained the diegetic sounds from the rollercoaster. There was also diegetic sound from the narrator, Slash, who was very relevant to the target audience because people who watch this documentary would be interested in famous guitar players, like Jimi Hendrix and Slash. Many of Jimi Hendrix’ songs appeared in the documentary and whilst the famous musicians were talking the none diegetic music would still play whilst they are talking, this gave the effect that Jimi is still with us. Also it gave what some of the musicians were saying some reality because they were talking about Hendrix’ gigs and the music in the background gave the effect of being at his gig and talking to someone. There was other none-diegetic music like the French music when Jimi had scheduled a tour in France.


The editing in the opening titles was slow as it was all one take on a rollercoaster, but then once the song kicked in then the editing sped up with quick cuts between famous musicians and their opinions of Jimi. During the documentary they used a lot of fades from interviews to photo’s of Jimi, which seemed a bit unnecessary but it kept slowed the pace of the documentary and kept it smooth. There was a lot of cut away footage to archive material of the swinging sixties or photo’s of Jimi, this anchored meaning to what the musicians were saying. During the footage of Hendrix’ funeral there were many long takes used which with the song had a very powerful effect on the audience.

Archive material had a huge part of this documentary because Jimi Hendrix is no longer alive so it was needed to show him, because you couldn’t do an interview. The main archive footage which was used were photographs of Jimi and his concert footage like from Woodstock and him playing when he was young. There was also a lot of shots of London from the sixties to show what it was like in that time, there was also a news piece on London being free made in the sixties. There was also footage of one of his influences, Little Richard playing a concert. The documentary also included a number of interviews which had been done previously, like with his ant and even interviews with Jimi himself. One of the most powerful interviews however was from Eric Clapton when he tells the audience about his last meeting with Hendrix, and that he never got to give him a left handed guitar. This interview was powerful because it was a long take, with music over it. The final bit of archive material which appeared in the documentary was of his funeral, which also had long takes with a music bed over it, which was very emotional.


The graphics in the opening titles were simple write writing in the middle of the screen with a simple long take on a rollercoaster. Then when the graphics introduced people again there was just simple writing at the bottom of the screen.

Ripped off Bernie Madoff and the Scamming of America
This documentary had a mixed style, you could tell this from the voiceover which continues throughout and linked to the target audience. The documentary also contained evidence in the form of observation.The documentary started out with the theme of money and how the recession started in America, then the documentary had themes of business and scamming as it turned out that Bernie Madoff had a big part of the recession and says how he scammed millions.


This documentary had a clear narrative structure with an explicit beginning, middle and end.The beginning showed the audience how the stock market crashed and introduces Bernie Madoff by telling some information about who he is. In the middle The question did he start out as an honest man or did he plan it all, also the issue is addressed that he could have been stopped because someone had figured out his scam. The end showed the conclusion that he is a bad person and showed his sentence of 150 years.

There were lots of close ups of expensive objects like jewellery, champagne and boats to start out the documentary which showed how America was flourishing in the economic boom. The interviews show a close up shot of the experts, which connotes that they are important and know what they are talking about. There is one shot where it shows both Ponzie and Madoff on the screen and you can see similarities between the both of them. At one point in the documentary there was a low angle shot, looking up at the American flag this made the flag look powerful, which connoted as America being powerful also. There were also many shots throughout the documentary of high angles on Bernie in the courtroom, which made him look vulnerable as his plan had been foiled. On some of the photos shown of Bernie, the camera would stop and canter which made him look evil and crazy. With the cutaway shot’s of photo’s of old conmen the camera would always be moving, either panning or zooming in, which made the documentary seem amateur because the documentary was moving too quickly.


All of the interviewees were business executives and so they all wore suits in their interviews and the interviews were conducted in offices, this made them look powerful and made the audience believe what they were saying. Also the cut away shots of expensive objects gave the audience an idea of what Bernie’s life had been like whilst he had scammed millions off people. There is old footage of one of Bernie Madoff’s stock lessons and he is in the centre of the room, unlike usual teaching setups, and this could connote as him being the centre of attention also. At some points in the documentary there are shots of some of the victims of Bernie, these people were all elderly and some of them began to cry. This makes the audience feel sorry for them and also gives the audience feelings of dislike for Bernie.

There were different music tracks used for different shots in the documentary, for example when the camera was showing all of the money and expensive items there was none diegetic music of rap. This genre was used because rap music is well associated with money and luxury items. When Bernie is shown in the documentary for the first time, there is none-diegetic music of rock music; this makes him seem rebellious. Sound played a big part of this documentary because there was a constant music bed playing throughout the documentary. Even in the interviews there was quiet none diegetic music of drums, which helped build tension and emphasised what some of the experts said. The documentary also contained diegetic music of a voiceover which gave us some incite into some conman tricks. Another element of diegetic music which was used in the documentary was the sound from the interviews.

At the beginning of the documentary the editing was fast with it showing lots of expensive
things. Shots of expensive items were then followed by archive footage of the stock market crashing. This was a contrast because it showed how people were spending money in the economic boom to how people went bankrupt in the recession. The documentary contained many cut away shots of expensive items and ex conmen, this anchored meaning to what the experts were saying during the interviews. They also used a number of fades in the documentary between the photos which attempted to slow the pace of the documentary.

There were various different archive materials used throughout the documentary, for example at the beginning and throughout the documentary there was a number of different protest materials used,
and to show how the public reacted to the Bernie Madoff scam. There was also archive footage of the news when the stock market crashed, this put the issue into perspective for the audience. There was also photo’s of Carlo Ponzie, which was used for cutaway shots during interviews. Finally the most important archive material which was used was from Madoff’s trial.


The graphics in the documentary showed falling money and then people falling from buildings, which showed how the stock market affected peoples lives, these opening titles were complex and when doing my own documentary I would keep them simple. When the graphics were used to introduce people on the screen, they were white writing inside of a black box.