Film Study

Analysing a Documentary

A documentary is a visual text that has its own set of techniques that help convey its meaning and communicate its information. A general guide to follow is to identify the following:

• What is the point of the program? What is the issue being discussed?

TECHNIQUES- comment on how the following helps communicate the ideas of the program:

• Music and sound effects
• Interview techniques- questions, language used, time used to respond
• Use of data
• Variety of sources
• Use of authority eg- experts etc
• ‘real footage’ eg- eyewitness footage and archive footage
• Slow motion
• Close ups
• Flashbacks
• Voice over
• Montage
• Text on screen
• reenactments
• Graphs and other visuals
• Introductions and conclusions- host comments
• General structure eg does it follow a narrative?
• Animation
• Contrast/ juxtaposition – ‘real footage’ and studio commentary