Shot type consideration for documentary

Shot type consideration for documentary

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  SHOT TYPE CONSIDERATION FORDOCUMENTARY BY EMMA NUGENT
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  LOCATION SHOT CONSIDERATION 2 Thefirst shot here was one that we took using a high angle shot, we tried this from a space where we knew there was a balcony overlooking a big bit of space - we really liked this shot and so chose to go somewhere where the shot could look like it was part of the documentary (second shot) - as well as this shot being a high angle shot we were also trying to create a hidden camera/CCTV footage perspective. These shots are practise shots that we took when first considering where to shoot the documentary. We used the same person for each shot as we only wanted a rough idea of what the shot would look like. This first shot was an attempt of doing the opposite to a high angle shot since it worked so well, the thought behind this image was that it could show an audience the life of the attacker rather than the victim as this was our original plan for our human behaviour/crime documentary - we were considering a similar shot for our double page spread/advertisement. The second shot was a play on what we had done in the previous shots as we felt the stairs shot could be quite mysterious and intriguing to an audience. We used shots from the back quite a lot and so we tried to use one from a different point of view - hence going under the staircase. For these two shots we were trying to be more creative and come up with more angles and easy that we could shoot that would be interesting, at this point we were considering these shots for both the victim and the attacker and were considering putting a hand from each person hanging onto something and edit them together to show the contrast between the people but how they were both feeling to symbolise the similarities of each person to the audience.
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  SHOT FROM BEHIND 3 Whenconsidering what different shot types to use throughout my documentary I knew that I wanted to use shots that would be effective to an audience similarly to what I have analysed in other documentaries. However I also wanted to use some shots that were interesting and that catch the attention of the audience. I decided that I wanted to create an intrusive style from the outset of my documentary and so I decided to attempt a hand- held camera technique and followed the person that I was filming to create this effect. I have analysed this being done before and have discovered that if it is done well then I can be a very effective tool to use, one documentary that i have seen it done in is ‘Where Am I Sleeping Tonight?’ The independent documentary - it was very effective and still looked like a professional documentary regardless of the filming. I found that this shot worked as well as I had hoped it would, the shot created the feel that I wanted it to and helped me create this intrusive theme throughout the documentary - for example when there was hidden cameras to capture footage. This shot could make someone watching the documentary feel that they are there following the person being filmed as the shot is so close to her - also the music layered over the top and the script makes the shot feel more real and like you are in the shot hearing these things for real.
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  MID SHOT 4 For myinterviews I decided that I needed to copy other documentaries so that I was not challenging too many codes and conventions. I wanted my documentary to have features of it that were similar to other documentaries and some that were different - however I felt that to use a mid shot for my interviews would be the most effective camera shot because this way the audience could see the people and see their emotions but also they would not have to focus too much on them - also over the shot I wanted to put text so that the audience would know who they were, by using this mid shot I am able to put text over it without taking attention away form the interview. I used the mid shot for each of my interviews - which could seem boring and repetitive however I used different shots in-between to split these shots up. Both of the shots above are mid shots that I used for interviews. Although I used both shots differently - I did this by including different colour effects and angles. For the first shot I used a side profile and made the colours quite light in the centre and dark around the edges of the shot to almost show the darkness of what happened closing in on the people affected. The second shot I used a mid shot for was another interview - however I edited it so that you can only here what’s more like a monologue, for this shot again i put text over it but I also made the colours much darker. I used less lighting in this shot and I also chose to shoot this clip head on so that the interviewee was talking to the camera. I decided that this shot was just as effective as the last because it comes close to the interviewee breaking the fourth wall and talking to the audience, which is an effective tool as it makes the audience feel more involved and interested in what’s being said and what’s happening/ has happened.
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  MID SHOT / HANDHELD SHOT Similarly to the two mid shots I have already talked about I used a mid shot in another interview as I felt that to keep this pattern going would be effective and make the documentary seem far more professional. However I felt that since each of my interviews were so similar I needed to change something about at least one of them. I made each slightly different and I made this shot different by incorporating another shot into the interview. I began an interview with a mid shot with the interviewee directly facing and talking the camera, after a while our script became more heated and makes the interviewee want to leave - as the interviewee does leave the camera shot becomes a hand held camera shot and shows the interviewee storming out of the studio where people are working in there - this shot shows off the ‘behind the scenes’ kind of style and it shows the audience the professionalism behind the making of a documentary. Another reason that these shots are effective to an audience is because they show off the intrusive style and similarly to other documentaries I have analysed - they show that all documentaries do not always go to plan when filming. These shots show that the documentary was not ‘put on’ or directed but that it was filmed as it happened.
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  HIGH ANGLE SHOT 6 Forthis clip in the documentary I decided that I needed to include a kind of shot that is ‘different’. Whilst analysing other human behaviour documentaries I saw that sometimes CCTV footage was used, and that to catch all of the action sometimes you need to use a variety of shots and angles. I decided to use this angle for the recreation because the high angle captures the victim and the attacker whilst still capturing the location. Using this angle of shot is effective to the audience because it shows them one way in which criminal acts like this can be caught and the severity of the attacks. By looking down on the action the audience would feel like they are spying on the action and realise that this is not footage that is seen a lot - it is actually something that is kept hidden. By using a high angle shot I can also show how easy it can be for old people to be attacked and for the attackers to get away with it; for example: if an old people doesn't have the best memory or vision they could become confused about who it was who attacked them, so there is a camera set up however the footage could show how the attacker can be hidden from our sight. By using this high angle shot I am showing the danger in this crime, but also I am using this shot to create an interesting and unique outlook on the scene. An audience member could watch this documentary and see that this is an unusual shot compared to the others used throughout the documentary and so pay more attention to it.
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  HIDDEN CAMERA FOOTAGE 7 Thisfootage is something that I found online and liked because of it’s camera angle, this angle is a set up camera used to capture the attacks that have frequently been happening. I decided to use this shot in my documentary because the angle captured the real brutality. The shot clearly shows the abuse and the reaction and helplessness of the older victim and so I have decided to use it to grab the attention of the viewer. I like this shot because it is a mid shot and a two shot in one - both of these are effective as we are seeing what happened, not a manipulated view of what could of happened or what might of happened - you are shown quite clearly what happened and how. In my documentary I wanted to use my own footage as much as possible, however in my planning I decided that I wanted to use either other footage or old news stories - I wanted to use an ‘insert’ in my documentary like I have seen done before as I feel this is effective, and to show similar things that have happened in the past is something that I think will make the audience feel connected to the documentary if they recall the past stories. By using other footage/news stories I wanted to achieve a different perspective on the issue as it would show more than just a re-enactment but an actual other case that existed. I feel that an audience would understand this as something that is very real and is happening a lot not just a ‘one off’.