DOCUMENTARY ANALYSIS - Heavy Metal In Baghdad

TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY

This was a mixed documentary. There were many Interviews, Cutaways, Archive Footage and voice-overs, as well as a heavy usage of observational evidence and reconstructions.

THEMES

The documentary focused on War, Middle Eastern Culture, Loop Holes in Travel, corrupt policing and how Heavy Metal music helps the band Acrassicuada to gain hope of being able to move to the United States.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

The Narrative of this documentary was linear and interviews played a constant role in developing its structure. However, there were some elements of a docusoap in this documentary. There was an exposition, so its relation to docusoaps is only partial because of the small production team and eve's dropping on the lives of a few people in Baghdad, Iraq. VICE films, the Canadian company who created this documentary, featured their producer Eddy Moretti to play the role of an interviewer, presenter and narrator in this film. In the opening, Eddy Moretti establishes why they are in Baghdad. This was to meet Heavy Metal Band Acrassicuada, who they had been following for three years up to 2006, the year in which the documentary opens. The middle follows the band's lives in a war torn country as they move from Iraq to Syria. They search hard to try and find loop holes which allow them to travel to America. When they are in Syria, Eddy Moretti asks if they were considering splitting up but decide to carry on because of the fan's response at what was meant to be their final concert. The band moves on to Turkey, to which the documentary moves to a somewhat brief ending via the use of more subtitles. These subtitles explain what happened to Acrassicuada and their traveling fan 'Mike' up to the time that the documentary was published. These subtitles tell the audience that there is no definitive answer to the exposition because the band were not yet in america like they originally wanted intended to be. 

CAMERAWORK

Tripods were never used to steady the cameras and the majority of footage shot was handheld to avoid the creators of the documentary attracting too much attention for being journalists in the middle east. There were many close ups during the interviews. Some of these close up camera shots were 'undercover'. This is how the documentary used observational evidence to demonstrate the tension in some scenes between the Eddie Moretti, his team and the band against the Middle Eastern officials. When the band travel to Syria, there was an extreme close up on the band's translator, fan and friend called Mike. The camera looks up at Mike as he vents his frustration at how difficult it is to get into Europe because of being Iraqi. He sums up his frustrations on behalf of himself and the band. 

In Turkey, the cameraman records a TV screen when the band watches a rough cut of the start of the documentary. This is an extremely rare sight in any program to show the start of the same documentary at the end of the program. This however, can be judged as acceptable because of the struggles that the documentary has observed over the course of the past few years in the middle east. This footage was shown to the band because they wanted to be reminded of what life was like in Baghdad before they decided to travel elsewhere. They were filmed with medium shots showing the band being upset at their harsh memories returning to them.

MISE-EN-SCENE

The vast majority of the documentary footage was shot in the Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. There were only a few shots taken at Frankfurt Airport 's waiting area before Eddie Moretti and his team flew to the Kurdistan area of Iraq. This was perhaps the least most relevant location of the documentary. It did have some relevance to the exposition. However, because the narrator already said they could get a one way flight from Frankfurt to Iraq, there was some relation. Other locations in this documentary included: the streets of Baghdad, Acrassicuada's  practice rooms, their concerts at the Al Fanar Hotel and a Syrian bar, inside moving cars, an Iraqi Restaurant, a Syrian recording studio, the band's bedrooms in Syria and in Turkey.

SOUND

There is a dramtic sound of drums in the opening scene edited with shots of Moretti fitting himself with a bullet proof vest. It indicates to the audience that they could soon witness danger. Sometimes the Diegetic voice of the producer, Eddy Moretti can be heard asking questions to the band for interviews. Documentaries are often edited so that the questions cannot be heard by the audience. A lot of the interviews in 'Heavy Metal In Baghdad' can be judged as 'Casual' by the audience, but because of the location they were shot at and the size of the crew they could be exempt from this code.

All of the music heard in this documentary was part of the heavy metal genre. The music was played non-diagetically to the audience as a music bed (with Acrassicuada's own songs) and Diagetically at concerts (A metal cover of Europe's 'The Final Countdown' and Metallica's 'Fade to Black'). At the point of Fade to black being played, the noises of screaming fans in the Syrian bar can be heard because they are imagining that they are at a Metallica concert. 

EDITING

There were fast paced cuts between close ups and medium shots at the concerts of fans and the band. There was one man who had his face blurred out to protect his identity. He was worried about being killed for being in a western documentary and being in a location that they shouldn't be in. He worked as a translator whilst they were in Iraq for the documentary. Note that Mike also acted as a translator but chose not to have his face distorted. 

Transitions were not often used. However, there was a black fading transition out and in from the recording studio to the Syrian streets. This may be reminiscent of the Metallica song 'Fade to Black', who were a large influence on the band's material. 

ARCHIVE MATERIAL

There was archive footage of Acrassicuada's concerts and bombs being dropped onto buildings in Baghdad. There was an image of an MTV News magazine article entitled 'No War for Heavy Metal' which as Moretti explains in the narration, was how he discovered Acrassicuada. Some video footage of war vehicles on Iraqi roads were used as part of cutaways. There was also some photography of the fans with the band.

The documentary makers also used concert footage from 2002 during the regime of Saddam Hussein as re-constructional evidence to support the fact that they had to unwillingly perform a pro Saddam song.

GRAPHICS

All of the graphics other than the re-constructional maps were in black and white. This included 'VBS' titles and their website afterwards followed by the 'Vice Films' title at the beginning of the film. The name of the band members appear centre screen followed by the instrument they play just below it. The instrument name is still central. Sometimes, some of the English that people in the documentary spoke was muffled or the subjects were speaking in Arabic. There words were dubbed in English below in white subtitles. The re-constructional maps were animated and demonstrated how the production team entered the Kurdistan region of Iraq from Frankfurt and onwards to Baghdad International Airport.  

Two members of Acrassicuada talking in their interviews with white graphics.

The video below is part 1 of 9 of the award winning documentary 'Heavy Metal In Baghdad':

DOCUMENTARY ANALYSIS - Marketing Movies

TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY

This documentary was mixed. It included Archive Material, interviews, footage on location, voiceovers, an exposition and observational evidence. 

THEMES

Withing 'Marketing Movies', themes of Advertising are explained to different audiences. We were told about how mouse trap could appeal to different audiences depending on how the film is promoted to others.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

This documentary follows a linear narrative. At it beginning, The promotional strategies in which a film could gain publicity are presented to the audience at the start. It discussed material such as toys and posters and how they can help a new film to attract a larger audience. The film's attention is most likely created thanks to other successful films. At the end, the audience was left to decide whether the film was a success story or just another flop to stay on their shelves. 

CAMERAWORK

Close ups of people who were related to the film industry emphasize their relationship to the exposition. There are some Panning Shots of Leicester Square at the premiere of 'Mouse Hunt'. It helps demonstrate how marketing has had a big influence on attracting an audience for the opening night of the film. Interview cameras were static and at close to medium range from the subject. At one stage, there was a high shot looking down at people walking down the stairs. 

MISE-EN-SCENE

The Mise-En-Scene in the interviews was relevent and backdrop image from Mouse Hunt, Babe and Little Mermaid are easily visable to the viewer. It is worth mentioning that all of these interviews were made in the UK rather than Hollywood. There is some location footage from the premieres of each film. The documentary also shows how marketing has been a success for films involved with retail. This is because there are some shots of the disney shop in London. Away from the success, there are some scenes where a man edits the trailer for a film and he explains how much of an important marketing tool they can be to attracting an audience.

SOUND

In 'Marketing Movies', the digetic sound of interviews and educational voiceovers led the narrative of the documentary. Some of the sound came as part of the archive footage and was shown in the clips from the movies. There was also some ambient sound which came from the interviews around Leicester Square on the night of the film premieres.

EDITING

'Marketing Movies' had slow paced editing and was there to give meaning to the documentary as it was educational. Cutaway shots kept the viewer interested in what was going on in between each interview. The documentary kept cutting to the archive footage. The interviews were edited to inter-cut between people to quickly make brief statements about an event. This is something that occurs not just in this documentary but in some others as well.

ARCHIVE MATERIAL

There was some film footage from titles such as 'The Lion King', 'Little Mermaid', 'The Lost World'. This was to document how they have had similar successes to 'Mouse Trap'. In relation, the footage from 'The Lost World' was part of a teaser trailer for the film, which is part of a giant franchise. A lot of the footage from Film Premiers was also archived material. 'Mouse Trap' had interviews in this documentary that once more, were part of the archive.

GRAPHICS

With a similarity to most documentaries, there were white graphics documenting a person's name and relation to the exposition below them. This is an attempt to not be too distracting to the viewer. There were some raphics which led sections of the documentary. Noteably, a graphic of a man holding a clipboard to try and structurise a description of social marketing to the audience. These were part of graphics to introduce each section of the documentary to every individual viewer.

DOCUMENTARY ANALYSIS - The Music Biz - Marketing Meatloaf

TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY

This documentary is a mixed documentary which mixes interviews, archive footage, observational evidience, pictures, voiceovers, cutaways and archive footage.

THEMES

This documentary talks about changes to the music industry in the 1990's and how Meat Loaf was remarketed to be a global success. 'The Music Biz' talks about how he was thought of as a Hard Rock artist and that before being repackaged as part of an alternative genre, he was a struggling artist likely to be forgotten. Getting him to become a success again was another battle of the music industry that is long and hard fought.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

This documentary follows a Linear Narrative. There is an explanation of how Meat Loaf was originally a global success at the begining. This helps to set up the story of the documentary to the audience. Problems had been identified by the time we reached the middle of the documentary. This was mostly that not all global audiences liked Meat Loaf and they thought he was too old fashioned. To them, he seemed very much like he was from the 1970s and 1990s.

The end of the documentary shows the success that he recieved for his album 'Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell'. He recieves a Grammy and a Brit award and proves that all of the hard work payed off.

CAMERAWORK

During the production of the 'I'll Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)' music video, we see a high angle looking down on Micheal Bay, making him look inferior to the audience. Close ups of the women are supposed to show how pretty she looks for the music video of this song. Strangely, during the interviews, one man had the camera facing to the side of his head whilst he talked and moved his head to look at the interviewer occasionally. A feature like this is very rare in documentaries and an audience may think of this as rather perculiar. There were noticable panning shots over the river and at virgin headquarters. These helped define their importance to the documentary, particularly at the Headquarters of Virgin. There is useage of a shot reverse shot at the awards cermonies which meat loaf attended at the end of the documentary.

MISE-EN-SCENE

Everything that was part of the mise-en-scene documentary was relevent to the exposition. This included Virgin Headquaters, the filming of the music videos, Radio Stations and Awards Ceremonies. In interviews, we saw a background of an artist's work of the CD covers and also the Magazine covers. This can be linked into Meat Loaf's re-found success and how they had been marketed for what was then a modern audience. Similar features from other struggling artists are presented to the audience. We were informed that Meat Loaf's new album was selling well and record stores such as Our Price and Virgin are now more relevant than they were at the start of the documentary. 

SOUND

'The Music Biz' used a lesser amount of digetic sound in comparison to other documentaries. This was the sound of people being interviewed. With regards to non-digetic sound, this sometimes came from when the narrator responds to what goes on screen. Sometimes a question would be put to an interview subject and the narrator provides the audience with answer. As this is a documentary talking about the music industry, it may seem catastrophic not to include the music of the artists that have been re-branded to be a success. This included Take That, Will Smith and YMCA. A lot of meaning was added to the documentary by the sounds of music, award ceremonies and interviews. 

EDITING

We saw two shots of Meat Loaf working with Micheal Bay so that the audience can observe the relationship between the two men. At the beginning we see a Montage of editing of Meat Loaf's past successes. This is full of a variety of short and relevant clips to the documentary. Between some of the interviews, there were some transitional dissolves to move from one subject to another through a blue screen. This was not done very well, however it may have been due to the technology around at the time the documentary was made. When interviewees became boring the editors would cutaway from the documentary. The rule of thirds was implemented in 'The Music Biz' because one person would appear on the left and another on the right of interviews. 

ARCHIVE MATERIAL

The documentary has large amounts of archived music videos involving Meatloaf, such as when he performed on Top of the Pops. Footage of Mr. Blobby and Take That makes an appearance, but more importantly Meatloaf's press conferences are shown to define important events which he is related to. 

GRAPHICS

To match Meat Loaf's Style, a Gothic white text on black background is used because of how it stands out to the audience. The 'Music Biz' titles are in Red and White, similar colours to the Virgin Logo. There were 'Magazine' style Graphics at times to to make the interviewees seem largely imposed. 'Virgin' style Headquaters are seen when we are introduced to the headquarters of virgin. For this small time, the documentary is more relevant to Virgin than Meat Loaf is to them.

DOCUMENTARY ANALYSIS - Lara Croft - That Thing

Lara Croft: That Thing

TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY

This was a mixed documentary. We know this because there was usage of cut aways and archive footage. There was also a voiceover, but it we did not often hear it because the documentary is dominated by interviews contributing to its structure. 

THEMES

The documentary focuses on feminist issues with Lara Croft such as objections with the fact that she has become a virtual sex icon for some males. The documentary explains how she has gained so much popularity and how the media has marketed Lara Croft as a brand. There are also themes of money and Hollywood, which came as a result of the fame generated. The creation of Lara Croft Hollywood films has drawn more attention to the franchise as a video game and a lot of the themes discussed in this documentary are now of a much larger influence to the game's audience.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

This documentary followed a linear narrative and has a clear opening, middle and end. The opening asks the question 'Who is Lara Croft and why was she created?'. We see footage from the game and find out more about her as a character. We are informed as to why she was made a female and not just another male. It was to represent power among females and how a virtual member of this gender can dominate a male's mind. Female video game characters were not often touched upon at the time of which the documentary was made and only were at the release of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in 1996. The middle of the documentary discussed how the game came to be so popular to its fanbase, who were not just a prodominatly male audience. There was also mention of the legacy of Lara Croft, most noteably the 2001 feature length film staring Lara Croft, which may never have been created without the development of the game five years previously. The documentary discusses how Lara Croft developed into an icon not just in the gaming world but also as a sex symbol for fans. We see images of how fans have recreated her for their pleasures.

CAMERAWORK

During the interviews, there was use of medium to extreme close ups whils the camera looked up at the subject. This demonstrate's the subject's power in relation to the documentary. Some of the super close ups in interviews only showed half of the subject's faces. A lot of the camera work was fast paced with a high usage of cut aways. Most noteably, we saw a fast paced over shoulder zoom out of a computer onto people playing Tomb Raider.

MISE-EN-SCENE

The mise-en-scene is all relevent to the documentary. This includes people playing the game in Computer Rooms. In what is most likely to be a different room, the documentary shows a the creator developing and editing the game. Behind the interviews, footage of people playing the game is projected onto a screen behind the subject. The fact that the creator of the game, Toby Gard, had his interview played and recorded from a computer screen shows power and this makes a statement that he is one of the dominant figures in the world related to Lara Croft. There is some film footage of Angelina Jolie being interviewed for the Hollywood film. Immediately, the development of the franchise has been noticed by someone who might have never heard about Lara Croft before the game. The rule of third must also be noted. This kept the viewers involved with what the documentary had to offer.

SOUND

Sometimes, the narrator's voice is dubbed over interviews and then the subject carries on talking. This is an easier way for an interview subject's evaluation of a fact mentioned by the narrator can be presented to the audience. On some occasions, Gun shot sounds and Lara Croft's in game voice are presented to the audience. These sounds are diagetic for anyone who plays the game, although during the interviews this is non-diagetic. Madonna was mentioned by an interview subject. This is relevent to the idea of Lara Croft being a sex icon for some players. At the point of her being mentioned, Madonna's music was played non-diagetically in the documentary. The game's advanced intensity is defined by the techno music that was part of a music bed. These music beds were constant to make her character appear randy to some members of the audience.

EDITING

A lot of the editing we saw was fast paced in the opening of the documentary but it did slow down in places. 'That thing's slower editing speeds between camera shots are most noticable when more important information is mentioned to the audience by a subject. This could be defined as a montage. Cut aways were very common but were squeezed in to the somewhat congested documentary because it was only 10 minutes long.

ARCHIVE FOOTAGE

In the short length of this documentary, there was a vast amount of archive material. The more obvious ones was the footage from the game and the Hollywood movie. There was an interview with Angelina Jolie, who talks about playing Lara Croft in a movie that was originally just a gaming franchise. Other archive footage included fan made web pages and tributes to Lara Croft because of how much they like her as a character. In the background of the interviews, footage of the game was projected onto a screen.

GRAPHICS

Like most documentaries, white graphics were used because these are more visable to the audience  in relation to the on screen colouring and on set lighting. The subject's name and their relation to Lara Croft was below their face so they they can keep talking. The credits featured a White 'BBC Bristol' logo, seen in a lot of programs featured in this area.

DOCUMENTARY ANALYSIS - The Devil Made Me Do It

TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY

This documentary was mixed because of its features of voiceovers, archived footage and getting both sides of the expositional arguement. We saw interviews with the fans of Maralyn Manson, the star himself, police officers and relatives of the Nun who had been murdered. There were also reconstructions of how the Nun came to be murdered.

THEMES

Death, Religion, Music and Crime. In mostly the middle of the documentary, it explains how these themes are all linked together. It does this by debating questions similar to 'Does the music of Maralyn Manson influence others in their youth to commit murder as part of an anti-religious hate crime?'. Maralyn Manson's music is often judged to be pro-satanist because of their lyrics and the heavy metal sound that some younger people listen to. The Religious side to the documentary is that some younger people who were thought to be Maralyn Manson fans murdered a Nun to mark the star's arrival in Italy.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

The documentary follows a Linear structure. The beginning makes a statement to the viewers about how three girl's satanic motivations could have influenced the nuns murder and a very brief look at people who are defending Manson and also those who critisise him. The exposition of 'Is Maralyn Manson is a puppet master or a scapegoat?' is now apparent by the middle of the piece. Some people felt that the acts he commits and the lyrics he sings made him a puppet master. Others, including Manson himself felt that the girls who murdered the Nun could have had other influences and was not happy that some people thought of him in this way. By the end of the documentary, the equilibrium had been restored and a final explanation to the three girl's sentances is justified by the narrator to the audiences. The idea of satanic vandalism has now been removed. Since this documentary is set in Italy, there were also voiceovers who acted as a small guide to the audience because they translated what some of the Italians said to English. This should not be confused with the narrator which we listen to throughout the documentary.

CAMERAWORK

The documentary begins with an establishing crane shot of a town an Italian town called Chiavenna, making it look vulnerable despite acting peaceful at first. We are told that this town is extremely important and relevent to the documentary because the murder of Nuns in a largely Catholic country such as Italy may be considerred more forbidden than anyone or anywhere else in the world. The church that is part of this community is among the first things we see with another estabilishing shot. There are some close ups on a lot of interviews to define the subject's power. Some really close shots show the horror on a woman's face after listening to the music of Maralyn Manson and read the lyrics to his songs. Canted high angles are used in the reconstruction of the Nun's death to help the audience envisage what went on in the moments leading up to her murder. In some ways, this helps the audience feel as though they acting as police during the reconstruction with the help of this angle. Static cameras and Handheld cameras are used in the reconstruction and have a similar effect to the canted high angles. Low camera angles are used onto Manson when he plays on stage in front of fans at his concert. This is to make him seem powerful whilst the film cross cuts to canted close ups of fans in the front row of his concert. This shot does make them seem insignificant, but the insiginificance is only really presented when a High Angle shot is looks down on his fans. As this is a mixed documentary, the shots may make Manson look as though he is brainwashing them to some members of the audience; one thing they may consider for their interpretation at the end of the film.

MISE-EN-SCENE

A large proportion of the documentary is set on location at the towns and proffesions of those involved. This includes those who are involved with the law, whose backdrops in some ways justify their relation to the exposition. There was a woman on a train who wearing red. The colour represents blood and with this documentary focusing on a murder investiagation, the clothes themselves helps this woman to have an impact on the audience's knowledge knowing that she has now been affected by the situation.

Maralyn Manson interviewed in dressing room in several cuts of 'The Devil Made Me Do It'. This does not only show that he is a star but rather define himself to the exposition.

SOUND

'The Devil Made Me Do It' features Digetic Sounds to try and heighten the audience's emotion. Heart beats and the ringing of church bells help to keep the overall atmosphere of this documentary at the somewhat electrifying to watch. Other sounds included when Manson sang his songs to his fans. This is diagetic sound, although the way he sings his songs is hard to understand for some audience members. Therefore, his lyrics were dubbed onto the central bottom of the screen. The sound of his songs could be seen as evil, which is completely the opposite to the church bells seeming harmonious to listen to. With regards to Non-Digetic sound, voiceovers are a common feature when an interview subject needs to be translated.

EDITING

'The Devil Made Me Do It' uses a Shot Reverse Shot so that the audience can be presented with two sets of people; Manson and his fans. This is edited so that Manson could be judged as a puppet master to his fans during the concerts. Shot reverse shots also present a confliction between Manson and the Media. Especially at the introduction of Manson's fans, fast paced editing gives an indication to the audience that an important event is about to happen, that event being his concert. The editing became slow motion to emphasise the vulnerabilty of Manson's Fans.

ARCHIVE MATERIAL

In 'The Devil Made Me Do It', Maralyn Manson's music videos are used as an introduction to the man himself and his characterisation. Immediately, due to the content of his music videos, the audience get an impression of his personality. When there was a shooting at Columbine High School in America, archive footage of a news report which wrongly blamed manson for his influence helped Manson tell of how he was used as a scapegoat after the Nun's murder. The Nun's funeral was included as archive material in this documentary to try and make the audience feel sad for a past event that has taken place. There was footage of Religious Festivals in 'The Devil Made Me Do It', however we do not know for certain as to whether this is archive footage or it was filmed as part of the documentary.

GRAPHICS

'The Devil Made Me Do It' title has gothic graphics with a white text and black background. This helps the graphics stand out in to the audience in a ghostly way. During interviews, white text is used again in a bold Arial font showing the name of the subject and their relation. Depending on the camera angles, these graphics may switch sides each time we are presented with a new interview subject and also depending on the close up camera angle at which they were filmed. Sometimes, the text would be written in Italic when someone is representing an institution. A similar white text with a black background in credits is seen in the credits. Manson's song lyrics have a transparent background with a white text when he sings his songs that is in the centre of the screen.

Questions

Vox Pops Questions 

Do you prefer getting a takeaway to cooking your own meal?

Is there something that you frequently order from a takeaway?

Do you think about eating healithy when you order a takeaway meal?

Do you find takeaways too expensive?

Is there a type of takeaway that you never order food from?

Do some takeaways take too long to be delievered?

Do you ever use the vouchers and discounts that some takeaways offer?

Do adverts on television ever convince you to buy takeaway?

Would you order healthy meals from a takeaway if you were given the option?

Is 5-a-day something that you try and stick to?

Are the drinks from takeaways usually good value for money?

Would you prefer less sauce with your takeaway meal?

Do you like spicy food?

Do you like ordering deserts from takeaways?

When do you choose to have a takeaway?

Do you like to order takeaways from the same company each time?

Do you recieve takeaway menus through the post?

Do you collect takeaway menus?

Are you always satisfied with the overall service you recieve from takeaways?


Interview Questions


Why do you think takeaways are so popular?


What makes your takeaway unique?


Do you offer any of your customers discounts?


How do you try to compete with other takeaways?


Is there a time of the week when you receive more customers than usual or is every day different?


How do you promote your business? 


Have you ever removed something from your menu because it wasn't getting many sales? 


What is your most popular meal that people order?


Do you provide any healthy options on your menu?


Is your takeaway part of a Franchise? 


Do you think that more awareness is needed about eating healthily? 

Research Records

We needed to make list of all of the places we have collected research from. Our sources included data from the internet,  takeaway menus, websites, and graphs. All of the sources that have collected information from are on this list, along with notes on exactly what information we collected from the source; and why. We shall credit all of our sources in our documentary. This will allow us to keep track of them and allows us to review our sources for things such as reliability or extra information at a later date.

Our research record sheets can be seen here: