ANALYSING DOCUMENTARIES
My Brother The Terrorist- Robb Leech
I recently have watched a documentary named 'My Brother The Terrorist' by Robb Leech who's step-brother became a terrorist. This documentary is a reflection of his first documentary named 'My Brother The Islamist' where he follows his brother's transfer to Islam, this documentary showing clips from the original to fill the audience in on the information if they hadn't watched the first. Robb Leech, the film maker, is learning about why his brother did a terrorist attack and is researching into what had influenced him to follow his actions, interviewing Anjem Choudary to see what may of influenced him; Choudary being the most controversial muslim preacher and the man who converted him.
This documentary is in the mode of expository and participatory as he uses news report clips to show to the audience with a voice over and he is also travelling and researching the information he wants to learn about his brother. Leech uses lots of establishing shots to show the audience where he is and the music fits perfectly to the image such as when he visits the mosque and you can hear the prayers from inside. He also manages to use security footage for similar use as news reports to show the audience that this was all real and not made up. Robb also manages to use first person cameras to make the audience feel that they are involved in the situations happening around them, one of these situations being at the protests and preaching of muslims. When there are imagery shots there is usually a voice over to keep the audience entertained and interested in the topic.
This documentary is very well planned out and can be seen that it took years to film and put together, allowing you to appreciate the effort that he put into the documentary. I enjoy many aspects of the documentary such as the first person camera and investigating into the situations but will not work in my own documentary as it is in a different mode and these elements wouldn't work in a poetic documentary. Although I cannot use it for my own, these elements work well in this type of documentary as it makes the audience feel involved in the documentary and gives them the view of being there at the time although released years later. Some other aspects I enjoy are the voice overs, which I will be using in my own, to make the audience understand what is going on and the use of the music. The music works well with the shots shown, something I want to achieve in my own documentary to provoke emotions in the audience.
Louis meets Jimmy Savile- Louis Theroux
Recently I have watched a few documentaries by Louis Theroux including this one about Jimmy Savile, a music star who had claims of being a pedophile after his death. Louis Theroux lived with Jimmy for an extended amount of time to investigate his situation and trying to understand the celebrity to a better standard and to get some knowledge in how he thinks and acts. Many times Louis asks a question to Jimmy, Jimmy reflects the question back at Louis for asking 'negative questions' and often when speaking about popularity says it is because of Louis' presence compared to Jimmy Savile his self.
This mode of documentary is participatory as Louis investigates his self with a member of the camera crew, staying at Jimmy's house and trying to get to know him better. Louis uses establishing shots so the audience are up to date with where they are in their journey but most of his documentary is focused on Jimmy, the camera staying fixated on Jimmy or Louis for most of the time. Louis is good at getting across the mood they are experiencing in the room at the time to the audience watching, all of us feeling the awkwardness between Louis and Jimmy and understanding Louis' situation to a good understanding without being with them on the journey. Louis manages to keep the audience interested as he asks very important questions that Jimmy either quiets down or doesn't respond to, making the audience question why he won't answer these questions and to see if Louis gets any response in the future.
This documentary is interesting in a different way to 'My Brother the Terrorist' as it is an investigation and leaves the audience wanting to learn more about the man, especially after all the accusations after his death occurred. Having the documentary focused on a big celebrity also interests the audience as they wonder why a documentary was made about them, Jimmy Savile having a name that everyone has heard of now and again. Louis doesn't use much music in the background of his documentary to keep it as realistic as possible but when music is used they fit with the situation at hand and the shots being shown. This is something I want to achieve in my own as in this documentary he makes all elements of the documentary important, myself wanting to express this in my own.
My Scientology Movie- Louis Theroux
As mentioned before, I have also watched another documentary by Louis Theroux called 'My Scientology Movie.' Louis investigates into the religion of Scientology and starts to interfere with a past member, wanting to understand what happens in the religion and starts getting responses from other members of the religion that harass him and the man with him from the past group. Louis tries to reveal the inner workings of this religion in a comedic style, not being afraid of the group that try their best to keep him out and to stop him from gaining any information on the group of people and what they believe in.
Louis' documentaries all have a level of investigation and the mode of documentaries of participatory as he is always involved in his investigations and on the camera. Like his other documentary, he uses establishing shots to keep the audience up to date but keeps the audience focused on his self and the people that try to harass him throughout his journey. Louis uses a comedic style throughout this documentary as it keeps the audience entertained but manages to keep a level of seriousness in his documentary that reminds the audience what he is going through and dealing with while making this documentary. Similarly to 'Louis meets Savile' he is good at getting across the mood they are experiencing in the room at the time to the audience watching, such as in this documentary the danger that he puts his self towards while making this documentary.
This documentary is interesting to the audience as little is known about the topic and many people have their own opinions on what goes on, myself wanting to implement it into my own documentary. By speaking about a topic that is so touchy to speak about makes the documentary stand out from others as unique and dangerous for what the group is known for. Like his other documentary I have analysed, he doesn't use much music as he wants to keep it focused on the subject and to keep it much more realistic, not trying to sway your thoughts by the use of music as music can help give you a different opinion, Louis keeping the overall documentary realistic and open minded.
References
YouTube. (2017). My Brother The Terrorist: trailer. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/v-Gf2gxcdnY [Accessed 3 Oct. 2017].
YouTube. (2017). Louis Theroux S01E01 Jimmy Savile. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/D36totUKLLQ [Accessed 1 Nov. 2017].
YouTube. (2017). My Scientology Movie Official Trailer 1 (2016) - Documentary. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/Rld_9l7t_nQ [Accessed 1 Nov. 2017].
