Evaluation

Here I will be evaluating the entire process of the media product we have created - such as the methods and programs used in the process of filming and editing used, and feedback from audiences we have learned from.

In what ways do my media product use, develop or challenges forms and conventions of real media products?
In order to result in a good product it was important to analyse real professional media and its advertisements to promote its products in regard to the four important aspects of convincing and notable filming: camera shots, editing, sound and mise-en-scene. By subscribing to and using forms of real media products we were able to make a much more convincing and less amateur documentary film, and this is very important in order for our product to be more convincing and effective in its intent to satisfy our target audience.

As the base time for our documentary is limited to 5 minutes, showing just a brief fragment of a supposed entire documentary, it is therefore our aim to convey both a storyline, setting and characters while entrancing our audience, showing them a lot while showing them a little.

Our documentary begins with an establishing shot to identify that it is Brighton. We decided the pier would be a good introduction to show this as it is a famous landmark of the city, subsequently followed with other various clips to establish. It is typical of documentaries to use such an introduction to set the setting of their film and intended plot or idea; this is coupled and overlapped with the voice-over, another feat of real documentaries to further emphasise a point, conveying that it is in fact Brighton we are seeing, while explaining what has happened to the city.

Other notable production techniques we used also found in real media products include the use of text, intended to define. We used this during the introduction of the main character, Alice Crane, and what her role was, as well as during the steps of infection scene to set up what is to happen; this is triply overlapped as we have the voice-over explaining what is happening, the text, and the scene itself acting out the process.

We also used many fade and blur effects between the scenes of zombie transformation phases and reconstructions to highlight their separation from each other, while still maintaining the voice-over and continuing non-diegetic music.

Most of our camera shots were purposely taken handheld, something that would be used in these kinds of mockumentaries. The mostly ubiquity use of this technique allows for a constant sense of unsteadiness and suspense, subscribing to the conventions of such a documentary intended to present such feelings. Perhaps another convention we unconsciously followed is the fact that we did not use over-the-shoulder shots for the interview, but rather an off-camera interviewer whose voice we hear - therefore focusing on Alice Crane.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?
The title 'The Dead City' implies two dark concepts both true of our documentary: the upcoming absence of human life - the fact that people are dead within the city; and, as a city is supposed to be populated, it also implies the city is filled with those who are not alive, i.e. the undead. Through the various shots we used we were able to display both these concepts in our documentary, as follows:

The absence of life evident in the empty buildings and streets:

The upcoming overtake of zombies:

For the documentary and my ancillary tasks to be effective in directly complementing each other to present 'The Dead City', I enlaced the concept explained above of the ambiguity of the title of the documentary with my poster. The DVD and BD front cover for the television series 'The Walking Dead' below was helpful and an influence in my completed poster as they present a lone survivor entering a city overrun by 'Walkers', and I too wanted to create this effect.

My ancillary poster:

As this is made to be an advertising poster it was important to replicate the use of intended advertising to an audience, that is, to draw attention and persuade. The poster suggests something has happened within Brighton as evident in the broken glass or degraded font used for the masthead and title of our documentary, 'The Dead City', and the sub heading displaying the day and time the documentary will be shown. The colours red and black were a must due to their fusion of darkness and blood connotations which further elicit thoughts that something has happened within the city, without giving too much away. As our documentary would be shown on Channel 4 it was important to include their logo as they do on all of their programmes. I edited the contrast of the logo to fit the colouring of the fog.

Building on my experience of using Photoshop at AS, I used various effects to affect. The main effects used were intended to darken the buildings to create a feeling of eeriness and, coupled with the word 'Dead' in the title, macabre. The following links were also helpful in the production of my poster:

http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/photo-effects-tutorials/create-a-dark-and-gloomy-photo-manipulation-in-photoshop/

http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/photo-effects-tutorials/photoshop-compositing-secrets/

The fog used was to create a sense of the supernatural and otherworldliness, again without giving too much away, in order to attract the audience, while still directly telling them that something is coming. I was able to create the fog effect thanks to this very easy to follow and very well explained video:

http://infiniteskills.com/blog/2011/03/photoshop-cs5-tutorial-render-filter-fog-effects-and-lens-flairs/

                                                My ancillary double page spread:

I produced the double-page spread in Microsoft Publisher, and used the following sizes from this very helpful article in order to produce the double-page spread layout:
http://www.scrappersguide.com/tips_ps/double-page-layout-ps/


The photograph I took was edited in Photoshop once again using the fog effect for a sense of otherworldliness and a sense of the uncanny. While using some of the effects which I learned while producing my ancillary poster and making some other alterations - wanting to darken the sky to continue the horror element to represent a dead city, I used this helpful guide for that task and ended up creating my own effect:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1510924/creating_a_dark_blue_sky_in_photoshop/

One very important aspect of both my poster and my double page spread is the use of relevant fonts: I used various fonts within my double-page spread to keep with a constant sense of threat and violence, and this coupled with the wording which would be read by audiences would ensure not to detach from this sense, keeping them engaged with the genre so as not to derail into a tangent of irrelevance. As with the majority of magazines and double-page spreads they often begin a sentence with an enlarged letter, and I downloaded and installed the following font to follow that convention, using a blood-dripping 'A':
http://www.dafont.com/cold-night-for-alligators.font

The quote overlapping the photograph of my double-page spread reads "We knew we would have to go through the city soon, but...", and I used this font:
http://www.dafont.com/i-still-know.font
I decided to use this pull quote from the documentary said by our protagonist Alice Crane to once again emphasise that feeling of the unknown in order to have readers wanting to know what it is that has happened in this city.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?
We uploaded our documentary onto the popular video-sharing website YouTube where videos can be uploaded, shared and viewed - and commented on; by taking advantage of this, we were able to receive some feedback and criticism from people, allowing us to learn from our mistakes, and what could have been done instead.

While receiving positive praise for our production...

... we also came across some helpful criticism, such as:

From this feedback, it is identifiable that at the time within the video around 4:00-4:46, the non-diegetic music used began to overwhelm the voice-over explaining the steps of infection and symptoms of turning into a zombie, particularly at the specific times of 4:23 and 4:46. During editing we manipulated the volume of both the voice-over and various non-diegetic soundtracks used to try and prevent the unbalance of their sounds as we too identified this happening sometimes, such as during the fence grabbing scene at 0:59-1:00. Here is the documentary video again if you would like to check these times:

Another piece of criticism we received was from a teacher who suggested it might have been a good idea to use a different clip at 0:24-0:29 because the clip used does not align with the dialogue which states at 0:24-0:25, "As the infection ravaged the city..." He said that we should have shown something that displayed 'ravaging' in lieu of the clip used, such as the stock footage from 2:15-2:35, or something entirely different. While I agree with this statement to some extent, I personally see the clip used as being very usable due to the graffiti of the acronym 'DNA' on the wall (as seen to the right), suggesting that the infection has, in fact, 'ravaged' the city in taking over the DNA of humans to genetically mutate them into zombies.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
The documentary was constructed on a MAC by using the Apple software iMovie, into which we uploaded the camera footage for the editing of effects, such as the flash cuts between various scenes, and sound: this includes the voice-overs which we were to cut up to fit into each appropriate scene and align with the footage, as with the steps of infection and "Dr. Brovich's" voice; and also the various non-diegetic soundtracks used. By using this software we were able to place together scenes at our pleasure, discussing amongst each other about changing scenes which we were all happy with, taking into account each other's opinions through our course to the final product.

I did some research into what is the framework and heart of the documentary - zombies and, surprisingly, documentaries in general - and for me the internet was the driving force in media technology to discover these things. I have various websites within some of my blog posts linking to some of the sources to which I used within the construction, research and planning of the documentary. The YouTube film making group "videomaker" (click here for their channel) are an extremely helpful group of people (whose ideas I have taken into account and have some of their videos embedded in my blog posts) by creating videos dedicated to video production skills, creating immensely relevant videos such as this:

My ancillary tasks were made through the use of Photoshop CS5, an extremely useful and detailed editing and manipulation software with which I was able to construct a portrayal of 'The Dead City'. In addition, the following websites were helpful in obtaining tips for Photoshop in creating my ancillary tasks, especially the first one:
http://psd.tutsplus.com/
http://www.creativepro.com/

Part 3: The Dead City

This blog post is the final addition of the zombie documentary process parts, displaying the completed documentary itself and the advertising ancillary tasks (i.e. advertising poster and double page spread) intended to promote our documentary.

Documentary


Ancillary Tasks
Please click on the images below to enlarge them for a more viewable viewing.

Zombie Fun

Here are some recent fun articles and videos regarding zombies:

Zombie Mall

Lee Fields organised an event where he rented out Friar's Walk shopping centre in Reading in which the public were invited to attend to experience what it would be like in a real zombie apocalypse, and Fields expressing that the zombie actors "take it very seriously" and "know how to get inside people's heads". Here are some images from that event (taken from the second article on this event below)

The people engaging in this event were given tactical vests and airsoft guns, allowing them to experience, in reality, something zombie fans would love to occur - and the realistic and very professional make up makes it even better.

Below are two articles regarding this event. All the images above were taken from the second article (titled 'What it's like to be in a zombie invasion'):

'Zombies' move into disused Reading shopping centre

What it's like to be in a zombie invasion

Zombie Race

There was a brilliant 'survival theme' zombie race today on Sunday 15th April in the Philippines in which thousands of people had to run 3 miles while avoiding 200 zombies; each person holds 3 flags, and if they lose all 3 they are out - or 'dead'. Check out the link below!

Zombie Racing

Filming the Documentary (Part 2: process of development)

Storyboards and Shooting Schedule
Planning storyboards are an important initial stage in production to outline the framework of what it is you are to be producing - we have found the use of them extremely useful in that we have been able to note down our ideas and form a jagged and basic plot which we can later refine during the filming process and through our use of editing to result in a smooth flow of clips.

Below is a video from a channel I am enjoying the videos of which illustrates the importance of storyboards and a shooting schedule, and I have taken into account the helpful ideas presented.

The shooting schedule, displayed below, is also a very important piece of direction in that we can arrange meet-up times outside of Sixth Form time in order to gather more footage through our course to completion, putting more time into our documentary to refine edges through coherent discussion and agreement.

Important Aspects
In the process of filming a documentary there are a few things that we must take into account for a quality result.

1. Sound
In my opinion the monitoring of diegetic and creation and manipulation of non-diegetic sound is one of the most important aspects of gaining a good and more realistic recording result. When filming we must be cautious of diegetic sound: this includes both any unnecessary sound made by someone we are filming such as unwanted footsteps, coughing and moving objects; and, more importantly, any external sound and background noise such as other people's voices and cars. There is also the danger of post filming noises such as humming and fuzzes which will, if they occur, most likely be noticeable in our interviewing scene. Below is a video that may help us eliminate such noises if we are to encounter that problem:



The result of the maintenance of diegetic sound can be effective in our documentary: silence can add great effect to scenes, and pure diegetic voice that we may use in the interview scene will provide a much more eerie element. Non-diegetic sound can result in an effectively conveyed scene such as relevant music or sounds. The use of this can be particularly effective in our zombie documentary e.g. eerie noises and/or music to create a dark tone.

2. Editing
Another important aspect of a successfully conveyed documentary is the detailed use of editing, a post production phase. The use of editing enables shots to flow together smoothly in telling the story. Our shots will be combined together in accordance with our script (voice overs) to convey a higher sense of reality.

3. Camera
Depending on what camera shots are used the scene will be conveyed very differently. We have taken into account the kinds of camera shots and angles we wish to use in filming our documentary; for example, during the interviewing scene the camera, shot at different angles, is static, while the scene shot in photograph 4 below is handheld to portray more of a disturbed and uneasy representation of a victim.

4. Mise-en-scene
The mise-en-scene is what creates the visual environment. The composition of the lighting, location, movement of the camera and characters etc. are all important influences in the filming process as they are the core element in telling our story; mise-en-scene is something visible, while editing is not.

Photographs
These are some photographs we took as group to present our process of filming scenes, displaying the types of camera shots and angles we captured, trying out different techniques aiming to portray different results.

Final Idea: Zombie Documentary (Part 1: research into final idea)

The final and decided idea is going to be a group documentary about zombies. For this I have done some research regarding zombies in general as well as special effects, costumes, editing techniques for such a genre and actual aired zombie documentaries. These things all provide an informative and helpful framework to filming our documentary

'The Walking Dead' is a post-apocalyptic TV series about zombies called "walkers" who take over the world.  Below is a behind the scenes video of a specific walker in the series and how they designed the very good costume, make-up and entire physiognomy of the girl.



Here's some fun articles about zombies!:
5 Popular Zombie Survival Tactics (That Will Get You Killed)
5 Reasons You Secretly Want a Zombie Apocalypse
7 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Outbreak Would Fail (Quickly)

Remember to follow the rules of Zombieland!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY0D6qUrRCg&feature=related

I have recently re-watched an anime series I love called 'Highschool of the Dead'. It is about an infection that breaks out in a school that turns people into zombies. The infection is cause by one zombie outside the locked school gate trying to break its way into the school. One man tries to push the man away from the gate but is attacked as a result, causing him, on the inside of the gate, to become infected, causing the spread of the infection through the school. It follows a group of characters trying to escape from the school to find out what has happened, only to discover that their city and entire country is rapidly being infected. They are then forced to keep on the move and survive.

This is the opening for the anime:



I have found an informative 5 part 2008 documentary titled ZombieMania which details zombies and how they have evolved over the years, evident in the montage editing at the beginning, taking into account all sorts of zombies in things such as horror films and even mockumentaries such as Shaun of the Dead. It also includes interviews with various famous people such as make up artists.

Initial Ideas

Before filming the final documentary idea I had various initial ideas prior to making a final decision on what to film, and this section of my blog is dedicated those initial ideas. You will also find below various hyper-links that I have provided and highlighted blue for further reading and information of the topic of interest. There will also be some Japanese words that you may not know the meaning of that I have also provided links to definitions and descriptions for.

Japanese Culture
Discovering that I would be having to film a documentary upon starting A2 Media Studies my initial thought was to go for something in my top interests - I then remembered watching the documentary 'Justin Lee Collins: Turning Japanese' at the beginning of 2011 and decided to re-watch it. The series is a three part travel documentary in which Justin Lee Collins travels to Japan in an attempt to integrate into and understand Japanese culture. Below are some images taken from the show:

Here is the opening video of the documentary:



The idea for filming such a documentary was one of my initial ideas where I would film by myself; a solo piece of documentary coursework. I was thinking of adapting my interest of Japanese culture by means of filming Japanese events that I often attend, one of which is upcoming in March 2012. I wanted to do it similar to Justin Lee Collins's documentary by showing the different elements of amazing Japanese culture including traditional (e.g. kimono and calligraphy) and contemporary pop culture (i.e. anime). This would be filmed by means of general observation mode and interactive mode in which I participate in events and narrate over the camera. The purpose of the documentary would be to educate, entertain and inform people about amazing Japanese culture.

Anime and Otaku Culture
Another part of Japanese culture includes anime. Anime is actually the Japanese word for 'animation' but in the West its taken to specifically mean Japanese animation. I have a great interest in Japanese anime (my wall in my room is filled with posters and I have a big collection of anime and related items) and have attended anime festivals in the past. Below is an example clip of an anime, from one of my favourite series called 'Clannad' (click here for more information on this series, adapted from a 'Visual Novel'):



This anime interest is sometimes stretched further in people and some people consider themselves 'Otaku' (click here for the definition and brief description). There is an event in Japan called Comiket held twice a year in Japan dedicated to Otaku interests where they can buy various goods. These events are attended by many people every year. Below is a video of people waiting to enter Comiket 81 to pick up their Doujinshi and other goods (people are more visible around 1:28):



I was thinking of filming a documentary on the topic of anime interests and the breadth and dedication it extends to. It would be filmed using a lot of interactive mode followed up with interviews of anime enthusiasts. The purpose of the documentary would be aimed at people interested in this part of Japanese culture and would be to inform them about this growing Otaku culture.

Languages, Polyglottery and Open-mindedness
The topical interest of this documentary would be to entertain and inform people of language learning, polyglots and open-mindedness, and the beneficial results of language learning. Due to my interest in language learning coupled with my college being a language college I thought that this may have been an interesting documentary. It would show language learners and their background in language learning, as well as their methods. Much observational and interview filming would be used to inform people and let them see people using and explaining their methods, the result of this being an informed target audience - language learners.  I would also show how far language learning can go and the dedication people put to it; below is an amazing video of Alexander Arguelles (click here for his Wikipedia page) and his polyglottery work:



The documentary would also take into account 'open-mindedness', a concept I was motivated and influenced by from Moses McCormick, a famous polyglot. He too
has his own YouTube channel; below are two very interesting and important videos that I really like and that I highly recommend watching:





Moses also has his own website that offers material that can be purchased for learning languages using the 'FLR technique' - Moses's technique for language learning. Click here to visit his website.

Some other influential Polyglots that have inspired me include Luca, Steve Kaufmann and Richard Simcott, all with YouTube channels videoed below:

Luca:


Steve Kaufmann:
Steve Kaufmann made and compiled a very helpful and interesting playlist of videos in regard to language learning which he calls 'The Seven Secrets of Language Learning'. Click here to view the playlist.

Kaufmann also has his own website designed for people to sign up to and learn via what he stresses to be the most effective way of learning languages - reading text in the native language while listening to that text and building vocabulary. The website is called LingQ and I am a member.

Richard Simcott:

Target Audience Questionnaire

The documentary questionnaire aims to provide us with information by gathering information about what kind of target audience a Zombie documentary would mostly appeal to. This questionnaire is split into two parts: the purpose of the first part is to provide general information about whether or not people in fact watch documentaries; the second part consists of information about our Zombie documentary, and if this would appeal to people.

Part one of our documentary questionnaire consists of general questions regarding whether or not the viewing of documentaries is integrated into people's television viewing habits, and if they follow them on a regular basis. The purpose of this questionnaire is to inform us of what kind of documentaries people are interested in. The questions are multiple choice in order to gather more quantitative data in order to provide us with information relevant to our research before we begin to film our documentary.

Part two of the questionnaire focuses more on the topical interest of our documentary - Zombies. It consists of questions regarding whether or not people have watched a Zombie documentary and, if not, if they would be interested in this idea. It also takes into account the process of content on television in relation to the watershed - what time people think such a documentary should be shown, taking into account children's viewing habits and if parents would allow their children to watch a potentially frightening and gory documentary.

Newspaper Articles

Documentary Notes

'Cloverfield'

> Mockumentary - text used at beginning to make it seem like real footage
> Ubiquitous use of handheld camera - shaky at points of detestation - that would happen; realism
> Date/time on camera
> Realism - cuts in camera filming disaster
> Distant police/ambulance/fire engine alarms
> Screaming
> Helicopters
> Megaphone
> When the monster first attacked - crowds of people running away - lost in crowds of people: use of realism

'Kids Behind Bars: It's Just My Life - Trouble'

> Intro sequence:

> Fighting/knives/language - they want us to be shocked, want us to know they are violent by means of this portrayal

> CCTV cameras - from a height - they are being monitored by someone "higher up" than them

> Fast editing - hooking audience in - cramming info

> Style of music builds tension

> Shots from a trampoline - childlike

> Camera is always shaky, but subtle, when interviewing boys (to create a sense of ubiquitous unsteadiness - keeping audience on the edge as if the kids will lash out at any point); yet camera is still when interviewing staff - the staff are portrayed as "stable" and kids "unstable", portrayed so we view the staff as "right"

> in interviewing room with all staff - a head in the way - we are literally positioned in with these people, so the audience are positioned and invited as one of these "right" people, further enhances kids as outsiders

'How the Other Half Live'

> Establishing shots of the scene/area

> Emphasises how poor they are (broken bed, debts, wishes for new bed) - "I have a mountain of bills"

> Emphasises crime - isolated in home; many locks on door

> Dark lighting/colours used

> Juxtapositions with white wealthy family, shows how 'great' their lives are

> Much brighter lighting/colours used

> Emphasises how rich and educated the white family is

> Big, luxurious garden

> Contrast between the rich and the poor emphasised largely through mise-en-scene to create contrasting representations that are then juxtaposed

> The editors choice in using specific toy - the girl presses a button and it speaks, "What should I buy?" - highlights sum of money they own and what they can freely think of buying

> Visits Gumpo's home - use of sad, melancholic music

> When white girl is being interviewed - lays on her expensive bed

'The Conspiracy Files: 9/11 Ten Years On'

> Dramatic reconstruction

> Use of the clock - builds tension

> Interviewed on stairs

> Filming an interview on TV - referring to a source

> "Sources say..." - reliable?

> Experts interviewed

'The Boys who Killed Stephen Lawrence'

> Chance police to confront racism...

> "...not enough evidence"

> Surveillance footage of suspected murderer - investigating them undercover

> Interview with best friend (Duwayne Brooks) with crime writer, family solicitor: "didn't act in the first 24 hours" - most important hours, forensic evidence

> Reconstruction footage of murder

> Crime scene photos (blood on ground; real footage)

> Fade to black/montage section repeated

> Black bin liner photograph - police did not act on it - forensic + identification evidence - "a golden opportunity missed"

> Took 13 days until arrest warrants were attained

> Use of real police tape recorded interview

> Photographs of various knives/weapons of suspects

> Montage of gang/group (group photograph) - they had a passion for knife usage - in order to join this group you had to stab somebody - 4 successful, but no prosecutions

> Interview with a victim

> Covert police camera footage in a plug socket - "vicious, racist material"

> But - didn't talk about murder, only caught racist behaviour

> Told how to behave

> Interview footage of each suspect

> Visits their homes - do not answer their doors

> Operation Athena Tower - case could still not be solved

> John Davidson - suspicion of corrupting - for money - bribed (£500)

> "...a gross miscarriage of justice"

'Bowling for Columbine'

> Michigan - open an account at North Country Bank and you get a free gun - "Do you think it's a little dangerous handing out guns in a bank?"

> Can buy bullets in the hairdressers

> Michigan Militia - "...American tradition to be armed, if you're not armed you're not responsible. It's your job to defend you and yours."

> Columbine High School shootings - uses real police phone calls

> 11,127 gun shootings a year in US - more than any other country

> use of animation, historical footage, modern footage, interviews

> Moore emphasises his points through facts - Y2K, killer bees (year 2000), hidden razorblade in apple at Halloween - kids not allowed to go out at night - scaring the American public (propaganda: media, politicians)

> "Black crime" - choosing what people watch ("African" killer bees; "Africanized bees") - Arthur Butsch: "...black people have become an entertainment")

> Crime crates dropping, fear of crime increasing

> Moore: "You can't see the Hollywood sign because of pollution - why no coverage on that?"; "Arrest for polluting up the air" - sergeant ignores him

> "do a show called 'Corporate Cops'"

> Canada, Windsor, across from Detroit - 1 gun crime in 3 years - "very low"

> Canadians - not pumped with fear via the chosen content of the media

> Canadians - don't have to pay for healthcare

> (Kayla Rolland shooting)

> Flint, Michigan

> After 9/11 bombings - gun sales 70%, Ammo 140%

> Kids won against K-Mart to stop selling fire arms and ammo

> Expository and interactive style of documentary

> Intervention - Moore mostly acts in a proactive mode (involved in the important questions of the film and in answering them)

'Best in Show'

> Camera: handheld at beginning - unstable, psychiatrist - 2 shots, interviews

> Lots of medium/close ups - a lot of conversation/confined in

> Talks to camera - cameraman passive

> Setting - dog owners' homes

>  Long shots of dogs - examining

> Handheld camera - realistic - places the audience within the frame

> Sound: Diegetic - interview/voices/clapping

> 'Champion' music when dog show starts

> Commentary/megaphone, audience clapping

> Crowd's applause dims when guy tells awkward joke; crowd dies down when commentators speak

> Mise en scene: dog show

> A lot of different locations - different kids of dog owners. Stadium.

> Editing: Slow cuts - formal/realistic, names of interviewees and dog owners on screen

> Mayflower Dog Shows

> Brings characters together

> Realistic portrayal of owners and pets

'This is Spinal Tap'

> a parody of the heavy metal rock genre - "rockumentary"

> people thought they were a real band - ended up releasing music as that band

> setting - venues - 'opening party night', NYC; Fidelity Hall, Philadelphia

> Interview in garden - deadpan interviews

> Text over video

> Band members talking over each other - not scripted - improvised talk

> Archive footage as children - grew up together writing songs, emphasises its conveying it as real

> Handheld camera - interviews, backstage footage, live convert

> Medium/close ups of band members on stage - interviews/up in conversation

> Low angle shots coupled with medium/close ups in fan crowds - as if we're to admire them, makes us feel as if we're in the crowd

> Can see the interviewer on screen

'The Most Hated Family in America'
> Protests about homosexuals/homosexuality: protest signs, shouting/confronting public about their arguement
>Theroux - narration - informative/sarcastic
  - challenges their views + religion - 10 commandments - adultery, not homosexuality
> Interactive - Theroux in documentary, follows them on their protests, interviewing family members - especially mother - supposed to raise children in a positive manner (the children will be told their mother is right because she is one of their socialisation figures) - conveys his message about their wrong doings.
> Family driven by religion - "God hates fags"
> Handheld camera, tracking - following family to observe their messages in a realistic situation. Theroux "keeps distance" when they protest - not part of it - further emphasises his arguement, limited to that community
> Public questions - children are made to be involved in discriminating
   - out of touch with contemporary society
> Megan + Bekah - daughters - "no posters of boy bands"; never had boyfriends - "a waste of time." Friends are limited to the people within the group who agree with the message.
> Theroux defines their following as a cult
> The entire community of the group all singing their message in a parody of Christianity - extremists
> Looking at photographs of family members - "Is she gone?", "Those who have gone away" - seems as if they are discussing who has passed away - but they only left that negative community, and no longer accepted as part of the family


> Theroux always keeps a straight face - serious, jokes about it
    - gets a reaction of the girl in regard to "temptation" - a touchy subject
> Fades to black - end of interview - that's it, definite
> A lot of close ups when talking to man - between Louis and the man - up in conversation to discuss the topical arguement
> Louis challenges with facts - gets a reaction out of him
> Children - "they have friendly aquaintences" - not friends - "Do you think they would want to come to our house?"
> Louis asks child "Do you know what the sign means?" - "No." - mother pumping hatred into him; she is socialising them this way to integrate within that community, "Grooming them into the weird behaviour of this group" (Louis)
> University - girl - "I have aquantences"
   - Louis, questions about dating
> "As the time passed I could feel myself getting to know the family"; "...a more human side to their personalities" (girls) - scene provides a sense of friendship and companionship, then immediately contrasts/juxtapositions with the child being injured as being part of that group - 7 years old - their children are victims via their socialisation to discriminate
> On sign - "FAG USA" - American flag flipped upside down, indicates America as a whole is twisted and different from the group
> Crosscutting - "eat your babies", then cuts to shot of a baby - juxtaposition
> A man tied American flag to his shoes - stepping on his own country's values
> Shouting at American troops
> There is a big focus on interviewing the mother
> Their message is reflected back at them, limiting them to their religious community and restricting them from integrating into mass society
> Theroux gets the girl to open up to him

'The Family'
> Establishing characters - close ups
> Fast paced editing, some blurry editing - hectic household - crams info, then cuts to observation
> Fly on the wall
> Many different camera shots, close ups etc. - observing all aspects and areas of their lives
> Filming every day activities (Dad going to work)
> Camera is unobtrusive
> Camera is very still, only moves when tracking them - but slowly
> Close ups during arguement between Mum + Emily + Dad (faking being ill to not go to work to go out with friends) - captures realistic emotions/expressions - confrontation - a family integrated situation - we are invited to observe
> Mixture of low & high angle shots, zoom - Emily and mum, panning, static
> Setting - the family's house (lounge; bedroom; kitchen; porch, high angle shot)
> Lighting - not altered, fly on the wall - observes morning/afternoon/evening - natural, realistic
> Dressing gown
> Narration of son
> Girl's music - club music, black clothing and make up - party girl
> Radio becomes the non-diegetic sound
> Mostly diegetic - makes it seem more realistic; snoring, phones, silence - natural
> Interviewer - unseen, off-camera