Analysis of a Documentary

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I decided to analyse Channel 4's documentary "Are We Winning the Battle Against Coronavirus." The first reason that this documentary stood out to me is because it is set so close to home. Not only does it focus on COVID-19 like the documentary that we wish to create, but it also is set in Kent and filmed in Maidstone Hospital which is a five minute walk from my house. Before I even began to watch the documentary I knew it would be influential due to it being filmed in the area where I live, just as our documentary is, which already had a big emotional impact on me.

The documentary begins with a handheld shot of doctors and nurses on the frontline in hospital putting on protective equipment ready to fight against the virus, whilst a dramatic instrumental music begins to build. This alone starts the documentary off with a tense atmosphere and creates a stressful tone for the audience.


All shots used for the opening sequence are hand held and this is a typical convention for a documentary. The positioning of the camera and the handheld movement makes it feel as if the room as very chaotic but also as if the audience are in that room and a part of the chaos. In 'Introduction to Documentary' it is stated that "The distinct point of view or voice of the filmmaker shapes the story to show us what it feels like to inhabit or experience the world in a given way." (Nichols, 2001:104) This is something that I heavily agree with here as through use of camera shots, pacing, movement and music it feels as if I as the viewer am in the chaotic atmosphere that the medical staff are also in. It is very effective and is something that I wish to use in our documentary by making the viewer feel that they "inhabit" the world in a given way. This may be through choice of music, or having handheld or over the shoulder shots in our interviews. We also already have an interview with contributors through a doorway and I feel that this captures the same effect of helping the audience to feel involved in the experience.

We then start to hear a dramatic toned voice over listing statistics linked to the outbreak, the music also becomes louder and harsher. We see GV shots of patients being tested for coronavirus with little key lighting which feel quite dull and dark and negative about the whole situation. The colour palette  for these scenes is very dismal, this along with the statistics creates an end of the world feel to the documentary. This is something that I do not want to influence our documentary; due to there being so many films about the current coronavirus situation in the media we want to make ours different in order for it to stand out. I feel that if we make it negative and sad like this section of documentary it will just blend in the the rest and audiences may not want to watch it as it may take away their hope for the future. Therefore this section has inspired me to add a positive tone to our film so that it is more uplifting rather than dismal.


As the documentary goes on we begin to meet patients that have been affected by COVID-19 and their families. We meet the husband of a coronavirus patient in his home and see him in his natural habitat as he discusses his wife and how they have been affected by the virus. In 'Introduction to Documentary' Nichols discusses how "Documentaries are about real people who do not play or perform roles as actors do. They draw on prior experience and habits to be themselves in front of the camera." (Nichols, 2001:6). This is true in the case of this documentary as we meet real people and their families and see them in their own homes acting as if they are talking to a person rather than a camera. It all feels very real and none of it feels rehearsed or staged and this made me feel a great amount of empathy and connection for the patient and her husband. This has influenced me to want to make our interviews feel natural and real rather than rehearsed, to focus on actuality and controlling little for them. Our interviews have to be set at home anyway due to lockdown rules but after watching this documentary it has made me feel positive about how we can use this to our advantage and showcase our contributors in their homes and hopefully it will add a strong element of actuality to out film.


In the documentary we meet many different members of staff at the hospital as well as patients; even though there are many, for the audience it creates an overwhelming feeling that coronavirus has affected many different people regardless of their personal circumstances and who they are. When discussing our ideas we all had mentioned that we wanted to create an impression of how coronavirus has had an impact on everyones lives, so this documentary has inspired me and made me feel happy to have many contributors in our film. A slight worry of mine was how will our audience keep track of who all our contributors are, but this documentary has given me an idea on how we can give every contributor an identity. When any contributor was first shown in a shot there was a small caption in the bottom left corner outlining who they are and their role, this was something that influenced me as I then suggested to my group that we could do something similar every time a new contributor comes on screen; particularly useful for out poem section.


In conclusion this documentary was very influential on my ideas surrounding our film. I really admire the level of actuality that it contains and the fact that nothing feels rehearsed or fake; and i would love to say that we achieved this in our documentary by following some of the same techniques as they did. Using typical documentary conventions such as handheld shots, music to accompany pace and mood, seeing GV footage to portray what we are being told and trying to make it feel as real as possible by showing people just being natural and themselves. These attributes will definitely be taken forward into our film and have majorly influenced my ideas.



Bibliography:

Are We Winning the Battle Against Coronavirus [television programme online] Prahlow. Channel 4 News (2020) 50 mins At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6KDMdN7rNE (Accessed on 03.05.2020)

Nichols, B. (2001) Introduction to Documentary. [online] At: https://ucca.ent.sirsidynix.net.uk/client/en_GB/default/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ILS$002f0$002fSD_ILS:515565/ada?qu=documentary&lm=EBOOK (Accessed on 03.05.2020)

Nichols, B. (2001) Introduction to Documentary. [online] At: https://ucca.ent.sirsidynix.net.uk/client/en_GB/default/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ILS$002f0$002fSD_ILS:515565/ada?qu=documentary&lm=EBOOK (Accessed on 03.05.2020)

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