2. Type of Documentary
This documentary relies heavily on archive footage and uses some footage from
the modern day Chernobyl Exclusion Zone which was captured by visitors to the
area. The documentary also uses first hand accounts from survivors of the
Chernobyl disaster rather than interviews, this means that no questions are asked
but instead the narrators read from a account written by survivors.
3. Themes
The main theme of this documentary revolves around the stories before and after
the disaster had occurred, it aims to show the audience how it affected the lives of
those who lived in the city and how it affected the world. It also speaks of how the
civilians were treated after the evacuation of the city had begun.
4. Narrative Structure
The narrative structure of this documentary is kept in chronological order to keep
up with the events following the disaster. The narrative also tells stories rather
than explaining points regarding the disaster, the stories also follow a
chronological order. There appears to be numerous narrators in this documentary
which helps to represent the numerous stories that are being told from different
perspectives.
5. Camerawork
The camerawork in this documentary relies heavily on the shots that were used in
the archive footage that the producers selected, however some archive footage
was edited to include zooms and other effects. Often the camera was aimed at the
faces of the people in the footage in order to showcase how the people who lived
in the city were ordinary people much like the members of the audience.
A low angle camera shot seems to be one of the few pieces of footage that is not
archive footage, it is seen towards the end of the documentary and seems to be
made to look like the individual is in a rush.
6. Archive Material
The introduction to this documentary is made up of archive material which shows
workers in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant before the tragic meltdown, this is
used to show the audience that people had no idea that such a disaster could
happen and lived normal lives which adds to the impact of the tragedy.
7. Mise En Scene
The main Mise En Scene for this documentary includes the use of the Chernobyl
Exclusion Zone as a location because it is the epicenter of the accident that
caused the worst nuclear disaster in history. It also shows people from different
areas of life from the time of the disaster through archive footage that was
recorded in Chernobyl. Some of the present day exclusion zone is shown but only
momentarily and occasionally used for reconstructions of the evacuation of the
city.
8. Sound
The introduction of the documentary features eerie sounding music which is also
accompanied by heavy breathing, this helps to make the disaster seem like a
horror to the audience. There is lots of use of Ukrainian dialect which reinforces
the location in which the disaster took place.
9. Editing
There was a lot of cut edits in this documentary between different pieces of
archive footage which allowed the footage to run smoothly between each source.
Fades were also seen which assisted in changing sources when the narrator
changed their story source. Sounds were also layered over footage to add extra
effect to the footage and potentially to compromise for the fact that most pieces of
archive material may have been without sound or been in Ukrainian. The use of
editing allows for the documentary to run smoothly and change sources easily.
First piece of
material. Second piece
of material
fading in over
piece one.
10. Archive Footage
Archive footage makes up the majority of the footage of the documentary and
shows how life was before the disaster and how life was during evacuations.
There are also pieces of footage from news reports from the time of the disaster
which show the reaction of the leader of Ukraine after the disaster.
The use of archive footage as the main form of footage allows the audience to feel
the true experience of how the disaster affected the people in the city and what
became of the area.
11. Graphics
There weren’t many graphics seen in this documentary apart from the intro and
outro credits which were layered over footage of a peaceful lake in the city. This
documentary did not rely on graphics unlike most documentaries that use graphics
in interviews and to show points through animations, however this documentary
did not use either of these things so it did not have many graphics.
12. Theories
Personal relationships are explored in the documentary because the camera often
focuses on the faces of the people within the archive footage which showed that
the people in the city were ordinary people much like the audience. Surveillance
was also seen because the aim of the documentary was to deliver the stories from
the survivors of the Chernobyl accident, which shed light on the events within the
city.
