2. Institution's
Channel 4 and The BBC are two of the main institution's who air crime documentaries.
Examples of Channel 4 documentaries:
Dispatches
Manhunt
Behind bars
Murder Trial
Examples of BBC Documentaries:
Motorway Cops
Watchdog
Crime watch
Breaking Britain: Crackdown
Countryside Cops
3. Crime Documentaries
There are varying types of crime documentaries. What makes them different
from one another is; how they’re laid out, whether they are chronologically
set or not or how specific they are to one particular crime or many little ones
(‘soft’ crimes, such as speeding).
Through research I found that The BBC focus more on ‘soft’ crimes, such as
robbery’s, speeding and theft, rather than Channel 4 who focus more on
specific (sometimes televised crimes) such as; murder trials, manhunts,
paedophilia and so on.
4. Target Audiences
I think that the target audience for crime documentaries are those with an
interest in the way the system works, the way the mind works (people
interested/studying psychology; mass murders/paedophilia… and whether
there is a psychological cause for this behaviour, etc.)
I am aiming towards two different age groups. This is because this particular
documentary style appeals to a wide audience with different views on the
subject, and how to deal with crime, and the system. Teenagers firstly, will
want to watch this type of documentary because it may be something they
find interesting, so will therefore want to agree or disagree with the overall
message.
5. …
Adults will also want to watch it so that they can understand why the system
makes particular decisions, and why criminals perhaps do what they do, etc.
Especially is an adult is a parent they will want to be aware of possible
threats and dangers to protect their children as much as they can. This is only
for specific things such as; Behind Bars: Paedophilia.
I chose to produce the documentary on either BBC2 or Channel 4 after 9pm on
a Friday night. I chose to broadcast on one of these two channels because it
will be able to capture a wider audience and the age groups stated above. I
decided to air it after the watershed as it shows crimes committed, such as a
victim being attacked and then having their car robbed. It is eligible to be
shown after the watershed as the audience know that it is past 9pm and TV is
no longer very PG, in terms of the language shown and the images/crime
committing videos shown also.
