The document analyzes four documentaries that have different styles: Kidnapped and Drugged uses voiceover narration and close-up camera angles to show emotion; Blue Planet uses voiceover to explain scenes and long shots to avoid startling animals; Can We Trust our Police? uses interviews and close-ups to examine police trustworthiness; A Tribute to Bomber Command interviews veterans formally but uses informal voiceover and uniforms/costumes to honor veterans.

1. Different Styles of
Documentaries
For this task we had 4 different documentaries to look at: Kidnapped and
Drugged, A Tribute to Bomber Command, Blue Planet and Can We Trust
our Police? We had to identify the form of documentary, the
interview/narration/voiceover style and the media language, for example,
camera angles and Mise-en-scene.

2. Kidnapped and Drugged
Form of documentary – Observational/expository
Interview, narration or voiceover – Voiceover, very informative with lots of facts to
back up the points explained.
Media language
Camera angles – Close ups: shows the emotions of the people involved and show
their expressions clearly. Medium shots: helps to show the costumes and how the
actors body language is being shown. Two shots: Shows the relationship between
the two people.
Editing – Has a fast pace for when the police are on screen to show they are
authority and that they are they main figures to focus on but majority of the time it is
slow paced.
Sound – Tends to be quite slow and sad which matches the atmosphere of what is
going on and is non-diegetic.
Mise-en-scene – The police are in their full uniforms to allow others to see their
authority. The interviews are very formal.

3. Blue Planet
Form of documentary – Observational
Interview, narration or voiceover – Voiceover, very informative, lots of detail
about what is on screen to help the audience understand what they are seeing
as the audience will usually be unfamiliar to what it is seeing.
Media language
Camera angles – There are many long shots so they are not to startle the
animals that they are filming. Close up: This allows the audience to see animals
up close that they wouldn’t ever see which really grabs the attention of the
viewer. Aerial shots are used to give a different angle of viewing the animal
they are filming.
Editing – It will usually be a slow relaxing pace when observing the animals.
Fast pace when an animal starts attacking and hunting for its prey.
Sound – Music is put over the of when the animal is attacking its prey to make
seem more intense.
Mise-en-scene – N/A

4. Can we Trust our Police
Form of documentary – Reflexive/expository
Interview, narration or voiceover – Interviews, narration and voiceovers, seems
casual and informal.
Media language
Camera angles – Extreme close ups: shows detailed emotions. Close ups:
shows the emotions of the people involved and show their expressions clearly.
Medium shots: helps to show the costumes from waist up. Two shots: Shows
the relationship between the two people.
Editing – Is fast paced when they look back at the clip with the police and their
guns. The guns add drama and tension to the clip.
Sound – Synchronous and non-diegetic
Mise-en-scene – Has a lot of personal opinions, acting is good and realistic,
also the police uniforms show their high importance, but is ironic because the
documentary as a whole is questioning their importance and how trust-worthy
they really are.

5. A Tribute to Bomber Command
Form of documentary – Observational
Interview, narration or voiceover – Serious and formal interviews with war
veterans but with an informal voiceover.
Media language
Camera angles – Medium shots that show from the wait up to show what they
are wearing. Two shots to show the relationship between two of the veterans.
Long shots: shows the veterans dressed in full uniform. Wide angle shot: helps
to show many war veterans on screen at once, establishes that they all have the
same importance.
Editing – Cut away: it cuts away to different scenes to emphasise what the
veterans are talking about.
Sound – As it is a sad time the music is slow to match the atmosphere. This
helps the audience to really understand the sadness that the veterans have and
are going through.
Mise-en-scene – All the veterans are dressed in full uniforms and everyone
else is dressed in suits to show the importance of the occasion. The acting is
good and professional. As it is a sad occasion it gets the audience really
interested and engaged.