2. A / B – Roll Footage.
A-ROLL – Is the main building blocks of a documentary,
normally being footage of important characters such as
producers/actors/directors/musicians who give important
context to the idea of the documentary.
B-ROLL – usually makes up the rest of the documentary and
makes the whole documentary more interesting and thickens
the content for the viewer and can help lead from one section
to another.
3. Positioning in an interview.
When filming a subject during a interview
it is important to use the basic conventions
to achieve a professional looking result.
SUBJECT PLACEMENT is important to help
the viewer distinguish the content on
screen and presented to them. The subject
is usually placed in one of the top corners
of the ‘rule of thirds’ grid.
MISE EN SCENE is meant to relate to the TEXT is used as an establishing point to
content of what the subject is talking give the audience information on the
about, such as in this photo taken from the subject on screen. Normally a name and
Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special where a how they are important to the context of
photo of Moe is behind one of the show’s the documentary.
producers. These objects are strategically
placed to reflect the context of the
documentary.
4. Sound
Sound is blended into an interview in a non-diegetic
manner, using voice-overs as a narration tool to what is
happening onscreen. And soundtracks are used behind the
footage to make the whole thing more interesting.
The interviewer’s questions are sometimes edited out of the A-
Roll shots, due to a matter of opinion if they are important
enough to keep in the documentary.
The narrator would often follow a script which is given to him
which follows the images being presented to them and would
express his script in a authoritative fashion.
Vox Pops are soundbites that are taken from interviews from
people in the streets
