Documentary analysis of conspiracy theory

2. Mixed - Uses a combination of interview,
observation and narration to advance the
argument. Narrator is within the frame and
this style is most common in news reporting.

3.  Government
 NASA
 Space
 Science
 Business
 Russia
 USA
 Cold war
 Spacecraft
 Hoax

4. The narrative does not follow chronological
order, as the documentary quickly swaps
between present footage and footage from
the moon landings in the 60s.
The documentary was left open, as still, to this
day, NASA have denied faking the moon
landing.

5.  Zoom out
 Zoom in
 Tracking shot
 Close up
 Long shot
 Extreme long shot
 Medium shot
 Birds eye view
Various shot types have been used
throughout the documentary, to ensure
that the viewer receives the
documentary from a variety of
perspectives. An example of these shot
types is zoom out. Perhaps the camera
is constantly panning out to
demonstrate how the documentary
itself is panning out to the bigger
picture of what actually happened
during the moon landings. There is
also a lot of zooms used, and this
could reflect how the documentary
itself is zooming into the details and
facts. The medium shots allow us to
view what each person is wearing. This
means that if they’re wearing suit, the
viewer can acknowledge that the
opinion they’re receiving is
professional.

6.  The mise-en-scene of this documentary
is situated predominantly in interview
rooms and on the moon. The men being
interviewed are all dressed in suits and
business-like attire, thus indicating that
they are of a professional nature and can
be trusted. Interviews are also conducted
in science laboratories with specialist
equipment situated behind them. This is
significant as it emphasises the reliability
of the information that the documentary
is using, as the interviewees are
professional scientists. The person being
interviewed is also well lit, which perhaps
suggests clarity.

7. There is a narrator that can be heard throughout
the documentary. The narrator is the initial voice
that the audience can hear, and he acts as the
‘voice of God’, in order to interpret the material
that the audience is consuming. This omniscient
presence allows us to trust the narration, and it
acts as an anchor for the visuals. Another non-
diegetic sound that we experience is the
dramatic music that is also featured throughout.
This reminds the reader of how sincere and
serious it is to hoax an event that is as
significant as this.

8. Editing such as text demonstrates
who the different people in the
documentary are. This is vital
as it displays that the
information that the audience
are receiving comes from
professional judgement. There
is also a montage of various
clips and footage from the
landings. This is beneficial as it
supplies the viewer with
various pieces of evidence.

9. There is archive material throughout the
documentary. This is used so that there are
not as many jumpstarts, and the audience
can therefore allow to see a range of
evidence and images. It is often placed in
the middle of two scenes, for example
footage of the rocket taking off is between
two relevant scenes of interviews discussing
the problems with the rocket.

10. The documentary does not
use singular footage from
the alleged moon landings
but in fact multiple pictures
and videos. This is vital as
it provides the audience
with more evidence to
criticise or agree with, thus
strengthening the
documentary's argument.