2. TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY
‘Who took Johnny’ is a mixed documentary as it has
narration included throughout, but also has people
talking to the camera as they are getting interviewed.
This documentary follows the life of Johnny Gosche’s
parents 30 years later after he went missing. It relays
how he disappeared and the suspects to this case,
also Johnny’s family and friends get interviewed and
talk about the memories they had with Johnny.
3. THEMES
There are many themes explored throughout this
documentary such as, crime and the police as the
police didn’t do anything significant to help the case,
they didn’t seem to care. Also, the main theme of this is
Abduction and Kidnapping. Johnny was 12 when he
was delivering papers around his neighbourhood at
6am on a Sunday morning when he was seen speaking
to a man in a car and since then, nobody has ever seen
him again.
4. NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
The structure of this documentary is linear medium and
is in chronological order as it tells the story over the
years. Furthermore, it is an open ended story as the
audience never finds out what happened to Johnny
even 30 years later, which conveys that there was no
closure at all for his family.
5. CAMERAWORK
There are many cuts used throughout the documentary in between
interviews and pictures of Johnny. There are also panning shots
included of the houses for example, where Johnny’s family lived and
the witnesses houses. There are also panning shots of the ‘crime
scene’ – the road where he went missing. Moreover, there are
medium close ups of the family and friends being interviewed, there
is also a mid shot of Noreen (Johnny’s mother) talking in the car
directly to the camera telling the audience what she believed
happened to her son. There is also a mid shot of the news reporter
speaking. Also, the rule of thirds is being used as another woman is
being asked about her missing daughter as she is not looking at the
camera, she is looking straight at the interviewer.
Panning
6. MISE-EN-SCENE
The mise-en-scene is significant in any documentary.
Throughout this documentary most of the family and
friends are dressed quite casually which may suggest
that they are tired of talking about this subject and living
in the past. Also, the men tend to be wearing a shirt or a
suit and look more put together which conveys that they
might always want to look nice which is stereotypical of
men. Furthermore, the women are wearing nice makeup
and jewellery suggesting that they want to look smart for
their interview. Also, Johnny’s dad is wearing a suit
which makes him look professional and presentable.
7. SOUND
The sound is beneficial in this documentary especially
because it has to do with crime and kidnapping. The
non-diegetic music tends to be serious and intense
throughout as the situation they are in is intense and
scary and no one is helping them. Also, at one point
the frame is full of grass and the audience can hear
birds chirping which reflects happiness out in nature
which contradicts the situation everyone is in.
8. EDITING
Throughout this documentary there are a lot of
editing techniques being used. The main technique
was montage editing as there were pictures of
Noreen as there is a voiceover of someone saying
how awful she must have felt after Johnny went
missing. These pictures were also in black and
white which could suggest the pain she was in and
how empty she was feeling.
9. ARCHIVE MATERIAL
Throughout this documentary there are still photos
of Johnny before he went missing to illustrate his
personality. There are also newspapers showing
records from when he went missing and the
headlines in the papers during this time, there is
also school photos of Johnny in his school year
books. Also, there is footage from old
documentaries and videos of Johnny’s parents
talking about his and the kidnapping.
10. GRAPHICS
Throughout, there are name plates of the people getting
interviewed to inform the audience who these people
are. Also, there is information coming up on the screen,
connoting that the audience needs to know this so they
can decide their opinion/views on what they think
happened to Johnny. Furthermore, there is a map of
where Johnny and the witnesses where the morning he
disappeared and the car that ‘supposedly’ took him and
also the names of the people on the map move around.
