Media

2. Type of documentary
• Fully Narrated - Direct address documentaries use of
the screen voiceover to convey the exposition.
• Mixed - Uses a combination of interview, observation
and narration to advance the argument. In this
documentary has mainly interviews involved.

3. Themes
• Death- this theme is reiterated throughout as his death is the most significant event in
this documentary topic.
• Music- This is the main reason for the death of Kurt as music is what he loved and he
died for it.
• Love- His love for Courtney was real however her intentions are questionable
• Betrayal
• Drugs- The scene that had corrupted Kurt and Courtney.
• Business- Courtney had seen an opportunity to make money out of helping men pursue
their music careers.
• Invasion of privacy- A major trait that all famous people are striped from.
• Murder- A conspiracy theory that people believe that Kurt was murdered.
• Pain- This is the emotional trait that people will endeavour from watching this
documentary and what people who were close or associated to Kurt felt this emotion.
• Conspiracy Theories- Thoughts on what actually happened to the death of Kurt Cobain.
• Money- A theme that Kurt was very successful which Courtney received from the will.
• Fame- this is the major factor why Kurt Cobain wanted to stop pursing music and
question his existence.

4. Narrative Structure
• Open - The audiences is left to make their own mind up at
the end, on whether they believe it was a suicide or a
murder.
• Closed - There is a definite ending and outcome, that Kurt
Cobain is dead, and Courtney is seen as innocent in the
public domain.
• Single Strand - There is only one main plot through out
• Multistrand - There are many subplots which interweave

6. Continuity editing
This editing was shown a
few times to perhaps
emulate how his death will
continue on to haunt the
people he was involved
with and how he will
forever live on as an icon.
This zoom into an extreme close up
may connote how we cannot see his
facial expression due to the
sunglasses he is wearing, this may be
due to him hiding his thoughts from
the public domain and how privacy is
a major trait he would've liked to
obtain.
Zoom

7. Cut aways
• The cut aways used are a convention that
documentaries follow, this portrays a
transition to a new topic, within this
documentary a new interview or a setting that
the film maker is going to.

9. This footage is the opening sequence to this
documentary stating his death with the text
provided. This could give the audience a
sense of shock as it is an extremely blunt way
to begin the documentary, and anchoring the
documentary as a memorial film for Kurt
Cobain. This scene may link to the uses and
gratifications through pleasure of genre, as
this genre offers various emotional pleasures
such as empathy and escapism- a feature that
some theoretical commentaries seem to lose
sight of. Deborah Knight(1994) notes that
‘satisfaction is guaranteed with genre; the
deferral of the inevitable provides the
additional pleasure of prolonged anticipation.
This clip shows Kurt’s life before
Courtney came into it, he was with
some other lady and it is the beginning
of his career. This footage may link to
Steve Neale(1990) theory of making
sure the production companies don’t
lose money by producing something
that is too experimental, but different
enough to keep the audience
entertained and watching. However
some aspects of the documentary he
travels to a lot of destinations in order
to grasp the feel of the aura of Kurt
Cobain.

10. These clips may juxtapose with one another as the first clip may illustrate a
warm, saturated feel to it, whilst the other one is monochrome which may have
connotations that she has a sense of darkness within Courtney and may
correspond with her violent past. This may foreshadow the pain that she will
suffer relating to the death of Kurt Cobain. This may link to Propp’s hero vs
villain theory as Courtney can be seen as the villain due to her mistreatment of
Kurt Cobain leading fans to dislike her and not have any trust on her intentions.

11. This footage is when Courtney gets
interviewed about her heroin
addiction. This may be imported due
manufacture all the wrong things that
came into Kurt's life, for example a girl
that is interested in the heroin scene.
Which may foreshadow his death.
This clip from the academy awards
may illustrate how Courtney cared
so much about fame and money as
the award is placed in the middle
illustrating it is the centre of
Courtney's mind ,whilst Kurt was
not comfortable with it and was
embarrassed by the thought of
fame.

12. This footage may illustrate how
isolated Kurt was from society and
his loved ones, as he has disengaged
himself from the younger kids that
are seen in the clip. This may also
create a tie with how he did not want
children but then once he met
Courtney he changed his mind.
This footage is from a Nirvana gig,
which may highlight a uproar in
his career and how the bright
lighting may refer to Nirvana
becoming a global success. This is
a main plot of were this
documentary will follow behind
the international music star that
took his own life. This can link to
Blumler & Katz uses and
gratifications theory of diversion
as this has a sense of escapism.

14. Kurt’s auntie plays voices of Kurt when he was young, this may be used for her to get a
sense of nostalgia, as she is reminiscing about the past. This may interest those who are
fans of the band Nirvana; as they may feel as though they have received an insight on his
childhood through his auntie.

15. • Music- punk rock – nirvana’s music and others
throughout, this will be used to portray Kurt's music
that he made with his band and how significant music
can be to a person. Also shows how his music will live
on in modern day society. This may link to the uses and
gratifications by Blumler & Katz as those that
personally identify with the music genre, the audience
will have a better personal relationship with the
documentary and the people mentioned.
• Voiceover- Narrated by the film maker to explain who
he is interviewing, and the events that have occurred in
Kurt and Courtney’s life.

17. Prop: Camera
Another footage is imported from
this camera, as they had gone to
spy on Courtney’s rehearsal to get
an interview with her. This may
relate to how secretive people are
as they have gone covertly with
this interview, whilst the whole
catastrophe of Kurt’s death that
may have more to it.
Prop: Guitar
This may have been infiltrated due to
this entire documentary stemming
from music and how it has evolved
and changed Kurt’s life which may be
damaging as it had driven him to
suicide. The lighting is bright which
may represent how Kurt may be in
peace; as he is no longer suffering
with the problems he faced in life.

18. Casual clothing, this code of
attire is used mainly as most
people that are interviewed are
wearing casual clothing, that
represents a general population
of people that Kurt would
encounter.
Smart, professional attire this
may reiterate the power and
authority that he has within this
case, as he is a private
investigator that understands
the situation clearly as
Courtney previously hired him.

19. Makeup Sunglasses and a mask
This type of makeup is perhaps
representative of the genre that Kurt
associates himself with. This may also
be how society pressures woman to
wear makeup.
These may be worn so his privacy has
not be invaded by those that could
harm him in anyway. Used for
protection as he could fear the
power that Courtney love has.

21. Title and credits:
This is put at the beginning to introduce the
documentary and what the plot will focus on.
Also the text giving credit to those that have ties
with this documentary.

22. This documentary has a surplus of black and white video footage, this
may represent how candid his life was, giving a very ‘black and white’
narrative and how ominous his death was as the subdued and grim
colours are foreboding , as many people believe that Courtney had
something to do with it.

23. This collage of images that refer to the death of Kurt Cobain is a symbolism
of what this documentary is mainly about, and the conspiracy theory that
he was murdered by Courtney Love. This will confuse the audience on
whether they believe Kurt committed suicide or was murdered. Resulting in
an entertainment element, that will grasp the audience on thinking of their
own conclusion to this matter.

25. Establishing shot
Zoom
This shot may represent how Kurt did
not care much for the materialistic
things that he gathered from
becoming famous.
This zoom may represent how in-depth
the documentary is going in, in order to
retrieve a balance of Kurt’s childhood
and life as a international star. This will
be seen as a memoir for the fans of
Nirvana.

26. Point of view shot
This point of view shot makes the audience feel as though they are in the
documentary, which the theory by Roy Stryker said that a good documentary
should tell not only what a piece or a thing or a person looks like, but it must also
tell the audience what it would feel like to be an actual witness to the scene.

27. Close up
This documentary is full of close ups from the unstructured interviews that emulate
their reactions from their facial expressions and body language. This gives the audience
an indication on how passionate they felt towards Kurt Cobain, which is revealed
through the close ups.

28. Shot reverse shot
This shot reverse shot may imply a friendly aspect to the interview making her
perhaps feel more comfortable to open up about Kurt; as it is a semi structured
interview allowing to gain the right information and making it sound like a
conversation.

29. Rule of thirds
This documentary is full of interviews with
different types of people that all link to Kurt and
know him personally or have conspiracy theories
on his death. The theory by Steve Neale may link;
as you will be able to identify similarities between
documentaries, but there difference from
documentary to documentary. If all
documentaries were identical, the audience would
get bored and not watch them. Which may be the
reason why the filmmaker had a variety of
different people to interview to make it interesting
and entertaining. However this documentary goes
against a convention as it does not acquire the
text for the interviewee, resulting in the audience
to forgot their link to Kurt.