This document summarizes two documentaries: 1) "Trevor McDonald - The Mafia" which uses interviews and flashbacks to investigate life in the mafia from Trevor McDonald's perspective. It is a serious, factual documentary that uses formal clothing and music to set tone. 2) "Where Am I Sleeping Tonight?" which uses a handheld camera to follow homeless people and understand their lifestyle from the filmmaker's own experience of homelessness. It uses music and ambient sound to set mood and convey the difficulties of life without housing.

1. 2 DOCUMENTARIES Leah Douglas

2. TREVOR MCDONALD- THE
MAFIA
Camera work:
Uses flash backs of mid shots/close ups of people in the mafia to relate to the
stories he is investigating- this helps the audience to make links between the
spoken content and the visual content. The use of flashbacks adds factual
details which make the story being investigated seem much more real and
factual based.
Cross cuts of Trevor interviewing the other person- this demonstrates the
interrogative nature of the documentary and the format as its quite
Sound:
Voiceover of transition of the frame as he will conclude his findings
Music at the start to set the tone
Voiceovers of different articles involved with the case Trevor is investigating

3. TREVOR MCDONALD- THE
MAFIA
Mise en Scene:
Trevor is dressed in formal clothing whereas the people being interviewed
are dressed in their casual clothing- to state their area of work which could
relate to the investigation
Editing:
Long takes are used to show establishing shots from scene to scene. Short
takes are also used when Trevor is interviewing the other opposing
person/persons. The short takes usually involve close ups to state feelings or
emotion of the person being interviewed, and mid shots are used- perhaps to
state status within the conversationists as Trevor is dressed formally,
however the people being interviewed are not.
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4. THEME IN ‘THE MAFIA’
The format is an interactive style documentary using interviews which states
formality and seriousness. Trevor McDonald’s purpose is to gather stories
collectively to sum up his findings of what life is like in the mafia. This is
portrayed by the use of incidental music to state when frames are changing
to different interviews with the use of his voice in the style of a voiceover to
make it more personalised.
Music is used within the documentary as it ables the audience to recognise
the tone and allows it to reflect the mood and atmosphere. It uses up beat
musing to convey the transition of frames to show the vast array of
information Trevor is receiving in order to form his overview of the mafia.
There are numerous voice overs used to add credible knowledge and
information to the documentary- these are used in the form of news articles
to state the widened research area into the mafia.
Overall this documentary is researching into crime in the mafia and is
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5. WHERE AM I SLEEPING
TONIGHT?
Camera work:
The whole filming of this documentary is produced using a hand held camera. This aligns itself to the
personal and sympathetic tone which is instantly created when the voiceover is explaining he is
researching into what he has already experienced himself.
at the beginning, the use of jump cuts are present- alternating from one frame to another to demonstrate
what is going to be discussed. Also the use of deep focus allows the audience to focus directly on what
the producer is intending to portray to get across their view and research prospective of a positive or
negative tone- in this instance, human behaviour is presented as negative through the difficulties of
lifestyle.
Sound:
Incidental music is used at times of a particular portrayal to convey the tone of the atmosphere. Up beat
music is used when the people are joyful as this is an extremely positive attitude for the people shown in
the documentary as we experience their negative lifestyle. There is also incidental music used when there
are moments of sadness- the music changes to a slow and sombre tone as it instantly ensures its
audience will empathise with what they are being shown.
The use of ambient sound is used such as cars passing on the lamppost lit streets to convey the depths of
their lifestyle and to show what life is like living on the streets.
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6. WHERE AM I SLEEPING
TONIGHT?
Editing:
Long takes are used to follow the steps of the people being filmed as it adds
a clearer insight to where they travel and what they do to survive. There are
not many short takes used in this documentary as a hand held camera is
being used which states a more closer insight to the lifestyle of these people.
Mise en Scene:
Costume- most of the people being filmed are all wearing similar worn
clothing which is typical of the research of the documentary as it is stating
homelessness and poverty which is inclusive of all these similar aspects.
Some of the people are dressed in cleaner clothing such as the volunteer
woman handing out food- this states the divide between the people being
researched and the people helping them to get to a better state.
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7. THEME IN ‘WHERE AM I
SLEEPING TONIGHT’
The theme in where am I sleeping tonight is set using an interactive tone as
the man who is investigating people who live on the streets- used to live on
the streets himself. The man who is investigating the topic is being filmed on
the streets interacting with the homeless and is seen asking questions in
order to get a clearer prospective of their lifestyle.
Music is used in this documentary to create an emotional feeling towards the
characters within the documentary. The audience listen to the music aligning
itself with the peoples stories and feel sympathetic towards them. Music sets
the tone of the mood and the change in mood as there is a more up beat
tempo when the documentary is moving on to another story.
Overall this documentary is researching into poverty within Britain and
gathering facts about individual lifestyles.
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