This documentary explores life with mental health disorders by having 25 young people film themselves over 6 months as they navigate growing up with mental illness. It differs from traditional documentaries by having no narration and the participants answering questions and reacting to information themselves on camera. The documentary aims to give an intimate and personal view into the lives of those with mental health issues through a hybrid observational/performative style as the participants film themselves.

2. Diaries of a broken mind:
“Bold, intimate and thought-provoking, this documentary explores
what life is really like living with a mental health disorder. Using
handheld cameras to film themselves over six months, 25 young
people take us with them on a journey as they navigate the rocky road
of growing up with mental health issues.”
Aired: 9pm on BBC3
Duration: 1hour 30minutes
Characters/interviewees
Target audience? The channel BBC3 tends to
base itself on a young-adult audience the hour
also suggests an older audience rather than young
teens. The characters involved are also
young-adults from teens to late twenties, which suits
the target audience.

3. What makes it different:
•The people involved film themselves so there is no influence from
the documentary maker.
•There is no narration/ voice of God, but the participants have a few
questions they answer by writing them down themselves and giving an
answer- to which all the characters answers are shown.
•Some statistics appear on the screen at points giving more
information into the mental illness’s that the participants suffer from.
•Having hand-held cameras makes the experience more personal and
intimate as people don’t act differently as they would do if there was a
large camera crew, this also allows the participants to interact in public
without drawing attention to themselves.
•Music is used effectively at montage points to express highs/lows so
that the viewer is more affected by it, therefore more sympathetic to
their situation.

4. Clip extract:
You will find the video link below in this post...
Analysis:
This clip shows effectively a lot of the stylistic devices used in the
documentary. The music is used to add effect and impact to the clips.
The question has been asked to the participants, however you do not
see any interviewer, but the participants write the question on a
medication box, then the concerning answers are put in a montage
together to show all the participants reactions. This is effective as it is
a serious topic and having all the participants reactions flood in at
once adds to the overwhelming situation. The participants also
express genuine reactions on finding out the side effects of the drugs
and also their opinions on the medication.

5. What kind of documentary is it?:
Based on the documentary it can be considered performative as the
subjects are the documentarians as they are filming their own
lives, however someone is putting this documentary together therefore
it is more observational as the documentary maker has only provided
the cameras, and the participants are filming their lives without
external influence (to an extent as they the fact they are filming is an
external influence.) Therefore I would class this documentary as a
hybrid of performative/ observational and can be considered self-
reflective (see earlier post for full descriptions
http://eleanorwildera2.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/documentary-
introduction.html)

6. Credits:
Producer: Sam Emmery
Director: Sam Emmery
Executive Producer: Jes Wilkins