The first 2 documentaries I have studied were ‘In the Teeth Of Jaws’ In which the writer, director, actors and a number of production staff talk about the film ‘Jaws’, discussing it’s worldwide success, the problem’s occurred mid-production and their own views on making the film. The second was ‘The Simpson’s 20th Anniversary Special in 3D on Ice’ which celebrates ‘The Simpson’s’ 20 years on air, and with the aid of many famous faces, fans and people that work on the show, examines why and how it became such a global success. My final product will be a documentary, and in order for the documentary to be a success, it must follow the codes and conventions of a documentary. These conventions are used in the first 2 documentaries I have studied.
In The Teeth Of Jaws
The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special In 3d On Ice
- GRAPHICS: One of the codes and conventions of a documentary is that when an interviewee is introduced for the first time, graphics are used to inform us of their name, and who they are or what they are and how they are important to the documentary’s stimulus. This is used in the first 2 documentary's I have studied. The graphics also tend to be relevant to the topic of the documentary. For example, in ‘In The Teeth Of Jaws’ The graphics have a cartoon shark on them, and an ocean background, relating to the film, ‘Jaws’ and in The Simpson’s documentary, the graphics look like chalk on a blackboard, referential of the classic opening credits of the show when the character of Bart Simpson writes on the blackboard at his school in detention. The font is also the font in which the credits appear in the show.
The example here is from the documentary ‘The Simpson’s 20th Anniversary Special in 3D On Ice’ It introduces Seth Macfarlane as the creator of 'Family Guy', an extremely popular animated situational comedy, like The Simpsons and how The Simpsons have influenced him in his career.
And again in the documentary 'In The Teeth Of Jaws' Here, it introduces Peter Benchley as the author of the novel 'Jaws' and he tells us his opinions and views on his novel being turned into one of the most famous films of all time.
- MISE-EN-SCENE: The Mise-en-scene in each interview must also be relevant to the documentary topic. The Interviews take place in relevant spaces, and/or will have objects/pictures behind them that are associated with the documentary Stimulus. However these tend to be in a shallow depth of field so that, although they are visually pleasing to the viewer, they don't take the focus off of the interviewee. Here, we see the creator of ‘The Simpsons’, Matt Groening, and behind him we see cardboard cut outs of the Simpsons characters and behind Steven Spielberg, the director of ‘Jaws’ and behind him are posters advertising the film. Both items behind the interviewee relate to the documentary topic and/or the interviewee
- RULE OF THIRDS: The rule of thirds can be applied to any media product.The rule states that any image should be imagined as though split into 9 equal squares, two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that the important compositional factors in the frame should appear on one of these lines.
Both 'In The Teeth Of Jaws' and 'The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special...' use this rule, especially within their interviews. Here we se an interview with Steven Spielberg, director of 'Jaws' and his eyeline matches the horizontal line. And in the Interview with Julie Kavner, voice of Marge Simpson, both she and the cardboard cut out of Marge are placed on the vertical lines.
- THEME TUNE: Each of these documentaries open with a specific theme tune that is relevant to the documentary topic, another convention of documentaries. 'In The Teeth of Jaws' begins with the popular motif of the Jaws March, heard at the beginning of the 'Jaws' film and forever synonymous with sharks, and The Simpsons documentary begins with the equally famous theme tune from the show, however played by various people on various instruments, demonstarting the programme's mass popularity.
- CAMERA: It is typical in documentaries to shoot the interviews in a Mid-Close up (MCU) or a mid-shot (MS), Allowing us to see the interviewee from the waist up, giving a more friendly and informative atmosphere with the person who is talking. An Extreme Close Up would be innaproprate and too intense a shot for a person who is simply voicing an opinion or explaining the stimulus for the documentary. And with an Extreme Longshot, it would also create less of an informative atmosphere, and instead of listening to what the interviewee was saying, the viewer would be concentrating on who the interviewee is if they are far away.
- EDITING: In Documentaries, in order for the audience to find the product visually pleasing and seem not repetitive and boring, when the film cuts between different interviews, the interviewee's position in the frame will change, some will be in the left and some in the right, this stops the documentary from being boring and repetitive and allows for some creativity
Another convention of the documentary is that when an interviewee is speaking, instead of having this as a single shot, the film will sometimes cut away to some images on other footage, while still keeping the voice of the interviewee as a sound bridge over these images, often relating to what the interviewee is saying.
