Documentary Analysis (Panorama, “Save our Steel”)

For my first documentary analysis I will be analysing the different elements of a documentary which include the mise-en-scene, editing, cinematography and sound, although as well as these elements I will be looking at certain elements that are specific to documentary and interview making such as the rule of thirds and the eye level shots.

The documentary I have chosen to analysis is the first 5 minutes of an episode from the BBC Panorama series entitled “Save our Steel” and the first element I have chosen to focus on is the cinematography. The way the different shots are put together is crucial as it shows how the documentary blends in with each other through the shots and sound. The way the shots are laid against each other is essential for the audience to follow a clear narrative and understand what is going on. There was a long shot of Jeremy Vine, the presenter, walking across a bridge cut before a long shot across Port Talbot, the town the opening scenes are based in, then into a close up showing his feet going down dome steps then a medium long shot of him walking down the high street. All these shots are put together to give the audience an impression of him walking towards a meeting point to meet the locals in perhaps a central point of the town. The use of cutaways is also vital in the filming of any documentary and must relate to the subject topic in order to make sense of the programme. In this opening scene there are a number of cutaways that are an effective addition to the point that the documentary is trying to make, for example, when Jeremy Vine is on his way to talk to the locals about their factory dependent closure there is a medium long shot of him walking past Job Centre Plus (see figure 1) implying to the audience that the local worker may soon end up here if nothing is done about their cause. These cutaways portray the town as a relatively poor and “in trouble” community and with the presenter walking through in a smart, tailored suit in may connote an element of a saviour to the town. Cutaways as a whole are an essential element to any documentary in order to make the narrative flow seamlessly throughout the piece and to not overload the audience with information and with an average length of between 2 and 6 seconds help link the different scenes together.

Sound is an integral part of any piece of film making but there is an added element in the voiceover that adds that extra dimension to documentary making. This documentary, as with many others, opens with the voiceover technique being used by the presenter (Jeremy Vine). Using the voiceover on top of the cutaways allows the audience to not become bored and to be able to follow the story of what is being said. The non-diegetic sound is also a very important element in documentaries as it allows the audience to engage more with the piece and not feel as if they are just listening to some pre-recorded sound, an example of this is when the people taking part in the documentary are on the train and it is obvious to the audience they are struggling to be heard over the noise of the train as it’s so loud. The soundtrack is also a key part of the non-diegetic sound, an example of the sound being used effectively is at the very beginning when there is the establishing shots of the town of Port Talbot (see figure 2) with Adele’s “Hometown Glory” playing which will connote to the audience that this documentary is being made so as people can feel empathetic with the population and make them want to help their cause. The diegetic sound is an obvious need for any not only documentary pieces but any film
making and in particular in this piece the speech is the element of sound most important for the obvious reason that the audience can hear what is going on and follow the story.

The 5 minute opening sequence from the “Save Our Steel” episode of Panorama has many, many different elements of mise-en-scene within it including lighting, props and character positioning. The lighting of the documentary seems to be mostly a mix of natural light during cutaways as they are mostly either helicopter shots or on a train in an area where the natural light is good. The lighting is very important when it comes to any to documentary making as without it the interviews would be dim and it would seem less interesting to the audience and they would disengage with the piece. A good example of props being used is when the female in the (see figure 3), Belinda, is being interviewed at her place of work and to possibly highlight her line of work they have her using a dishcloth and a bottle of cleaning fluid to clean the table in her local community centre which connotes to the audience that she is of the poor, working class which therefore adds to the feelings of the aforementioned empathy. Another important element of the mise-en-scene in documentary film making is character positioning; in figure 3 you can clearly see that the presenter has been placed on the more dominant right side and the interviewees on the more passive left. This tells the audience who the authoritarian figure is within the scene; it also again helps connote the situation that the people of Port Talbot are in, a disadvantageous, difficult and complicated one.

The editing of this sequence from the BBC is of an extremely high standard as would be expected from such a prolific corporation. The juxtaposition of the shots such as the cutaways to the interviews helps the piece flow with great ease and the titles of the people are put up a clear, concise manner. The titles of the members of the public taking part on the documentary are also of a clear, concise nature (se figure 4) and allow the audience to very clearly see the person credentials. The blue tinge that is put over the screen is possibly to highlight the use of the text graphics, which are put out in a type-writer fashion, one letter after the other as opposed to some documentaries that just show them and then get rid of them; panorama appears to “type” them in and then to quickly take them down and cut to a cutaway. These are probably used to give a more professional look to the documentary and as it is a BBC documentary it needs to do so.

In conclusion, using a mixture of all 4 of the main elements of film making; editing, cinematography, mise-en-scene and sound the audience is able to enjoy and be informed by a well made, clear, informative documentary which utilises these 4 elements to the highest quality.