The documentary I have chosen to analyse is the first part of the second series of the sequel series “Ross Kemp: Return to Afghanistan” directed by Anuar Arroyo. This documentary, according to Bill Nichols “Introduction to Documentary”, is in a participatory mode meaning that the presenter (Ross Kemp) actively participates with the subjects of the documentary (The British Army) by asking the subjects questio
ns and sharing in their experiences. In this mode the documentary maker is clearly visible to the audience, be it by the blue journalist vest and helmet Ross Kemp is made to wear (see figure 1, left) or by other means such as it is obvious by who is asking the questions. Other examples of documentaries which are shot in participatory mode include “Louis Theroux: Most Hated Family in America”, directed by Geoffrey O'Connor and “Fahrenheit 9/11”, directed by Michael Moore. The most likely reason the Ministry of Defence (MOD) have allowed a popular television personality to report from Afghanistan is probably as it allows the general public to see him getting close to the soldiers to protect him as he in unarmed which then makes the public see the privates as more of heroes than they normally would and in turn respect and support them in their cause which, admittedly, is a very clever ploy by the MOD to create support.
I am going to analyse the cinematography next, this is essentially all about the different type of shots and camera movement 
etc. there is a mid shot used of Major Nick Caulder as he is preparing to move his troop showing in a ready state holding his rifle with his bayonet attached whilst still obeying the rule of thirds for the framing of the image. In figure 2 (left) I have split a cutaway from the show to demonstrate the rule of thirds by being able to see the eye line across the top horizontal and with the subjects head moving slightly across the right hand side of the screen, it can however go towards the left hand side if the director so wishes. The shot is possibly to show the audience that the soldiers are a smart, intuitive, and strong and prepared for action. Cutaways are also an integral part of any documentary, one of the cutaways used within this particular part of the documentary consists of a young Private resting during a brief res
pite between the hottest hours of the Afghan day (see figure 3, left). This perhaps connotes to the audience that although there is a strong heart within the army, they do have a softer side that needs resting, this perhaps projected in order to get an element of sympathy from the audience in an attempt to get them support the war effort more if at all.
Mise-en-Scene refers to that which is in front of the camera which includes the element of lighting, props and clothing. In the first part of Ross Kemp documentary all these are obviously included many times. The lighting in this documentary consist of all natural light for 2 main reasons, firstly, because it would be heavily impractical to carry the equipment with all the moving they have to do and secondly, because it would clearly show their position to the enemy. Regardless of these reasons I believe that they would have chosen natural light if the situation wasn’t as it is becau
se it allows for a more natural look on the subject and location. The props used within this documentary aren’t used upon request of the producers but simply the equipment that is standard army equipment such as their rifles and radios (see figure 4, left) etc. The clothing that the participants are wearing within Ross Kemp: Return to Afghanistan is that of an army’s standard issue desert camouflage uniform whilst Ross Kemp himself is wearing a blue layer over the top of his helmet and vest (see figure 1) in order to show he is an unarmed journalist who cannot be harmed under the Geneva Convention.
Editing is one of the main components of post production which is essentially just the collecting and collating of the images
that were captured to film into an order that tells the story as well as implementing the use of graphics such as credits or the location with time and date. These are present in Ross Kemp: Return to Afghanistan, in figure 5 (see left) you can clearly see the edited graphics (circled) which allows the audience to keep up to date with what day, what operation and the date of when the documentary was filmed, this keeps the documentary coherent and able to be understood by the audience who would find it difficult to follow should it be in a non-chronological order. Another example of editing is the title sequence of the documentary in which the images are juxtaposed in a fast cut manner in order to create a sense of action and give the audience a hint of what they are going 
to watch, this, of course, ends with the title of the documentary being shown (see figure 6, left). The slight sepia tone added to the piece gives it a worn, old feeling which could connote to the audience a beleaguered, worn-out feeling which would contradict the main aim of the documentary which is to show the soldiers thoughts and feelings and create support for the war effort.
The final element to analysis is the sound of the piece. Sound is obviously an integral element of any film making piece but possibly none more so than in a documentary where different parts need explaining to the audience so they can follow the story easily. The most obvious element within the sound is the narrative voiceover performed by Ross Kemp in the post production and layered over the top. This 
voiceover tells the audience the information that is missing from the actual visuals on the screen and the interviews that are cast. The interviews themselves create sound as the participants in the documentary are giving their answers which creates the diegetic sound (sound within the film world) where elements such as the voiceover are of a non-diegetic nature (from outside the film world). Another example of non-diegetic sound would be as the text seen in figure 5 in appearing in a type writer form there is the sound of a type writer being played over the top to give the audience a sense that is a more military style with a report being typed up. On the other hand, another example of diegetic sound is when a missile is fired from one of the “Javelin” missile launchers towards Taliban insurgents (highlighted in figure 7, above), the audience hear the screech of th
e missile through the air and the sound of the explosion when it knocks out the enemy position (circled in figure 8, left). There is not one main soundtrack which is used on the Ross Kemp documentary, instead, it is a collection of short bursts of sounds such as music which is put on to create a sense of tension and drama in order to grip the audience to the action, this technique is used during the action from which figure 4 was screenshot where the Taliban are preparing an attack on our soldiers and they are preparing their defence and retreat.
In conclusion, the hybridization of the main four elements of film making; cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing and sound as well elements specific to documentary film making such shooting it in a participatory mode allow for a well made, well structured, BAFTA award winning series such as Ross Kemp: Return to Afghanistan which, in my opinion, can be analysed but not criticised.
