Analysing other documentaries.

In this clip of Fahrenheit 9/11 Michael Moore begins to analyse the failings of the people in charge of preventing a disaster. He first begins by setting the scene of the disaster; 'On September 11th 2001 nearly 3000 people, including a colleague of mine Bill Weems, where killed in the largest foreign attack ever on American soil.'. Michael Moore uses a mixture of facts and emotional language to draw his audience in. By braking down the 3000 people and actually showing one person he knew that died that day allows the audience to become emotionally part of the documentary. I believe I will use a similar method in my documentary using facts and emotional text to allow the audience to be drawn in.

He uses several panning shots of pictures left by families of missing relatives, this is set over some slow operatic music.Once again this builds emotion and also a sense of tension as he reveals shocking facts and figures. The music used is a common convention of documentaries as it automatically tells the audience what to feel before any words are spoken.

Once Michael Moore has emotionally drawn in the audience he begins to critique the people in charge that day. By first of all emotionally drawing in the audience and then beginning his point he is leaving the audience less chance to disagree with him. Once again Michael Moore only uses facts in his argument stating that 'As the attack took place Mr Bush was on his way to an elementary school in Florida. When informed of the first plane hitting the world trade centre, where terrorists had struck just 8 years prior, Mr Bush decided to go ahead with his photo opportunity.'. When speaking of George Bush, the main target of criticism in this particular documentary, he refers to him as 'Mr Bush'. This is in stark contrast to when he refers to his friend in first name terms and tells us he was his colleague. Michael Moore does not want the audience to think of George Bush as a person but as a cold leader who is incompetent. by referring to him as Mr Bush he is giving him an elevated status which people will hate him automatically because of and also that can have a greater fall from grace in the long run.

Michael Moore uses a series of jump cuts after we find out the second plane has hit the tower. This is to show the passage of time between the tragedy occurring and anyone in charge acting. As the clock goes up and up the audience begins to feel a sense of tension and anger and this further proves Michael Moore's point and gets the audience on his side.

I believe this particular scene is highly successful in proving Michael Moore's point and getting his audience to agree with his point of view. I will use similar techniques in my documentary as I believe we cover a similar subject matter.

Questionare

Please Circle One Answer Per Question

1. Gender:
Male Female

2. How old are you?
18-24 25-39 40-60 60+

3. Would you consider yourself:
Working Class Middle Class Upper Class

4. What is your basic income per anum?
£0-£10,000 £10,001-£18,000 £18,000-£25,000 £25,001-£50,000 £50,000+

5. What level of education have you completed?
Primary Secondary College University

6. What area of the country are you from?
North North West Midlands North East South South West South East Other

7. What national newspaper do you buy?
The Star The Sun The Mirror The Mail The Times The People The Independent
The Guardian

8. How regularly do you watch documentaries?
Every Day Once A Week Once A Month Once A Year Almost Never

9.What Subject would interest you in a documentary?
Sport Politics Environment Journalism War Sex Drugs Other

10. Do you know anything about the Hillsborough disaster?
Yes No

11. Do you know anything about the media coverage of the Hillsborough disaster?
Yes No

12. Are you a football supporter?
Yes No Occasionally

The first question I asked on my questionare was that of the persons gender. This would help me discover what gender would most be intrested in my documentary.

I next asked what age the person was. My target audience is 40-60 so I am most concerned with making sure that my product would please them. After that the over 60s and 25-39 I believe would also be intrested in my product. Out of the 27 people I asked only 4 are between the ages of 18-24. That is because I do not believe they would have as much intrest in my particular due to the fact they where not born in 1989 or where very young.

I personally believe that my documentary would mostly interest the working class, especially those from the north. Also most of the people I asked either live or lived in Liverpool which is prodominantly a working class city. To find many people who would consider themselves middle or upper class is very rare.

I next asked what each persons basic wage was.

Research

I have emailed the research department of Liverpool Hope University to find out if they have any information about the sun newspaper or the Hillsborough disaster.


Dr Janet Speake

I am currently producing a documentary for my college A2 media qualification in Roby College about The Sun newspaper. The documentary is titled 'Don't Buy The Sun?' and it is about the views in and around Liverpool about the Sun newspaper. I am writing to ask if you have any information on the Sun newspaper in Liverpool or about the Hillsborough disaster? Preferably if you have any information on the readership figures of the Sun. Any help you can give me would be invaluable and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Kindest Regards
Michael Morralley

Interview reply

i have received an email back from the Hillsborough family Support Group regarding an interview. they have agreed to be interviewed.

Hi Michael,

Margaret Aspinall, Chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group has said she would be willing to be interviewed by you group. Please can you call her directly to arrange this on:

Many thanks and best regards,

Sue
Secretary HFSG