Portfolio: Essay

As you may have read I had to submit an essay as part of my portfolio to Anglia Ruskin. This is the essay that I sent off this afternoon.

'The documentary I watched was I’m in a boy band on BBC 3 because it appeals to a wide audience and is linked to music. It was about the experiences a boy gains when he is a boy band member. The audience is drawn in from the start; this is executed by a humorous analogy of boy band members as creations of God. The programme used interviews of past and present boy band members giving an anecdotic insight into the life of a member. Archive footage from concerts of various bands was used which allowed the viewer to relive the events they may have been a part of; I found this to be my favourite feature as this connected the viewer to the programme. The programme made use of quick-paced editing which was effective because it engaged the viewer’s attention through cutting between clips of concert footage, interviews and music videos. Whilst this made for stimulating television, a weakness of the production was the lack of variety in camera angles.  On the whole though, the documentary was informative and an enjoyable viewing experience.

I think that a good documentary should be both informative, entertaining and, where appropriate, aesthetically pleasing. Viewers’ emotions must be taken into account throughout the programme and the narrative should strive to create empathy with the subject. A variety of angles and shots can help to tell the story effectively.

If I was making a documentary, I would aim to use humour, drama, music and sound effects to enhance the narrative. However, while the above are important, I would strive to let the camera tell the story through a wide variety of footage, in order to maximise the viewing experience.'