Xhesi Abdurahmani

The device I am going to be discussing is shot types and variety. We see this in the Mockumentary “Summer heights high.” There is a section when the students show the students show the camera crew around the school. In this section a long shot is used the get a wider shot of their surroundings. However, later on mid shots are being used to focus on the main character in the Mockumentary and where they hang out. This makes the audience feel more involved with them.  In the Documentary called “Bruce Parry Tribe” lots of different shot types are used. One of them is a long shot so we can see the surrounding that there are in and it makes us feel really interested in the atmosphere and the bees’ habitat. However, they also use close ups to really get the detail of the animals in this case the bees. This makes us feel excitement as we are now in their world and its feels very real.

The next device I am going to be analysing is Quality of Filming. In the Mockumentary the quality of filming is not very professional as the camera is always moving about so it gives the impression that its is real as it looks like he had to take it on camera straight away as though it happened live when actually they have rehearsed this thousands of times before but needed to give the impression of it being a real documentary. This makes us feel that the Mockumentary is really actually a documentary because they are taking it “on the spot”.  However in the “Tribe” documentary the camera moves but in a professional way so the footage doesn’t turn out blurry but because they have more professional equipment they have lots of cameras but it just moves from one to the other which is why it looks so professional whereas in the “summer heights high” it only has one camera and takes everything and moves everywhere. This makes us feel more focused as they are not confusing us with the moving of the camera like the Mockumentary.

The third device I am going to be looking into is Quality of footage. In the Mockumentary the footage has poor quality. This is because documentaries used to have poor quality whereas now they have HD quality. The Mockumentary tries to take the mick with this and is therefore using poor quality to give the impression that it is a documentary when infact it is not. The audience feels irritated by this as they are taking the mick and therefore not taking this seriously. However, in the documentary they use High definition quality so really good quality and this is to get every single detail of the animals and the habitat they live in. Also with such good quality it seem realistic which makes us feel like we are there with him.

The fourth device I am going to discuss is Narative vs Interview. In the Mockumentary you can hear children in the school screaming, laughing and overall just talking. In the interview they to us in slang and informal language which therefore makes us feel like we are being welcomed into their group as they are talking comfortably with us and talking to us like they would do with one of their friends. This makes us feel comfortable as they have welcomed us. We cant hear the interviewer because there is no interviewer. This is because its like we have become the interviewer and they are talking to us because if they had an interviewer it wouldn’t make us feel as involved because there would be an interviewer in the way. However, in the documentary we can hear the nature and bees in the background which gives the whole effect of it being realistic. When Bruce Parry talks we hear lots of pauses and fillers such as “erm…” This proves that this isn’t rehearsed and is in fact shot at the moment. This makes us feel that involved as at the precise moment because it’s not rehearsed we see him and facial expressions at the moment and what he feels like where as if they rehearsed we wouldn’t of seen his real actual feelings about the situation. We hear Parry’s voice as a narrator so then he’s explaining what was happening there and we hear his voice in the interview so it shows that he’s telling us at that precise moments how he feels.

The fifth device im going to be explaining is Observational shot. In “summer high heights” the observational shot that’s used is as though we are looking through a window and doesn’t seem like we are involved. This makes us feel that we are left out of the action. However, in the “tribe” the observational shot is looking into the action but looking over Bruce’s shoulder. This makes us feel protected by Bruce but not missing out the action.

The last device is the voice overs. In the Mockumentary there are no voice overs but the boys talking to us in slang. Only occasionally we hear the interviewer asking questions. This makes us feel not very pleased as it is informal but with the documentary the narrator uses sophisticated language which makes us feel that this is a professional documentary and reliable.