Analysis of ‘The Devil Made

Me Do It’ Documentary

By Gabrielle Walsh

This type of documentary is mixed because it uses a combination of observations, narrations and interviews.

Type of Documentary

The documentary reflects the power of the media and how the media can influence an individuals behaviour.

It also reveals the problems in society in relation to the youths featured on the documentary and how the problems can be

dealt with.

Another theme which is present throughout the documentary is the binary opposition of Good Vs Evil.

Religion also is a main theme in the documentary as it shows the difference in Catholicism and Satanic worship.

Themes

Narrative StructureThe documentary is an open structure because the narrative had no precise conclusion and the question of whether Manson had an influence on the murder of the nun had not been fully answered.

The narrative was a single strand and it was also non-linear because it didn't follow a chronological order.

Camera Work

There was always a conventional framing in relation to the interviews. The interviewee’s eyes were always 1/3 of the way down the screen regardless of the shot type.

The position of the camera would always be to the right or left of the person who is being interviewed and the shots used for the interviews would be medium close ups or close

ups.

Interviews were mainly shot in a medium close up or a close up as this will give the audience a better understanding of what they are saying on a personal level. There was a lot of hand-held camera work on actuality footage like when Manson was in McDonalds,

this has purposely been used in order, to respond to events as they happen.

There was also a variety of shots used throughout the documentary such as: panning shots of Manson’s merchandise like t-shirts and posters, crane shots which took place at

Manson's concerts and gigs, tracking shots of the solicitor as he left court in relation to the nun case and zooming was used to reveal emotion of certain individuals in the

documentary.

There was also a lot of establishing shots of location in the documentary such as the sky line of the city, alleyways, graveyards and long streets to convey the dark and eerie

prospective of the narrative.

Camera ShotsHere are a few examples of camera shots which are used at certain times

through out the documentary:

This is a close-up of an interview in which it

follows the convention of the eye line being 1/3 of the way down

the screen.

This is a close-up of Marilyn Manson during an interview

in which its taken from a low angle to convey power.

The lighting on his face reflects the Good Vs Evil

prospective.

This is an establishing shot of the sky line in which

where the crime took place.

This is a two shot of interviewee’s

talking about the murder case.

This is a mid to long shot of

Manson during an interview.

This is an extreme close-up of a

newspaper article in relation to the behaviour of the

youths.

Mise-en-scene

There was lots of religious imagery featured in the

documentary such as churches, statues, nuns and crosses.

The lighting is rather important through out the documentary as a

golden glow is shown every time some sort of religious imagery appears. This

relates back to the Good Vs. Evil prospective and contrasts with Manson as his lighting was always the opposite.

SoundThe voice over in the documentary is a male who uses standard English to tell

the narrative. His voice is not emotive as this could make him look bias. His age

sounds appropriate to the subject matter, this is also important because

this is what holds the narrative together. There were also translators who voiced

over throughout the documentary in which were always gender appropriate.

There were a variety of sound effects used in the documentary to make the narrative flow. Sound effects such as a dark barking, stabs, thuds and screaming were

used to create tension. There was also a heart beat effect which was featured during the reconstruction of the dying nun. The beat of the heart began at a fast pace

then eventually got slower until it stopped; this reinforced the nuns death. There was also a range of

music which was played in the documentary, there was religious music which involved choirs, organs and harps. Meanwhile, Manson’s music was also involved as it was always loud and heavy to contrast with the ‘heavenly’ music. Finally, there was the odd scene in which there

was dramatic sound from a piano which was used to give it a horror movie feel which created tension.

MansonAt Manson’s concerts, the camera was often positioned in

the crowd which made us feel like one of the fans. This gave the audience a taster of what it would be like to be at one of his concerts aswell as being right in on the action.

At the Manson press conference, there was various shots of the News Media so it positions the audience as the observer and it

also distances the documentation maker from the other media.

The last words Manson said on the documentary were “If you don’t raise your kids then I’m going to, I speak to their kids more than they do” This was a clever way to end the

documentary as it quite intimidating.

GraphicsThe graphics which are featured in the documentary are simple, clear and easy to read and understand. The font is in white so it stands out. In interviews, graphics were shown at the bottom left hand corner which stated the interviewee’s name and their relevance to the matter.

Graphics were used for translations and also at Manson’s concerts which revealed the lyrics to some of

his songs. However, the title of the documentary is different because it uses a gothic, bold font which is

relevant to Manson himself.

Archive MaterialThere was American Television and extracts from Italian chat shows to contextualize Manson’s actions and

how they interpret a youths behaviour. It also shown shots of

fan websites to reveal the attitude the youths had towards Manson.

EditingCuts were the only

editing technique used throughout the whole of

the documentary. This made the audience not

notice the editing.