In The Teeth of Jaws

Mise En Scene – In the interviews you can see that the mise en scene has been thought about and has been made relevant to the documentary. The shark is also positioned as if it were eating the interviewee which adds mild humor to the documentary. The mise en scene creates a visually interesting interview and signifies the themes of danger and sharks.

Rule of thirds – The rule of thirds is used in the documentaries when filming interviews. This portrays the “talking head” effect which is simply the interviewee talking about the topic on either side of the camera, as if the screen was split into 3rds. This makes the framing look professional and formal.

Music and Sound – The jaws music can be heard throughout certain parts of the documentary. This music creates tension and compliments the themes and atmosphere of the other conventions. The voice of the interviewee is also heard creating a voiceover the cutaway. This creates interest as it mixes the interviewee’s voice with the jaws music creating interest to the audience.

Cutaways – As we can see the main cutaways used in this documentary are sea and shark related. This cutaway shows the shark biting the camera. By using a cutaway of a shark in the documentary the audience can visualize what a real life shark might be like. Therefore good, relevant cutaways in documentaries enhance the audiences enjoyment of the documentary.

Name Tags – Name tags are used whenever introducing someone to the audience in an interview. As we can see there is also a picture of a shark next to the name tag, therefore not only does the name tag introduce people but it can be used as an opportunity to make the documentary more visually interesting and bring out the themes of the documentary.

Archive Footage – Archive footage is used as cutaways to explain or re-live memories on screen to the audience. In this case the first book of jaws is shown, signifying how the fear of sharks and jaws has come from a book to real life phobia phenomenon. Archive footage helps explain a story to the audience.