New York PhotographerDocumentary Analysis

Analysis…This is a mixed documentary as it features a

mixture of narration, observation, archive footage and interviews.

The documentary itself follows the story of a New York photographer and the experiences he has had, as he has toured with many bands.

The audience also learns what musicians are like, due to the photographers experience with them offstage

Themes… The documentary itself focuses on punk bands and follows

the experience the photographer has with these bands whilst they are not performing and gives an insight into the music industry. It also shows the rebellious nature of the punk scene in New York.

It also focuses on the explosion of music in the 1980s and how it became so relevant and effective in day to day life.

Camera Techniques… The camera angles for this documentary were very basic. Mid shots were used during the interviews and conventional

framing was used during interviews, with the rule of thirds being adhered to and the interviewee’s eye line looking into the ‘golden spot’.

Close ups of the images were used when the photographer was talking about certain events, with the images being used a evidence to back up what the photographer was talking about.

Mise en Scene Throughout there was a lot of archive material used which

stayed true to the documentary. When someone was being interviewed, the background was

relevant to the music industry, thus not distracting from the major theme of the documentary.

The background used was that of a recording studio, still images and a music stage.

These are all relevant to the music industry theme that the documentary had.

Sound Most of the sound in the documentary used was diegetic with

some examples of non-diegetic sounds being used. The diegetic sound was the sound of the interviews, as this

documentary featured no narration. The interviews explain why/when the pictures where taken and what the image is representing.

The non diegetic sound used was the overlay of the bands music that were being interviewed at the time, which kept with the main theme of the documentary, the music industry.

Editing/archive and graphics. Editing – Very simple effects were used in this documentary.

Transitions were used to flick between the various photo’s Graphics – Filmstrips were used over names in order to give

the documentary a more authentic feel, and maintain the theme of documentary. It also let the audience know who the person was and their relevance to the documentary.

Archive – All the archive footage used in the documentary is that off the images the photographer has taken. These photo’s were used as evidence to back up what someone was saying.