Documentary style research

My Beautiful Broken Brain (Directed by Sophie Robinson and Lotje Sodderland,2014)

Begins with David Lynch quote
also begins quite disorientating visually
In and out of focus, mostly out of focus/ fuzzy
cloud shots, city time-lapse..
words on screen, no voices as of yet
lots of handheld continuously (walking through park, streets, into cafe..) very point of view
Still haven't been introduced to main ‘character’/ person of interest until about 10 minutes in
First introduction of main woman Lotje Sodderland (co-director) is blog footage at hospital
close ups of medical reports/hospital records
First interview with Lotje starts normal, sound then distorts and echoes
Vlog footage dominates a lot of the documentary, mixed with family/friends interviews
quite a few P.O.V shots
minimal added soundtrack throughout, quiet almost relaxing and dreamlike background sounds
some sharp cuts from blog footage, P.O.V shots walking and interview footage with added distortion from editing (over saturation, colours heightened…)

Timelapse shot

Lotje's first appearance in vlog format

overhead shot of Lotje re-practicing spelling

one of the over saturated shots, a technique used a lot throughout

Grizzly Man (Directed by Werner Herzog 2005)

Narration throughout entire documentary
heavy use of Timothy Treadwell’s actual footage living amongst wild grizzly bears
family/friends/doctor interviews
increased immersion and sense of reality due to real footage
no happy outcome as audience is aware of Timothy’s death prior to documentary
Herzog likes to leave the camera rolling after finished interviews in an attempt to capture more authentic actions

Timothy Tredwell's own recorded footage

Director Herzog and friend of Treadwell listen to the audio recorded from Treadwell's camera during the fatal bear attack

Gimme Shelter (Directed by the Maysles brothers, 1970)

Handheld ‘fly the wall’ tactic (wild horses scene) in studio with band members and others, as if audience was there with them
Stones re-watching documentary scenes with directors, allows the audience to re-watch certain events creating a further understanding (e,g Altamont stabbing scene)
lengthy concert videos footage of the Stones
lots of close ups
no voiceover (reinforcing ‘fly on the wall technique, just filming them and their audiences as if the cameras aren't there
not a lot of interaction with the Stones and the camera
footage of other interviews but not specific for the documentary (press interviews etc.)
lots of stand alone footage (especially in Altamont scenes) basically letting the camera sit there and capture anything