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'The Devil Made me do it'

 

The Devil made me do it is a documentary about the murder of an Italian nun, which was committed by three young teenage girls, many thought the murder was due to the behaviour and violent lyrics of Marylin Manson. As he was very popular around the time of the murder.

 

The documentary was mixed, as it used things such as archive material - for example there was footage from a Marylin Manson concert. They had a voice over for the narrator, also known as the voice of god. Cutaways and graphics were also used, to add variety to the documentary. There is also a narrative structure as there was a beginning, middle and end to the documentary. And a variety of different camerawork and editing was used to add depth.

In the opening of the documentary there was a montage of different camera shots, of fans and crowds in a Marylin Manson concert. The documentary uses enigma code, as it opens with a Marylin Manson concert, and then the scene changes and focuses on the death of an Italian nun, this mystery allows the audience to carry on watching to find out what the connection is between the two. Within twelve minutes the enigma code becomes clear. And the audience is told that Marylin’s music and attitude was what affected the behaviour of the killers.

There was also many interviews taken throughout the documentary, for example a lawyer was taken to a Marylin Manson concert and to view his behaviour which she found disturbing.
 Later in the documentary the audience is introduced to one of the young girls fathers. There are shots of him boarding a train on his way to see her, and throughout his interview there are
many cut-aways to images of what he is talking about e.g. cuts to his daughter in prison and then back to him.
 To change a scene in one point of the documentary they show a man walking out of a room turning of a light to black-out, as the next scene is dark this was used instead of fading to black. Throughout the documentary the audience is told a lot about the murder and how Marylins music affected people at that time, however there were questions left unanswered.

There is a wide range of camera work used in ‘The Devil made me do it’. There were many establishing shots used to show that the crime was located in Italy, for example, while the voice over was explaining about the Italian nun, there was a clip showing various streets and buildings around the village.

Also there were many interviews throughout the documentary, some of these were in two shots, for example, a couple who were in a medium shot, thee was also a woman in a close-up, to show how tense the documentary became this added variety and drama to the documentary to engage the audience. There was also an interview with friends of the killers, who were all in a medium close up of them lying on a bed talking to one another as they answered the questions, this represents them as being less serious and suggests they don’t care about the death.

The Mise-en-scene was focused mostly outdoors in the villages and towns of Italy. There were many large establishing shots of the land showing the murder location. Also in each interview there was a different scene, for example, there was a married couple sitting in the living room of there family home contrasting the horror. And there was an informal interview inside an Italian cafe, with three young people.



Documentary genre and theory.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS

The purpose of a documentary is to document, to report with evidence, soemthing that has actually happened. It can show this by using acthaliity footage, or recreations/reconstructions. It can use a narrators voice over to anchor the meaning or rely on the participents themselves, with perhaps occassional comments from a narrator.

- Fly on the wall e.g. Big Brother - Appears truthful as possible (verite)
- Current affairs - About things that have happened currently
- Topicality - In depth, look at a news item
- Audience research is vital
- Different styles - Panorama, serious and formal

Different Techniques

- Observation - the programme makes pretend that the camera is unseen.
- Interview - the interviewee doesnt look at the audience/camera, they look at the speaker - questions are cut out
- Mise-en-scene - extreamly important
- Narrative - A scene of dramatic conflict
- Exposition - line of argument, what is the documentary saying?
- Mixed documentary - combination - interviews, observation, narration, achive material, graphics.
- Vox Pops - Street interviews with the general public - asking the same question

Topic

- Think small and local
- Good Visuals
- Allow conflict - two sides to the argument

Narrative

- The begining, middle and end
- The begining needs to get the audiences attention - dramatic footage? montage?
- The middle should have more detail and conflict
- In the end the exposition should be resolved

Construction
- Situations and locations
- Individuals
- Cammera
- Time
- Sound
- Edit

Filming

- Cut aways and cut ins e.g. cutting into pictures during the interview
- Use a variety of camera shots - still, zoom, still
- Vary shots in the interviews.

Things to think about:

- Music and sound effects
- Lighting