CRITICAL APPROACHES TO MEDIA PRODUCTS ASSIGNMENT 1

TASK 1



A2)

THE LIFT :

 http://gorillafilmmagazineblog.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/emotive-and-confined-marc-isaacs-short-documentary-lift/

http://www.openculture.com/2011/06/lift.html

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1623991/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

http://www.blackcountrycinema.com/interview-marc-isaacs/

BOWLING OF COLUMBINE :

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bowling-for-columbine-2002

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bowling_for_columbine/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/10/28/bowling_for_columbine_2002_review.shtml

http://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/93922/bowling.for.columbine

http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9d02eedc173af932a25753c1a9649c8b63

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/09/10/michael-moore-obama-interview/

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/nov/11/usforeignpolicy.guardianinterviewsatbfisouthbank

http://www.morphizm.com/recommends/interviews/mikecolumbine.html

http://www.popmatters.com/feature/moore-michael/

http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9d02eedc173af932a25753c1a9649c8b63

TASK 3

Bowling for Columbine is a documentary that explores the gun laws in America. Classified as an investigative documentary whereby the programme investigates the nature of the high figures of gun violence and crime in America with reference to the Columbine High School Massacre in 1999 and other acts of violence involving guns.

Due to the topic of guns being legal in America even until present, the documentary can also be classified as a Current Affairs Documentary because guns are discussed in depth throughout the entire film. The documentary was awarded with a 16+ classification despite the nature of the film being of an exploration of violence. Bowling for Columbines topic of documentary is extremely specific , thus I would classify their Target Audience to be Mainstream of which an audience whom are interested in politics, current affairs, guns, victims of gun crime or people whom are interested in gun laws in America will find this documentary extremely educational. It also appeals to those whom have no knowledge of guns, gun crimes and American laws and wish to educate themselves on the topic. Americans and Non-Americans will find this documentary appealing, however I personally think the majority of the audience watching the documentary out of interest will be Non-Americans whom are not familiar with American laws because it would be foreign to them . Because of the diverse possible audience the documentary appeals to, demographics will be irrelevant when choosing to target the audience. Instead I believe that targeting the audience for Bowling for Columbine should be based on socio-economic status where by an audiences gender, age, geographic location, interests and lifestyle plays a part in the classification.

Moreover, the classification of the documentary is of a ‘Current Affairs’ type of documentary. It instantly appeals to specific gender-male audiences. As mentioned earlier the Current Affairs Documentary type possesses contents of public affairs, politics, economics on both a local and global scale that appeals to audience worldwide but more specifically males due to them occupying more public space than domestic space of which females occupy thus their preference for such content is understandable as their awareness and knowledge for public world relations will prove to be necessary to them. Hence, the genre and type of documentary of Bowling For Columbine itself is one of the technique used by Michael Moore the director, to appeal to its targeted audience. 

Subjects in the documentary are sometimes seen talking directly into the camera during an interview of questions from Michael Moore. However Michael Moore is not seen asking the questions , nonetheless I will also classify the documentary as a Video Diary too because it possesses elements of editorial control of which is decided by the producer. In term of the cinematography techniques, Bowling for Columbine is extremely creative in their production with filming shots varying from Cut-aways, establishing shots and mid shots while also including  juxtaposition, non-linear footages, cctv footages,animation, actual footages while including figures and statistics throughout the entire film. These elements contribute to the mise-en-scene of both the documentary itself and documentaries as a whole. This, in turn appeals to a niche audience in their interests in filming techniques.

The Lift targeted audience differs to Bowling for Columbine greatly. Firstly The Lift was only aired in the United Kingdom due to the small budget and minimalistic resources. Its targeted audience falls under Alternative because of the documentary topic simply being to observe the residents of a flat in East London in a lift they share.

 The documentary films their behaviours towards each other as neighbours and towards him as a guest in their lift. An aspect of the documentary that is found to be appealing are the residences reaction of Marc Isaac's presence.

 I believe the documentary has a wide range of target audience which differentiates to Bowling for Columbine where their target audience is quite specific. For instance, the documentary targets residents living in that block of flats as well as other neighbouring blocks and neighbourhoods. Having chosen to film in a location amongst a certain residence reflects an aspect of appeal to their target audience as it provides their targeted audience a sense of familiarity of which they may find to be relatable. In general I believe the documentary targets the United Kingdom of all demographics despite the demographic of the filming location ranging from people of C2 ,D and E as other demographics could watch the documentary out of curiosity of another social background, residences, and county in the U.K that varies from their own so as to compare lifestyles. When watching the documentary it is observed that the people of this demographic have a distinguishable quality about them that ranges from the way they communicate in terms of their language and dialect, their behaviour, and their personal circumstances such as being a widow or a having been diagnosed with mental health issues. Based on The Lifts content, the documentary naturally sparks a sense of curiosity and interest amongst its audience which, I believe is to be another contributing factor to appealing to their audiences through its content.  Due to the diversity and behaviours witnessed in the documentary, it can be said that The Lift targets a niche audience of who are interested in social economics or sociology.

Shot entirely from a ‘point of view shot’ the cinematography techniques used in The Lift not only establishes the documentary type as a Video Diary but it also poses as an appeal to their target audience of those interested in documentaries that take advantage of the realistic and personal aspects this particular shot provides. In addition to the cinematography techniques used to film The Lift, the type of documentary it upholds represents that of a Video Diary of which the subject has editorial control over the content to a certain extent of which the producer will decide as to the degree of freedom is allowed. The Video Diary type of documentary also contributes to the audiences emotions by showcasing a personalised view of the subjects’ surroundings, again emphasising realism.

I want to lay emphasis on a point I made earlier, The Lift targets a diverse audience range based on different reasons as to why the documentary appeals to them. In summary, The Lift appeals to audiences such as:

-Residences in that particular flat that was filmed, residences in that particular neighbourhood.

-Audience living within London and the U.K

-Demographics of C2, D and E

-Audience of any demographic whom are simply just curious of the lifestyle those filmed lead.

-Adults or Parents whom only have time to watch documentaries that last 30 minutes or shorter due to their personal time constraints.

-Teenagers of who possess short attentions spans.

-Audience interested in a more personal and realistic documentary

-Audience interested in the social status and behaviour of other for educational purpose. Possibly those interested in Sociology and Social Sciences.

Appealed to them due to the following reasons:

-Filming location of documentary

-Relatable lifestyles

-Curiosity of wanting to know about other social backgrounds and classes.

-The Documentary is less time consuming lasting about 30 minutes.

-The cinematography allows audience to be educated through a personalised viewing experience, confirming the entire content to be realistic.

-Curiosity for people living in a different county of the U.K

-An educational study of social behaviour.

-How alternative the documentary is as compared to the documentaries of which are very specific with regards to its content and intention.

- The overall content of the documentary.