Louis Theroux: Behind Bars - Review (Interview Techniques)

Louis Theroux: behind bars was an outstanding documentary about the prisoners of San Quentin State Prison as Louis gets to stay for two weeks to pick behind the stories of how some of the inmates landed themselves in the world most notorious prison.

During the documentary I was intrigued by the quote at the beginning opening interview where one of the inmates states that "something's that thrill Louis and his camera man won't thrill the inmate and what thrills the inmate won't thrill Louis and the camera man".










 
The opening is strong with the description of san Quentin with its 3,000 inmates consisting of "murderers, sexual predators and small time criminals" one of the small time criminal we get to meet is "playboy Nolan" who sprayed substances at the guards and hijacked cars, he got a 3year sentence which was extended because of he gassed one of the guards. Louis becomes very curious about Nolan's time in san Quentin, why he wouldn't gas Alehos and the interior of his cell. On there break Louis is introduced to the various groups within the prison yard, such as the barbarian brotherhood which is a group of white inmates.


Louis questions always varies throughout the documentary with the leading question of what they have done to land themselves in san Quentin prison. It helps to keep the documentary going and keeps the inmates guessing.


1/5 of the way through Louis and the cameraman is taken to level 4 cell block which holds the rough secluded inmate, some of the offences they have caused to end up in here are: murder, rape, robbery, exporting contraband to other inmates. Anthony (one of the recent inmates) is interviewed by Louis and tell him that he killed his friend which is why he is in san Quentin prison. Anthony's expression shows that he is enjoying life as an inmate and thinks that the prison is a "playground". In the documentary Louis asks one of the wardens how Anthony can spend his 50yrs in san Quentin without getting himself into trouble, and keeping away from inmates that will use the younger inmates to stab or attack other inmates or guards.


At the inmates lunch break Louis sit with 2 members of the barbarian brotherhood and tries to push his limits after they tell him that he can't offer any food to them, he keeps asking if they are truthfully saying that as they tell him that they would mob him in a group of 3, they then meet Debra (a trans-woman inmate) who has a working relationship within the prison. Louis asks a lot of subjective questions about why they think the other inmates want to split relationship within the prison up and why they think their relationship works.

LIft, Louis Theroux, and Catfished analysis (Interview Techniques)

What I have learned
Throughout the three documentary films I have learned a range of interviewing types such as pushing the interviewee to try and get a response or answer from them by




Structure of the three films
Louis Theroux:
In Louis Theroux the structure is well put together and uses different shots to tell some of the story such as where he is and what he is doing there, where as the rest of the structure such as interviews introduces us to new characters and what they're thoughts and behaviour is through the use of location and questions Louis is asking about them.


The Lift:
In the documentary 'the lift' the structure is well put together in certain spots such as the women who had a dream about a dog drowning and the dog that nearly entered the lift, however in my own thoughts I don't think the lift was structure to what it could've been


Catfished: Is a documentary based on the idea of catfishing people on the internet (pretending to be someone you're not to lure people into a false sense of security). Catfish is a fly on the wall documentary as the film everything as it happens, it also gave them time to reflect on what was happening and coming up with answers on what they think they should do about this person they believe is a catfish.






Interviewing types


Louis Theroux is a subjective documentary because of the way he focuses on what he is trying to prove. The use of close ups to mids shot aslo focuses on the subjectsd action and movements through the documentary. Louis uses a range of suggestive questions that might questions one opinion or belief, for example questioning the founder Fred Phelps beliefs during his broadcast, which helps Louis manipulate his target subject into giving him what he's wanting for the camera without realising.


The documentary as a whole has a investigative interview style as he walks round tailing his subject and interviewing them about what they're doing and if they think it's right or not, this also make the interview more intriguing to the audience as it becomes more entertaining through the actions, opinions and responses from the other subjects around him. During interviewing America's most hated family Louis' communication skills become a whole lot better as he actively listens to what they are saying then questions the pieces that stick out to him and tries to wind them up to get a bigger scale reaction to see how far they will go for their cause.


The purpose of the interviews are to enhance the audiences understanding of the way they behave and what they believe and then to justify it in a negative or positive light (most commonly a negative light). The documentary is a emotional film because of the way the family's actions make you feel, such as picketing the funeral of dead soldiers.


The Lift is a documentary that uses a lot of open questions to suit the subjects mind-set and leaves open the use for questioning them further about it, however some of the questions he asks are directed to the specific person in the lift. For example the guy who had been out drinking. The documentary has a light-hearted style to it as it's main focus is the everyday life of the tenants in the apartment building, however the communication skills of the interviewer/filmmaker are not as good as Louis Theroux but builds his confidence to talk to the tenants in the building and questions the in a gentle manner that won't offend but will still get answers from the interviewees.


The documentary doesn't have an emotional feel in my opinion but aims to research how they feel about living in the building and using the lift in their everyday lives.


Catfish is a documentary that focuses on multiple and direct questioning to both the interviewee and the interviewer as Nev tries to track down the woman he believes is a catfish. It has a investigative and hard news styling that can be shown to the audience with the way they try to constantly film everything such as their own investigation planning, the investigation and the interviews with the woman who was cat fishing Nev and her family. The documentary has a wind-up and key questions structure as it follows Nev trying to get to the bottom of what is truly happening. The communication skills in the film are well put together as he keeps composed when interviewing the woman at in the late stages of his investigation. During his planning Nev uses phone interview techniques as he gathers information and obtains comments through text and call from the cat fish.


During the documentary he attempts to get answers and justify her reasons for why she cat fished him as she begins crying because she knows what she did was wrong. The interviews with the woman are really emotional as she begins crying as Nev tries to comfort her and make her see that what she did was wrong but also allows to see insight into the situation as it helps the audience realise that catfishing can effect people on both sides and those around them.

Week 3 - Characters & Scene Setting

‘When I grow up’ :

I want to be popularly known

‘The best thing about this week will be...’ :

Going on a trip to mars

‘The ruined party’ :

Was like a farm’s cattle house…

… The final ambulance took “Biter” off.

The Upper East-side of New York’s wealthiest, most powerful people. The Harrington family had invited the Aldridge's, to settle this family feud. This wouldn't end well.

(Describe the main character) - Biter; a man of short proportions who was once arrested for removing a police officers fingertip with his teeth. 4’ 9” and shaved to a buzz cut, his pale blue eyes are as frosty as they are piercing. Don’t underestimate him because of his size, he’s lighting fast and doesn’t play fair.

(Secondary character) -  Laurie Harrington, A woman known for her overwhelming passion for her family and her work, The first daughter of the Harrington family, Flowing dark hair that reflected in the eyes of her peers, 5’1 with bright green eyes, however is not as she seems as those who get on her bad side have known to experience her deathly stare and over-reactive personality.

Screenplays are very dependent upon characters, Syd Field says:

Without character. You have no action, without action, no conflict, no story: without story, no screenplay,’

An outer presence of me:

A small teen with a large onyx mop that points to the right hand side along with ginger tints and a scruffy little beard which he shaves once in a blue moon. He wears an array of different tops and jumpers but the only consistent thing he wears are one of his 3 pairs of blue jeans, His voice is similar to Mickey mouse but seems to sound 40 years older when online with his friends.

My ‘Dominant attitude’:

His temperament is very placid and doesn’t budge until people push him to his limit but forgives and forget after a week or so. He likes to study his enemies movements before beating them in videos games and is very swift to defend himself from the opposition, his goals are set high, aiming to become the next cinematographer in the next blockbuster.

Practise Documentaries (Interview Techniques)

I have edited my documentary to a certain standard, it is not the best, there could've been a number of things to add to the documentary such as more B roll, music etc. but with what I had I have finished my piece about how the mighty Redcar represented and how much of the mighty Redcar shows the reality of the little coastal town.

I think my questions for this piece could've been a lot better and to the point because

YEAR 2 - Factual programme production (Interview Techniques)

Catfish - Questions after viewing.


Write a synopsis for the movie.
3 investigators travel to another county after communicating with a catfish who has faked several accounts.


Write a review of the movie.
The documentary 'catfished' has a mixed documentary styles using a range of both reflective and performative styles to tell the story about how he began being catfished. Some of the shots could have been better by being placed on a tripod or some sort of equipment that could stabilise the camera shake throughout the film, becauseof the camera shake there are a couple of shots that help explain the scene such as the camera bobbing when he is walking with the woman who catfished him.

Throughout the film I thought it was interesting but began to loose my interest as it progressed the story element of the film

What style of documentary do you think this was? Give reasons for your answer.
I think this documentary is a reflexive documentary type because throughout the end of the documentary there are times given to the audience to reflect on what has happened and how the interviewer felt to begin cat fishing the young lad and why she did it.


Looking at the opening quote of the movie, what significance does this have to the way that the movie concluded?
The opening lines are significant to the conclusion because after they confront the woman about her fake lives (fake facebook accounts) Yaniv begins poking about more truth out of her by '(quote)'

If it had involved the specific level of planning that you usually associate with the factual genre do you think it would have been as good? Or better?

I think it would still be good because even though the camera was hand held, and went along with the story some of the

6 Word Stories

Happiness:
Joyfulness, Peace, lively, souls, warm, countryside


Exercise:
Exercise and training gives stronger bones and muscles


Slip: Brain Training,
Write the copy for a cereal box so that someone would actually want to buy this exciting new flavour.


Matthew lunged himself out of bed and raced down the stairs to quench to hunger for captain crunch super caramel cereal but did he know that after his first bite Matthew himself would transform into Captain Crunch himself. A thunderous shockwave struck the hero from under his feet as the sound of something colossal marched down the stair after him as the dastardly ogre, Dadruth, headed his way. The door to the kitchen open as captain crunch readied his powers as when the unearthly chime sounded as Matthew leapt in to his dads arms ready for school.




EXT. MOTORWAY. MID EVENING

PETER is driving during a storm as his daughter TILLY is fiddling with the radio trying to find a channel that isn't stuttering.

TILLY

(fiddling with the radio tuner)

I'm sick of listening to your shit!

PETER

(takes a quick glimpse at TILLY and back to the road)

Who do you think your talking to!?

TILLY

(Sarcastically)

This weekend was supposed to be fun dad, but guess what you ruined it again.

Peter

Don't get cheeky with me and I though we were having a good time?

TIlly

(Making bunny ears)

Yeah if spending 2 hours putting down a tent is "having a good time".

Peter

250 word story

The air became clammy, the sense of impending doom filled Alex to the bone as the teacher, Mr Thompson, carried on boring the rest of the class. Voices began to drown out everything else as Alex began experiencing excruciating headaches as he eventually got up and walked out leaving all of his things behind, he hastily approached the lavatories as the voices became increasingly louder causing him to stumble against the walls. He finally reached the toilets as he began washing his face unaware that above him the lights that once showed peace began to loose power like souls leave the body, he finally looked up at the lights curiously unknowing that what was once his reflection detached from the movements of his own body. The dark demonic eyes gazed in Alex's direction as he reached back towards the tap and twisted back to wash his face one more time as his reflection returned as he peculiarly looked at the mirror as he tried to comfort himself by talking to his reflection

Secondary Research - James Bingham 1/10/18 (age of ultron)

a). Briefly summarise the plot of the film in 100 words.
Millionaire Tony Stark and physicist Bruce Banner design and create a peacekeeping program from files picked from hydras hard drives, attempt after attempt they continue to fail until Jarvis (Tony's AI butler) finds a strand of code leading to the creation of a malicious AI known as Ultron. After Ultron escapes the death bot seeks the extinction of human kind.

b). Which studio/production company made the film?
Both Marvel studios and Disney Interactive studios produced Avengers: age of Ultron on the 1st of May.

c). How did it perform at the box office?
Avengers: age of Ultron made $459,005,868 is domestic total gross.

d). Did it win any awards ceremonies/festivals? What are they?
Avengers: age of Ultron won the teen choice awards for the choice scene stealer.

e). Who directed the film?
Joss Whedon is the director of Avengers: age of Ultron

f). Find the names of three other films from the same director
Joss Whedon directed Toy Story (1995), Alien: Resurrection (1997) and Serenity (2005)

g). What is the next film that they are working on/due to make (look up IMDB.com)?
The next title Joss Whedon is due to make is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series in 2019

h). Principal members of the cast of your chosen film.
The principal cast members are Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlet Johanson and Jeremy Renner.

i). Outline five different ways in which it is possible audiences may have viewed the film.



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