Documentaries and Representation

Joseph.M.Toyer

INTRODUCTION

O Representation is how the matter at hand

is viewed and presented to it's audience.

O I am carrying out this task to get an

understanding of how the youth

generation is represented in a

documentary, and the two documentaries

I am investigating are 'Educating

Yorkshire‘ and ‘Educating Essex’.

MUSHARAF

O Musharaf is the focus on one of the clips I have

looked into and he is represented generally as

someone who is determined.

O He is a student who has a problem with speaking

due to his stammers, yet he has a speaking exam

coming up soon.

O Throughout the clip, he is trying to overcome his

stammer so he is able to do well in his exam, with

the help he is being provided.

O His will to accomplish this is a sign of

determination and therefore the evidence that

Musharaf is represented as a determined student.

MUSHARAF : CAMERAWORK

O The determination on Musharaf is also represented using the

cameras.

O During the experiment in which Musharaf speaks whilst

listening to music, the camera shots are close ups of his face

as he stammers.

O This is done to give the effect of suspense to the audience,

making them wonder if he will keep going or give up.

O Various close up shots are filmed to show him gradually

managing to speak more fluently, raising the suspense for the

audience.

MUSHARAF : EDITING

O Musharaf is also presented as a victim. When a college tutor

comes to visit Musharaf, he is asked to type his thoughts

whenever his words won't come out.

O For the viewers titles are edited onto the screen presenting

what Musharaf types onto the computer. The first thing he

writes is 'Someone is keeping my mouth closed'.

O This is where he is being presented as the victim I claimed him

to be, as he feels like he is being stopped from speaking and

feels humility over his inability to fluently speak.

MUSHARAF : MISE EN SCENE

O Musharaf throughout the clip is presented to be a stereotypical

school nerd in the way he dresses.

O His uniform never looks scruffy or dirty and he wears a shirt

(with top buttons done up) and the school tie.

O His uniform is always kept smart and therefore fits with the

stereotype, as they dress smart as well. However Musharaf

also challenges this stereotype by not wearing glasses or a

blazer jacket, which is also part of the stereotypical look for

school nerds.

MUSHARAF : SOUND

O The documentary uses sound to present Musharaf as brave, for

example, diegetic sound is used when Musharaf makes a

speech in front of his school year.

O Having found his voice through listening to music, Musharaf

gives a speech in an assembly in front of his school year and

several teachers.

O Because he had struggled with speaking in general, this is a big

step forward for Musharaf to hear him talk in front of the many

people there.

GEORGIA AND FRIENDS

O Georgia's friends in one clip are talking about their

plans for the upcoming prom, and Georgia herself

is on a 'time out'.

O This clip shows their vanity in a few ways and

therefore I shall be focusing on this representation.

GEORGIA AND FRIENDS : CAMERAWORK

O At the beginning of the clip, the camera takes a shot of Georgia

looking at herself in her phone's reflection and making faces at

the reflection.

O This shows that Georgia is quite vain because she cares quite

a bit about how she looks to the point when she'll check how

she is looking to pass the time.

O This matches the stereotypical teenage female as they are

interpreted to be vain, whether it be dramatically vain or just

mildly vain.

GEORGIA AND FRIENDS : EDITING

O Editing is used when at the beginning of the clip, Georgia's

friends are heard talking as a voice over on top of a clip of

Georgia in her isolation.

O And so whilst Georgia has been isolated from her friends, they

talk about their prom arrangements, having possibly already

begun conversation prior to the sequences shown in the clip.

O If this is the case, then this shows vanity because they chose to

continue their discussion of how they will appear at the prom.

O Of course, Georgia's situation is merely an isolation and not

something to cause any real concern, which challenges this

point being made.

GEORGIA AND FRIENDS : MISE EN SCENE

O Throughout the clip, Georgia's friends are seen fiddling with

their hair.

O This shows their vanity because they want their hair to look

good and can't leave it alone.

O This trait is relatable to many teenage girls as the majority may

frequently fiddle with their hair, regardless of any vanity and this

also fits the stereotype of teenage girls.

GEORGIA AND FRIENDS : SOUND

O The main focus of this clip appears to be the discussion

between Georgia's friends about the upcoming prom, what

they're wearing to the prom and how they are getting there.

O Generally when the prom comes along, anyone is going to talk

about these matters, and these girls go into discussion of

opinions over some of the details like the interior of the vehicle

being used for transportation to the prom.

O Whilst it is debatable whether this shows any vanity or not, it is

possible the producers have chosen to insert this clip into the

production to make us see their vanity.

VINNI

O Vinni and is also approaching the prom, however

he is a troublemaker trying not to get kicked out of

school.

O So he has to do his best not to get into too much

trouble so that when the year ends, he can go to

the prom.

O It seems the chances are so much against him that

one of the teachers is willing to pay for the ticket

should be able to stay in school in order to attend

the prom!

VINNI : CAMERAWORK

O Various shots are shown of Vinni in a classroom with one of his

friends.

O They are playing some sort of game on a sheet of paper rather

than doing their school work so it seems because Vinni stops

playing the game once a teacher walks past.

O This presents Vinni as a troublesome student because he is not

doing his work, and his game is also stopping his student friend

from doing her work and therefore counts as distracting other

learners.

VINNI : EDITING

O At the beginning of the clip, the editors create a cutaway to the

teacher being interviewed talking about Vinni.

O He claims no teachers would take the bet of Vinni still being

around at the end of the school year.

O And as the teacher says the other teachers won't take the bet,

the editors cut back to Vinni playing his game, in order to

demonstrate an example as to why the bet won't be taken.

O This is how Vinni is shown to be a troublesome student, to the

point when teachers can't guarantee him staying on.

The Cutaway Clip

->

VINNI : MISE EN SCENE

O Vinni is presented as a troublemaker because he also rebels to

the school uniform regulations.

O In his interview clip, he is wearing a hat, and he also has

piercings in both of his ears.

O Fortunately the piercings he has in his ear are acceptable

enough and he also does not wear the hat in the classroom and

only in the interviews, meaning me may want to be presented

the way he is.

O But choosing to wear and have these things challenge the

school uniform regulations and connotate as the signs of a

rebel.

VINNI : SOUND

O Vinni as claimed by the teachers is likely to be kicked out of the

school before the end of the year.

O This will be the case should he continue to misbehave the way

he does and throughout his clip he is shown to be playing a

game during a lesson with one of his friends instead of working.

O Sound is used to emphasise the trouble he is in through the use

of soundtrack. When one of the teachers is approaching Vinni,

the music becomes more suspenseful up to the point when the

teacher has walked past, trying to relate to Vinni trying not to be

caught misbehaving or so be at further risk of being kicked out.

Vinni on the look out! ->

CONCLUSION

O Having looked at these three clips, I have seen how three different

types of teenage youths have been represented in school

documentaries.

O Should they have a medical condition, they are interpreted to be the

good students and determined to be equal to the others.

O Female students are interpreted to be concerned about their

appearance and reputation.

O Troublemakers are generally presented as those who teachers want

to help become a better student and require their optimal focus on

doing so in order to change their ways.

O These are not quite like the representations I would like to actually

make of people in my documentary, having it be focused on a

specific manner (comedy), I want to present the people filmed for

my documentary as light hearted and generally well meaning

students.

O Though it partially depends on how the student themselves chose

to be represented however as the producer of a documentary, I

want my audience (also young teenagers) to connect with the

people shown in the documentary.

CLIPS

O https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWeKiZS-dxM

- Musharaf

O https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWeKiZS-dxM

- Georgia and Friends

O https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pqk-zLXfEE -

Vinni