don't stop the music' documentary deconstruction

Deconstruction of ‘Don’t Stop the Music’ Documentary

Close-up, over the shoulder view and focus pull in left third of the presenter to begin to introduce him. Aesthetically pleasing city background and stylistic focus pull. Deep instrumental music to create anticipation.

Low angle mid shot revealing presenter’s face, ducking of music, presenter’s voiceover introducing himself begins.

Cinematographic extreme close up of presenter playing the piano. Angelic looking, sophisticated artificial lighting – soft and professional style. Introductory voiceover and music continues.

Cut between two short takes: extreme close-up and high angle extreme wide shot. Interesting contrast.

Zoom cleverly framed by appropriate tyre play equipment. Shot of a school as he said ‘school’ in the voiceover – sound and video is fluid; professional and flowing.

Previews of content later in the documentary using the diegetic sound of the scenes. The introduction of the documentary seems to introduce his investigation as a whole and keeps the audience interested in the rest of the documentary by creating an enigma using some of its most shocking/emotive scenes. Simple mid shot to focus on the scene rather than it’s aesthetic.

More framing between playground equipment, wide shot of main setting for documentary to introduce it, back to non-diegetic voiceover.

Mid shot of the presenter with the diegetic voiceover to reveal the source of it. Sitting in relaxed interview style room – his opinion being interviewed. Appropriate props which relate the documentary investigation based on schools and music; desks, books, journal. Background soft, similar light colour tones, muted and out of focus; aesthetically pleasant and focuses audience’s attention on the presenter. Long/medium shot take. Costume: simple, represents the theme slightly – setting free the creativity of music (bird) which is trapped in our mind (cage).

Cinematographic extreme close up of child’s writing, focus pull – stylistically attractive and appropriate for voiceover discussing school subjects at this point.

Preview of different settings for more of the scenes to come, which continues to create an enigma to entice the audience with, and to introduce the path for the rest of the documentary. High angle wide shot of an escalator going upwards in time with the voiceover saying ‘up and down the country’.

Symmetrical extreme shot of one of the settings later in the documentary. Voiceover discussing the aims for the investigation.

Revisiting similar shots to link the documentary together. Pace of music increases to indicate the end of the documentary introduction, to build excitement for the main parts of the documentary and to reflect the more positive discussion in the voiceover as he is talking about his solution rather than the issue.

Capturing similar actions of opening and turning instrument cases using different angles (tracking, mid shot, close-up etc.) Flows the documentary and the similar short takes build tension by repetition.

Voiceover from this new interviewee followed by a similar interview style mid shot in appropriate school setting to reveal them. Appropriate interviewee as she is one of the subjects for the investigation.

Title of documentary fades in, written in house style font in vertical layout. Muted greyscale colour scheme for this simple extreme close-up. Out of focus with lens flare in the left third to focus on the title in the right third. Cinematographic style. Title links to the shot – ‘music’ and piano keys.

Hashtag for the documentary to generate audience participation though social media discussion and below the line online advertising. Still of a high angle extreme wide weather shot along with a view of the city which the documentary is based in.

Birds eye extreme wide pan of the location for the documentary using a helicopter.

Action match of children reacting to the sound of an orchestra, mid shot. Explains why the investigation is important by including positive reactions to music by children. Lots of tracking as the experiment parts of the documentary are less scripted and documentaries generally do not have lots of cameras filming at once unlike films as they are produced on a much smaller scale. Therefore, different shots and angles are less planned and usually filmed by 1-2 cameras, and following the subject by simple tracking is most important.

Close-up in right third of presenter travelling to the setting of the documentary, back to the beginning of the investigation but explored in greater depth – non-linear narrative. Voiceover is the main focus, simple shot to maintain this focus to non-diegetic sound. Soft music during voiceover, but not during most of the diegetic shots in the school location.

Wide shot of a landmark of the documentary setting to assist the voiceover with introducing it – fluid together.

Mid shot pan of the documentary location when the voiceover names it – fluid and clearer to understand.

Mid shot of the interviewees in the same location, alternating between right third and left third. Name edited onto shot in the documentary’s house style font. Background soft and out of focus to bring attention to interviewees.