A2 Media Studies | Transition Work: Documentary Analysis

A2 Media Studies Transition Work

For my transition work I will be looking at a second clip which I'll be analysing in detail such as the clip from 'Britain's Benefit Tenants'. In this I will be looking at a clip from Channel 4's Benefits Street. 

Mise-en-scene

As of watching the chosen extract I have gathered that the scenes being shown mostly shine a negative light on people who live in a broken down street called ‘James Turner Street’, located in Birmingham. Channel 4’s negative light on the residents of the street is evident as they are filming and broadcasting what is their daily lives in front of thousands of viewers which creates readings such as oppositional, negotiated and unlikely preferred (younger demographic.) As well as this, Channel 4 have also depicted a place which is covered in rubbish and worn down households due to people living inside them who are struggling to maintain daily needs due to weekly earnings of about £50 from benefits which could create such readings as mentioned before.

Establishing shot of people in James Turner Street

Furthermore into my gatherings from the extract on mise-en-scene, I have found that the street is also a place for violence and constant drama as police are shown walking into someone’s house followed by someone being shown chasing the person filming whilst threatening to cause harm to them. This further shows that Channel 4 have mostly put a negative light on the residents of the place as they are aggravated by the fact that they are filming their lives which they don’t feel comfortable with and the fact that it’s shown that forces are sometimes required from occurrences within James Turner Street.

Police found walking into a resident's house within the frame.

Whilst Channel 4 have been known to shine a negative light on people in the extract, it also appears that they may not be applying this sometimes as before the end of the extract, people are shown having fun in their daily lives as the filmmaker has depicted people dancing, smiling and being able to tolerate being filmed as trio of adults pose for the camera whilst next to the ‘James Turner Street’ sign which could suggest that as Channel 4 do shine a negative light, the ‘light’ they shine on the residents of the street can sometimes be a positive thing. This is also evident at the beginning of the scene where a kid is seemingly doing parkour across households and another kid is shown smiling after the narrator mentions ‘there are good times’.

Cinematography

Camera techniques within the extract show that the residents lack power compared to other people across the United Kingdom. This is evident at the beginning of the extract where the camera shows a high angle whilst using crane movement on James Turner Street which could possibly suggest a ‘negative light’ being put on the street’s residents. The daily lives of the residents are captured with tracking movement, establishing shots and long shots of people walking through the street as well as use of handheld movement, these camera techniques allow for the audience to watch what is the daily life of a benefit tenant which could create mixed responses as before mentioned in mise-en-scene.

High angle shot/view of James Turner Street.

Family shown in a three shot.

The extract also offers close ups and depth of field on the residents as they discuss about how James Turner Street is which further shows to the viewer how bad the benefit tenants have their lives which could create a negotiated or oppositional response as Channel 4 have chosen to film and broadcast them instead of leaving them alone. Other camera techniques which I have found within the extract are also frequent two/three shots, tilting and panning of the camera on the residents of the street which contributes to establishing the life of a benefit tenant to the viewing audience. These camera techniques capture just how low the life of a benefit tenant is and creates mixed readings as people may feel sympathy or anger as a result of getting a view from a benefit tenant’s perspective.

Depth of field shown in the background whilst a resident speaks out for her situation.

Three shot of people posing towards the camera near the end of the extract.

Two shot of couple sitting on a thrown away sofa.

Editing

Techniques I have found in editing which help establish and scene and setting are use of straight cuts, quick cuts and overall medium paced editing. These three elements help establish the scene as different scenes are being played in the same street which allows for the viewing audience to create their own understanding of what life is like for a benefit tenant. An example of this would be the use of straight cuts and quick cuts, they skip to different things occurring within James Turner Street such as people cussing, ganging up and kids being happy as they are mostly unaware of how things are for their family.

People shown walking through the street.

Happy child shown in the frame showing that not all of James Turner Street's community are bad.

Furthermore, the scene and setting is established with use of medium paced editing as it allows for the filmmaker to create an understanding for the viewing audience with what’s going on and what James Turner Street is like. Picking up on how a negative light is created by Channel 4 with the editing, various scenes of violence and drama are shown as gangs of people are formed up on the street and people are shouting whilst the police are also shown visiting someone’s house which means most people within the street could be up to no good which could arguably show them as bad people to the viewer and the audience.

Rubbish shown littered on the street as the council won't take it.

Sound

The sound in the extract helps establish to the viewing audience what James Turner Street is and what it’s like as the use of non-diegetic soundtrack (piano) could possibly suggest that drama is about to ensue in the street. The use of a voice over also assists with establishing the scenes being unfolded to the viewer as it addresses to what James Turner Street is and allows for the audience to acknowledge a further understanding in Benefits Street and the actual street itself.

Person shown threatening the cameraman with violence for filming in his area.

Diegetic sounds of laughing, shouting and screaming also show what kind of drama unfolds in the street because there are multiple people who get themselves into different situations like forming a gang, dealing with a police officer who has to investigate a scene caused by the neighbours of ‘Benefits Street and children playing in the street being unaware of what their parents have become of themselves.

A resident's house shown in a mess.

Further sound techniques which show establishment and possibly picks up on creating a negative light on the neighbours with the use of dialogue and a sound bridge. These techniques pick up this negative light created which is lit on Benefits Street as dialogue has consisted of swearing and threats which is also where a sound bridge occurs where a man in the scene yells by a group of men walking down the street which carries on into another scene within the extract.

Links to genre conventions

The extracts links to genre (expository mode) conventions consist of the use of voice overs/narration during the scenes being unfolded. The narrator addresses to what James Turner Street is with aid of dialogue from the residents of the street who could also be taking part in exposing the street to what's bad about it. An example of this would be that one of the residents who lives on the street says "James Turner Street was one of the best streets. Now? One of the worst.".

What pleasures (Rick Altman) does it offer?

I have found that the extract offers an emotional pleasure. This is because the viewing audience may have emotional responses such as sympathy (likely aimed at a younger demographic watching the documentary) and anger (older demographic). Younger viewers may feel sympathy for the people on Benefits Street as they have life from a much worse perspective and older viewers may create an emotional response of anger as it becomes clear in the extract that people aren't comfortable with being filmed by Channel 4 and being broadcast to thousands of viewers as mentioned before. 

Visceral pleasures are also offered from the extract as Benefits Street has before and constantly is creating controversy online. Audiences watching the documentary have mixed responses, whether that would be from anger, sympathy or other feelings such as confusion. There has been constant talk about the documentary on social media (Twitter and Facebook) and in online article comments.