Documentaries And Representation

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.

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.

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.

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

Documentaries And Representation

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Documentaries And Representation