Documentary Analysis

Introduction

• Bowling for Columbine is a documentary by Michael Moor that explores the cause for escalated gun related crimes in America.

• Moor focuses on the communities that have experienced tragedies like the Columbine massacre.

• He goes around the towns asking people who live or work in the area what effect the events have had on their life and why they think these tragic events continue to happen.

Methods

• Moore uses sarcasm entwined with hard hitting facts to emphasize his points and the problem at hand. During the film there is a clip from Chris Rock –Clip

• In this clip Chris Rock talks about how the price of a bullet should be raised to $5000 to prevent gun crime.

• This can be related to both Observational and Reflective modes.

Methods

• The facts used in the documentary are shocking when your eyes are opened to the problem America is facing.

• America has around 11000 deaths per year due to fire arms whereas other countries deaths fail to reach 200 deaths per year.

• Moore uses these facts sparingly throughout the film I feel this increases the effect the fact has on the reader because of the sudden realisation of the gravity of the situation.

• This can be shown as the Expository Mode.

Uses In My Own Work

• The thing I would take from this documentary to use in my own would be the use of the Expository mode, this would involve displaying facts with a voice over explaining or informing the facts shown to the viewer. I will look to do this in the same way as Moore so that the facts shown will be as interesting and hard hitting as the ones use in Bowling for Columbine.