Documentary Analysis

Rock N' Roll Exposed - Picturing Punk

Type Of Documentary

The documentary is self reflexive as it's Bob Gruen talking directly to the camera. Talking over archive

footage to provide that "Voice of God" effect.

Clip of documentary

Themes

The themes of the documentary are as follows;• Rock & Roll• Culture

• Iconography• Rock in the 1970/80's

• Photography• Anarchist Lifestyle

Narrative Structure

The narrative structure is linear as it is a timeline of punk rock, almost historical. Concluded with the end of punk with the introduction of MTV

leaving an cliffhanger element as it can be continued with punk rock after the introduction

of MTV.

Camera Work• A variety of camera angles were used during the making of the

documentary. Using typical documentary convention like camera angles such as as talking head shor or a rule of third shot when

interviewing.• Bob Gruen was filmed on two different characters using a close up

with one camera and a medium close up with the other, this provided variety and added emphasis.

• As it was centered around Bob Gruen the focus was on him throughout the documentary, this is a why a shadow depth of

field was used so the background was not in focus so the entire focus was on Bob Gruen himself however, depth of field was

different when interviewing other subjects such as Alice Cooper for example a wide depth of field was used.

Mise-En-Scene

• Interviews were filmed in front of stage and other musical equipment tying in with the music theme of the documentary. When filming Alice Cooper a

colourful backdrop was used to present Cooper as a vibrant almost energetic character. Clothing of interview subjects also reflected the story

and characters present as a talking point in the documentary was the clothing wore during the "Punk era"

• Low Key lighting was used when filming interviews to tie it to the photo element of the documentary almost trying to recreate the enviroment of a Dark Room used when developing photographs during this period of time.

Sounds

• Punk Band music was used throughout the documentary which was synchronous with the documentary as the music used was matching

the action and events taking place in the documentary.

• Soundbridges were used to phase out between dialogue and tracks used in the

documentary.

Editing

• Editing was used in the credits when pictures were being shown, as the photo's were being phased out, also zooming in and paning over

the images. Also, during the end credits an old crackly cinematic effect was used to relate to

the period of the documentary. • Cross dissolve was also used between tracks

when it changed to open dialogue.

Archive Material

In the documentary gig footage and pictures were used to provide an idea of what the punk scene was like giving the audience a private look into the life. Pictures were used mainly as the documentaries main theme is about photography and capturing

historical and defining moments of the Punk Movement.

Graphics

In the documentary static graphics were used through with basic text font/style.