The two documentaries I will be analysing are Undefeated & The Pedophile Next Door.
Undefeated was directed by Daniel Lindsay & T. J. Martin. The film was produced by Rich Middlemas, Glen Zipper, Daniel Lindsay, Seth Gordon & Ed Cunningham. The production companies involved in this film were Zipper Bros Films, Spitfire Pictures, Five Smooth Stones Productions & Level 22 Productions. The documentary was distributed by the Weinstein Company (USA) & Alliance Films (Canada) & Dogwoof. The film can be watched on iTunes, Google Play or be bough on DVD via the Dogwoof website.The film was released on March 2011 in the South by Southwest film festival. Sean Combs joined as an executive producer in February 2012 with the intentions of working with the Weinstein Company on a remake. On February 26th 2012, Undefeated won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature which made T. J. Martin the first film director of African-American descent to win an Oscar for a feature length film.
In terms of narrative, the subjects of the documentary inform us as the audience what is happening. Everything that happened in this documentary was not intentional, it naturally happened. This is what made the film a success. In my opinion the documentary is multistrand because we are following Bill Courtney, Montrail 'Money' Brown, O.C. Brown & Chavis Daniels. The main issue is that the coach (Bill Courtney) is trying to help the boys in his team on the field & out of the field. He's not only telling them to win, he's also giving them valuable life lessons, telling them to study hard in order to get into college so they can make a better life for themselves.
Undefeated is an observational documentary. The filmmakers aren't seen as present in this documentary, they have no input on what goes on in the documentary, everything naturally happens. This documentary almost feels like a sports film because it follows certain conventions of a sports film. Observational documentaries tend to be rushed around which is what happens in this documentary. The documentary follows through the Manassa football team & their struggles with getting into college & winning football games because of their past. This documentary doesn't ask questions as if it were an interview. The cinematographer is there & he/she starts filming & let things happen as they normally would. There are found footages displayed in this film when relaying back to previous games. These found footages show us what the previous players were like. There's also found footage of O.C. Brown playing a football game which shows how he stands out against the other players. In terms of lighting, Undefeated used the natural light that is around the location. There are no additional lights used to enhance this documentary in any way. The most lighting there's been is during the football game where the stadium lights are on. The speed of cuts fluctuate. During the football games the cuts are very fast to represent an actual sports film whereas when Courtney is lecturing the team, the cuts are slow, sometimes there aren't even cuts, the cinematographer pans across the room to show the team collectively. When the cinematographer shows them collectively to me it shows that they are all being praised or they are all at fault. There are times when the cuts are on individual players & that is because whatever is going on is directly linked to them.
The purpose of Undefeated is to change the attitudes of the audience & the people who are in the documentary, especially the players. The stereotypes of young black males in general are that they are in gangs, they are violent, they sell or do drugs however this documentary gives another perspective on these male's lives. Most of these male's live with their grandmothers because they've been abandoned by their parents. We are shown in the documentary that they help their family's out with the chores & they are no way involved with gangs or any crime. Their family want them to study & work hard to get to a better place. A lot of them struggle with their education because they haven't received enough help & support. Coach Courtney ensures that the players do well academically or else he won't let them play in the football games. This documentary is all about changing attitudes because we learn that we need to push young people, especially young people from poorer backgrounds. They may not feel like they want to go far in life because we as society have stereotyped them & put them down. We are the ones who have taken the American dream away from these young men & we are the ones who are going to give those dreams back.
The impact of the documentary allowed Money to get attention & receive a random scholarship. Chavis's attitude changed. We saw him as a young offender in the beginning but through the support from coach Courtney, he became a respectable young man. He originally had a problem with O.C. however towards the end he showed kindness & compassion towards O.C. O.C. received positive attention from colleges. He was originally working towards a scholarship & through the documentary he had the courage to continue working hard, even when he injured his leg on the field. Coach Courtney was very busy during the documentary, he stated that he didn't get to spend time with his family & once the documentary was over he returned back home to coach in his son's school. He regretted the fact that he couldn't spend time with his children. He was more of a dad to the football team than he was to his own children. In terms of society, we learned that a scholarship cannot be given if the student does not have high enough grades for it which is a problem for these young black children because they are always put down because of the colour of their skin or where they live. We understand that the education system is not great, especially for young black people because they are seen as failures & there's no need to spend a lot of money on their education if they;'re not going to get anywhere with their lives. The school developed a lot of pride because of the documentary. Coach Courtney misses being the football coach in Manassa however he loves his current job.
The Pedophile Next Door (Dir. Rudolph Herzog & Steve Humphries) 2014 is a documentary currently on Netflix. Steve Humphries is a well know director, he has directed 9/11: The Lost Hero (2013), The 9/11 Surfer (2012), The Miracle of Carriage 346 (2008) & many more. This documentary has also aired on TV in the UK.
This documentary talks about about issues around pedophilia in the UK. It also touches upon whether or not pedophilia is a mental illness & how we as a society can prevent it or even help the people suffering with this illness. The documentary is multistrand, it gives insight of how the victims of this crime were effected, when they were effected & how they are doing now. It also gives us insight on the perpetrators. In terms of Todorv's theory of narrative, it does follow a non linear narrative. It's not obvious that it is a non linear narrative because there are reenactments of the past with Steve Humphries narrating so it does take us to the past which makes it non linear. There are factual information being given to the audience through the narrator. We see interviews of victims & it slowly goes towards the one suffering with the illness. At the end the narrative becomes lighter & there seems to be a solution & a message. The message is that we as society need to rethink our views of pedophiles & we get to know a pedophile who has not acted upon his wishes & he goes to get treatment for his illness.
Unlike Undefeated, The Pedophile Next Door has a presenter which is Steve Humphries. We know he is there, we see him, he asks the questions. We see Steve Humphries interviews a range of people. He also disappears off screen whilst the professionals are talking, he lets them talk however his narration is still there. The documentary uses found footage to relate to what is narrated. This creates an emotional response with the audience as pedophilia is a provocative subject. In terms of placements, the victims & the pedophile are filmed in the comfort of their own homes & in their surroundings whereas the professionals are filmed in their working environment.
The Pedophile Next Door was made to raise awareness & to change our attitudes using scientific research & testimonies from different people. Being a provocative subject it can be hard to change our attitudes. This documentary talks about how pedophila can develop in the womb or it can be due to past abuse. In the past research showed that pedophila was predominantly present in lower class families however it has changed overtime & this documentary tries to explain that anyone can be a pedophile, it doesn't matter who they are. The two victims give different perspectives on their abuse. One was a female, another was a male. The male states that he was 'beautifully groomed' & he didn't know it was wrong. The female however talks about her suffering & pain. This gives us two different perspectives. It could tell us that children are not educated enough on what is wrong & what is right.
When this documentary was released it received a lot of negative feedback especially on social media (twitter) because pedophila was compared to diabetes. A lot of people who have diabetes complained to channel for because of the comparison. The documentary however did not achieve its purpose. Because of how touchy the subject is I believe that no matter how many documentaries are made on this subject. they will never achieve their purpose because it is down to society to change their views. The documentary can only guide us as society but because we are hardwired to believe that pedophiles are monster's, it's hard to change that view. The impact of the documentary caused a mass protest. People stated that they want the pedophiles dead even if they haven't committed a crime. It got to the point where these pedophiles had to move to a different part of the country. Authorities became worried because they felt that the stress would make them relapse into abusing children because they felt that there was an expectation on them to be the way that society thinks they are. The impact for the filmmakers was positive. They became more educated & open minded on the subject through interviews through different people. Steve Humphries started to understand that pedophiles aren't monster through interviewing a pedophile. We learn that we have to listen & understand pedophiles regardless of how hard it may be. Authorities are trying to talk to pedophiles before they are known offenders. They want to encourage pedophiles to come out & receive help in order to prevent them from committing crimes. The female victim of child sexual abuse became a social worker to help children safe because no one was there to protect her. Pedophile Eddie has been accepted into a treatment facility in Europe to help him with his illness. He thanks the documentary for helping him get to this stage.
The impact of the documentary allowed Money to get attention & receive a random scholarship. Chavis's attitude changed. We saw him as a young offender in the beginning but through the support from coach Courtney, he became a respectable young man. He originally had a problem with O.C. however towards the end he showed kindness & compassion towards O.C. O.C. received positive attention from colleges. He was originally working towards a scholarship & through the documentary he had the courage to continue working hard, even when he injured his leg on the field. Coach Courtney was very busy during the documentary, he stated that he didn't get to spend time with his family & once the documentary was over he returned back home to coach in his son's school. He regretted the fact that he couldn't spend time with his children. He was more of a dad to the football team than he was to his own children. In terms of society, we learned that a scholarship cannot be given if the student does not have high enough grades for it which is a problem for these young black children because they are always put down because of the colour of their skin or where they live. We understand that the education system is not great, especially for young black people because they are seen as failures & there's no need to spend a lot of money on their education if they;'re not going to get anywhere with their lives. The school developed a lot of pride because of the documentary. Coach Courtney misses being the football coach in Manassa however he loves his current job.
The Pedophile Next Door (Dir. Rudolph Herzog & Steve Humphries) 2014 is a documentary currently on Netflix. Steve Humphries is a well know director, he has directed 9/11: The Lost Hero (2013), The 9/11 Surfer (2012), The Miracle of Carriage 346 (2008) & many more. This documentary has also aired on TV in the UK.
This documentary talks about about issues around pedophilia in the UK. It also touches upon whether or not pedophilia is a mental illness & how we as a society can prevent it or even help the people suffering with this illness. The documentary is multistrand, it gives insight of how the victims of this crime were effected, when they were effected & how they are doing now. It also gives us insight on the perpetrators. In terms of Todorv's theory of narrative, it does follow a non linear narrative. It's not obvious that it is a non linear narrative because there are reenactments of the past with Steve Humphries narrating so it does take us to the past which makes it non linear. There are factual information being given to the audience through the narrator. We see interviews of victims & it slowly goes towards the one suffering with the illness. At the end the narrative becomes lighter & there seems to be a solution & a message. The message is that we as society need to rethink our views of pedophiles & we get to know a pedophile who has not acted upon his wishes & he goes to get treatment for his illness.
Unlike Undefeated, The Pedophile Next Door has a presenter which is Steve Humphries. We know he is there, we see him, he asks the questions. We see Steve Humphries interviews a range of people. He also disappears off screen whilst the professionals are talking, he lets them talk however his narration is still there. The documentary uses found footage to relate to what is narrated. This creates an emotional response with the audience as pedophilia is a provocative subject. In terms of placements, the victims & the pedophile are filmed in the comfort of their own homes & in their surroundings whereas the professionals are filmed in their working environment.
The Pedophile Next Door was made to raise awareness & to change our attitudes using scientific research & testimonies from different people. Being a provocative subject it can be hard to change our attitudes. This documentary talks about how pedophila can develop in the womb or it can be due to past abuse. In the past research showed that pedophila was predominantly present in lower class families however it has changed overtime & this documentary tries to explain that anyone can be a pedophile, it doesn't matter who they are. The two victims give different perspectives on their abuse. One was a female, another was a male. The male states that he was 'beautifully groomed' & he didn't know it was wrong. The female however talks about her suffering & pain. This gives us two different perspectives. It could tell us that children are not educated enough on what is wrong & what is right.
When this documentary was released it received a lot of negative feedback especially on social media (twitter) because pedophila was compared to diabetes. A lot of people who have diabetes complained to channel for because of the comparison. The documentary however did not achieve its purpose. Because of how touchy the subject is I believe that no matter how many documentaries are made on this subject. they will never achieve their purpose because it is down to society to change their views. The documentary can only guide us as society but because we are hardwired to believe that pedophiles are monster's, it's hard to change that view. The impact of the documentary caused a mass protest. People stated that they want the pedophiles dead even if they haven't committed a crime. It got to the point where these pedophiles had to move to a different part of the country. Authorities became worried because they felt that the stress would make them relapse into abusing children because they felt that there was an expectation on them to be the way that society thinks they are. The impact for the filmmakers was positive. They became more educated & open minded on the subject through interviews through different people. Steve Humphries started to understand that pedophiles aren't monster through interviewing a pedophile. We learn that we have to listen & understand pedophiles regardless of how hard it may be. Authorities are trying to talk to pedophiles before they are known offenders. They want to encourage pedophiles to come out & receive help in order to prevent them from committing crimes. The female victim of child sexual abuse became a social worker to help children safe because no one was there to protect her. Pedophile Eddie has been accepted into a treatment facility in Europe to help him with his illness. He thanks the documentary for helping him get to this stage.
