Research

 this blog post contains the research for my documentary project

Documentary Opening 1: (Worst Roommate Ever)
Before You Watch
Look only at the thumbnail and title. What are your expectations for the documentary? What are the connotations of the image, font, colour, or title? What do you expect to see or hear in the opening?	I expect that the documentary is going to be about someone who committed a crime to their own roommate. I expect that there will be murder or attempts of murder to the victim the thumbnail shows a photograph of a person, it seems to be a mugshot as the expressions of the woman are very empty and dull, this connotes that she may have done many bad actions that have made her show that expression.  i expect to see real footage of the location or pictures or videos of whatever bad things happened in the case. I also expect to see witnesses or close relatives from the victim speaking up about the case talking about the victim and their behaviours and relationships.
After You Watch
Who is the target audience? Why do you think so? Give one example of each and explain the meaning: Camera: Mise-en-scène: Editing: Sound:	I think the target audience are adults or mothers aged 25-45, and have a really close friend or roommate. This is so that they can engage in the documentary since they relate to most of the positive things that happened, like having a good bond with their best friend.  camera => handheld and POV , it showed the woman and the house, it can show how the woman can perceive her house and how it feels like to live through all the things that happened  mise-en-scene => the house was very dull which reflects the woman's life of dullness and possibly terror. The overall coloring was very dark, which implies that many unpleasant things happened  editing => there were flash backs of photos of her child and a picture of her in the hospital, it shows a glimpse of what is going to happen and it also shows that she is a mother and she cares for her family sound => there was unsettling music and loud thuds, this can emphasize in suspense and an uncomfortable feeling to the audience and also hinting that many bad things happened to her.
Would you continue watching? Why/Why not?	Yes i would continue watching it because i want to see what her roommate did and what bad things she really did for this documentary to exist.

Documentary Opening 2: (What Jennifer Did)
Before You Watch
Look only at the thumbnail and title. What are your expectations for the documentary? What are the connotations of the image, font, colour, or title? What do you expect to see or hear in the opening?	i expect that there are two sides to jennifer, one on the left shows that she has a bright spirit, friendly and is loved by her friends and family, while on the other side it shows a mugshot of her in an empty and dull expression, showing that she got in trouble. it shows the other side of her face in red, which can symbolize something negative she has done. it also showed the character in possibly a mugshot and in a dull and flat expression, which tells the audience that she may have done bad things, and on the other side she is pictured smiling happily, this contrasts to the other side as she may have two different sides or is hiding something terrible she has done.  i expect to see her commit criminal activities like murder, and try to cover it up, and in the opening i expect to see crime scene photographs or footage of what happened in the crime scene
After You Watch
Who is the target audience? Why do you think so? Give one example of each and explain the meaning: Camera: Mise-en-scène: Editing: Sound:	I think the target audience are teenagers or young adults aged 17-30 aged similar to jennifer, especially asians, because they can relate or empathise on how it feels like to be jennifer, having strict expectations from her parents but wanting to have fun in her life. camera => cctv footage, it shows a recording of jennifer being interviewed by the officials from a high angle, this shows that jennifer is vulnerable and not in power mise-en-scen => the mise-en-scene shows dark and lowkey lighting which symbolizes that many bad things happened, it creates a more suspenseful and mysterious atmosphere to the audience. editing => it showed quick cuts of crime scene photos, which emphasizes on the things that happened during the crime scene, allowing the audience to see and visualise on what happened in the crime scene  sound => suspenseful music was used in scenes where the director wants to create more suspense like during the phone calls or when they showed the crime scene photos, it creates a more unsettling and curious feeling to the audience They also put real phone calls from the crime scene, it can emphasise realism as it actually happened in the scene.
Would you continue watching? Why/Why not?	Yes because the title is called what jennifer did, but during the intro it only showed that the parents were murdered and it made it seem like jennifer hasnt done anything and is a victim. Im curious to see why the title is called what jennifer did.

Documentary Opening 3: (A Deadly American Marriage)
Before You Watch
Look only at the thumbnail and title. What are your expectations for the documentary? What are the connotations of the image, font, colour, or title? What do you expect to see or hear in the opening?	Based on the documentary cover, i expect that something terrible is going to happen in their marriage. The girl is not really smiling in the picture which implies that she isnt happy in the marriage and either is being harmed by her husband or she is harming her husband. It can also mean that one of them could be involved in the murder of another.  The thumbnail shows a very happy and complete family, each family member is smiling and hugging each other, symbolising a close relationship with one another, however, the title says “a deadly american marriage” which contrasts to the photo, this connotes that there is secretly something or many bad things will happen from a member in the family.  In the opening i expect to see relatives or friends of the family talk about all the good things about the family like their bond, and then suddenly it shifts to them talking about the suspicious actions or things that they saw happen in the family.
After You Watch
Who is the target audience? Why do you think so? Give one example of each and explain the meaning: Camera: Mise-en-scène: Editing: Sound:	The target audience are adults aged 25-40 who are married and have a family, this is so that they can relate or share the same experiences as what is shown in the documentary camera & sound => the camera used was an establishing shot showing a house, it is paired with the real 911 phone call, this can tell the audience that the crime is happening in that house and it gives them an imagination of how the calls happened and how the murder happened.  mise-en-scene => they showed crime scene photographs of blood, and used weapons in the scene. This creates realism as those photos show what actually happened in the crime scene and the audience can understand what the victims experienced throughout the muruder  editing => the editing used was match cuts with the two characters' storytelling. The woman and her father were interviewed, and they were explaining about what happened, and their storytelling was edited back and forth switching between each person, it showed that they told a similar story yet there were different parts. This can let the audience think of the differences in their stories and why this can happen.
Would you continue watching? Why/Why not?	I would want to continue to watch the documentary because i want to know why the wife and the wifes father wanted to kill the husband and why they killed him so viciously

Documentary Opening 4: (Sins of Our Mother)
Before You Watch
Look only at the thumbnail and title. What are your expectations for the documentary? What are the connotations of the image, font, colour, or title? What do you expect to see or hear in the opening?	Based on the thumbnail and title i expect that the mother has done many sinful or negative things to her husband since her husband’s face is scribbled, i expect the documentary to unfold what terrible things she did to her husband and what motives caused her to do that. The photo cover shows a photograph of people who are involved in the case, it shows the wife and the husband and the husband’s face is scribbled out, it connotes that the wife may have done sinful and terrible things to her husband. The thumbnail shows a photograph of the woman and man hugging each other, yet the title says “SIns of a Mother” this can imply that shes not only done terrible things to the husband but also her family and children.  In the opening i expect to see or hear the family’s relatives or friends being interviewed and talking about how good of a family they were or if there are any suspicious things that happened in the family. I also expect to see crime scene photographs of whatever the mother did.
After You Watch
Who is the target audience? Why do you think so? Give one example of each and explain the meaning: Camera: Mise-en-scène: Editing: Sound:	I think the target audience are adults aged 25-50 especially those who already have families and children, its so they can relate and maybe share the same experiences of having a family and they can see the dark side of the families shown in the documentaries.  camera => they used a POV shot from the police’s bodycam footage, this can add realism as it was from the actual case and isn't remade for the documentary  mise-en-scene => they added a scene of police lights as the person is talking which can make the audience have a feeling of urgency and danger editing  => the editing used was flash backs as they used old videos of the mother and kid having fun together, this can make the audience think what could possibly happen causing them to be missing sound => they used suspenseful music in the beginning, this is used to make the audience feel a more sense of urgency and suspence
Would you continue watching? Why/Why not?	yes i would want to continue watching the documentary as i want to know if they are actually missing or does the mother have a different motive

Documentary Opening 5: (900 Days Missing Without Anabel)
Before You Watch
Look only at the thumbnail and title. What are your expectations for the documentary? What are the connotations of the image, font, colour, or title? What do you expect to see or hear in the opening?	Based on the thumbnail expect to see the process of what made it that long to search for the missing person. The thumbnail showed a big mind map of the possible links to the person being missing, this implies that there are many reasons to how and why she went missing and how i became such a big case The thumbnail shows a crime mind map which shows any links associated with the missing person, it is shown that the mind map is very  During the opening i expect to see the missing characters' background or lifestyle and how they live life moments before the incident. I also expect to hear or see relatives or close friends of the missing person talk about her and their relationship with her.
After You Watch
Who is the target audience? Why do you think so? Give one example of each and explain the meaning: Camera: Mise-en-scène: Editing: Sound:	I think the target audience are teenagers to young adults aged 17-30, this is because the victim is aged similar to anabel, this can be informative to them to not experience the same thing as the victim. The target audience can also be for people who like to run, this can hook the audience because she got abducted while she was jogging. camera => the openings used a POV shot as if someone is walking around a house, this can mean the director wants the audience to picture being in the house of the victim and the family. mise-en-scene => they recreated many scenes for the documentary, there was this one scene where there were two people talking or maybe arguing. This can resemble the two that were talking in the background.  editing  => the editing used was quick cuts to show how many times the kidnaper called the person, this can enhance the repetition and urgency of the calls. sound => they used non diegetic sound of suspenseful music as the people were being interviewed. This can create a suspenseful feeling as the people are explaining the experiences and about the case. This can make the audience have greater expectations from the documentary.
Would you continue watching? Why/Why not?	I would want to continue watching to find out why she was missing for 900 days, but the opening was pretty boring to watch as there were only interviews, and no hooks like crime scene photos or footage.