Monday, 9 September 2019

Social Action Assignment 31.1

Documentary 1:

Amanda Knox
(Netflix)

 ‘Amanda Knox’ is a documentary that illustrates the life for those who are criminally convicted as murderers yet still argue for their innocence. As the film crew chooses to have Amanda as the main focus as she narrates her side of the case, a more personal feel for the audience is gained, achieving more insight to produce awareness on how cases like these can affect the lives of those who are labelled as a criminal whilst still arguably innocent. However, as many still believe Amanda to be a murderer with evidence that progresses this idea, the layout of the documentary is structured in an interview format. 

Through this structure of documentation, conventions of criminals can be challenged as the audience can then receive more information on ‘Amanda Knox’ rather than just viewing her as what the media outlets have designated her to appear to be. This enables ‘Amanda Knox’ to be a representation for those who are potentially innocent yet have their lives invaded with hate. In addition, her direct address through her expression of dialogue captured by the camera creates a stronger impact as it forms a more conversational approach. 




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Overall, as the documentary is on Netflix the impact could be arguably global due to the global access Netflix has supplied for its viewers allowing a more social impact for its main purpose of awareness behind the case displayed throughout the documentation and and similar cases with those who share similarities in what Amanda Knoxhad faced.



Documentary 2:

When they see us
(Netflix)


The four-part documentary drama series when they see usis a re-enactment of the real life struggle faced by four men in the US based off their race. This series enables the system to be exposed for its lack of care towards African Americans at the time, although it still seems many of the harsh realities portrayed in the series are still highly present. The series was brought to light through the formats of other media outlets such as social media, as it was such a traumatising case. The fourth episode contains a sit-down interview structure with a small audience, this is done to allow the viewers to see how much the real life events really effected them and changed their lives due to the system wrongly accusing them of rape and attempted murder leading to these four young boys missing out on crucial years of their lives that will never be re-gained whilst facing such rough treatment and conditions from inmates and foul guards in the jail locations. 

The specific purpose of this series was to allow these four men to have their say on their part of the story and to show how they were forced to lie after such brutal beatings. Therefore, showing the world that theyre not what the media and police had painted them to be. This time it was their tie to tell their story and to tell the truth, this was further achieved by having the four men have their say in the fourth episode, capturing real emotion from the traumatic years they faced. In the fourth episode specifically they capture the raw emotion even further by getting close-up shots of the actors who played the roles of the real life victims, in these close-up shots we see them in tears, implying they have a bond with the actors and really gave their best shot at acting as the real life people as they too sympathise for those men who faced the events creating a deeper and more meaningful emotional impact for the viewers. Overall, providing a high social impact globally due to it being a Netflix series that all countries with access to Netflix can then view.


Documentary 3:

What the health
(Netflix)

Netflix has many different forms of social action documentaries, however, the documentary of current discussion is what the health, a documentary captured in a single camera format, enabling a more personal and authentic mood to the production as health matters are discussed. The purpose of this specific documentary is to enlighten their audience with factual evidence of food we consume on a daily basis that actually harms our bodies and gives us illnessesand diseases like cancer yet the government and higher corporations still push us to consume these foods knowing that it will increase their income through food sponsorships and through higher health bills due to the sickness these foods cause in the long term aspect. Therefore, not only enlightening its audience but also exposing these big food brands and the government all at once. An example of how they do this is by keeping the audience engaged by showing animations in the production when explaining some facts e.g. eating eggs everyday can be the same as smoking aa few cigarettesas many do not know that many of these foods we have been built to believe are healthy are actually carcinogens. The animations used to portray these facts allow the audience to more focused and engaged on the matter whilst learning the statistics being shown.  Thus, allowing a more significant impact on its viewers due to the shock factor created behind the facts presented.

In conclusion, the documentary provides a global change due to its high accessibility on Netflix, allowing its main purposes of enlighten on food risks and health matters to be expressed. The main techniques that allowed the production to convey its main purpose were the use of a single camera to feel as though a one on one conversation was made during the dialogue expressed by the person of focus, whilst using CGI animation when listing key factors that contribute to our bodies health making the facts easier to remember by making them appear to be more interesting through the change in setting and visual effects. 



Bibliography:

1)        

2)        Documentary 1 – Netflix
3)        Documentary 2 – Netflix
4)        Documentary 3 - Netflix


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