1. Assignment 10: Purpose & Inspiration &
Mode Theory
Abigail Menzies

2. Purposeofdocumentary
What is the purpose of the documentary?
The purpose of my documentary is to aware and educate my target audience which
are parents of the different effects video games can have on an individual and the
rest of society
What would people learn about this topic from your documentary?
• My target audience (parents) will learn:
₋ The different views on either or not violent video games create violent kids
₋ How video games have advanced over the years and become more interactive
and therefore addictive
₋ The negative and positive effects video games can have on the human body
- How video games are used differently around the world
- How the disposal of video games contributes to the environmental of today

3. Inspirationaldocumentary#1–HumanSwarm
Use of Cutaways
There is range of cutaways used throughout this documentary to support what is being said,
I would apply this to my documentary as it keeps the audience interested
Scene starts off with the
interviewer and
interviewee talking
Then cuts away to videos and pictures
that relate to what is being discussed
in the interview
Then goes back to
interviewee
This inspired me for my documentary as the variety of visuals keeps the audience in what is
being said as one thing isn’t on the screen for too long

4. Public Interviews
Interviews are used in this documentary to show the public’s opinion/views on the topic
of the documentary
This convention inspired me as these interviews are conducted in a natural setting
instead of in a specific room so its more realistic
These interviews are done through mid shots, I
would apply this to my documentary as it keeps the
audience focused on what is being said

5. Inspirationaldocumentary#2–GoodHair
Wide camera shots
In this documentary range of shots and angles are used to establish the setting, I would apply
this to my documentary as through this I would be able to show my audience the different
locations I’d visit while filming
Low angle wide shot to show to the outside of the location the presenter visits
High angle wide shot to show the
entire inside setting

6. Participation of the presenter
Throughout this documentary the presenter participates and interacts with a range of people,
this inspired me as the presenter’s views and opinions on the topic is shown.
This is participatory mode as the presenter/filmmaker engages with his different subjects
directly
The presenter
interacts with a
range of people of
different ages
Presenter takes part in different
experiments
Presenter also conducts each of his
interviews himself

7. Inspirationaldocumentary#3–OneMileAway
Archival photos of newspaper articles
 This conventions inspired as I thought it would be good evidence to support my topic of
documentary
Archival photos of past newspaper articles with different titles are used to support the topic of documentary
Kens burn is used to focus on the title of the newspaper, I would apply this to my documentary as it
focuses the audience’s attention to the title

8. Use of titles
 This documentary inspired me as it uses titles to introduce the different people taking
part in the documentary and also to show the change of date
Here titles are used to introduce the names of people and their roles
Titles are also used to describe what is
being said on the phone as there is
background noise
Use of titles to tell the
audience the date

9. DocumentaryMode
Mode Conventions and examples Explanation of how it applies to my
documentary
Expository
mode (voice of
god)
Conventions:
-Voiceover of a narrator to explain what is
onscreen
Example documentaries:
-March of penguins
Observational
mode (window
of the world)
Conventions:
-Filmmaker remains hidden behind the camera
Example documentaries:
-Lifers
-One mile away
Participatory
mode (filmmaker
and subject
together)
Conventions:
-Filmmaker is present throughout
Example documentaries:
-Human Swarm
-Sicko
This applies to my documentary as the
filmmaker is present throughout the
documentary and participates so the
audience will be able to hear and see
the filmmaker’s views on the subject

10. Reflexive (aware
of process)
Conventions:
-the construction part of the documentary is shown
Example documentaries:
-Catfish
-Man with a movie camera
Performer
mode (filmmaker
as participant)
Conventions:
-Filmmaker is a participant in the documentary
Example documentaries:
-Supersize me