Textual analysis of The truth about Magaluf

1. RobertDunn
Textual analysis notes
Sound
As the documentarystartswe are presented withabackingsoundthat isparallel withthe imagesthatwe
see inthe montage,the imagesare of the people inMagaluf partyingandhavingagood time onthe beach,
the musicis parallel because itisup-beat,happyandwithahightempowhichgivesthe impressionthat
there isa party atmosphere inMagaluf. Thisisdone bythe directorbecause it isstereotypicallyhow we see
Magaluf,we justthinkof the party atmosphere andnotaboutthe consequencesof how excessdrinkingand
partyingcan cause problemstothe communityandfor the otherholidaymakers.The directorimmediately
makesus thenthinkof these consequencesbythe suddenchange inthe imageswe see andthe change in
the moodof the backingsound;thisisbecause whenthe sungoesdownthe soundschange from‘happy’
musicintodownbeat and slowermusic,thischange intempomakes the moodof the documentarychange
formlight-heartedtoathreateningandscarymood.Thisis parallel tothe imageswe see,one of the morgue
where theyspeakaboutthe consequencesthatare scary to hearabout therefore the backingsoundis
complementary, andone of the ambulances,police etc.flyingbywiththeirlightflashing,thissetsthe tone
for the documentaryandletsthe audience know whattype of documentarytheyare abouttowatch.
The directordoesn’talwaysuse non-diegeticsounds tosetthe moodof the documentary,theyalso
emphasise diegeticsounds suchasthe sirensonthe ambulancesandpolice carswhichdrownsout the
soundof the backingmusicbutalso of hernarrating,thismakesthe audience single outthe sirensandthis
emphasises the effectof dangerwhichisthe tone that theywantto put across because theyare sayingitis
not all partyingandplayful, andthatMagaluf hasits dangers.
The soundsof the sirensiscoupledwithadrunkeninterview withaman thatis clearlyunderthe influenceof
alcohol,butthe directorhas triedtomake it lookworse thanwhat itis because theyhave empathisedhow
slurredthe manis speakingandputsubtitlesbeneathittomake itseemlike he istalkinginaforeign
language,thisistomake it soundlike he isextremelydrunkwhichmakesthe audience thenthinkthatthe
accidenthappenedonlybecauseof alcohol.
The narrator, StaceyDooley,hasa regional accentwhichstereotypicallymakeshersoundworkingclassand
relatively unintelligentespeciallywhenshe putsemphasisesonwordsatthe endof sentences,the effect
thishas on the documentaryisthatit makesitseemyouthful anddowntoearth documentary;whichis
cleverbecause of the targetaudience of the documentarybeingagedbetween 16and 26. The accent Stacey
has and the stereotypesthatare coupledwithitcontrastswhat she isreadingfromthe script,thisis because
it isan intelligentscriptbecause itismeanttoinformus as all documentariesare meantto,but heraccent
makespeople listenbecauseshe soundslike the targetaudienceorsomeone theycanrelate to. Thisisalso
to use verisimilitude,sothatthe documentaryhasa sense of realitytothe audience.
Mise-en-scene
Stacey Dooleydecidesthatshe will interviewsome of the holidaymakersonthe beachesof Magaluf inthe
day time,althoughitdoesn’tseemitthe individual she decidestointerview isprobablycarefullychosen.
Thisis because the individual iswearingnothingbutsunglasses,flipflopsandsomethingthatappearstobe
a sock that covers hisgenitals,thisrevealingclothingindicatesthathe wasnot selectedatrandomandwas
selectedtoprove apoint.The pointbeingthatthe people inMagaluf are totallyunreasonableandare out
there to cause trouble because mostpeoplewilllookathow thisguyis dressedandfindinappropriate. This
contraststhe ideathatthe audience have aboutMagaluf inthe daytime because theythinkthatitis relaxed
and enjoyableandthatit isonlythe nighttime where all of the ‘partypeople’come outandcause trouble.

2. RobertDunn
The clothingof StaceyDooleyisalsocarefullychosenbecause she isveryinformal andrelaxedunlike most
otherdocumentarypresenterssuchasDavidAttenboroughorAnnaRichardsonwhodressveryformall y
wherevertheyare presenting.The type of clothingStaceywearsissimilartothe style of the stereotypical
holidaymakerinMagaluf whichisveryskimpywithshowingquitealotbut nottoo much that itis seenas
unreasonable.The effectthishasonthe audience isthattheysee Staceyas one of them, as a ‘downto
earth’character that theycan relate toand one whichtheylistento;thisalsobacksthe effectof heraccent
as well. Whatthisdoesisgo againstthe typical
conventionof adocumentary where they
normallyhave amiddle tolate agedman with
a formal dresscode.The reasonwhy thisis
done isbecause StaceyDooleytypicallydoes
documentariesforBBC3 whichas an
institutionnormallyshow comicshowsor
showsthat theirtargetaudience of young
adultsand teenagerswill watch;therefore
havinga youngpresenterthattalks,dresses
and acts like theystereotypicallydothenitwill
attract the targetaudience whowouldn’t
normallywatchdocumentaries.
Whenconductingthe interviewsthe directorhas
verycleverlypositionedherandthe personbeing
interviewed,the compositionof justtheminthe
frame and the close upcamera shotsmake the
audience focusontheirfacial expressions andbody
language.The reasonwhythe directorwouldwant
the audience tofocuson the bodylanguage and
facial expression isbecause ittellsthe audiencewhat
Staceyactuallyfeelsaboutthe subjectathand.For
example inthisinterviewtheyare speakingabout
the girlswhodiedbecause she fell of the balcony,
but as the personbeinginterviewedistalking,the
directordecidestojustshowStacey’sreactionsto
whatshe issaying;this empathisesthe effectof the storybecause itisa shockingstorybutthroughcamera
workand Stacey’sreactionsthe audience getsthe full effect.

3. RobertDunn
Compositionisalsousedinotherwaysandto
create othereffectsinthisdocumentaryfor
instance whenStaceygetsajob behindabar on
‘The Strip’the directorusesa collectionof close
upsof propssuch as Vodkabottles,Cocktailsetc.
All of these propsare centrallycomposedandtake
up mostof the screen, sothat the audience can
onlyfocuson the excessiveamountof alcohol that
these bars stock and sell tothe holidaymakers.
The effectthatthishas is that onthe audience is
that theyare shockedwhichfollowsthe mode of
the addresswhichisto make themrealise how
bad the situationinMagaluf is.
Additionallythereisafollowupscene where Stacey
istryingto make one of the cocktailsthat theyare
servinginthe bar, the directorinsiststhatStacey
goesthroughall of the individualingredients,which
isdifferenttypesof VodkaandSchnapps,which
makesthe audience focusonhowmuch she is
puttinginthe cocktail.Alsothe directorusesa low
angle withthe fishbowl,whichiswhattheyare
pouringitinto,inthe foregroundwhichalsomakes
the audience focusonitbut alsomakesthe fish
bowl lookbiggerthanStaceyherself,this
empathiseshowmuchalcohol the holidaymakers
are influencedbyandare exposedtowhichagainshocksthe audience.
Lightingisalsousedbutthiscontradictswhat the documentaryistryingto putacross because the mainof
the documentaryistryingto state that itis not the holiday maker’sfaultthattheyare “partyingtoohard”
and infact it isthe faultof the bars and the amountof alcohol theyare introducedto. However, when
Staceydoesan interview withone of these holidaymakers theyare normallyinthe darkwithshadedfaces,
thisrepresentsthemnegativelybecause we associate darkshadowsasbad,the effectonthe audience is
that theyviewthe holidaymakernegatively.Onthe flipside,whenshe isinterviewingthe workersforthe
local emergencyservicessuchasthe police orambulance crew,theyare alwaysinthe lightandare well lit
whilsttheyare beinginterviewed,thisempathisesthe factthatholidaymakersare inthe dark and
empathisesthe effectsof the differentlighting.
With a holiday maker With an ambulance worker

4. RobertDunn
Camerawork and editing
There isa scene inthe documentarywhere Staceyischasingafterthese sex workerstodesperatelygetan
interview withthem,the directorchoses toincludethe chase sequence alongwiththe shakycamera
technique.Thisisbecause the effectof themrunningis empathisedbythe shakingcamerawhichadds
actionto the scene,the effectthishason the audience isthattheyfeel enclosedinthe documentarywhich
makesthe audience focusonhowhard the workersare tryingto avoidthe interview.Because the workers
are tryingto avoidthe interviewsobadlyitmake the audience viewthemnegativelywhichiswhathe
directorwantsthe audience tofeel like.
Like I have mentionedbefore,the directorshowsthe facial expressionsinthe interviewsbutnotof the
interviewee butof Staceywhoisreactingto the thingthat isbeingsaidby the interviewee whichisnormally
quite shockinglike if somebodydied.The director makessure thatthe audience isfocusingonherreactions
because theyusa selectionof components tomake sure thatherfacial expressionisthe onlythingthatthe
audience canfocuson. The firstistheyus close upswhichmakeshertake up most of the frame which
meansthat herfacial expressionisnearlythe onlythingthatisinthe frame.The secondisthat she is
centrallycomposedmeaningthatshe isinthe middle of the frame,thismakesthe audience focusonher
because theyare mostlikelytolookinthe middle of aframe rather thanthe outedgesbecause the most
importantthingsare normallyplacedinthe middle. Linkingtothe othertwothe thirdisthat the director
choosestouse a shotreactionshottechnique sothatwhenStaceyisinterviewingsomeonethere will be a
shotof heraskingthe question,thenashotof the intervieweeansweringthe question,butassoonas the
interviewee sayssomethingthatisshockingitcutsto a reactionshot of Stacey.Thisis done sothat the
audience toofeelsshockedaboutthe subjectathandbecause theyare presentedwiththe interviewerbeing
shocked.
Shot Reaction Shot

5. RobertDunn
In the scene where Staceytriestosee howbadlythe holidaymakersare actinginone of the mainhotels,the
directorchosesto use a an extreme lowangle whichshowsthe holidaymakersontopof the hotel,thisshot
has significancebecause the effectithason
the audience initiallyistoshowhowhigh up
theyare upand because theyare drunkand
messingaround,itshowshoweasily
somethingcouldgowrong.Butit alsoimplies
that the holidaymakersare uncontrollable
because theyare highinthe frame itsuggests
that theyare inpoweroverthe people who
are lookingupat them,whichare Staceyand
the hotel worker;thissymbolisesthe restof
the populationof holidaymakersbecause
throughoutthe documentarytheykeepon
bringingupcasesof deathssuchas the ones
at the hotel.
In the introductiontothe documentarythe directorusesamontage,whichislotsof differentfootageof film
normallyof what’stocome inthe documentary.The montage isa keytechnique usedbythe director
because itshowsthe mode of addressthat the documentaryismainlygoingtofollow,thisisbecause atthe
start it isfootage of happyholidaymakershavingfuninthe daytime,butit thentakesa suddenchange in
moodas the audience seesimagesof negative events.The effectthishasonthe audience isthat itimplies
that the rest of the documentaryisgoingto show Magaluf in a negative lightbecausethe montage islike a
short versionof howthe documentaryisgoingtobe.