Genre Analysis - Killing Mum and Dad

Killing Mum and Dad

Type: Mixed

Narrative structure: closed, linear, single strand

Themes: crime/murder, family, how to define whether someone is a 'psychopath' or not

Camera work:

• Interview: either medium close up or close up and were framed to the left or the right of the screen. The eye level was always about 1/3 of the way down the screen. This is all conventional of an interview.
• creative camera work was used
• Pan: along buildings, scenery, fences, windows.
• Point of view: used in police car and inside the house at the scene of the crime.
• Hand held: inside of the house, in the living room, up the stairs, at the scene of the crime.
• Zoom: used on images, centering in on specific parts of the picture, used on news paper to see the headline.
• Camera on floor level
• Over the shoulder: inside police car.
• Varying camera shots were used: medium and extreme close ups, close up, and long shot.

Mise en scene:

• Interviews were taken in various locations.
  
• Certain interview backgrounds: blurred as not to cause distraction.

Sound:

• Sound effects: doorbells, kicking sound, footsteps, helicopter, police sirens, camera clicks.
  
• Voice over: Male, middle aged, clear delivery and standard English.
• 90's music
• The music anchors the images on screen.

Editing:

• Cut is the most common edit used.
  
• Dissolve on some of the archive material.
• Blur: police light, children on swing and people in pub.
• Faded image over reconstruction
• Wavy camera affect of Bamber on the tractor and working in the farm.

Archive material:

• Family photos
  
• News
• Video's from news shows
• Video's of events: street party, shops, the village in the 80's.
• Music video
• Police photographs of the crime scene
• Images of the court sketching
• News paper
• 
  

As i couldn't find an extract of the documentary, i added this video which was used as archive material in the documentary 'killing mum and dad'.

These images are also used as archive material in the documentary i analyses.

Graphics:

• Title sequence: white, child like writing
  White, sans serif writing: 'reconstruction', names, and relation to the topic.
• Black screen with white, sans serif writing: extra information.