Media Level 2 Analysis of 'The Boy Can't Help It'

Media Level 2 Analysis of 'John's Not Mad'

Alex's Diegectics & Non-Diegectics Film

This is a film that me and my small group made whilst filming in and around the Media Suite in Hyde Clarendon. We were assigned to create a film with diegectic and non-diegectic sounds with two different types of scenes: fast-paced and slow-paced scenes with background music corresponding to the different scenes.

Me and my group were initially unsure as to who would be doing what in which scene, but after a brief discussion, we decided on what we were doing and prepared our equipment, ready to begin.


Firstly, I started by carrying a camera as I walked up the Media Suite stairs, and another member of my group walked through the Media suite doors. Since I was carrying a camera, the scene gave a third person perspective.

Another member of my group then recorded the conversation that we had on what we were going to do. I then filmed me once again carrying the camera as I slowly walked out of the Media Suite doors.

We also filmed me in a first person perspective running into the Media Suite with a forlorn expression on my face being pursued by a hooded figure, played by another member of my group. We then turned all of the lights off in the production space to add ambience into it.

The walls with other students' work on them provided the ideal backdrop and gave our scene an eerie dark maze feel to it. We then used the lights from our phones to light up the areas that we wanted to be seen.

Unit 20.1: 'Goodbye Afganistan' Analysis

My Observation of ‘Our War – Goodbye Afghanistan’

The first observation that I conducted of the Afghanistan documentary was of a close-up of a soldier preparing for war. This creates a sense of feeling of depression as if you are actually meeting this person first-hand. The second time that I encountered this was when I saw a first person depiction of a war in Afghanistan with narration voice-over. This was a combination of perspective and sound, and I felt compelled to watch onwards because this is a prime example of the effects.

I also heard some diegetic sound of bullets firing. This was applied to make the viewer feel morbid and depressed and sorry for the soldiers in combat. The narration of the voice over gives a blunt in-sight as to what the soldiers are feeling and experiencing.

I noticed some jump-cut editing that linked one scene to another. This is done to make the documentary feel more fast-paced and to speed up the power and emotion of the film. The interview was most of the time foreshadowing what we were about to see in archive footage.

Even thought the soldier had already told us what was about to happen, we were still taken aback to graphic nature of the voice-over and the combination of diegetic and non-diegetic sound created a truly distressing piece of film.

The close-ups of the soldiers faces created negative emotions because we became concerned for their safety, due to having seen a soldier in third person, and were hoping that none of them were going to be hurt or killed. 

The sights of the conditions of the army base, with an expressive description, gives an in sight as to how different and privileged our lives really are here in Britain. The voice-overs are very good at telling us how to feel when watching a specific scene and can generate a whole range of various emotions.

The uncensored swearing, mixed with the melancholy sound of traditional military music, created a plethora of sympathy and empathy for the soldiers, as we could see why the soldiers were so aggravated and that they were so determined to win.  The medical troop yelling at the other soldiers in first person perspective makes me feel sympathy towards the soldiers in battle, because they are battling, despite fearing that they could be next.

The FOW footage of the soldier’s mother mourning his son’s death with the other soldiers in his group, with the narrative voice-over, makes you feel sympathy towards the mother, because she has out-lived her child.

This scene I feel most of all emphasises the effectiveness of the perspective, sound, editing and cinematography techniques that I have learned today.

Disability/Scoliosis Observation

I conducted this observation using a three-column tally chart. These columns are divided into: physical, speech and learning disabilities. I did this by travelling around the college, observing people in various parts of the college to see whether they had a specific disability or not. I asked Debbie, the college's receptionist, how many people that were in the college with physical disabilities. She said that only a very small 3% statistic of all of the students of the college had physical disabilities.

In the ALZ zone, I saw five students using blue screen, indicating that they have a visual disability or some form of visual stress. 

Scoliosis Interview Questionnaire Film

This is a questionnaire interview film that I conducted in the filming room. I chose this room because of the quiet and calm atmosphere and that there would be minimal to no interruptions and so that the audio of my questionnaire film would be easy to hear as well as easier than simply stopping and starting the interview everything an interruption takes place, as it would have been very exhausting and time-consuming.

I then asked my interviewee a series of questions relating to scoliosis and some of the various historical and statistical facts that I have obtained from my months of in-depth research into the condition. The facts that I have obtained proved to be very interesting to my interviewee, as the interviewee appeared to be quite surprised to see that I have came up with such detailed and complex and well thought out questions.

Due to the knowledgeability of my questionnaires, the interviewee was quite

Poll Junkie Questionnaire