Short film and mockumentary research.

Sign language is one film that I found and is a example of a good short film and in my opinion, it's very hard hitting and clever. I like the style and humour in the way in which it is almost tongue in cheek though still has a hard hitting story line. The first person aspect in which the main character is telling the story is a very popular technique used throughout many short films and one that I feel our group may look into as at the moment we are leaning towards a mocumentary sort of short filmin which the narrative would be more important and would get the point across alot more than the visual which should be suttle and humorous at the same time. Short scenes and a fast tempo are vital for the success of short films and sign language utilises these alot. I like the style of the narrative by the narrator style voice over with the person talking in the first person as if it is their life. This would add to the mise on scene of a documentary as well as the varied shots that would be needed such as wide pan and long tracking shots along with voiceovers giving the viewers the idea that they are actually watching a sad story when really the idea and narrative is extremely bizzarre and the audience feel sympathy for but at the same time a little humour at the expense of the main characetr or person in the documentary. Another good example of this is the louis Theroux dicumentaries in which he follows strange people and their lives on a day to daybasis. This idea is one that our group is going to run with and make a mocumentary about the boy who is scared of hands.

Borat is another kind of mockumentary, although it is a feature length film it displays many traits of a documentary but again it's theme is ridiculous that what makes it humorous and a mockumentary. The themes I am talking about are things such as interviews not only with members of the public but also with field experts which again conveys the realism that a mockumentary needs to work. Borat is played and written by Sascha Baron Cohen and is a news presenter from Kazahkstan. Our idea for our mockumentary is not as real or as drastic as this as ours will be loosely scripted whereas Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) completely improvises and plays his character as naturally as possible in hard situations and this is how acheives the humour of the film. Borat is a good example for another aspect of our film the poster ancillary task which I will talk about later on in my blog in another post.



The office is an award winning and successful mockumentary written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. It is renowned as the first of its kind, shot in a mockumentary style, creating characters that audiences can relate to whoever they may be. The style allows sililoquies that would not make sense in other shows, and can convey more about the character, as they can speak whilst alone. The office also contains conventions of a serious documentary, it features silent shots of the characters working within the environment adding to the mise en scene and verisimilitude. This style does add boundaries, for example, shot reverse shot cannot be used as continuity would not be relevant. It also creates high demand for the actors, as their characters must be as believable as possible when talking alone, and not always conversing with another character.