Behind Bars - Louis Therou

Analysing a documentary opening

Similar to A very British Gangster this documentary starts with a film and TV technique and convention, of an establishing shot of the prison being explored by Louis. The screen then cuts to a snippet of an interview with one of the inmates who has been sentenced to 500 years for his crimes. This is in order to captivate audience. This is because by supplying them with key shocking  information it makes you wonder ,why has  this man got 500 years? What could he have possibly done to get a sentence past how many years he will live?This convention and technique is used in order to make the audience want to watch more in order to be able to answer the questions already posed in the first few minutes of the documentary . This is not however an unusual documentary convention as Every documentary has to start strong in order to keep their audience interested and tuned on.  One thing many documentaries also inhibit and so does this particular documentary is the convention of there being no sense of  real time like there actually is in prison. This is because the footage has to be cut down into an hour of television. The logo of  the BBC appears similar to how "A very British Gangsters" logo did at the beginning the show. This is in order to shown that the documentary is independent and impartial and to signify equality and also to show it is professionally made and it is an accomplished program . People instantly think this as for years this is what the BBC logo has been symbolic of all over the world.


The voice over  then precedes this with a montage of behind the scenes footage of the prison such as the prisoners moving throughout the prison. Surprisingly this creates a calm atmosphere and mood .  This is because the music playing is soft and gentle. This creates the impression that this is a documentary not actually about a prison. This may have been used to unnerve the audience in order to mirror the unease and danger in the prison. Therefore this implies that documentary music has to mirror the mood greatly in order to be successful . Just a minute in the screen cuts to the opening title which is extremely graphic. This is because it is a picture of bars going across Louis looking up to heaven ,it is an animated title. This signifies the message behind the documentary already. This is that these prisoners are not free and as far from heaven as possible due to their criminal acts. This also varies greatly to "A very British Gangster" whose titles were much more dramatic signifying that there are many ways to present documentary titles successfully to the audience.


The message very early on is that the prison is very dangerous. This is because Louis needs protection as he is shown putting on a bullet proof vest that will protect him and his major organs before he goes into the prison. This builds up suspense as it makes you think ,will something terrible happen?Which in turn leaves you glued to the screen in case such a thing does happen. The style is hand held here in order to show unease and the reality of what Louis is actually going into . Plus the camera team can not take all their equipment in as they are entering a danger zone therefore if something was to go wrong ,you have to be quick to get out. The voice over continues and talks of  the conditions in the prison which is  23  hours a day locked up behind bars .This shows the documentary aims to educate us on a certain level. Louis also talks about what gassing is and the audience finds out it is a liquid substance of any kind. This is a normal convention of a documentary as it is informing you of different offences out there. The music starts again as  the documentary progresses onto  a different topic  which is life outside the cell. The screen fades to black as a new day is signified and the opening of the beginning of the documentary ends.