Transition Critical Research - Analysing a Vox Documentary

For my critical research for this unit, I wanted to analyse a Vox documentary and understand why it is successful in engaging the viewer and appealing to a wide range of age groups.

Vox is an internet news/documentary YouTube channel that has a large group of people who put together videos on a wide range of subjects. I decided to focus on a series called "shift change" and it is a series that we are basing our documentary off of.

The reason for this is that this series includes a presenter-led documentary with vox pops, graphics and fluid filmmaking. All of these are what interests me and my partner Cailan.

Something that was interesting was that as soon as the documentary starts you are shown a few clips of relevant items moving in the frame as well as text and voiceover accompanying it. This was interesting from a directorial perspective as right away I could tell I would need a lot of B-ROLL Footage to be able to cover the whole show. Something that Vox does really well is that it incorporates fancy graphics and text into a piece which is informative and easy to understand. I think we should be using some of our own graphics in our own project but I understand the time constraints Cailan will be in when editing may mean we don't have quite the level of text and graphics on screen as in Vox. This will not be through a lack of wanting it or forgetting it, rather than just not having enough time to do it to the high standard that we will be holding ourselves too.

It then mixes to a mixture of rather odd shots which follow various people walking through buildings and these shots are slowed down. These may seem out of place but they have a contextual meaning. We are following these people through the building to simulate that we are all constantly being watched - which is what the documentary is about. These are bold decisions made by the director and ones I will incorporate into my storyboards. Vox is always pushing itself to be creative with its shots and not follow the norm. This knowledge has helped inform me on how I will plan my shots, after understanding what location we will be set in.

A note that I will pass onto Cailan is how important a bold logo and the title sequence is to this project. Vox uses a logo throughout in the top right of the screen which will be part of Cailan's job in the edit. The title sequence will also be part of Cailan's edit but I will mention to him how important this title sequence is in confounding the ideas in this project as well as the theme and subject matter. In this case, the title is very dark and sinister, letting the viewer know what is being talked about in this documentary is slightly dodgy.

This story by Vox is heavily moved along by opinions from the public and people affected by this issue. These are shot in a way which is slightly off camera to a presenter. I want to slightly change this for our project and have our presenter actually be on screen with the public opinion. However, this still will be shot in a way where the member of the public is the focus of the shot. This means I plan to shoot from around a 60-degree angle looking at the member of the public. This is how I will change this piece to have my own personal directorial decisions for this project, as in some areas I will have to follow exactly what is normally done in VOX.

I previously mentioned that VOX loves to use bold shots to compound an issue and this one fits that ideal once again. This shot really draws the viewers attention because of its wide angle and how much is in the frame. Seeing more evidence of experimental shots in VOX films compounds the fact that I need to be bold with my storytelling in this project. Understanding the location will be important, as I do not want this issue to seem like it is dedicated to a certain area. I need to make sure I frame shots to look like it could be anywhere in the world because it is a global issue. The reason why this shot works for this documentary is that it really is a localised issue based on truckers in the United States. This shot includes the trucks as well as a big building and a very Americanised scenery. This leaves the viewer with no doubt about where this documentary is set. For our documentary we need to go the other way and make sure the backdrop does not make the issue seem localised, we need it to look worldwide.

The use of graphics and text on the screen is prominent throughout this video. While talking with Cailan we would love to include as many graphics as possible. We both think this would improve our piece and make it fit the style of Vox. The biggest issue is timings and if we will be able to do it before the deadline. We will hold ourselves to a high standard and if we cannot get it looking the way we want it, we will cut it from the project. The reason why these graphics are so important for this video is they give the viewer a visual understanding of what is being talked about in this video. With some topics, graphics and graphs are needed more than others. We feel like inherently we will need fewer graphs because of our subject matter.

Contributors are key to VOX videos as they help inform the viewer on the topic from a personal opinion. We believe we should have at least one contributor in our project so that it is clear we know we are not just telling one side of the story. The opinion from the contributor is often more important in moving along the story than what is said by the presenter. In terms of directing this piece is directed in a very bold way. This shot is quite close up and the other shot used is very wide giving loads of headroom. These are both unique camera shots which have been set up for the purpose of making an impact on the viewer. In my decision making for this project, I am making sure my shots are bold and unique to help fit with the style of VOX. I know strong directing is what make these VOX documentaries enjoyable to the viewer as they manage to keep moving the story along with bold decisions.

The use of found footage is also prominent on Vox. This is another outlay which is called upon to help tell the story. The director will work along with the editor and Producer to understand which clips help have the most impact on the story. I will work along with Cailan in this process of deciding what we will use. We need to make sure these are not there just because VOX uses them, rather they are there to improve the story. Cailan has found many clips from Channel 4 and various other news networks that will help move the story along in this scenario.

The presenter on screen happens a little less than we had planned for in our project. Our presenter will be heading all of the questions on screen as well as the PTC. In Vox the presenter does appear on the screen frequently, but it is to voice over a lot of the time. This is where another one of my directorial decisions will come into play. As we will have cast an energetic personality, I want to make sure he gets more screen time than some of the VOX Documentary makers. He will be important in helping tell the story and I feel the PTC section of our shoot will be important in the viewer understanding the issue.

The presenter, in this case, has a strong personality who presents himself well in front of the camera and as well with the voiceover. Casting is important and it shows to be once again with this piece. Because you see the presenter clearly understands the subject and is interested, it helps the whole story feel more real.

Lastly, VOX has a very minimalist approach to it's ending screen which will be important to understand when we create ours. In previous units, we have not had to worry about what the outro sequence is like, but this time we need to make sure all of our graphics and title sequences follow their brand.

The show is appealing for all because of its use of real video and graphics. The mixture helps move the story along in a fluid motion which is interesting for all age groups watching. The mixture is also engaging and keeps the viewer's attention which is important to grow a fan base in the online documentary community.

VOX has a great set of guidelines that it follows in all of its documentaries and it is helpful to have so many VOX resources online for myself and Cailan to understand before we shoot our project.

I found it really interesting to understand the decisions that VOX content creators make when creating a project. My other research into VOX will look more in depth in terms of my personal role as well as what being a VOX director is actually like.