A.Research
A.Research
This poster is generating curiosity, instead of saying “He did it, we have proof.” Which would spoil the ending, the words “Did he do it?” encourage the viewer to wonder and make their own minds off, it is also possible that the person it is about is in court during it’s release, or has been declared not guilty, which would mean exclaiming he did it would be defamation, along with that, despite the very real crime, this is still a documentary for engagement, meaning they need to make it exciting/make people curious to find out the truth The Staircase poster uses 3 different fonts, with the majority being the same font, the two lines under the word Staircase use the other two fonts, while the names of the other documentaries are in italic. The layout is interesting, as it uses “The Rule of Three” where the poster has 3 invisible lines, with the majority of the middle being full of text and the persons face, this is because the eyes usually land on the middle (Although with bright colours it can be other places, but with the red being in the middle section it doesn’t change the eyes bias.) The colour scheme is very appealing, as the text is red or white, making them work well together. The person in the background is in greyscale, the entire greyscale are good colours that blend with most others, making the poster eye-catching but not ugly. The only image in this poster is of someone’s face, he’s looking away with a hand to his mouth, likely this image represents the suspect, and his reaction (whether real or false) to the news of his wife’s death, as his face looks like he’s confused or saddened by the news. The main target audience is likely adults given the nature of the documentary, its likely too graphic for children, and not interesting to most teens, meaning adults who have heard of the incident are the primary audience, having said, some teenagers (on the older side) may have an interest in, or do a college/university course based on crimes, meaning Documentaries on crimes would help/entertain the few that like it.
This poster is less about the mystery, as this case is 37 years
old, plus it uses Richard Ramirez’ mugshot. The most prominent picture of him,
it’s a coverage of the events rather than a mystery, however its likely they
would’ve kept the killer’s identity secret for those who didn’t know of this.
There are 3 fonts,
for the tagline, the title and “The Hunt for A Serial Killer” the layout is
simple, all the text in the middle to draw the eye in, with the shadow covered
killer behind. The colour scheme is simple, using blacks, whites and reds, with
Ramirez being shrouded in the dark giving the red streak along his face and the
red text makes it eye-catching. The only image used is the Mugshot of Ramirez,
with a red line highlighting his eye. The main target audience is likely adults
due to the disgusting crimes being too much for young children, the secondary
target is still most likely older teens who do criminology.
This documentary is different from the other two, as instead
of trying to keep a mystery or simply tell a story, this documentary is about
what Aaron Hernandez was thinking while committing these crimes.
There are 2 different fonts used (one used for “Killer
Inside” while the other is the rest of the text.) the layout is once again
using the rule of thirds, however, it appears to be landscape, as the middle
has the blood, most of his face, and other details. The colour scheme is blue
with red. The images are interesting with how many there are, there’s the face
with the blood on his cheeks (Like face paint.) there is an American footballer
in the shadow along with bullet casings. The main target audience is also
adults, specifically the young adults. With the secondary targets being old
teens.
The Genre of True Crime Documentaries
Documentaries are about informing rather than entertaining,
most, especially True Crime, are respectful when dealing with such topics, and
do not attempt to crack jokes at the expense of the victims or subjects, True
Crimes also (Depending on the criminal’s sentence or if they are dead) may or
may not actually label them as killers, Examples are:
The Staircase, where the posters question the husband’s (Michael Peterson’s) innocence, and he considered it “Egregious fabrications” despite the fact he turned himself in and was considered guilty.
Night Stalker however labels Richard Ramirez as the
notorious Night Stalker, which he was, and was put to death in 1989, the reason
he is labelled as a killer so blatantly is due to him being so linked and
clearly guilty. Another major reason is, not only did he die. But his wife
(Who, despite him killing so many people, was a fan who married him before his
death) claimed she would commit suicide when he would die, meaning he has no
one defending him, and so it wouldn’t cause legal trouble.
Other genres
Documentaries are usually identifiable by different means
that other programs or games, while their genres are identified by keywords
such as “Horror” or “Romantic”, Documentaries are identified by the different
ways the finished product is shown,
Most crime documentaries are “Expository” which means they
have some reenactments, some interviews, and an omnipresent narrator, these are
usually educational, some about more serious topics, meaning they are usually
targeting old teens and young adults, most of whom are in education.
An Inconvenient Truth (2006) is an example of an expository
documentary, where Vice President Al Gore raises awareness about climate
change, this documentary targets the young/adults showing what excessive use of
fossil fuels becomes.
Another genre is “Observational”, where the filmmaker cannot
interfere these are usually nature documentaries, compared to Expository,
Observational Documentaries are shot in the moment, with no reenactment, there
likely would be some interviews, but that and the voiceovers would be shot long
after the footage.
Planet Earth (2006) is a documentary that is narrated by
David Attenborough, where the people recording cannot interfere with the
animals, it is made for a younger generation to show them about the world they
live in, however it can still be viewed by the older generations.
Participatory Documentaries are a type of documentary where
the filmmaker is participating in the creation, interviewing and being
interviewed. It’s like a debate, but one that is between two people who don’t hate
the other for their beliefs, although some lack the debate aspect. A good
example of Participatory Documentaries is Bowling for Columbine, even though it
mixes observational and performative styles
Chronicles of a
Summer (1960) Is a participatory documentary which has the filmmakers interviewing
the public it is made for an older generation, likely those born around the
time of its release.
Documentaries have been around since the early 20th
century; the entire point was to document life. The term was coined by John
Grierson in 1926; Documentaries were used as tools for propaganda in the WWII,
the purpose of documentaries now is to inform and to get points across.
The Act of Murder (2012) was made over a decade ago (from
2025) and follows multiple death-squad leaders who have committed mass
killings, letting them reenact it in different genres and filmmaking ways, most
of them were happy to do so, while others feared it would paint them in a bad
light, (which was so bad most of the crew members were not in the credits to
avoid retribution) Anwar (one of the death-squad leaders) said he felt how his
victims did, while Joshua Oppenheimer tells him his victims felt worse, because
Anwar knows it’s a film.
The documentary was worth an estimated $1,000,000, yet made $726,324
worldwide, losing over $270,000 for the production which would make it not a
loss or gain, however this documentary was supposed to show the acts of these
death-squad leaders rather than monetizing the mass killings. The movie has a
rating of 8.2/10 on IMDb
Bowling for Columbine (2002) was made 2 decades ago and was showcase
of the reality of American gun violence after the Columbine Massacre where Eric
Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13, injured 23, and traumatising the
surrounding area before shooting themselves. They ask people if they should own
weapons, and compares it to Weapons of Mass Destruction, and ask if they should
own those, those two in context, a gun and a missile can enact mass
destruction.
The documentary used $4,000,000 for the budget, and made $58,015,923 worldwide, BFC managed to make $54,000,000 in revenue, it’s likely it was a success as Michael Moore had more and previous successful movies, the issue was also more relevant, as the killing just happened, whereas The Act of Killing was killings that happened in the 1960s. Bowling for Columbine has a 7.9/10 (likely due to the errors and lack of research was done in the storytelling, such as the fact there was no evidence that the shooters did go bowling.)
B.Planning
My idea for the documentary is a series of episodes based on a fictional cult that terrorises Britain in the late 1980s, disappeared in 1999, and was caught, imprisoned or killed by 2010. My adverts are going to cater to an older audience, a mixture between people over 40, to true crime enthusiasts as my target audience, which I will just use the True Crime Enthusiasts as my primary target audience, however due to the billboards being out for the public, it will have to be designed around ASA’s rules, meaning there won’t be blood or anything to do with death, however, I do plan on using a chalk outline on the ground which as far as I could tell, isn’t against ASA. The four adverts I plan to create will be:
1. A ceremony with 3 cult members, with one having their arms open and up to the air, with a tagline of “The Cult that terrorized Britain”
2. illustrations of the being they believe is the God, the tagline asking “What were they thinking”
3. the classic chalk outline that all crime programs use to mark the location of the body. With “Justice will be wrought.”
4. a police officer (a shoulder view) aiming at a cultist. “How will this END?”
My idea will focus on the contrast of good and bad, as the cultists will be wearing red robes, while anyone good in the posters will be associated with blue, using the theory about colour, red makes people tense while blue is calming. I plan on titling it “The Zealots of Old”. The word Zealot essentially means someone who won’t compromise for their religious beliefs, it was the name of members of a Jewish political movement to free Israel from The Roman Empire.
For my documentary advertisements I intend for it to comply with the ASA Guidelines, such as not showing anything graphic or bloody for the chance that a younger audience may see the advertisement. It is a likely chance an unintended audience will see it as it is on a billboard. I plan for it to be during the earlier part of the watershed so my target audience (16-25) would be awake to see it without children being able to view it.
To make the documentary is successful, I will portray the target audience in a positive way, I also will be representing 2 different social groups, older and younger, this is due to the cult idea needing older representation (Because most cults have more experienced and older leaders, while the detectives are younger.) The documentary will feature a cult being discovered by detectives, police and criminologists, the latter being shown as smart and righteous wearing blue to show the good, while the Cult will be masked or smiling, shrouded in darkness and red robes.
I plan to construct my posters by using multiple layers, like the robes and the cultists, and the background behind it, most if not all of the elements will be added together in photoshop putting the main imagery in the middle, with all the text also being in the middle, the text will have bright font as to draw the eye in, I will use easy to read but not minimalist fonts, an example of one I believe fits is:
Haettenschweiler
As it’s easy to read and not minimal, its bold and in my opinion draws the eye. All the text will be large so it is visible to read, the tagline and general information will be smaller than the title, the title will be catchy to make the audience (16-25 year old fans of ground-breaking documentaries) want to watch it as it comes out.
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