Short film essay
In this essay I am going to discuss the short film documentary named ‘Into the Unknown’. This documentary concerns climbers, divers, scientists, astronauts, engineers and other modern-day explorers. In this documentary, interviews are a main focus. Interviews are a convention of documentary and are used to give information and knowledge to the audience about what the documentary concerns, and possibly answer questions. The opening scene of the documentary shows a shot from in the sea looking up at the surface of the water with a voiceover of a woman stating ‘my earliest memory in life was drowning’. This voice over connects with the shot it is shown with as it gives the illusion of drowning by being under the water but looking up to the surface. It also creates a sense of danger by low key lighting being used for the water, showing that was in a vulnerable situation. During this scene, music is being played through a piano to further create the feeling of danger. The shot then cuts to a medium close up of a woman speaking, which informs the audience that she is the woman telling the story.
The scene then cuts to a close up of a man who begins to narrate. This is shown in an interview style, which shows a convention of documentary. The next shot shows a close up of a rocket about to take off with a voice over of the man still speaking. He states ‘when you get out there on the launch pad your anxious to go’. This narration along with the close up of the rocket connect them together and explains to the audience that he is an astronaut. Whilst the man is still speaking, a tracking shot of the earth is shown to give the perspective of a rocket flying over it in a point of view shot. The next few shots cut between extremely short clips of people getting interviewed. This is a convention of documentary and is used to create excitement and tension concerning what the documentary concerns.
Throughout the beginning of the documentary, the same music through the piano is used to create the feeling of mystery and tension. However, the music changes gradually to a more slow and calming sound as an extreme long shot of mountains covered in snow is shown with the voice over of a woman stating ‘I am the first American woman to summit mount Everest three times’. This is a convention of documentary as the cinematography and sound are used together to connect the narration with the shot shown. Also, after the tension concerning the mountains is created, the shot cuts to a medium close up of a woman talking in a convention of documentary style, connecting her as being the mountain climber.
