Documentary evaluation (Can't read can't write)

I think the target audience of this documentary is people who can’t read, the aim of the documentary is to make them feel that they aren’t alone and show them they can change this, it also highlights to others how terrifying and emotional it is for those who can’t read or write.
The enigma in this documentary is a group of adults can’t read or write and a teacher wants to change this and bring about a positive outcome. The equilibrium is that a group of adults cant read or write, the disruption is the obstacles they face like lack of confidence or trust in the teacher, and the resolution and new equilibrium is them finding the confidence and gradually learning to read and write.
The setting of this documentary is in the characters home, this is so as to keep in line with the verisimilitude and help make the documentary feel more realistic. It also shows the audience what kind of people they are, for example the props seen show that they are from working class backgrounds, the pram in the background shows they have children or grand children, the flowers on the table and show that they like their houses to look nice as does the cleaning products. It all helps to show the audience what type of people the documentary is about, average, working class people which is who the documentary is targeting and therefore also creates the dietetic effect and show the audience that the documentary is real and true. Also, by using high key lighting it makes the scenes appear natural and realistic which is needed in a documentary in order for people to believe it. The costumes that the characters are also wearing is incredibly important, the director would have most probably asked them to wear casual clothes such as a pale pink t-shirt and jeans as this appears feminine but relaxed and is in fitting with the type of class they are from.
The documentary begins with a voice over of one of the pupils, and an insert shot of some text, this is done so that from the very beginning, the audience understand what the documentary is about. A female has been deliberately chosen to speak so that we can hear her emotion and her vulnerability in her voice. The people the documentary is based on are from Essex, they were specifically chosen because it is thought stereotypically, that people from Essex are not intelligent, and so when people first see the documentary, the people fit with the regular connotations and stereotypes, but as the documentary unravels, the audience connect with the characters and their emotions, and I believe it is this change in opinions and stereotypes which makes the documentary interesting. It then cuts to a close up of the females face which allows us to see her emotions. In order to make the documentary feel real, the female is not looking at the camera, so it appears as if she is just talking to a friend. It then cuts back to the text so it further emphasises what it is she is talking about. It then cuts to show another female with her grandchildren, this helps play on our emotions as she is elderly, and all she wants to do is read bed time stories to her grand children. When the female character is in the kitchen, deciding on what to buy from the shop, there is an insert shot of the shopping list, and then a medium two shot of both the female and her daughter, and then as she comes to terms with the fact she doesn’t understand the list, the camera zooms in so we get to see her emotions and how she is feeling.
When I began looking at the editing of this documentary, I saw that it wasn’t very smooth, the majority of transitions is cuts which has been used in an attempt to make the editing less noticeable, however there is a lack of more complex editing such as action matches or special effects, I believe this is because they aren’t needed in documentaries and adding them would not be in keeping with the verisimilitude. Also, the production team would have had a low budget, and would have wanted to stick to the aim which is to make people understand about adults in Britain who can’t read or write, which the documentary effectively does. The documentary is none continuous as it goes from scene to scene, and incorporates long shots that are more than a few seconds long, this is because more short shorts increase tension, but tension is not required in this documentary, it needs to focus on the characters long enough so that the audience feel as if they are building a relationship with them and are on the journey with them so they can relate to them and feel the emotions they do.

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