Genre Analysis - Auschwitz, Inside the Nazi State

Auschwitz – inside the Nazi state

Type of Documentary:
This documentary was a mixed documentary, just because it had a number of different elements within its structure, it held a voice over with portrayed the narrative, it had reconstructions, interviews of survivors of Nazi concentration camps, these interviews held a valuable part in getting the emotional message across to the audience.

Themes:
Throughout the documentary, there were a different number of themes within itself; they were Nazi Germany, and how they created concentrations camps to exterminate Jewish people, along with prisoners of war, and also people from the Soviet Union and also the Polish. It also talked about how World War II had an effect on the creation of these concentration camps, and the invasion of different countries.

Narrative Structure:
The narrative structure with the documentary I chose to watch consisted of a beginning, middle and an end. At the beginning, it spoke about how the birth of Auschwitz started this new industry of death, with the Nazi’s and the Jewish, Polish, Soviet Union and also prisoners of war were captured by the Nazi’s and moved into remote areas where concentration camps were set up. By the middle of the documentary, it spoke about the mass extermination of these people, and how over more than 1 million people were killed during the makeup of these concentration camps throughout Germany. However by the end of the documentary, the conflict wasn’t solved, but we as the audience got to see the final creation at Auschwitz, and this was the factory of death, and how this would end up killing more people.

Camerawork:
Throughout the whole documentary, there were a different number of camera angles used in order to give the audience that element of what it was like there, and how people lived. There were a lot of high angle shots, when the camera focused more on the Nazi’s and when the camera was more focused on the people that were getting sent to a concentration camp, the camera angle was more of a high angle which would signify the weakness of them. There were panning shots, which showed the audience the surrounding area, and what the camps were actually like. And then there were establishing shots, which showed us, where the documentary was set, but it also showed the devastating effects of how these people lived.

Mise-en-scene:
The mise-en-scene within the documentary holds vital importance when trying to get a better understanding at what the concentration camps were like during World War 1. The fact that every time were brought back to WW1 it’s all in black and white, this would signify the lack of technological equipment, and therefore could said to be actual achieve footage of that time. However since some of it is in black and white, it gives this feeling that you’re actually there being a part of this, disastrous event in history therefore we are able to sympathise with what the people were going through, in certain ways. The interviews were also very formal, so people taking part would feel as relaxed as possible, in order to get this greater emotional impact towards the audience. It enables the interviewee to feel calm and collective and being able to sit in an environment and being able to speak about the experiences they’ve faced and been through during WWII. When the documentary goes into a dark state, people begin to realise that these parts hold significance to when people were killed by the Nazi’s whether it was by shooting or gas chambers, or even starvation. We began to get a picture of what it was like within the concentration camp, when we are shown plans and around it, they made it completely unsuitable for people to live in, and this was their main purpose, they wanted to kill these people so created a mass extermination camp in order to do such thing. The fact that within this documentary achieve footage was shown, i.e. photographs, meant that the audience was able to see the devastating effects of what these camps were like, and how people who were forced to live in them, lived and died.

Sound:
Throughout the documentary, there was a non-diegetic music bed, which signified such an emotional impact the concentration camps had on people, and their families. When this music is added to a documentary, the audience begins to feel extremely emotional and they start to sympathise and also start to feel this strong connection towards the people within the documentary. There was also natural sound used, when people were being interviewed, in order to give off a natural feeling and surrounding when that person is talking.

Editing:
The documentary makers have decided to opt for a longer take shots, this is because they want the audience to be able to take in all of what is going on within the documentary, this will able them to become more emotionally attached to the subjects within the documentary. Zooms and tracking shots were also used to make the documentary feel more exciting and to keep it from being the same as a lot of other documentaries.

Archive Material:
There was a lot of archive material used in this documentary; the fact that actual footage was found and used of happenings in concentration camps set up by Nazi’s showed what things could be like within such camps. But also there were a lot of photo’s used to show the devastating results of concentration camps, and how people were forced into them, and how they live there. Apart from the WWII archive footage, recent footage was also used, to show how people lived and to give the audience a greater understanding of what it was like within a concentration camp.

Graphics:
The graphics were pretty simplistic; there were a simple red and white title which could symbolise death, or a battle between something bad and something pure. The fact that the Nazi’s put innocent Jewish people into these concentration camps meant that the colour white could have been used to describe that they haven’t really don’t anything wrong. Again during the interviews, the graphics were again simplistic, they just told you who the person was, this was to keep your attention on what they were saying, rather than having fancy graphics which would create a distraction.