Genre Anaylsis - That Thing, Lara Croft

That Thing - Lara Croft

Type of documentary:
This documentary was also mixed, I knew this because it consisted of archive footage, interviews, reconstruction and it also had a small part of narration.


Themes:
Themes within this documentary were feminism, that of a post-feminist type, the media effect which signified how the global market seems to have a problem with reality. It was also about how global marketing is a tool to market specific products, but it also had an element of fantasy and how there is such a big market for such things. It was also based on the popular video game and also the film, Lara Croft.

Narrative Structure:
There was a pretty clear and distinctive narrative structure throughout That Thing, at the beginning we were introduced to the video game, Lara Croft. The exposition within this documentary was no existent, we only watched this to gain a more detailed understanding of the video game and how its effected a large number of the population, both male and females. As it doesn’t have a exposition, we begin to watch this for entertainment, this therefore created an info-tainment documentary this means that we don’t watch it for a specific purpose, but for our own entertainment. We’d either watch this documentary, to either, gain more knowledge on the topic or we’d watch it because we’d be avid fans of the subject being documented. Once we reach the middle we start to realise that this video game has become such a fascination among a lot of people within society. People haven’t seen something like this before therefore more people are drawn to it. We also begin to question certain issues which are raised within this documentary, such as ethical issues. We then start to thing of the normality of it and why it’s become such a huge success of the years. When we see footage from the film, we also start to question different characteristics of Lara Croft within the film, and how easy it would be for Angelina Jolie to change the characteristics within the game. This is then closely monitored so this doesn’t happen and avid fans of the game wouldn’t be disappointed. And by the end of this documentary we come to a conclusion about the game and how and why it was so successful. Along with these points we learn that both men and women celebrate this game, woman want to be like her, and men want woman to be like her. We again start to realise that this virtual start has become such a global superstar within itself, and how an animated character could end up being of front covers of different magazines, like a real life celebrity would be. However the documentary does not have a specific conclusion, as we only get to see what people think of the game and how Lara Croft has been sexualised over the years, therefore the documentary makers keep the viewers the decided on the outcome and what they’ve decided to take from it. It then enables the viewers to discuss this documentary elsewhere, for example avid fan sites, blogs and among friends.


Camerawork:
Throughout That Thing, numerous camera angles were used in order to portray different meanings, and therefore send out what the documentary maker thinks and also what he wants other people to think. There is archive footage of people playing the video game, and over the shoulder shots are used to show people playing it. During interviews close ups were used, these however cut off some of the interviewees face or their head, which isn’t very conventional, we normally want to see what these people look like to get a broader aspect of what they may think, we’d also get to see their emotional responses when they are asked certain questions. There are also canted camera angles within certain interviews to show the importance of these people, the maker of the game is canted and also the star of the move, Angelina Jolie. This then makes people aware of whom the important people are. During the beginning of the documentary canted camera angles have a fast cut; this could signify that the documentary makers want to get certain thing across to the audience that they want to get a lot of information to them as possible in order for them to carry on what they’ve found out elsewhere. There is also in game action to show what the game is actually like if people haven’t seen or played it before.

Mise-en-scene:
Mise-en-scene is a very important aspect of all documentaries, the fact that most of the documentary gave the audience that idea that they were a part of the video game. The interviews within this documentary held similar aspects to the darkness of the rest of the documentary, however, the creator and the star, Angelina Jolie were a lot brighter than the rest, like they weren’t meant to fit in as they were the most important in making the games and films so successful.

Sound:
Sound within the documentary held importance with making this look more current, which kept the younger viewers attention. There were a lot of music beds used within it, and songs from Madonna and techno style music were used to again signify how modern this documentary was. Sounds from the actual video game was also used, in order to create the element of actually being a part of the documentary, however sounds used from the video game started to sexualise Lara Croft and the documentary maker wanted people to think this way. Throughout the documentary sound was used in order to lead the audience in a certain way, therefore enabling the audience to sexualise Lara Croft more and more as the documentary progressed. Natural sound was also used when the interviews took place, in order to keep them separate from the rest of the documentary, this would then make them stand out, and they wouldn’t feel a part of the video game.

Editing:
The editing used within That Thing was pretty fast paced which was similar to the video game, this meant that people who were a fan of the video game would watch it, and they’d feel like there were again playing the game they love so much.

Archive Material:
A lot of the archive material used was actual in game footage, this meant that it would attract the video game players, and they’d get to see footage of there favourite video game being played. The material used was extremely relevant to what was being said throughout the documentary. Also footage from the Lara Croft film meant that people who were also a fan of the film could turn it on and watch it, and also people who were fans of the star Angelina Jolie.

Graphics:
During that thing, basic and simple graphics were used to introduce who the people were, this did not then distract the viewers from what was actually happening within the documentary, the interviewees were all people who were closely related to specific people related to the Lara Croft franchise, meaning that the maker and star would have to be interviewed which meant that this would again attract the fans of the star, and it would entice them to want to watch this documentary. The documentary was closely related to That Thing, meaning that logo’s were used and everyone involved within the documentary were also related to That Thing in some way.