Expository documentary analysis; Dressed To Express - A Cosplay Documentary

This documentary is an expository documentary that looks into the life of a cosplayer. It lasts for about 18 minutes, which is longer than my documentary but still follows the conventions of a short documentary, in which a short documentary can last between 2 - 30 minutes. The narrative follows a non-linear structure, in which the order of the documentary does follow any conventional structure in terms of documentary as a documentary can be linear and non-linear. This documentary uses all the typical editing techniques expected to be used including cross cut editing and montage editing. They have also used other various editing techniques such as slow motion, zoom in/out and speeding up footage as well;

In this shot, they have speed up the footage and then slowed it down again for a dramatic effect. 

This GIF shows the camera zooming out of a photograph of a woman in cosplay. This has been created for a dramatic effect and so the audience can take in more of her outfit as well as the mis en scene.

This shot has used slow motion to create a more dramatic effect as posed by the woman in the cosplay outfit in the mis en scene. 

All these editing techniques have been used for effect to add to the mood and atmosphere created by the documentary. The incidental music in the documentary starts off very dramatic and intense and then becomes a lot calmer and more chilled as the documentary goes on. It starts off dramatic in the introduction to entice in the audience and gain interest into what the documentary is about, in which then as the score settles down and becomes more relaxed in the interviews, the audience have then settled into the documentary in which by using a relaxing vibe means the interviews give off a chilled tone and the audience can feel more relaxed and familiar with the people being interviewed.

In the interview shots, the camera has used mid shots and medium close ups, as well as talking space in some of the interviews that weren't done at the convention location;

MS (interview location)

MCU (convention location)



 

MS (convention location)

 MS (convention location)

MS (interview location)






In the interviews, the cosplayers are asked;

- What is your favourite cosplay?
- Why do you cosplay?
- How do you make a cosplay? 
- How important is accuracy?
- What is the cosplay community like?
- Can you become famous through cosplay?
- Can cosplaying get competitive?
- Whats the most important thing about cosplay?
- What's your favourite cosplay?
- What opportunities has cosplay given you?

The genre of the documentary has been established through camera, sound and editing. As it is an expository documentary, there is no narrator and the presence of the interviewer is unknown from the positioning of the camera angles in the interviewed, which focus primarily on the cosplayer interviewees. However, as heard in the sound audio from the shots, there is no voice over and the dialogue from the clips are diegetic, in which we cannot hear any voices asking questions off camera. It sticks to the conventions of an expository documentary in which;

- The documentary uses a variety of footage and interview material which is assembled to support the topic case.
 - The editing is used for continuity, to link together images that support the argument put forward.
- The documentary uses interview shots from either a mid shot, a medium long shot or medium close up.
-The documentary uses incidental music in effect to the mood created.

There is a lot of use of iconography towards the topic of the documentary. In the talking space at the interview location, there are costumes placed in the talking space provided, in which there are different costumes with different interviewees. This has been done to reflect on the cosplay culture in which is orientated around costuming, and it also reflects on the interviewee in what kind of characters they like to cosplay, which tells the audience more about their persona. 

The documentary uses costumes a lot to reflect on cosplay culture rather than mis en scene;

MCU

MLS

LS

MS




 

By heavily using costuming emphasises the importance of costumes towards cosplayers, in which costumes are then iconic towards cosplay. Majority of cosplayers in this documentary where interviewed in their cosplay outfits, and photos of them in various other costumes also emphasises the importance of costuming and how iconic it it for cosplayers.

By having the cosplayers being interviewed in their costumes and posing fort the camera in their costumes also shows that the topic is important to them and it appeals to their interests. By being unashamed and willing to be interviewed in a costume where in social circumstances they could potentially be judged shows that they have the dedication and the passion to do what they love and aren't afraid to show everyone else that they love to do it. 

The use of costume and location will also appeal to the target audience, particular an audience with an appeal to anime or cosplay culture. By showing the target audience the cosplayers dressed up in their outfits appeals to the audience as it may show that person dressed up as their favourite character from a film or anime, in which engages the audience more with the documentary if there is appeal. Also, filming at comic con location appeals to the audience as it is a convention that is associated to a group of people (cosplayers and "geeks") in which may be a location that is familiar and known well to the target audience which further appeals to the audience and creates further interest with the documentary. 

The text used in this documentary doesn't represent the documentary topic well, neither does it reflect on the mood created by the incidental music;

As shown from the screenshot, the titles are in a white font placed on a yellow and black background. The overall look it quite plain, which doesn't really reflect upon the colourful and exciting culture of cosplay, nor does it show an icons towards cosplay inspiration such as anime or marvel.

The titles used in this shot also don't represent the style, topic or mood of the documentary. The titles appear on a small yellow block in black text using the same colour scheme and font style as the main titles.

The credits used in this documentary use the same font and colour scheme except without the yellow. The credits relate more the documentary topic as they use images of the participants from the documentary dressed up in their cosplay outfits, in which refers back to the topic of cosplay.