9/11 Falling Man - Genre Analysis

Type of Documentary:

‘9/11 The Falling Man’ is a mixed documentary which contains both exposition and poetic style.

Themes:

The documentary tells the events of 9/11 but also focuses on the photographs of a man who is falling out of the windows in the twin towers. It explores people’s loss of their loved ones and how they felt when they nearly lost their lives. 

Camerawork:

There is a variety of camera work used in this documentary to help create emotion and to help with the exposition of the documentary. The use of zoom on the world trade centre emphasizes the sheer height of the buildings. Close ups of the twin towers on fire are used to shock the audience and demands the audience’s attention. The use of a long shot when the twin towers are collapsing shows the audience how quickly they fell and how bad it was in reality. The dust and debris consuming the streets also adds to the terror as you watch. Close-ups of the man who is bleeding shows the audience how badly affected everyone is by the collapse. The close-up on the plane before it hits the tower emphasizes the shock the audience is feeling.

Mise En Scene:

This documentary uses relevant settings in interviews as a woman who lost her husband in the collapse is interviewed in her home in front of pictures of her deceased husband. This makes the interview more personal. The idea of ‘rule of thirds’ is also used on he interviewees. The head chef of the twin tower restaurant is interviewed in his uniform to show his occupation and gives his account of how he was late for work and is lucky to still be alive. 

Sound:

Within this documentary there is a wide range of diegetic and non-diegetic sound used. Some of these sounds included ambulance and fire engine sirens. This emphasizes the sense of chaos and how bad the situation is. The non-diegetic, dark music was used to help add a sense of sorrow to the documentary. ‘Voice of God’ narration is used to add drama and to keep the audience informed. Sad emotive music is used as a backing track throughout the documentary when it discusses those who have died in the tragedy.

Editing:

The use of editing in this documentary helps play on emotions within the audience. There is a use of quick editing o show the devastation the collapse of the towers caused and the fear it evoked in people at the time. A dissolve is used when it goes from one image American flag to the image of the falling man. The narration is also used to explain to the audience what is going on in the image and adds dramatization. The narration at the start of the documentary fades out as the audience is welcomed to the two towers. This makes the audience feel more involved as it grips their attention. The graphics in the documentary is simple and white on a black background to keep the audiences attention on the topic and not distract them.