4 Docs Documentaries

Pockets

Pockets is a short documentary directed by James Lees in 2008 that contains the exploration of individual’s pockets. Whether after being asked at random on the street or being friends/associates of the documentary maker, the pockets of individuals where emptied of a single item which the owners were then asked to explain the background to.

The documentary used several different shot types.. It used a different angle/camera height in each person’s clip. For example, it shot from a high, side angle on one lady’s clip so that the camera was almost positioned so it shot right down the end of the trumpet, horn thing that she was holding in her hands. It is unclear exactly what the object is as the camera is focused on the objects owner rather than the object itself, but as the film moves onto the next clip we hear the sound made by the object and this subconsciously makes the audience realise that the object was what they expected it to be.

Another common shot type used was the way that they positioned some of the individuals so that only half of their faces were in the frame. For example, in one of the scenes only the chest and chin area of the man in the shot. However in another scene, the frame only showed half of the woman's face lengthways (1 eye, 1 cheek, half a nose, half a mouth etc.) This way of filming was effective as it was just something different to the usually way of framing the interviewees. It just managed to make the film slightly more interesting and different to if it had been just filled with ordinary framing.

This documentary tells the audience stories through the way that they individuals in the documentary tell their stories about their personal objects. The fact that the stories told were personal made them more interesting as they included life experiences and were therefore easier to relate to.