Documentary Analysis

Name of programme: The Most Hated Family in America by Louis Theroux. Type of programme: Documentary. Channel it is broadcast on: BBC 2. Topic of documentary: The Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. Voiceover: Louis Theroux, BBC documentary maker, British, adult male. Talking to camera: Louis Theroux also appears in the programme as he is the one doing the research on the documentary subject and interviewing those who are the subject in the programme. He interviews the subjects of the documentary in front of a very obvious camera crew, so they are aware they are being filmed. Louis Theroux is a well-respected BBC documentary maker so many people watch it purely because it was made by him. Talking off camera: Louis Theroux speaks of the Westboro Baptist Church to the camera away from them, expressing his own thoughts of the situations he is in and an honest understanding of some of the things going on around him. Vox pop: Members of the public in Kansas talk about the Westboro Baptist church in a hateful way, due to what they've seen and heard. This could be an unrepresentative interpretation of people's views on the subject as members of the Westboro Baptist Church are presented in an intensely negative manner in the documentary. Interview: Those being interviewed in the documentary are in their own setting and natural environment. These include places such as their church, gardens, bedrooms and living rooms. This is to show the audience watching that this is a very realistic view of the documentary subject and it is not artificial in any way. Literisation: There are no pieces of text on screen, the information about any settings or times are given via voiceover from Louis Theroux as a lot of the programme is narration. Music: There diegetic music in several parts of the documentary, this is the Westboro Baptist Church's choir being used to move scenes along in the programme. This gives an even more realistic and in-depth view of the subject in the documentary. Camera techniques: Hand held camera following people around dominate the programme, with the occasional stable shot of Louis Theroux driving in his car to show a change of location.