Forms and Conventions in ‘Biggie and Tupac’ (draft 2)

By: Abigail Menzies

Biggie and Tupac

The format of the documentary is film

This documentary is about a British documentarian (Nick Broomfield) who further investigates the murders of the rappers Biggie and Tupac.

Conventions used in ‘Biggie and Tupac’

• Use of a narrator and presenterIn the documentary, the director Nick Broomfield acts as BOTH the narrator and presenter as he narrates and also conduct interviews and interact with those in his case studies.

• VoiceoverThe narrator does voiceover to either introduce the person about to be interviewed

or to give furtherinformation to a archival photograph shown on the screen .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x02bE_GzbJo

(skip to 17.05)An example of how the narrator does voiceovers to explain

archival photographs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x02bE_GzbJo

(skip to3.47)Narrator does a voiceover to tell the audience where they are and who they are about to interview

Conventions used in ‘Biggie and Tupac’

• Archival photographsThe director uses a range of photos to support the topics in his documentary

Old photos of Biggie when he was younger so audience can sympathise with him, as children are associated with innocence.

Photos of some of the police men who worked on the Biggie and Tupac murder case

Conventions used in ‘Biggie and Tupac’

• Archival footageThe director uses a range a archival footage from various past events to help support his documentary

Old video footage of Biggie

Video of the crowd at Biggie’s funeral

A video of the old president of the usa complaining about the release of Tupac’s songs about the government and the police force

Video footage of Tupac in his studio

Conventions used in ‘Biggie and Tupac’

• InterviewsThe presenter of the documentary conducted various interviews with both experts and the public as well as close friends and family so he could have different sides to story of Tupac and Biggie’s lives

Interviews with the public.The presenter interviewed members of the public who grew up with either Biggie or Tupac

Interviews with experts.The presenter also interviewed some of police men who dealt with the murder case of Biggie and Tupac

The presenter also had interviews with close friends and family so he could have an insight about the lives of Biggie and Tupac

Interview with Tupac’s step brother

Interview with Tupac’s father

Interview with Biggie’s mother

Conventions used in ‘Biggie and Tupac’

Forms in ‘Biggie and Tupac’Forms=how a text is made/constructed for e.g. through camera work, shots, music

• Use of handheld camera

The presenter walks around with the microphone in his hand, while the camera man carries the camera to create a sense of realism

Using a handheld camera is easier as setting up a tripod can become time consuming

Forms in ‘Biggie and Tupac’Forms=how a text is made/constructed for e.g. through camera work, shots, music

• Background music to create an appropriate moodThe score music in the documentary is often instrumentals from popular songs by Biggie and Tupac, these instrumentals are usually either upbeat to create a cheery mood. Other time slow pace music is used to create tension

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x02bE_GzbJo

(skip to 3.14)An example of an upbeat instrumental being used

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x02bE_GzbJo

(skip to 36.33)An example of slow pace non diegetic music to create tension

Forms in ‘Biggie and Tupac’Forms=how a text is made/constructed for e.g. through camera work, shots, music

• Wide point of view camera shots

The camera man often films while the car is driving the establish the different settings. This also creates a sense of realism