Cherry Healey: How to get a life – Single vs. Settled

Documentary

Type of documentary

This documentary focused on modern day relationships. It was a mixed documentary, and used things such as achieve material, for example footage from night clubs. There was also a narrative structure as there was a beginning, middle and end. A variety of camera work used and editing to add variety and depth to the documentary.

Themes

There are many themes shown throughout the documentary. Love relationships and sex. There are many different people introduced throughout the documentary. Each person is different and there is a mix of single and settled (in a relationship) people. Each of them were willing to share there relationship status with Healey and tell her about how they feel about relationships.

Narrative structure

The documentary opens with a montage, there are various shots of Healey’s life since she has been married and settled. There audience is taken on a journey into other peoples lives and relationships, and love life. She takes the single people out to find out about what they think is good about being single, and tries to find ways of getting them into relationships. However towards the middle of the documentary the couples realise that their relationships have grown stronger and many of the single people are wanting to become settled. At the end of the documentary, Healey finds that being in a relationship is great, but “you can still be free and sexy at the same time”.

Camerawork

The documentary uses a wide range of camera shot. For example there is a medium shot of Healey walking down the street and one of the interviewee's is talking about how they are going to change there relationship status, making the audience feel interested and it makes it more appealing to watch. Another shot was a low shot, which panned down the street with Healey, to make the audience focus on her. There is a close up shot of a glass of wine, this shows that the target audience is aimed at young women, and gives the documentary variety. There is also a long shot of the London eye, and Big Ben in the background showing the location of where the documentary is set. Also to show the change of scene, there is a long shot of the moon, to imply the on going talk of romance through out the documentary. There are also long shots, and close ups used when Healey is trying to set up one of her clients up with an interesting girl, show there are many shots of them in a house party, suggesting that young people are still adventurous and wild.

Mise-en-scene

There are many different locations throughout the documentary and different types of lighting used to make the documentary look interesting. For example, Healey is walking down past the River Tems, and in the distance we can see the London bridge, in the background which sets the location. The weather is very bright making it seem more interesting and enjoyable to watch. Another example of the mise-en-scene would be when Healey takes one of her clients to a night club, to show them what life would be like as a young single person again, there are many shots of people dancing and drinking, and there is a lot of strobe lighting and coloured lighting, which adds a wild and interesting feel to the documentary.

Sound

There is a voice over that is used throughout the documentary and it is Healey explaining everything that is happening in the documentary, however she also leaves us with questions, leaving the audience wondering what will happen next, making it more resistible to watch. There is also a lot of non-diegetic sound used, for example there is music played in a club, and it continues to play as the voiceover comes in, to keep the exciting vibe in the documentary. Another example is when there was a young couple being introduced, at this point the music changed to a James Bond theme, to thrill and excite the audience. There is also ambient-sound used, this is used when Healey and a client are walking down the street, as the sound of traffic and people can be heard in the background.

Editing

There is a wide range of editing used throughout the documentary. For example, There are many interviews that are placed in Healey’s fancy white kitchen, and there is match-on-action used as the camera will focus on Healey and then on those who are being interviewed by her. The interviews are very relaxed and very informal, making it seem very calm. Another interview takes place with a couple, Bianca and Matt, who have an unusual sex life, however the interview is relaxed, juxtaposing the situation. There is a zoom in close-up on some very posh and sexy underwear in a shop, addressing the women in the audience.

GraphicsThe graphics used in the documentary where used to note on different statistics about single life and love life. It would pop up in the middle of the screen and would be in big, bold white writing, and every time it was the same font, colour and size.