MEST4 Summer Project

MIGRAIN key concept research

Media Representations 

• Who is being represented? In what way? By whom?

The legal system and law enforcers, villains.

perhaps even lower class, uneducated/disabled, constant play on vulnerabilities (S1EP1)

• Why is the subject being represented in this way? 

most likely due to the lack of previous documentaries on cases such as the miscarriage of justice. Maybe even the fear of questioning larger authorities or not being able to do it under regulations. There are no guidelines so people can be excessively villainized or victimised.

• Is the representation fair and accurate?

No, there are suggestions that a lot of information has been left out, potentially to fit it into the drama genre. Most views are quite unbiased and there are rarely any reliable sources in favour of the law enforcement.

• What opportunities exist for self-representation by the subject?

There has been suggestions that Avery had had some input into the documentary and that his Ex was forced into saying that she supported him and believed that he was innocent.

Media Languages and Forms 

There is quite a domestic feel to the entire documentary particularly as the majority of the scenes include the homes of the characters. Most shots of people are medium close ups so we are directed towards certain people. Most of the dialogue forms the narration of the documentary many are sound bridges and include recored phone conversations and press conferences which heavily contrasts with typical documentaries.

Narrative 

• How is the narrative organised and structured

I personally feel that there isn't a solid structure to the documentary particularly in the early stages where the narrative would follow Avery's parents rather than the investigation. It was almost as if they were trying to focus on the effect everything had on his family rather than the case and the facts themselves.

• How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?

Even though we are shown both sides respectively there is more of a push to favour Avery, there was a persistent reminder of his previous innocence, and potential innocence when Brendon Dassey had made his statement.

• How are characters delineated? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created?

There are quite extreme villains and heroes in a sense that no one is placed in  the middle, police, lawyers e.t.c are consistently shown as villainous whereas there is a constant attempt  to show everyone else as completely innocent ad to suggest that they have been manipulated an coerced.

• What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative?

There are constant voice overs due to the use of recorded phone calls. When specifically regarding the phone calls between Dassey and his mother there is a clear yet ironic theme of Dassey's Intellectual Disability which is never completely recognised through the documentary or the trial itself. This fact has now become incredibly important as he is due to be released in prison as his vulnerability made if easy for him to be manipulated into fitting the prosecutors narrative.

Genre 

• To which genre does the text belong?

The text belongs to the documentary genre however I believe that It can also fall into the Drama genre due to the way the narrative and facts have been manipulated.

• To what extent are the characters generically determined?

Certain Characters are placed into groups, the two main ones are the innocent and guilty. however the people who can be placed into them aren't represented clearly enough.

• To what extent are the audience’s generic expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text? Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre, or does it treat them playfully or ironically?

I think that the audience is almost manipulated into believing a certain ideology facts are consistently sandwiched in between previous and sometimes irrelevant facts and there is a constant play on the unknown and various possibilities that have come about.

Media Institutions 

• The institution behind this is Netflix, do not follow the exact same rules as TV as a result there is evidence to suggest that had this been a documentary broadcast on TV rather than the internet some pieces of occasionally graphic information would have had to be removed.

Media Audiences 

• To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience? (Demographics, Psychographics)

The audience would most likely be an older audience despite the medium it is broadcast on. It could potentially appeal more to those who were alive and had seen this broadcast on the news. never the less it is evident that a teenage/young adult audience was targeted due to the dramatisation and the internet based distribution. ( the first episode was released on netflix and youtube)

• What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text? 

As this is quite a controversial subject there are many readings, some in favour of the way it was presented and some against. ultimately there is a mixture of people who believe this version of the story and others who are seeking another version.

• What are the audience pleasures, uses or gratifications?  (Refer to theory).

There is a constant sense of surveillance 

- footage from inside homes

- recordings of private conversations

- physical cctv recording of events taking place.

Education

- Leaning about the justice system and more specifically the faults

- perhaps even giving an insight into how the legal system works and what is needed to produce a case.

Escapism 

- Becoming completely invested in the lives of many other people and learning almost everything there is to know about them

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