Callum: Similar Product Research & Shot Analysis (Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe)

One of the most recent documentaries on videogames to be played on British TV is Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe, shown on BBC Four in 2009.  Hosted by British TV critic and ex-games journalist Charlie Brooker.  It's presented in a rather expository way that explains things for non-game players, but also goes into enough detail to appeal to actual gamers and not make them feel talked down to.  Seeing as the target audience for the documentary is, seemingly, men in the age range of 18 to 30 that either do or do not play videogames; this style fits.

It uses relatively simple techniques - interviews with an off-screen interviewer, direct-to-camera pieces and lots of file footage - but these are buoyed by other techniques such as humorous visualisations of non-sequitors and metaphors, sections where Brooker talks to the camera whilst playing the game he's talking about, and sardonically commenting on said file footage.  Some of these techniques are perfect examples of reportage, whilst others are more reminiscent of entertainment shows.   They help vary the style, keep the pace and make it interesting for the viewers, though, especially non-gamers.

The actual shooting style, however, is very simple.  Consisting almost entirely of Mid Shots and Medium Close-Ups; editing that purely utilises cuts and, sometimes, fades/dissolves.  There is, however, in the switch between multiple wildly different scenes and sections, a recurring image of, presumably, a Spectrum reset screen.  It makes an effective crash transition and makes a nice easy section break.  An indicator to the viewer that it's time to move on.

The institution that the show was broadcasted on is the BBC.  This documentary educational and informative, yet entertaining; easily achieving the three key aims of BBC programming.  This may be due to the production company of the show, Zeppotron, being an entertainment show company more than anything else (one responsible for such shows as 8 Out Of 10 Cats and A Touch Of Cloth among others), helping them avoid the supposed stuffiness of the usual documentary.  Seeing as they are an entertainment company, we probably shouldn't take many of their production techniques or audience research styles for use in our own project.

Gameswipe is hosted by Charlie Brooker, a man, funnily enough.  And all of the extra contributors are men, barring Rebecca Mayes whose gimmick is that she reviews games whilst playing music.  Being very male dominated, this makes the documentary fit two pre-conceptions.  The first: documentaries are fronted by men.  Second: games are mostly for men and, consequently, only men will be interested in the subject.  This is something that we could subvert by having a more prominent female contribution to the program; possibly even as a co-host.

This style of documentary is very appealing to me as it manages to remain interesting to the viewer throughout.  There's hardly a moment where it sags and, I believe, it's thanks to the informal presenting style.  Rather than drone on for 5 minutes in an extremely dry manner about one specific subject, Brooker and the show keep things moving and, for the times when it does slow down to focus on one topic, it's always livened up by a good joke or insightful line popping up every few seconds.  We could do well to take this style of documentary and apply it to ours for our target audience.

Shot Analysis
In the opening five minutes of the documentary, excluding the elaborate animated title sequence, there are a total of 29 different shots (not counting changes in camera angles during the file footage).  Of those 29 shots, 19 are different pieces of file footage.  That equates to an average of 10.3 shots a minute, though the sheer length of several pieces of the file footage definitely brings the shot total down considerably.  Average shot length varies between 30 seconds, for extended file footage and more elaborate sections of Brooker talking to the camera, and about 5 seconds, during short flashes of some pieces of file footage and Brooker making humorous asides to the camera.

A frequently used shot type is the Medium Close Up.  This is used almost whenever Brooker is talking to the camera and brings an air of authority to proceedings.  These are the serious moments where Brooker starts getting across genuine points.  He's both authoritative but also a relaxing presence; he's not getting completely up in your face and his demeanour is very relaxed.

The other frequently used shot type is the Mid Shot.  The usage of natural lighting and Brooker being sat on a couch creates a rather informal mood, like the viewer and him are buddies having a conversation and either watching TV or playing games together.  At the same time, he uses it to relay important information to the viewer; making these informal seeming situations just as formal as the previous shot style.  However, Brooker also uses these shots to sardonically quip on what footage has been shown, retaining the air of informality.

Occasionally, the show switches up its shot types to instil a sense of variety. This Long Shot, for example, gives the audience a sense of the environment nearby.  Plus, the sheer pullback of the shot gives the audience things to focus on besides Brooker.  For example, the TV and the ZX Spectrum that he's talking about in this sequence.  He would later pick up the Spectrum, turning it into a prop, and the shot would switch to an MCU of Brooker holding the Spectrum, switching the audience's point of focus.

For this contributor/interview segment, the shot type is a Two Shot that also doubles as a kind of Mid Shot.  It clearly shows both participants in the interview with no particular emphasis on one person or the other, save for the person on the right being more forward and forceful in the delivery of his answer/his section.  The pole in-between them gives one of them something to lean on, emphasising his less confrontational style, cleanly separates the two sides of the screen and, consequently, the interviewees and gives something for the audience to centre their gaze on.

Oftentimes during this interview segment, as well as interspersing file footage of what the two interviewees are talking about, it'll switch to Close Ups of the person talking at the time.  This is more to vary up the shots of the documentary, more than anything else, but it also provides extra emphasis on the person speaking.  The documentary guiding the viewers gaze to a specific place on the screen.