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Writer's pictureChloe Webb

Analysing Documentary Editing – The Keepers S1:E1

The first 20 seconds takes place inside a house where there are a series of cuts that establish that this is their home and that you are being shown the loft. The first shot is an establishing shot which shows that it is night time and that this house is the location of the shots to follow. It is filmed with a hand held camera as the shot is slightly unsteady and goes out of focus, there is diegetic sound of a passing car and insects.

It then cuts to a medium shot of a man opening a door and turning on a light which still has no dialogue. The camera follows, using tracking shots where he reveals stairs and cuts to a low angle shot of the loft and you hear diegetic sound of the man’s footsteps going up the stairs. These first shots establish the location and that this man is relevant to the subject as he is leading the camera. The tone begins as puzzling as you are left wondering what significance the man has and why his house and loft was chosen to be the first thing seen, especially as there is no narration or the man speaking to the camera until a pan shot of the loft.

These shots are pictured below¹ – the quality is slightly poor as Netflix doesn’t allow you to screenshot their content, therefore I had to take photos of my phone screen.

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establishing shot

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tracking

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tracking

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low-angle shot

The audience then finds themselves inside the loft after the tracking shots of the man. It then cuts to the man where a single shot zooms from medium long to a medium shot, then a pan of a cluttered loft which gives the audience an idea of his personality. The man proceeds to speak to the camera but does not direct himself to the lens. This is the first bit of dialogue in the documentary. Text is edited on screen to tell the audience who he is, a journalist which he also is explaining in his dialogue, this shows his relevance to the documentary.

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medium long shot

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medium shot

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pan

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medium long shot

The next cut is a close up of the man who proceeds with his dialogue. Although he still doesn’t direct himself at the camera, his eye-line is similar to the 15-45 degree angle often used in interviews which suggests he is addressing one of the filmmakers. They then cut to a medium shot of the man looking through his belongings again, his dialogue put over the footage. This highlights that he could be looking for something important or of relevance to the documentary.

close up

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medium shot

The next cut is still a medium shot. However, the man is seen sitting rather than standing which puts him more at eye level than the previous shots where the camera was placed at a slightly lower angle. Again, they use the same shot but zoom to a closer shot of the man holding the newspaper. The next shot is one not used so far in the documentary where the man holds a newspaper article shown over-the-shoulder, his dialogue put over the top of the footage again. This adds more context to who the man is, his relevance to the documentary and what it is about – how sexual abuse within religion is often covered up, sometimes to extremities, in this example by murder. Bill Nichols says, “Documentary attends to social issues of which we are consciously aware”² as this is a known issue which is being addressed more and more.

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medium shot

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medium shot

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over-the-shoulder shot

¹The Keepers, 2017 Directed by Ryan WHITE. California, USA: Netflix

²NICHOLS, B., 1991. Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary. Indiana University Press

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