Main DeconstructionAmanda Todd: The Man in the Shadows

‘Amanda Todd: The Man in the Shadows’ is a participatory and performative documentary researching into the events leading up to the young teenagers tragic death. The Documentary looks into the perpetration , extortion and psychological abuse Amanda suffered three years prior to her death. The research digs deep into the effects of Facebook , cyber bullying and the dangers of the world online. As an audience we find out how the Canadian and Dutch police tracked down the perpetrator and hear the parents perception of what happened to their daughter. Directed by Tamar Weinstein and Nicolien Herblot , the story truly does force you to consider what really goes on online. The documentary is both participatory, performative and somewhat expository. The documentary has a female narrator or voice over and a male presenter who appears in several of the interviews with Amanda’s friends and family. In addition, the documentary itself is very emotional and objective which points towards it being a performative film also.

The documentary opens with a brief introduction about the show with a male narrator explaining the perpetrators role within this story and how he came to extort a vulnerable girl without ever leaving his home. Several images are flashed up in a continuous edit style of a ‘dramatisation’ of the events. This allows viewers to know the man in the constructed scenes is just an actor and not the actual criminal in this instance. The initial start of a documentary is an establishing shot but also a point of view shot in which both appear fairly frequently throughout the documentary. These establishing shots are of the teenagers neighbourhood, in B.C Canada which includes a pan and tracking shot of the street she lived in whilst the narrator speaks over about the documentary. The establishing shot then fades out to show photos and other videos of Amanda showing her dancing, singing and being an average teenage girl.

The editor adds another fade which cuts straight to Amanda’s mother in an interview style shot. The camera is angled and at a mid shot in which you can see the individuals chest upwards, the background is also fairly blurred in order for the audience to focus on the individual and what she has to say. There are many reconstructions used throughout the documentary using actors pretending to be Amanda or the perpetrator, close ups of the individuals typing, extreme close ups of a computer screen, actors eyes and hands etc.

In all the interviews involving the presenter there is a shot reverse shot to show continuity of conversations. The background of the interview is fairly blurred in order for the viewers to concentrate on the interview rather than what is around them. When interviewing the father the presenter is not present and the camera shows the father close up in order for us to see his sadness and frustration.

The editor has incorporated many home videos, young photos and chat logs of Amanda whilst an interview is undergone in the background. After several repetitive interviews the presenter undergoes one with Amanda’s two friends, in which the camera shows a two shot of the individuals sat together. There are a lot of shot reverse shots used as it is an interview style set up and a lot of dialogue between several individuals.

The body language of the friends and family undergoing interviews are very awkward and uptight, as it is not usually a relaxed situation nor is it an easy topic to talk about. Clothing wise, individuals may wear what they want as there is not typically a set theme for documentary. The documentary consistently cuts to different images, different individuals, different scenes or reconstructions, all are quick cuts to make the audience anticipate what happened to Amanda, and are aimed to inform the audience about what is going on. Within the documentary, the narrator, of non diegetic sound explains in depth about what is going on with the story, how effective the internet is and how the perpetrator lurked on his victims.

A typical shot of a documentary would be that of an over the shoulder shot, this allows the audience to feel present and involved within the conversation, and allows them to get a feel or vibe for the situation. Coincidentally why it is used so often. I will be using these shots thoroughly in my documentary to give the audience a similar feel. The documentary uses both diegetic and non diegetic sound. The diegetic sound is that of the individuals speaking to one another about the situation and any background noise present at the time. An example of this would be the birds in the background and wind against the door or the typing of the computer as the camera zooms to an extreme close up of the actor typing, as Amanda’s perpetrator. The non diegetic sounds are those of the voiceover and the music faded in and out with editing techniques at the start of the documentary.

An extreme close up and pan is used to sweep over a blackmail letter that was sent to Amanda’s parents during the unbearable, unfortunate situation to show the audience what was said, whilst the voice over explains what is written on the letter. There is also some match on action involved in this scene, the camera is close up to the individuals eye and then close up to the letter they’re looking at. Half way through the documentary the presenter is in an outside location, isolated in a park talking about the case and how it progressed to the Dutch police. The camera is angled at a mid shot in which you can see the presenter waist upwards. As previously mentioned the Mise En Scene of the documentary is fairly natural. The lighting, body language and clothing are all natural of the individuals shown in the documentary as the interviews were undergone in peoples houses in which they live and therefore the environments shown are all natural. The only set body language is when there is an interview and the director needed the individuals in a certain place for filming. The documentary is of non linear and holds no chronological order as interviews were taken place after Amanda’s suicide. As questions will never really be answered to why the Police didn’t do their job or to why Amanda took her life, the documentary is therefore classed as an open narrative with an aspect of realism as unfortunately this happens every 40 seconds in the US.