Documentary Film Analysis

DOCUMENTARY FILM ANALYSIS Among the four documentaries, I have chosen “F*ck You Buddy” in “The Power of Nightmares” and “Love and Power” in “All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace” to be the materials for me to analyze in this paper. First, “F*ck You Buddy” is an episode produced by Adam Curtis, who is an English filmmaker who has been exploring Sigmund Freud’s theories in the aspects of sociology, psychology, philosophy, and political history throughout his career. In this episode, Curtis mainly examines the rise of game theory during the Cold War to create the USA’s nuclear strategy and the way in which its mathematical models of human behavior filtered into economic thought. In the very beginning of the documentary, black-and –white footage and the heavy and dull tone of the commentator has been used to countdown. While the black-and-white footage is a rhetorical strategy, the intense tone is a sound persuasive strategy, which this combination is applied to create a gloomy and depressing effect. “Freedom is the future of all humanity.” This statement appeared in the beginning of the documentary, and the thesis has been clearly addressed by former President of the United States, George W. Bush. It served the purpose of telling the audiences the reason why the producer, Adam Curtis produced this documentary and makes the entire film more convincing. The shots that were captured on a train all the way on the railway portrayed the idea that it is definitely a continuous and long journey for humans to strive and pursue their ultimate goal – freedom; The shot that captured the long corridor with no exits depict the consequence if humans do not persist our goal, we could never have the chance to control the economy and protect society from the dangerous self-interest at the heart of capitalism. The usage of images to present ideas is called juxtaposition which is a technique commonly used in documentaries. “To liberate Britain from all the old