The Lift (2001), directed by Marc Isaacs is an alternative documentary focusing on the lives of people who all live in the same block of flats in London. Each day, Isaac positions himself in the elevator of the block of flats where he spends 10 hours, documenting the life of each person who enters the lift. Each person is asked the same questions; about their personal life, themselves and what they're doing with their day. This documentary gives us an insight into how different people's minds work, as we're given a large variety of different ages and ethnicities of people who enter the lift.
When looking at the The Lift as a whole, I am able to say the audience for this documentary would be alternative. I have come to this conclusion due to the content and structure of the documentary, which is unconventional when comparing to other documentaries. The content of this documentary differs to the usual documentary as we are usually faced with the documenter/director who is interviewing the characters, where as in this documentary we do not see Marc Isaacs at all, which contributes to the idea of it being alternative - as the audience may may as familiar with him as they would if he was present throughout the documentary. The atmosphere of the documentary is awkward, which is another unusual convention which Marc Isaac's has purposely used to add realism to The Lift, as it is based on everyday people and wanted to reflect the atmosphere which he felt himself whilst in elevator. The structure differs as we usually see an array of different locations and people throughout a documentary, with archive footage and evidence backing up statements - but what we have instead is the same people entering the lift, in the same location and talking about whatever Marc Isaac's feels like at that moment in time. This is a completely different structure that we are used to seeing in documentaries, which tells me that an alternative audience would find this documentary due to the quirky and unconventional nature of it.
To target this particular audience, many different techniques have been used. The emotional theme which runs throughout this documentary is one of the most evident techniques, as I feel the audience will be able to connect to the characters emotionally and be able to find out more information about them by their reactions when asked questions by Marc Isaacs. The aspect of 'Fly on the wall' in The Lift I feel will also contribute towards targeting this audience, as they are able to observe the character's within the documentary from a view where they feel as though they are looking into their lives and are able to gage what is going through their mind at that given time. The idea of The Lift being alternative tells us that our audience enjoys an unconventional structure, meaning that the lack of conventional techniques in the documentary, such as Marc Isaac's not being shown on the screen and also the use of only one stable location, shows us that Isaac's wants the audience to feel immersed into the documentary rather than watching from an outsiders perspective, which I feel the alternative audience will find appealing.
Within the two documentaries I have studied (Bowling for Columbine and The Lift) which are two different documentaries which target different audiences, they both still have things in common; such as the techniques used to target their audience's. The first technique which I feel is similar in both of the documentaries is the way in which emotional themes have been portrayed and used to target a specific audience. With the interviews, the audience feel as though they can relate to the character's in some cases as they explain them selfs within the interviews, as it gives us information about their personality and audience feel they are able to connect with them more. Another similarity is the use of shots within the documentaries - as we see extreme close ups and mid shots throughout both when the character's are being interviewed, which tells the audience that the information we are receiving is relevant to the current situation, which gives us clues about the audience for this documentary. We are also educated within both documentaries but in different ways - as we learn more about the human mind and how it works in The Lift, where as in Bowling for Columbine it is about American History and the gun crime which exists out there. This technique in the documentary helps target these audiences as any audience member who wants to learn more or observe people can watch The Lift and by watching Bowling for Columbine, we are given facts and Historic information which would appeal to someone wanting to know more about the American Government, politics or history. The things which are different when comparing these two documentaries are techniques such as the use of archive footage, multiple locations and mix of characters (witnesses, family victims and celebrities) in Bowling for Columbine which gives us a variety of information sources, from real life footage to reenactments. This would target the audience in question as they are given more than one opinion and/or source, educating them more about the subject matter. In The Lift, the way in which information is fed to the audience is different from Bowling for Columbine, as there is only one location with people who live in it, no other information sources or any archive footage to give information about the characters, so the audience only have the interviews with Isaac's to go by. This although unconventional, is a technique used so the audience feel more personally involved with the characters, rather than using the conventional documentary structure such as in Bowling for Columbine - we feel as though we are closer to the action and can grasp the realism within the documentary.
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