COP IT SWEET Documentary Review
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the documentary makers claim to be portraying reality without bias, but the truth of the matter is that they are using particular techniques in order to effectively persuade their target audience. Jennie Brockie's documentary "Cop it Sweet" is no exception. The documentary is based on Sydney's Redfern police and the racial tensions between the police force and the aborigines. The 'fly on the wall' documentary style offers us an insight into a type of person or a part of society with which we might not be familiar. The selection of material and interviews, the documentary techniques, narration and camera techniques all contribute to how biased a documentary can be.
One of the ways Jennie Brockie persuades the audience to her point of view is with her selection of material and the interviews. Brockie brings the audience into the documentary, but as the documentary has to sell, it can only really show the controversial issues that come about in the six weeks of filming the Redfern Police. As it is a fly on the wall style of documentary, it keeps the documentary as unbiased as possible but at the same time she (Brockie) only shows Redfern's Police forces failings (for example - the racial discrimination by the police force and the over dramatising by the accused, not to mention the car chase where one police car smashes into a pole and the crook escapes).
Another persuasive technique is used in Jennie Brockie's 'Cop it Sweet' is in the way it is produced. When contemplating a fly on the wall documentary its simple to say that it will be unbiased but it depends from the hours recorded (6 weeks of recording) and what issues the video recorded in its weeks of recording...