Analysis of ‘The Music Bizz’ –

MeatloafBy Gabrielle Walsh

Type of Documentary and Themes

This type of documentary is mixed. The main theme in this documentary is how powerful the media can be and how the marketing and advertising easily persuades the audience. It reveals the uncovering of the music business.

Narrative StructureThis documentary is non-linear as it

does not follow a chronological order. It is also a single strand as it only

follows one story line and finally, the documentary is closed as questions were left unanswered at the end.

Camera WorkThere was always a conventional framing in relation to the

interviews. The interviewee’s eyes were always 1/3 of the way down the screen regardless of the shot type.

Low angle shots were used for interviews of Meatloaf as this reinforced power. Points of view shots, high angle shots and panning shots were also used throughout the documentary.

Extreme close-ups were used for album front covers and chart listings. Hand-held camera work was used throughout the documentary; preferably at press conferences and award

ceremonies. It was also used so they could respond to action quickly and easily.

Mise-en-scene

The green screen also known as ‘chromakey’ was used a lot during the course of the documentary. The screen always shown

images of Meatloaf of something to do with Meatloaf in the background of every

interview. This also links to archive material as it revealed magazine front covers, album

covers, posters and many more.

SoundThe voice over for the documentary was

male and seemed of a relevant age. However, the male used jokes and

sarcasm throughout the documentary. This could be perhaps to reflect

Meatloaf’s personality.

Upbeat music was played in the background of the documentary as well

as Meatloaf’s own music.

EditingThere was a variety of editing techniques used

throughout the documentary. The most popular technique was the dissolve effect. Montage

editing was used on the chart listing and cuts were used throughout too. The interviewers

questions were cut out from the interview, this could have been used to perhaps make the

audience feel like the interviewee was talking to them directly instead of the interviewer.

Archive MaterialNewspapers, magazines, market research and album covers were shown a lot. Meatloaf’s music videos were revealed as well as other artists music videos such as Take That and The Village People.

GraphicsThe graphics shown in the documentary

were of the interviewee’s name and their relevance to the matter. The graphics were in a bold, white, clear font which was easy to read and understand. There were also graphics from the magazine ‘Music Bizz’ which was also linked with the editing.