Documentary analysis

Title; The Incubator
Channel; Channel 4
Type; Expository Documentary as well as interactive as we can hear the camera crew talking to the interviewees.
Genre; Life, struggles
Narrative Structure; We have the voice over telling us what the incubators do in a brief, then the audience is introduced to a 1 day old baby who is in an incubator. We then meet the family who tell us how hard it is for them as they aren't aloud to hold him. After 5 minutes the voice over goes into the history of the incubator. Then goes onto another family who's baby is ready to come out of the incubator. After 10 minutes of the documentary more history is told by the voice over. Goes back to the familys to see how the babies are getting on. More families are introduced after the break with different circumstances e.g. a pair of twins but one different survive but the surviving baby has to go back into the incubator after an operation. After 18 minutes the voice over again tells the audience some facts and history about incubators. We meet another family who has had twins which were born at 6 months, we follow them taking one home. It ends with all the families taking their babies home and the the voice over giving a brief off what they do again.
Camera Work; Starts off with blurry images and cuts of different shots to show what is going on through the babies eye, that they don't really understand. Range of different shots keeping the audience engaged. There is handheld camera work used to show that it is real life and they don't want to make it seem smooth as they want to capture emotion. Close ups of faces are also used to show emotion. Cutaways of the hospital and the nurses doing their jobs. Following shots to show we are following their life. Ending shot, the camera stays still as the family walk away from the camera like they are leaving the past behind and starting fresh.
Mise en scene; Is the hospital to show that is were the babies live until they are well enough.
Cutaways of the roads and streets outside when one mum is thinking about life before her babies.
Sound; The voice-over throughout is robot-like and monotone to show how the babies would hear it. We hear babies crying in the background to show it is a babies ward. The machinery can be heard in the background as well showing that it is an essential part of the process in making them better. The music creates a tense atmosphere and makes us feel sorry for the people when we see the women crying. This music uses the some of machine noises to link in with the storyline. There are family voice overs telling the audience what it is like for them with cutaways of them with the baby. The music for the second family is more upbeat because it is at the stage of being ready to come out.
Editing; Fast editing with different cuts to show how the baby views it. Straight cuts are used to show that is it serious.
Archive Material; N/A
Graphics; The opening credits have a black background with white writing to show the seriousness of the topic. For the advert the same font and colour of text is used, this time over an image of a baby. Ends using the same font and colour as the title with a black background but for facts about the incubators and the families.