Frontline episodes

The two Frontline episodes were definitely different than the other documentaries we've seen thus far. They still utilized the same things (footage from important events, interviews, etc.), but the structures of the documentaries were very different. Mostly, I think, because they represented actual documentaries. Both of the episodes were actually the kinds of documentaries I expected they were going to be. Especially since they're from PBS. The other documentaries we've seen (Fog of War and Hearts and Minds) always felt as if they either relied too much on emotions or rhetorical purposes. And those rhetorical purposes were alway so heavy you could feel them clearly. But such is not the case with Frotnline episodes. I didn't feel as if they were persuading me to do anything, or believe anything.

For every interview, there was usually a plain background, with the camera zoomed into the interviewee's face, like every other interview we see on the television. The documentaries also had the same boring voiceovers most documentaries had. The interviewees were all official looking, but maybe that's because every person interviewed was some major political character. Often they would use black and white to highlight some major (usually negative) event that happens, as is custom for most documentaries. The general feel of the documentary was very....typical documentary like. I couldn't even tell if they were using rhetoric or not, which, I think is a good thing. I know that rhetoric manages to seep into everything, and honestly, I'm pretty sure the documentaries had it. But it was pretty subtle.