Trailer Park Boys
For part of my research, I am currently investigating into Mockumentaries that convey similarities with DownStage. Here, I will be exploring the cinematic aspects within the show, focusing on the following:
- Camera Movement
- Camera Shot Sizes/Angles
- Interview Setup
- Lighting
- Sound
- Exposure
Trailer Park Boys is a Mockumentary that first originated much earlier than all the other examples I've looked at. Beginning in 1999, the series then finished in 2007, before returning back to a feature film and 2 new series in 2014-2015, with season 10 to return in 2016. Nonetheless, the Mockumentary follows the misadventures of trailer park residents - some being ex-convicts and is based in Sunnyvale in Nova Scotia.
Camera Movement
Likewise to The Office, Trailer Park Boys has a variety of long-ended shots due to the camera constantly tracking and panning between characters. It clearly conveys this documenting style and also follows the use of zooms to help dramatise the narrative. Nonetheless, it is more like the UK version rather than the US The Office - the camera movement isn't quite as snappy and fast and generally has a nice relax paced to it, enabling the audience to become alienated and follow this idea of being a third person perspective.
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| A typical shot like so is frequently used, making the camera crew seem very invasive as they are trying to get the most effective shots |
Addtionally, the camera movement within Camera Movement allows the audience to feel like this without this idea of being part of the audience, like The Office (US) conventionally postions the camera behind the audience. Instead, the camera is much more invasive and is mostly positioned right in front of the actors in which sometimes they respond and tell the camera to move. This may not be noticeable for some of the audience however when studying the position of the camera it is clear that the documentary crew aim to get the best up close footage which they can get, which in a way adds to the comedy when the actors become irritated.
Camera Shot Size/Angles
In terms of camera shot sizes, Trailer Park Boys too follows this idea of shooting wide to make sure they get 'safe'shots. This is necessary for a program like Trailer Park Boys as the narrative is constantly conveying unexpected action throughout. For example, every once in a while someone will shout 'Bottle Kids' as a warning message before they are attacked with glass bottles by little kids in the trailer park, as shown in the images below. Therefore, despite being fixed, it is essential to shoot wider than normal so it conveys to documentary conventions if this were to be real.
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| Shot of a bottle kid scene |
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| Ricky talking to the bottle kids |
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| Bottle kids in action |
In terms of angles, Trailer Park Boys tends to use eye level shots dominantly purely because this seems conventional for documentaries, as they must convey this idea of seeming neutral instead of biased.
Interview Setup
The key difference with Trailer Park Boys will be the way they setup for interviews. The program revolves frequently around interviews however the majority of these interviews tend to be very short and brief. This has led the program to create handheld interviews - they can even be argued as to whether they are but they are still classed as interviews due to the subject speaking directly into the camera and answering questions.
Nonetheless, most of the interviews remain to be still and quite conventional for a documentary interview setup - the images below show how they are a mixture of typical medium shots however they tend to challenge the conventional set up by using different angles almost in a way so that the documentary crew follow this idea of being invasive. For example, the interview with bubbles below (top picture) shows a high angle shot during the interview, which almost shows as if the crew have literally walked over to him whilst he is busy and demanded an interview.
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| A high angle of Bubbles. Here it looks as if the camera is being invasive again and has approached Bubbles for an interview whilst he was doing something else. |
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| Example of a moving interview. However this omnyl lasts for around 15 seconds, questioning whether it is an interview or not |
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| A typical interview. They tend to have live backgrounds however are usually mid shots or wider. |
Lighting
Likewise to all other examples which I've researched, this program too uses naturalistic lighting throughout. However in my opinion, although they all seem to be naturalistic, Trailer Park Boys seems the most realistic and natural. This is particularly because the majority of the program is set outside during the day, however when they're are night scenes, the documentary crew cleverly make the camera low-lit and purposely don't bring any additional lights, making it seem more realistic as it is lit how you would expect it to be.
Sound
This program too carefully hides sound gear on all the actors to reduce this idea of feeling like they're being documented and to enable a much more realistic feel. However, the program does have many moments during high tension where the actors will intimate or even attack the documentary crew - purely as a way of releasing tension and a form of comedy. Here we see several moments where actors, particularly Ricky, will grab hold of the boom microphone and either throw it, talk into it or attempt to break it, causing the boom microphone to appear on camera. Therefore, it shows that this documentary crew intentionally try to hide all sound gear, but it remains realistic at moments like these by showing the camera what the actors are doing. We know that there will be a sound man evident, but is clever the way Trailer Park Boys shows this by having the actors to attack the camera which is something unique.
Exposure
The exposure for this program is probably one aspect where its changes are noticeable throughout the progression of the show. The first few series, back at the beginning of 2000, didn't have the advancement of technology like we do nowadays. This was evident particuarly through the use of exposure - the majority of the shots are likely to be shot on a high f.stop causing the depth of view to be wide and have the majority of the content to be in focus.
Nonetheless, as the series reaches season 8 and 9, it is clear how this program has shifted in terms of technology - not just exposure, but in sound, quality and accessibility of shots. Below are two images: one taken from the first season, and one taken from the last. Despite the difference that the newer seasons enable full HD and the first couple of seasons don't, you can still identify the differences in depths off field.
Noentheless, modern Trailer Park Boys tends to remain quite wide in terms of exposure however uses shallow depths of field well to excavate interviews.
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| Taken from season 1 |
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| Taken from season 8. Here you can see that the exposure is slightly sharper, let alone the vast improvement in quality. |
Trailer Park Boys Similarities (conventions)
- Hiding of sound equipment on actors
- Shooting wide to maintain a 'safe' shot
- Still shots for interviews (mostly)
- Naturalistic lighting
- Lack of camera angles to make the documentary seem neutral instead of biased.
Differences
- Moving interviews, due to them being very brief- Frequent reference to the Documentary crew
- Generally shallow depth of field throughout all series
- Rarely any pull focuses or any use of focusing
To conclude, my research on Trailer Park Boys has generally given me a great insight into the progression of Mockumentaries, as this show is a prime example showing its evolution over the last 15 years. Nonetheless, I feel that this constant referral to the documentary crew could be beneficial for DownStage and in a way it helps to add realism despite constantly reminding the audience that there is a documentary crew evident.
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