Documentary Analysis - Fighting on the Frontline

Type of Documentary
The type of documentary is mixed, this is due to the use of archived footage and the use of interviews during it.
Themes
The themes reflect around the life of the soldiers in Afghanistan, it talks about what their views are and what they really think about the war. It talks about their fight for survival on the frontline and some of the effects on the battlefield such as injuries to the soldiers.

Narrative Structure
The narrative of the documentary is linear as the story unfold during the documentary. The beginning of the documentary introduces the audience to the foot soldiers in the frontline closest to the enemy in Afghanistan, we are introduced to their problem as it talks about their fight for survival, a use of a quote is used 'hopefully you don't end up in a bag', this shows the audience how serious the problem is. In the middle of the documentary we are given an insight of the soldiers as ther is conflict given as it talks about the casualties in the camp. We are given interviews from each of the soldiers who seen the moment of a soldier being injured by a landmine. In the end of the documentary sums up the lives of two of the soldiers as they are trasported home but leaves the ending open for the rest of the soldiers.

Camerawork
There is a longshot from the camp at the beginning of the documentary when the narrator talks about the amount of soldier at the camp, this shot shows the silence of the camp as there is only few of them on the frontline. Shot of the interviewees are all close ups, this creates a sense that none of the soldiers are more important than the other. Each interview shot has the background faded so that the audience is focused on the soldiers and their expressions

Mise-en-scene
The interviewees are filmed within their comfort zone so that they can give best responses for the questions and the interview for example one of the soldiers are interviewed in their home.

Sound
The use of sound is diegetic, Most of the sound during the documentary is ambient so that the audience can hear the same sounds as the soldiers hear, this gives them an insight to the soldiers lives better as they get the same feeling as the soldiers do. At one scene we are given sound to build up a specific moment as the soldier is talking about the adrenaline from the conflict. The music changes to create an emotion to the audience when the soldiers are asked if they have killed anyone.

Editing
The use of editing is the use of quick shots, using takes from the camp and the frontline, it skips from the interview back to archived footage while the interviewee is still speaking about the subject.
Archived Material
Archived footage used is footage from the camp showing the lifes of the soldiers, there is also footage of the soldiers on the battlefield, all archived footage is relevant to the subject.

Graphics
Graphics used are white on black for the opening sequence, during parts of the documentary there are quotes from soldiers on a black screen in white writing in order to stand out. Introducing the interviewees, there is a use of black font while they speak, this prevents the audience from being distracted from the narrative.