Spellbound documentary

1. Describe the ways different people in the Documentary behaved, or the kinds of values and beliefs they displayed. Describe an element from the film to support your opinion.

Most of the kids in the film knew they were very smart, but  they appeared to be very timid and shy. From watching Spellbound I don't think  the kids were used to getting so much attention, just by the way they acted in front of the camera. An example of some of the beliefs they showed was when almost none of the kids believed they could win the spelling bee, however their parents have absolute faith in their children's abilities. 

2.  How much do you agree or disagree with the ways in which they behaved, or the kinds of values and beliefs they displayed? Explain your feelings and point of view by describing an element to support your opinion.

 

I think the way the people behaved was very normal. The kids are probably very nervous and excited about making it on to the national spelling bee, therefore they have every right to act like that in front of the camera. For example at the beginning of the film when the kids were first being interviewed (back ground information on the children and how they came to be in the spelling bee) most of them were very shy and didn't talk very loudly or say a lot. This is understandable because from watching the first part of the documentary which was solely based on one of the eight kids, most of them appeared to be a little bit timid and shy and this never changed throughout the documentary.

3.  Was there anything about the Documentary that was biased or omitted? If there was, why do you think things may have been left out?

The only thing I think they left of the documentary is the back story of a couple of the kids. They explain the back story for some of the people in the documentary, but not everybody had their back story completely explained. I don't think there was any biased in this documentary because all the kids were vey smart and had an equal chance of winning the spelling bee.

4.  How did things like music, lighting, editing, statistics, expert opinions, news footage, celebrity opinions, testimonials (characters directly addressing the camera) and the various conventions of documentary affect your opinion of what you were viewing? Describe an element from the film that demonstrates one of the conventions of documentary film making.

The different conventions of a documentary added to Spellbound by creating different atmospheres. During the national spelling bee the different types of conventions helped to display the grandiose of the competition, as well as showing the nervousness of each kid. The grandiose was displayed by the fading to black and back to colour again, and by having expert opinions about the competition. The editing was done in such a way as to keep the documentary moving and to specifically focus on the eight kids they had selected to follow on their journey through this competition. The opinions of past people who had won the competition before added to the overall effect of how large and prestigious this competition is.
 

5.  What is the overall message of the documentary? Is the message effectively conveyed to the audience? Choose one point in the film that demonstrates effective communication of the overall message.

The overall message of this documentary is be the best you can be. The message is effectively conveyed to the audience. Throughout the documentary the kids constantly put their best effort forward.  An example would be when all the kids made it through the first day of the competition. After that only a few of them made it on to the final rounds but they were competing against children who were some of the best spellers in America, however they never gave up and always showed confidence in their selves.