analysing modern family

Modern Family is a sitcom but has elements of a documentary as it often has the characters speaking directly to the camera. For the analysis it is hard to find a short film in this style that has elements of a documentary so therefore we will use a TV series and implicate the codes and conventions of this as well as the conventions of a short film. We decided to use this style of film because we are documenting the life of an American in Britain and by having them directly give their views to the camera will have the best effect. The sitcom modern family follows the lives of a father and his two children as well as the ever-growing families they have. During the scenes it will cut at multiple times in the episode to a selected character talking directly to the camera. They will address or explain a situation in different ways, it may be through less obvious conventions such as confessing to doing something or blaming another character. It has never explained that these scenes are actually reality and that they are filmed. They could quite simply be the characters subconscious dealing with a situation as well as their imagination. Like any other TV programme it will use a range of shots and camera angles in the scenes but in the direct interview scene the camera is always still and central to the scene. It also fits with the idea of ours as it is telling the story of a person’s life, although ours being a short film will be a small ‘slice of life’ but in a similar way the life events will provoke a different reaction to the main character in which his reactions may produce an element of comedy, but can equally create drama.