At the beginning of the Documentary, an establishing shot is used overlooking san Quentin prison. This is a convention of a film.
A jump cut is used to cut into the prison where Louis is engaging with another prisoner, David Silver. He had been sentenced 521 years in prison. This is used at the beginning of the documentary to pull in the audience and make them carry on watching it. This is to build up momentum, like they do in the movies, keeping the momentum fresh. Later on In the documentary, David tells Louis that as well as the 521 years he had been sentenced, he also had life in jail. This is because David had committed brutal home invasions where he hurt, shot, drowned and tortured his victims. However, no one died. He resorted to crime as he was unable to get a job, therefore he had no money. He was 29 when he was first convicted and he is now 32. When he was 11, he got sent to youth offenders until he was 29. He has no worry about getting out, and has made himself comfortable in his sell.
The BBC logo is shown during the opening sequence, which is a stamp of a reliable source and an established TV production company. The BBC have a budget of £2.2billion a year, they get this through a TV licence.
Soft, flowing music is used at the start where Louis is casually walking through the prison where the prisoners are doing their daily routine.
One prisoner is shown with a bag over his head and his hands tied behind his back. Is he dangerous?
The titles are shown one minute into the documentary, the image is a shadow of Louis in cartoon behind bars with a spot light shining down on him.
A guard puts a protective vest on Louis before he walks through the ward where all of the prisoners of kept. This is so none of the prisoners can injure him internally. Louis asked one of the guards why they’re putting the vest on him, so that the audience know too, even though he was already aware of it.
The prisoners are locked in their sells for 23 hours a day. As Louis and the prison guard walk down the corridor, the prisoners shout and curse at them.
One of the prisoners is known as ‘play boy Nolan’. He had been sentenced for 3 years for carjacking. He would keep a gas can in his sell, made up of urine etc. and spray it in the prisoners face. One of the guards has known play boy since he was 7 years old, where he had seen him at his worse. So he felt confident when he said he wouldn’t gas him.
The prisoners get a couple of hours a week outside in the court yard, where they get to socialise. Different ethnic groups are segregated around the court yard.
Part of San Quentin, is called ‘Badger’. This is where level 4 criminals are held. Level 4 criminals commit murder, rape, robbery etc. One prisoner that Louis interviewed said it was ‘like a playground here’. He had been sentenced 50 years for killing his best friend which he denies. The guard explains to him to ‘do your own time and not someone else’s’, as older prisoners get the young ones to do their dirty work, e.g. to stab their sell mate. He explains how his life is better in prison as he usually wakes up to gun shots. However he believes he is wrongly accused.
Later, in the canteen, Louis sits with the ‘white ones’ where they tell him the prisoners can’t share food, otherwise they would get beaten up.
In another sell, Louis interviews someone called Bradley, but prefers to be called Debra. She got sentenced for robbery and stolen cars. She lives with her partner, but a lot of people try to separate them as they become jealous of their relationship. Other prisoners want Trans genders in their sells for lust.
The prisoners need to get permission from the prison guards to go out into the court yard. When they do get to go outside, they’re all cramped into one space where they’re all locked in. One prisoner that Louis interviewed said he was tormented by the devil. He would not say why he was convicted as it was ‘not necessary’. If any shots were fired, the prisoners would be sentenced for death row.
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