Lara Croft:That Thing

This was a mixed documentary as this contained archive footage, cutaways in between interviews and interviews.

The themes in this documentary were the virtual world, such as reality vs. fantasy, technology and a breakthrough for the role playing game as this was the first to have a strong woman as a main playable character, leading to girl power and feminist themes.




The narrative structure was linear, the beginning of the documentary we are introduced to Lara Croft, who she is, what she is and why she was made. The middle of the documentary we were introduced to the type of people who played this game and how  new gaming audience was appearing thanks to this game and how she became a virtual idol for many people. At the end of the documentary we are shown the film adaptation of the game and how Lara's now been treated as a real person thanks to the film giving her a sense of realism now, as an audience we are left wondering whether or not this obsession with Lara has gone to far and is the game still successful.



The camerawork used in this documentary was:

• Close ups of the man who created Lara croft and Angelina Jolie the actress who plays her showing how important these two people are were the game is concerned.
• The man in the computer screen is shot at a cantered angle.
• Pan across of the Tomb Raider title to show us what the documentary is going to be about.
• Tilt-tack and crane shot used in the arcade.
• Within the game the camera pans around Lara.

The mise-en-scene was relevant as it was mainly of game and film footage playing behind the subjects being interviewed. The arcade and computer rooms were relevant to technology theme that ran throughout the documentary. The man who created Lara Croft was always inside an editing screen when he was interviewed and we saw people editing game play of a Lara Croft game.

The sound that was present in the documentary was game play sounds such as Lara's voice when she spoke, gun shots etc. Music played to fit the theme of the documentary, such as techno music played to show the intensity of the game and Madonna played in the background when the subjects being interviewed stated that Lara was a strong independent woman....much like Madonna. Noises were also added to sexualise Lara Croft to her male audience.

The editing that was used was:

• Interviews inter cut each other to make it more visually stimulating to watch.
• Lara footage from films and games was played behind the interviewees either by means of blue/green screen or projector.
• Fast paced editing was used to reflect the intensity of the documentary and the game.
•  Lots of cutaways of game/film footage in between interviews.
• Clips of the game inter cut each other at the beginning of the documentary as a fast paced montage to get the viewer interested.
• Small screen of game play near the subjects who are being interviewed at the start of the documentary.
• The man who created Lara Croft is in an editing screen for his interviews.

The archive material used was film and game footage of the Lara Croft film and game, we were also shown various adverts such as the Barbie and the Nike advert to help anchor meaning to the point that Lara Croft is now a idol to some people and that she was often compared to Barbie. We were also shown an interview with Angelina Jolie the actress who plays her in the film, and websites were many fans sent pictures of themselves dressed up as her, or writing letters or poetry to her. We had an issue of Time magazine were she was on the front cover and a Japanese pop star who was also virtual like Lara Croft.

The Graphics used were small, simple white graphics to prevent any attention being taken away from the subject material or the person being interviewed. We also had graphics of Lara Croft shooting her gun or posing between segments of the documentary to act as a visual aid of her being a strong independent woman.