Adam Curtis - Conventions of Social Realism

Adam Curtis is a British film-maker, closely associated with the BBC. His works explore ideologies from with elements of sociology, philosophy and politics. Adam Curtis is a key figure in the terms of social realism documentaries on a larger scale. For my project I would like to make something similar on a local scale. Curtis takes ideas from famous, historical ideas and speeches and manipulates them in a way to create his own message. Like for example using the clip he does from 1:02 to show this persons message of love, while also tying it in with his message from the film. In terms of conventions of documentaries on social realism, the dialogue following what is on screen can be very contradictory but in a sarcastic manner in so looking effective. For example, in the trailer for 'All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace'. The lyrics of the song follow the lines of 'I close my eyes' as on screen someone is looking into a visualizer - showing Curtis' message that we are turning simply into components in systems like computers. In terms of audience, the documentary can be applied to the western mass audiences to arguably all media forms as the documentary ia about the effect the mass media is having on the mass audiences of the west. The video could be linked in terms of theory to Marxism as it represents the dominant ideology held by the media being forced upon the audiences.