In this show "Til Debt Do Us Part, Baby Edition" it focuses on a couple that has twins and how they handle their money. Of course, as stated in the title, the couple is in debt. In this show, Gail, tries to help the couple realize how they spend their money.

Gail puts them through a challenge to use cash instead of plastic cards. If the couple successfully completes each challenge, she'll reward them with $5000 at the end of the show to help pay off their debt. 

Through the show, the couple is also put through exercises to see physically how they deal with their debt. Specially with twins, they have to focus on how they spend their money. Gail puts the couple through real life scenario's to help the couple realize that they really need to be saving their money.

I think this show is very effective for parents that haven't had children yet because it helps them become aware of the money needed to raise children. It is also effective for parents that do have children and that may be in debt. Watching this show can help them get out of debt and help them focus on what they need rather than what they want. 

I really liked watching an episode of 16:9 so I've decided to watch another one. One of the things this episode focuses on is "snoopy bosses." Here they take a look at employee monitoring. As young adults growing up with such a technologically advanced generation, we encounter many restrictions because of how we portray ourselves on social media websites. 

In this episode, they take a look at one woman in a cafe and ask her if it would be all right if they can search her up and see what the results are, if there are any negative results. It shows how she reacts to what they find out. 

16:9 goes in depth by interviewing an private investigator. The woman is hired by the company to take a look at workers they may think aren't exactly doing their job or to find something wrong with the person.

They also take a look at a company in New York, Navigant. This company goes in at night when all the workers are done for the night. The company goes through the computers hard drives to find ANYTHING that may be suspicious. 

This episode helps everyone become aware of what they post on the internet. The internet can either be good or bad. Don't let the internet stop you from getting your dream job!

This feature length film, A Married Couple, by Allan King focuses on the life of a married couple. During this documentary we are shown the upfront view of their lives. Their openness on camera shows how comfortable they are with the crew in their home.

I found the film pretty interesting because it shows the difficulties some married couples may face. It is interesting to see that the arguments from back then haven't really changed to how they are now. Even though these people aren't the most interesting people on camera the documentary is still effective because it shows the viewer real life. I think that because the people aren't interesting it helps the viewer believe that the events that are occurring are true and not so much staged.

I think this is a good documentary for anyone to see. It's real life right in your face. It's great to see a relationship in that time period and how it compares to relationships these days.

D.U.I is a program shown on the TLC network. I found this show to be quite interesting because it focuses mainly on catching people under the influence while driving. I think that its a good thing that they focus on impairment while driving since many accidents are caused by careless drivers who are actually under the influence.

In the episode that I watched, it focused on 2 different people. We begin the show with officers on the road doing RIDE checks.

One person is pulled over and is immediately asked to get out of the car and is put through various tasks to test his alcohol level. He goes through the tasks fine. Finally, the officer asks to take a breathalyzer test. It reads that he is over the blood alcohol level and is taken to jail for a D.W.I.

In another state, they go through RIDE checks as well. The officers pulls over a young man and begin searching his car to find 2lbs of marijuana inside his car. They then take him to jail so that he can be processed and figure out what will happen with him.

This program shows the journey these two individuals must take because they have been under the influence while driving. During the show, the individuals provide narration to get their perspective of what's happening. I find that this show is effective because it let's viewers know that officers are actually taking action on people who are driving under the influence.

I chose to watch a W5 episode titled "The Grandson Scam." Here, they take a look at elderly people who have been targeted by heartless criminals. They call these elderly people claiming that they are their grandchildren. They make it seem as though they are in trouble and are in need of money. They direct these elderly people to send money to the Western Union. In each situation they claim they need about $28,000 to bail them out of jail or to pay the lawyer. In the beginning of the show, they portray a dramatized re-enactment of what possibly happens when the conmen phones the elderly.

W5 takes a look at a few different elderly people. 1 elderly couple, 1 single woman and 1 single man. They also go into the detective/police perspective. How they deal with these kinds of situations. During this episode, they catch one of the conmen while he is picking up money from the Western Union. 

This documentary show is very informative based on many issues that may be circling Canada and even the United States. The shows uses a lot of sit down interviews with the people being affected as well as an authority figure to show what they're doing about the situation. The show also uses narration to carry the story along as well as many shots of b-roll to show what is happening. The use of narration in this episode is very useful since it goes into depth about how the scam is put into place. 

The daily planet is a television program on Discovery Channel Canada. The two hosts, Dan Riskin and Ziya Tong, discuss the scientific aspects of current events and discoveries.

This hour long program tackles many different discoveries around the world. It provides a lot of interesting information for the viewer. It included many different segments that focused on a number of technical discoveries. It displays the creators of what is being shown. The show is set up with the two host introducing each of the segments. While on the segment, they used narration to help carry out the story. This helps the viewer understand more of what's going on. I watched the episode that aired on November 16, 2011.

One story that I found interesting was a man from White Lake, Michigan that created a slot car race track in his basement. It shows how he has spent his time carefully making sure that the slot car race track will work. The design was made by putting different race tracks from around the world into one. It cost about $3,000 race track made and countless number of hours to put together

Another thing that I found interesting that was shown on this episode was the Micro Auto Gasification System (MAGS). Its designed for the Canadian and US Military. It is used for disposing of garbage. What happens is the garbage is put into MAGS and burns the garbage to ash. The one bag of garbage is then produced into ash that comes up to less than a jar of baby food.

Overall, this is a great show to watch. It provides a lot of insightful information and some really interesting stuff that we would never think of. The hosts do a great job of keeping the viewer interested in what they're watching.

While flicking through channels one day I came across Jail on SpikeTV. It caught my interest since it is set up in a jail and shows the police officers dealing with people that aren't always willing to co-operate.

The episode that I watched focused on 3 different jails in 3 different states. Austin, Texas. Las Vegas, Nevada. Mecklenburg, North Carolina.

It focuses on 1 officer at each location and what they're dealing with while they're on duty. In the case of these 3 different locations they are all trying to process the people that have been arrested. Depending on the situation, whether they co-operate or not, the officer deals with them accordingly. I found it very interesting to see how the officers would deal with the situation they face. Nothing is censored in this show so the viewer sees first hand how the officers deal with the people that don't co-operate. In each situation at each location, they all don't co-operate which then leads the officers to take physical action to calm them down. It shows the real disciplinary action the officers take when they aren't listened to.

This program shows some very hard hitting footage but in the end it is the real world and it's what happens when people choose to not co-operate. They chose to put themselves in those situations.

This feature length documentary focuses on one main person, Morgan Spurlock. By the title alone and the pictures that are displayed, you can pretty much guess it'll be about McDonald's and their food. Morgan asks a key question which is the basis of the documentary. He asks "what would happen if someone ate McDonalds for an entire month."

This documentary shows the journey Morgan takes for the entire month eating only McDonalds for every meal. His McDonalds diet is very well documented through the 30 days.

To help prove his points throughout the documentary there are computer graphics, narration and stills. This documentary lets the viewer become aware of what they are eating and what may happen if they continue to eat the way they do. Although Morgan focuses only on McDonalds, the viewer can put other fast food places into perspective. Fast food shouldn't be consumed everyday and through Morgan's journey we see the health issues that arise.

I think that this documentary does it job with letting viewers become aware of today's health issues. We should all take care of our body and not let these fast food joints get the best of us.

For the duration of approximately 2 months, I, as well as fellow classmates, will be commenting/reviewing 3 different styles of documentaries. The first style are documentaries that are New Magazines format, the second style are feature length film documentaries, and the last style are those that fall under TV documentary format. With that being said, here are the following documentaries that I have chosen to review for this week. 

Global TV: 16:9 - The Bigger Picture

News Magazine Documentary

16:9 - The Bigger Picture is an investigative show that brings you hard-hitting stories and ground-breaking investigations. 16:9 helps their audience become aware of many issues that are going on around our country. They show us the whole picture, from big important stories that need to be uncovered to small stories that warms our hearts. 

The episode that I have chosen for review is called 20/20 Hindsight. This episode focuses on the worries of Lasik Eye Surgeries. After watching this episode of 16:9, it has come to my attention that we may take a lot of things for granted. For the first half of the show they focus on Lasik eye surgery and the problems that may arise if you undergo the surgery. The victim's stories help us understand the outcomes of the surgery as well as how doctors may respond to questions that their patient may have. 16:9 investigated further by going to 3 different laser eye surgery facilities. They did this by going into each facility with a hidden camera. The producer acted as a candidate for laser eye surgery and began asking questions about the side effects. When asked about the side effects, the doctors would respond with only good outcomes after receiving laser eye surgery. I think that by using hidden cameras, it really helps the viewer understand that they are not being shown rehearsed/scripted footage. Everything that is happening is real.

This show uses narration and interviews to help bring the stories along. Right off the bat, the show and stories are introduced by the host. They show an overview of what is going to be shown in the episode. Interviews are used as an investigation tool. Their investigator sits down with people that they feel should provide the viewer with information about the topic that is up for discussion in the episode. In this episode they show the people that have been affected by the topics that they are discussing. I believe it is very important to show the viewers the people that have been affected so they can receive first person experience.

Click on the link below to watch the woman talking about her experience with laser eye surgery and how she is dealing with it now.

http://www.tubechop.com/watch/210622

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices (2005)

Feature Length Documentary

This feature length documentary, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices, starts off quite interesting. It starts off with a speech from the CEO, Lee Scott, during their yearly meeting about how well the business has been doing and what they need to improve. This speech is carried on throughout the duration of the documentary. It helps narrate and relate what is going on through Wal-Mart and small communities. This documentary then focuses on small town businesses and what happens when Wal-Mart stores are introduced into that specific town. When Wal-Mart stores are introduced into small communities, small businesses are forced to shut down because they no longer get the business that is required to stay open. It also shows Wal-Mart workers point of view. Not only are small communities being affected but those who choose to work for Wal-Mart end up suffering as well. Small communities can try and many have succeeded to shut down some Wal-Mart stores in their communities. Many elderly have seen their communities build up small family businesses and have also seen those same businesses come down due to the addition of a Wal-Mart store.

Shows a lot of b-roll of what happens in the towns before and after a Wal-Mart store is placed into some small communities. This documentary is compiled with many b-roll shots. It keeps the viewer interested in everything that is going on. This documentary shows the point of view from the small business employees. It really gives us insight on how Wal-Mart has affected their community and what is happening to their business. A lot of pictures and videos of run down small communities are shown to show the impact the Wal-Mart company makes. Wal-Mart commercials are also shown in contrast to the small communities. You really begin to realize that the Wal-Mart commercials are almost lying about the affect it has on the community. After every commercial is shown, follows facts related to what is being said. What really is interesting are the interviews from the Wal-Mart employees. Their point of views don't value their employees. There are real people telling their stories. Not only do small community workers complain, but also Wal-Mart employees themselves. This documentary also uses news clips as well as facts shown on the screen to help the audience really understand what is going on within the Wal-Mart company. There are many shots that do not include the actual Wal-Mart managers, this shows how protective they feel they need to be. A lot of the shots that include the Wal-Mart employees are more personal. They capture conversations between two people about what's going on and how they plan on taking action. The use of sound effects in the documentary makes you really pay attention because it really pulls you in. A lot of the camera work in this documentary is handheld. Handheld shots could be used because they may not have the access to a tripod because they want to get their interviews right away.

One part of the documentary focuses on the factories located in China. The camera helps us understand their life because it captures everything that they do and their way of living. They provide information about how Wal-Mart treats them, and we are also shown the proof of how they are affected. And with that, I'll leave you with these 2 video clips.

Is this really the answer to low prices?
Begin Video at 3:30

 

Discovery Channel: Sons of Guns

TV Network Documentary

Will Hayden, founder of Red Jacket Firearms
Sons of Guns

Sons of Guns is a show that focuses on skilled and creative gun works in the company, Red Jacket Firearms. The main focus is the founder, Will Hayden, as well as those who work in the shop with him. They customize and improve AK-47's as well as historic and classic weapons. The show includes 8 skilled crew workers that all focus on all the different components of a gun. 

If you enjoy shows that illustrate a great amount of creativity as well as the amazement of guns, this is definitely a show you need to watch. In this episode, their main focus is on a "gun-bike." Their plan is to have a gun with a motorcycle style to it. By doing this they use a M1919 and connect it to the handle bars of a motorcycle so that when you pull the clutch the gun fires. Through out the show they go through many different obstacles and encounter many other projects. The crew focuses mainly on one project, while they have a few on the side. The project that is the most important and one that needs careful thought usually highlights the episode. They carry the project throughout the duration of the whole show while also showing the other projects they are working on. They end off the show by revealing the main project they have been working on. 

In the show Sons of Guns, they use the crew members of the gun shop in a confessional style environment to work as narrators. They provide background information about what is going on during the show. Compared to the 16:9, this show incorporates the use of lower thirds/keys so that the audience knows exactly who the people are. This helps them put a name to faces they see during the show. A lot of the shots are handheld so that the camera can capture everything that is going on.

Here, you can see the outcome of the "gun-bike."