The benefits of content analysis for filmmakers

ABSTRACT In today’s mass-mediated society the plethora of available media content has become a ubiquitous pool of potential knowledge that is sourced in the absence of first-person experience about particular issues, events, individual people and communities. The resulting dispositions that lead to corresponding attitudes and behaviour in the real world are shared by spectators, as well as filmmakers. Hence, the way subjects are represented in media reflects these dispositions and provides an indicator for the current socio-cultural reality. An analysis of existing media content offers filmmakers a clearer insight into spectators' dispositions towards the stories and characters in their films, enabling them to challenge, reduce or strategically utilise social or narrative stereotypes and clichés. This article discusses the benefits of using content analysis and its methodology in the context of teaching documentary film practice at undergraduate level, although the same methodology can be used by established filmmakers who aim to engage in a critical or research-led film practice.