Man on Wire (Eleanor)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIawNRm9NWM

Man on Wire is a documentary about Philippe Petit's shocking wire walking stunts that gained worldwide recognition, directed by James Marsh. It was released in theatres August 1st 2008 by Magnolia Pictures and earned £2,600,296 at the box office. 

On August 7th, 1974, a young Frenchman named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire illegally rigged between the New York World Trade Centre's twin towers. After dancing for nearly an hour on the wire, he was arrested, taken for psychological evaluation, and brought to jail before he was finally released.

The documentary contains real footage, re-enactments and interviews with the key people involved in these events (such as Jean Francois Heckel and Jean-Louis Blondeau). It follows a timeline of events and Philippe's stunts as they happened, showing his battle of overcoming his greatest obstacles in order to achieve his dreams.

Specific techniques are used in Man on Wire to make it more appealing and entertaining to the audience. The layout is carefully structured in the best way to capture and consume the spectator's constant attention throughout. Suspense is a key aspect of this as it is manipulated at heights in the story to further heighten the spectator's interest.

There appears to be a lot of focus on the mise-en-scene, especially the use of diagetic and non-diagetic sound. The music heavily contributes to the success of the documentary in subtle ways. For example when something exciting/dangerous is happening, the music will change to something fast beat and up paced to create tension.