Spellbound ( Fact More Compelling Than Fiction)

The documentary spellbound is good proof that fact can be more compelling than fiction. The director Jeffrey Blitz has created a fascinating documentary by using many different film techniques and ideas on an unusual but compelling event, the national spelling bee. Spellbound shows that something like a spelling bee can be just as exciting and rewarding as any sport, as the real life journeys of each contestant reals the viewer in.

The way that Blitz chose the 8 different children made the film very interesting, as he chose from diverse racial, geographical and socioeconomic backgrounds, and looking at how each child lives their lives. Blitz uses a montage of shots to show each child's home town to get to know them while they speak.

By seeing each different contestant in their homes, being interviewed about their feelings and thoughts, they talk directly to the viewers, as talking heads so they connect with the viewer which makes the viewer sympathise with each character and feel their emotions. The viewer feels as though they are going on the journey with the contestants.

Suspense is a major part in this film as it makes it a mental journey for the viewer. The suspense is used to build up to a climax at the end of the film, just like the contestants go through at the spelling bee. Blitz plays with the audiences emotions, making them feel a connection and then being scared for the contestants. He does this using different shots and screen time, for example the montage of the contestants faces being taken away when each one was eliminated. The theme music used is simple plinking chords which sound like Ð''chopsticks' or children's building blocks. The music is like thinking music which is played all through the movie and used mostly for introductions or to create suspense. The music is used over the top added to the process of trying to spell the word and how stressful that process is.

Cross cutting is also used to create suspense in Spellbound. For example, the screen cuts between Nupur and her friends who give an overview of the regional spelling bee. This gives different points of view on one topic but most importantly during the spelling Bee, cross cutting to interviews draws the suspense even more.

Irony and humour also make the film very interesting as a documentary. Because everything in the film is real and the characters are all real, a lot of the uncanny and strange things that occur are very funny, as the viewer knows they are not scripted or made up. The reaction shots of the contestants either spelling right or wrong are very funny as each one is different and the combination of all of them together one after the other is quite amusing. The characters are also funny as their characteristics

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