Documentary : Murder On A Sunday Morning

Oscar-winning documentary that documents a murder trial in which a 15-year-old African-American is wrongfully accused of a 2000 murder in Jacksonville, Florida. Directed by Jean –Xavier De Lestrade.

The Style – How is the film presented?

The documentary is shot and edited like many other documentaries with using photos and cut in clips. It doesn’t use reconstructions but real footage, which makes it more real and keeps you on the edge throughout the documentary about guessing what happens to Brenton Butler in the end.

Ethics – Do you think the film is within your boundaries of moral conduct?

I believe morally that this film creates awareness to everyone that you can’t judge a book by its cover and accusing someone because of their race or age. In raising awareness it might help people not to look at someone’s color and say there have committed a crime without knowing any facts.

Access – How has the filmmaker made the connections to be able to make this film?

I think the filmmaker/director would have researched the case on Brenton Butler, the lawyers and detectives behind it. The director Jean Xavier De Lestrade would have permission to film in the court room and permission from the parents to film in the prison with their son.

 Pace –How is the rhythm of the film.

The documentary has a different rhythm/flow to other documentaries because it is based on just one main character, Brenton Butler. The reason why I think it didn’t flow so well as other documentaries is because the whole documentary is based in the court room so the viewer is always focused is in one place throughout the film.

Structure – Does the film have a structure? A Start, Middle and End Style.

The documentary starts by looking at the actual incident that happens with Brenton Butler and the murder case. It went straight into the courtroom within 20 minutes of the documentary starting then just sort of flowed through going onto the other characters. Then the middle of the film just stayed in the court room mostly but dipped in and out of witnesses telling their side of the story. The end of the film was the build up to seeing what the end decision was going to be.