Documentary films are all about creating viewpoint on their subject matter - Bra Boys
Documentary are able to create different ideologies based on how the come across to their viewer. The documentary film Bra Boys, by directors Sunny Abberton and Macario De Souza seeks to portray its central characters, Sunny, Jai and Koby Abberton as products of their harsh upbringing as well as brothers who take their gang’s motto “blood is thicker than water” literally. It also seeks to portray the brothers as people who value their community and its wellbeing over their own. The documentary uses the filmic techniques of structure, selection of detail and audio codes to project a positive light in the brothers involvement in the events that make up the documentaries plot and, as a result, create a viewpoint of the Bra Boys and its members that allows the viewer to empathise with the brothers and their predicament. When creating the documentary, Abberton was cautious when picking specific details that made the viewer question the level of guiltiness that is placed on the Bra Boys when being involved in various crime situations. The selection of detail on several occasions positions the gang almost as victims, as if they never initiated any of the problems they took part in and they just found themselves caught up in them by accident. For example, when looking at the case of Anthony Hines’s murder, neither Jai nor Koby give any detail on their part of the story, saying “the only people they had to tell the story to was the jury”. The fact that they chose not to talk in depth about the event, whether it’d be to stick with the “gang moral code” or not, may position the viewer to question if they have anything to hide or if the truth simply leaves them in a negative light. The only other witness in the murder of Hines was the girl in the car, yet the viewer does not get to hear any of her testimony. Her absence makes the situation even more questionable, thinking maybe if she were there she could reveal something that would not favour the Boys, which is why they