Extraordinary People - The Little Mermaid Documentary

Extraordinary People - The Little Mermaid is an observational documentary following the life of 8 year old Shiloh Pepin, who was born with Sirenolelia also known as Mermaid Syndrome. This is an observational documentary because it observes the events of her life as a reality approach to telling her story. The main theme present in this documentary is rare diseases.

As the point of this documentary is about Shiloh and her disease, many close ups are employed in the documentary to indicate the extraordinary of her situation to the audience. In this case it focuses on her legs, which are intertwined as one leg. As the story is being told by the narrator, establishing shots are employed to show the current location where significant things are happening. For example, an establishing shot of the hospital Shiloh gets her treatment is used because it sets the location for staff and doctors to then be interviewed and the audience will know their involvement in Shiloh's life.

The camera movement follows Shiloh around on a average day of her life. This is because this is an observational documentary so it is expected. It is therefore also expected that the main use of camera work for this documentary is hand held footage. There are no tripods or and a lack of professional structure. Dutch angle shots are also seen in the documentary, this is because the cameraman doesn't take the angle of his shot as a main priority, just the framing so the audience can clearly see what is going on as it is taking place. There are no reconstructions in this documentary, everything that happens is literally taking place when the camera is filming. This means that point of view shots are utilized to give a realistic presence to the audience and include them is what is happening.

The editing of the opening titles creates an innocence of the topic about to be discussed. The title overlays footage of Shiloh enjoying the life she has despite her difference. Depth of field is used quite often in this documentary to focus on what the interviewees are saying and not their surroundings. Editing is further used on interviews for the titles, which indicate who is talking and who they are so the audience can understand what relevance the person has to the topic. When talking about previous events, an image montage is used to allow the audience to see and relate to what the family were feeling at the time. This montage is put together by a series of transitions, which can also be seen in other aspects of the documentary, these transitions include fade and fade to white, which both suggest innocence and calmness. Finally, editing is used to show the passage of time. This is done in the documentary by the editing of clouds moving at a fast pace.

The mise-en-scene in the documentary focuses intently on the little girls life and surroundings. For example, the location of the girls room shows her toys and pink room which portrays the view of innocence and childhood. The hospital location represents a realistic life event participation, where the audience are apart of Shiloh's treatment and average experience at the hospital. The mise-en-scene of props in the documentary is shown by the medicine and medical equipment that surrounds her.

Non-diegetic sound is employed in the documentary as B-Roll footage is being shown. This is because, it entertains the audience when there is nothing of importance to be shown, just the surrounding area's and life that is going on outside of Shiloh's story. The narrator doesn't take full control on telling the story, but instead adds crucial points and facts to the audience, which help explain the events or situation. The main sound comes from the actual observational footage. Shiloh and her family structure the documentary with their interviews and clips of their normal life. There are aspects of the interview where their interviews are played as voice overs to footage being shown on the screen, to ensure that the footage isn't too lengthy and the audience have something to put their focus on.