Aileen: The life and death of a serial killer (2003- Nick Broomfield)

Nick Broomfield uses a series of techniques to portray the events that are shown about Aileen in the documentary.

The opening scene is silent with a picture of Aileen as a mere child. This is a good technique which Nick has used to dramatically affect the audience; they look at the picture of Aileen as a young, innocent child before any of the events took place  that then labelled her 'serial killer' The audience feels sympathy for the little girl in the picture. After this, it's then followed by the opening credits: her name 'aileen' in lower case with a bold font which almost looks hand written. The font is white on the matte black background which stands out and suggests that the documentary isn't about a serial killer, its about a person, a human being, like any other. The small writing then follows underneath the name " life and death of a serial killer" which again is used as almost support to the a name giving the idea that Aileen is more important than what has happened.

Throughout the documentary there are many different filming techniques used to get information across about Aileen to the viewers. One of these techniques used is taking the footage from several court appearances with Aileen and many other people involved within the case e.g. her previous attorney, Nick Broomfield himself. This shows the viewer exactly the happenings which were taking place throughout the life of Aileen. Note: Nick Broomfield has followed Aileen and her life since she was first convicted.

Another technique used is an interview within the Jail that Aileen was a prisoner with Aileen and Nick. Throughout the interview, although Nick is also within the room the whole time the camera is rolling, Aileen is the main focus so Nicks voice is heard asking the questions but you only see him once or twice throughout the scene. Not only is the camera focused on Aileen the whole time but it's also a zoomed head shot so that the audience can see her reaction to every question asked. This is very affective considering it creates tension with such a simple technique. Throughout the interview it switches over to another court scene which relates to what Aileen is talking about in response to Nicks question. A voiceover of a phone call is present which was taped by the police, the voice over is happening at the same time as the viewer watches the court scene. The audience doesn't know if the voiceover and the court scene is happening at the same time or not but the way that Aileen is responding makes you believe that it is; Nick could have edited different clips to make it look emotional.

Each technique that Nick uses, successfully impacts the audience and shows the events extremely well leading up to Aileens final penalty to a death sentence.