The Boys Who Killed Stephen Lawrence

 The Boys Who Killed Stephen Lawrence is a documentary that was broadcasted on BBC 1 in July 2006. The documentary informs us about the murder of Stephen Lawrence and the suspected killers Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, Neil Acourt, 27 and Jamie Acourt. It is an expositary and interactive documentary as it educates and informs the audience, whilst the film maker Mark Daly is also involved throughout.

The documentary consists of many techniques in order to put the case across to the audience. It includes secretive surveillance footage of the suspects which display them fooling around with knifes which gives the audience a bad first impression of them. Interviews are carried out throughout the documentary including individuals such as police officers, friends and Duwayne Brooks, Stephen Lawrence's friend and witness of the murder. whilst Duwayne is explaining the night in question in his own words, reconstruction footage is played with the use of similar looking actors. After the reconstruction of his murder, real crime scene photos are displayed followed by real images of Stephens dead body focusing on his wounds, this conveys the true reality and horror of the crime to the audience. Real police interviews questioning Jamie Acourt and Neil Acourt are used during this images of the weapons used are shown. Maps are used when explaining the suspected whereabouts of each individual on that night to clearly demonstrate this to the viewers. Mark Daly includes past interviews of the suspects on television which effectively shows inconsistency in their statements of where they actually where on the night Stephen Lawrence was murdered. Past documents are also shown stating previous statements made which proves that all of there stories are inconsistent.

Overall it is clear to see that the use of each of these techniques and the way Mark Daly portrays them makes the audience believe that his views are correct, after watching this documentary it made me believe that either Gary Dobson, David Norris , Neil Acourt or Jamie Acourt murdered Stephen Lawrence that night.