By Lee Clow 11 January 2021 | Review
BBC’s ‘Inside The Cage’ Documentary is a short informative and educational film that looks into the UFC and some of its women’s competitors from either end of the spectrum.
The documentary is presented by someone who does not have great knowledge of the sport; however, this works in its unique way. Some may argue that because the presenter has minimal knowledge of the sport, the documentary will be vague and only list the basics, however on the flip side of this, it works as the viewers get to see the sport through the eyes of the presenter, who is learning more and more about it throughout the whole film. The reason I think the producers have decided to take this route is so they can appeal to a wider audience range, particularly young people who are not into the UFC/cage fighting. Personally, I think the producers made the right decision as not only does it appeal to a wider audience, but it also allowed the presenter to develop a strong chemistry with the subjects in the film without the barrier of UFC knowledge taking priority. Finally, as mentioned, this documentary is shown through the eyes of the presenter and this is done by the way she presents the whole film. Throughout the whole film, the presenter is constantly asking questions for not only her benefit but also the viewers. Along with this, the documentary also uses narration which allow the presenter to set the scene or define a term. I think this was a good way of telling the story as it was basic and got straight to the point. It would have been easy for the producers to have got someone with good knowledge to present this documentary as this could have led to a more in depth understanding, however this also could have negatively affected the viewer as their understanding would be tested.
When It comes to the scripting of the documentary, it is very basic with its terms, however this is done so the vast majority, particularly people who are not fans of the sport, can understand. As well as this, whenever one of the main subjects in the film says a term which is mainly associated with fans and competitors of the sport, the presenter would relay what they said and simply it therefore the viewers can understand. Overall, I think the scripting of this documentary is good as it allows everyone to understand everything easily which is important when appealing to a wide audience.
In this documentary not much sound is used with only some pieces used to break up the different segments. Before each interviewee in the film, a new piece of music is used, and it typically fits the tone the film is going in. For example, near the end of the documentary when Molly McCann goes off to the USA for a huge important UFC fight, the music used is very dramatic and loud and this allows the viewer to get pumped for the next scene. On a personal note, I like the fact this documentary has minimal music as there is a lot of heart to it. Many documentaries use emotional music to show or develop some heart, however the stories that are featured in this film already show this.
The main points of this documentary was to appeal to a wide audience and highlight the women’s aspect of the sport. Despite this, the view of women cage fighting on social media is a lot to be left desired.
A lot of the tweets found on social media focus on the attractiveness of the women involved rather than the skill they possess. This is a common trend in most sport involving women, even in today’s society where women are fighting for female equality. Sexualising women needs to be stopped especially in sport and this documentary is just a small step towards it. Hopefully following this documentary and the continuous fighting from women, equality in sport will be at a better position than what we are now.
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