Ross Kemp on Gangs – London

Ross Kemp on Gangs – London

Ross Kemp, famous for his role as Grant Michell in the BBC1 soap Eastenders, has presented a number of documentaries simply entitled “Ross Kemp on Gangs”. The series was shown on Sky 1 and won the BAFTA award. In EastEnders he starred as a tough streetwise character that lived in the heart of innercity London. The character he acts has a number of storylines where violence and gang warfare feature and therefore he seems fit to present a reality based documentary. Even his physical appearance is fitting as he appears tough and rugged, with his shaved head and muscular physique.

In series 1 episode 4 Ross focuses on London in the documentary “Ross Kemp on Gangs – London” He talks to gang members, ethnic minorities and community members to highlight the impact of gangs. He investigates the diverse and multi-cultural society from which organised crime stems from.

The opening credits of the documentary shows a number of clips where gang members are gesturing or committing violent deeds. This is juxtaposed with images of Kemp walking along the graffiti filled streets, and looking out from a car window thus suggesting that what we are seeing is being viewed through Kemp’s eyes. There is an establishing shot of the London landscape taken from a helicopter. This extreme long shot glides across the city as we can hear the sound of the helicopter blades spinning. A voice over starts at this point and with a swift cut, the next shot is a medium shot of Kemp standing at the edge of a traffic filled road explaining how he has travelled all over the world to film episodes  and how this episode will focus on his hometown : London. His words give weight to his authority of the topic as firstly, he has experienced London life first hand and secondly he has travelled to many countries and talked to gang leaders himself.

The clothes he is wearing are not by chance as he wears jeans and a simple plain black T-shirt. The black colour may connate the seriousness of the topic and the dark negativity of crime and gang culture whereas the blue jeans may be interpreted as a symbol of connecting at some level to the teenagers and young adults who form the London gangs. Jeans are stereotypically associated with leisure and youngsters, it is a symbol which signifies casualness and Kemp may be dressed in this way so that he mingles in and is not perceived as a threat.

The hour long documentary focuses on a range of crimes from robbery to prostitution. Kemp provides a fast paced and knowledgeable commentary as we are lead through a number of scenarios as he accompanies police on raid, goes face to face with many gang lords and interviews gang leaders and victims. Much of the footage is taken with a handy-cam. This gives a shaky real life filming experience which in turn serves to authorise the footage as live moments which have been captured without any interference from the filming crew.  Black and white c.c.tv footage is also included to suggest that a variety of sources have been used to attract the target audience. There is also a lot of filming carried out from the car in which Kemp is travelling. The camera is cleverly positioned so that we can see the windscreen as if we are there with Kemp on this journey. Kemp talks directly into the camera, the camera zooms into close up of his face and his eyes are piercing. It is as if he is talking directly to the audience as he takes us on this journey with him. This series of documentaries attracts a wide demographic. The target audience would include male and females from teenage to adults due to the inherent coverage of crime, violence and gangs. The realism of the documentary serves to make this a unique and insightful depiction of real life issues faced by society and communities.