In the short documentary “Extremis,” the videographer carefully used a lot of close-up shots to invoke a tone of anxiety and sadness. While the documentary followed one main doctor, it was interesting to see how the film-maker chose to use a similar angle from either below or on a tilt to show the different patients, family members, and doctors. One scene that stuck out to me the most was the beginning scene in which the presumed son stated “What if you die if I take it out,” before cutting to the title screen. This editor’s choice of cutting was extremely well done. I also enjoyed the editor’s choice of comparing two different families and their decisions of what to do with their elderly family members. This gave the viewer a sense of the difficulties that play into the decision making process of how to handle a dying person’s life.
I also enjoyed the very minimal use of music in this documentary. Because this piece was very intense and almost as if the viewer was there in real-time, the use of no music jumping scene to scene to each patient gave a bigger sense of stress and seriousness of the story. The only music that stuck in my mind was the ending when the families decided what they were ultimately going to do with the dying family member before cutting to the credit titles. The producers of this film must have stayed with these subjects for weeks in order to show the progression of the families and their loved ones, but this also shows the trust and how little of their presence was in times of caring for these family members.