Tomorrow is a big, big day in the life and times of Oscar Pistorius.

The convicted murderer is due to be sentenced on Wednesday, with some speculating that he may receive less than the minimum standard sentence of 15 years.

Of course Oscar has also been in the news for the interview he gave over in the UK, when he sat down with investigative journalist Mark Williams-Thomas.

If you happened to miss that interview then fear not, because here is the full 47 minutes for your perusal.

Some analysis from Liani Maasdorp, a lecturer in Screen Production and Film and Television Studies at UCT, writing for TimesLive:

Structural analysis shows that the documentary was crafted using a three-act structure, carefully composed shots and continuity editing. This engages the audience in a story that is part human drama, part thriller and part scandal…

In the most emotional of the interviews he relates the events of the evening of Steenkamp’s death. This central interview includes Pistorius crying when he talks of the moment he realised Steenkamp was dead.

The moment, placed about halfway through the documentary, is a hallmark of the three-act structure used for fiction and non-fiction films. This so-called “midpoint” is designed to engage the viewer by providing a climax halfway through the piece; it draws the audience in…

The moment when Pistorius cries is shown in the front angle, in a tight close-up. This is the most intimate of the ways in which Pistorius is framed in this programme. It is a composition usually used to draw the audience closer to the subject. It is used to elicit sympathy or imply that the audience has a close relationship with or privileged access to the subject…

Pistorius’s retelling here is so careful and clear it seems almost scripted. But it is impossible to tell whether this impression is a result of how he told the story in the interview, or of how that retelling was edited. It is also impossible to say which parts he included voluntarily and which were in reaction to the journalist’s prompting…

There are moments that verge on melodramatic, in particular when the shot of Pistorius breaking down is held without cutting until after he covers his face with his hands. There are also moments that are sensationalist. These include a scene in which Williams-Thomas instructs Pistorius to take his prosthetic legs off to demonstrate how he walks on stumps. There is also the repeated cutting to bloody crime scene photographs…

Ultimately it’s impossible to ascertain through structural analysis whether Pistorius was truthful in his retelling of events. The viewer’s perception of his honesty is coloured by the way the programme was constructed and by pre-existing knowledge of the events and trial.

Maybe just watch the blerrie interview and decide for yourself.

[source:timeslive]