http://soundportraits.org/on-air/witness_to_an_execution/

 

Assignment:

Ira Glass says that every story on This American Life follows a structure: "there's an anecdote, that is, a sequence of actions where someone says "this happened then this happened then this happened—and then there's a moment of reflection about what the sequence means, and then on the next set of actions." Select one of the documentaries assigned for today and describe its structure. Do you see actions followed by reflection, or did the producer use some other structure? You might want to focus on piece of the documentary--such as one or two moments of transition--rather than the entire work.

 

The structure of “Witness to an Execution” is a relatively uncomplicated yet effective one.  The skeleton around which the documentary is built is the timeline of events leading up to an execution.  Listeners are brought to the starting point by a series of narrowing descriptions – starting with an introduction to the principal narrator, who then introduces the penitentiary where he works, and then introduces the death house within the penitentiary, and finally introduces the events of an execution day.

From this point forward, the principal narrators are Jim Willett, the warden, and Jim Brassel, the chaplain. They recount the events of 5:55, 6:05, 6:09, and so forth.  As each time period passes for the listener, events are described and outside sources are brought in.  Thoughts on capital punishment and the stresses of the job are interspersed with the grim details of the lethal injection procedure.  Other narrators are brought in – witnesses, medical team members, etc – to describe additional aspects of the events, as well as to give more insight into the nature of working around the death house.  In closure, the Warden and describes the experiences of one team member who ultimately could not continue working on death row.  This brings a sense of closure to the documentary.

 

How does this structure relate to the documentary itself?  The story is twenty-two minutes, twenty-two seconds long; an execution process lasts roughly twenty-five minutes.  By counting through the minutes, and pausing for reflection, the narrators let the listeners feel a bit of what the inmates, the guards, and the witnesses might be going through.  The following outline gives an approximate breakdown of the documentary and is color-coded to help depict the structure.

 

Items listed in brown are narrations, minute-by-minute, of the facts of the execution.

Items listed in green are reflections – moments where the story is paused to allow additional insight into the lives of those connected to the capital punishment process.

Items listed in blue are character introductions, almost always followed by a declaration of the number of executions they have witnessed.

 

 


Introduction:

People, names, number of executions witnessed

à Introduce Jim Willett, Warden

            à Introduce Walls State Penitentiary

                        à Introduce the death house

                                    à Introduce execution day

1.      5:55 pm

a.      Leading the prisoner from his cell

                                                                                                                           i.      Jim Willett narration

                                                                                                                         ii.      Chaplain Jim Brassel narration

b.      The tie down -Kenneth Dean (tie down team)

c.      Thoughts on jobs in the death house and coping strategies

2.      6:05 pm

a.      Chaplin, final moments with the inmate

b.      Within 3 minutes the medical team has hooked him up (Warden, Chaplin)

c.      Description of what is seen and felt (Warden, Chaplin)

3.      6:09 pm

a.      Witnesses enter the room

                                                                                                                           i.      Larry Fitzgerald

                                                                                                                         ii.      Other witnesses

                                                                                                                        iii.      Description of sights, last words

b.      Actual injection (Warden, Chaplin)

c.      Atmosphere after injection (witnesses)

4.      6:12 pm

a.      Administration of chemicals

                                                                                                                           i.      1st chemical (anesthetic)

                                                                                                                         ii.      description of the witness room

                                                                                                                        iii.      2nd chemical (poison)

                                                                                                                       iv.      the last moments of the inmate

                                                                                                                        v.      3rd chemical (stops heart)

                                                                                                                       vi.      description of witness room, mothers

b.      Another perspective of the final moments (Rev. Pickett)

                                                                                                                           i.      First days of lethal injection

1.      increase in number

2.      guards who quit

                                                                                                                         ii.      Final 45 seconds – inmate/chaplain conversations

5.      6:20 pm

a.      Pronounce death

b.      File out

c.      Medical team

Conclusion

1. Warden

2. Fred Allen

a.. Was on exicution team

b.      Traumatic stress

c.      Stopped after 16 years

d.      Believes everyone has a stopping point

3. Warden hopes it doesn’t effect every member of the team so strongly

 

 

 


This website created by:

Rebecca Mackiernan

Contact:

rebeccam@rice.edu

For

Rice University course HANS 320 –

The Documentary Across Media

Last updated:

September 17, 2001