Monday 20 December 2010
In what ways does our media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
These print adverts are not from documentaries, however they follow the same codes and conventions that we have used for our print adverts.
If we compare these print adverts with our own you can really see the resemblance and the inspiration taken from these professional adverts.
The question is present within this professional radio advert " How do you get to the truth behind the headlines". The voices used in the advert are the voices used in the programme just like in our documentary, also the scheduling is at the end of the advert just like in our documentary, these are key codes and conventions of radio adverts that we have met.
so with these professional adverts we devised ours around theirs. We know what codes and conventions are needed to create the right type of advert and these professional adverts really do make a big difference in the way your our turns out. Comparing the professional adverts to our own is easy, the share the same channel, composition with texts and Identity and with text boxes.
Our radio advert also follows by the true codes and conventions, the title is involved straight away and opens the question to the lisetener, there are cuts from the documentary also involved with the advert, for example vox pops of people answering the question " what is your favourite brand of chocolate?" , these codes and conventions are a must in radio adverts. Also the same voice over is used in both texts.
Comparing our radio advert to another documentary advert is very hard considering its proven very difficult to get hold of documentary radio adverts, after trying I had to settle with radio adverts from programmes and products, however these radio adverts still contain the main codes and conventions.
This professional radio advert follows the codes and conventions of all radio adverts just like our radio ad, the question is put forward to the audience "how do you get to the truth behind the headlines?" the question is also asked at the beginning of our radio advert "how do you eat your?". the same voice over are used in this professional advert as they are used in the radio show itself once again we can relate that to our own work as we use the same voice over in our radio advert as we do in our documentary. The scheduling is told to the listener at the end of the adverts and the use of text from the documentary/ programme is also used in both profeesional and our radio adverts. We followed these codes and conventions and have create a radio advert fit for the text.
What Have you learned from your audience feedback?
Through out our audience research here on Facebook the feedback that we had for our documentary was very positive. For example the word professional came up a few times, this is great for us as it means that our work is up to a high standard and looks legit. The use of mise en scene also captured the audience and gave the experts more of a powerful status, like Hayley says about the background of the dentist interview, he is in front of his practice so the evidence is there which makes the audience believe in the professionals answers.
Also the usage of our music seemed to please the audience, the music was relevant to the subject, "sweet Like Chocolate" for example is the name of our documentary and the name of the song in which the documentary is introduced in the title credits. I think this link has a good impact on the documentary and seems to get across to the audience very easily. However the vocal levels seemed to vary throughout according to our research, I personally never noticed this but that is why audience research is vital, things like this you may not notice yourself get picked up on by others and help you for next time.
The main thing which I have notice with my audience feedback so far is that the mise en scene has been very effective, like in the clip above the word professional once again came up, I think this is due to the framing and mise en scene of the interviews and the way in which the audience is given information.
How Effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary text?
Through out our project of creating our own documentaries we had to produce a 5 minute opening for a chosen documentary, a radio advert and a print advert all which must be relevant to each other.
The title for our documentary is ‘Sweet like Chocolate’ which is carried through all of our products; this is a must as without them the audience wouldn’t be able to link the documentary to either of the adverts. Our title is very relative to our documentary as it is all about chocolate; the theme has to stick with all our product, the focused subject has to be present in all of our media.
The radio advert and the documentary are in the same woman’s voice over, this again links the two products together, the voice is very clear and well spoken to make the Radio advert and documentary easy to follow and understand.
The slogan for the documentary is ‘How do you eat yours?’ this slogan is once again shown in all of our media products. In the Print advert the slogan is wrote with the title, channel and scheduling in the bottom left of the advert; in the radio advert the slogan is played right at the beginning so the audience start thinking straight away. This slogan is a well known saying for the chocolate industry from such other adverts as Cadbury’s cream egg, so we know that the audience will know the exact subject before hearing anymore. For example in the opening shots for our documentary there are vox pops of the public answering this question “How do you eat yours?” and they all give their individual answers, this gives the question to them indirectly through answers and becomes present in the documentary itself.
The way in which we wanted to address our audience was in an easy to understand and informative direction, the interviews with the fair trade stall owner Jackie Hancock and the dentist Kevin Dobbs are very informative; however doesn’t get to boring for the audience to watch. These interviews are cut apart with cut a ways backing up what they interviewee is saying. The scheduling of the documentary (8:00PM) is the average time when students, around the ages 16-25 are watching television, also the program is being shown on Channel 4 which is mainly watched by our target audience of 16- 25. This target audience enjoys a familiar and light watch, something not to slow and informative, but snappy and humorous.
The radio advert will be played throughout the day; this is to catch a wide audience. People at work through the day listen to the radio, students are more likely to listen to the radio later in the day, and so having our advert running in intervals throughout the day gives us a wider range audience.
As for our Print advert this can be shown in newspapers and magazines which relate to our audience, from such student magazines as ‘Cosmopolitan’, ‘Hello’ and ‘Nuts’. Not forgetting newspapers and TV guides. This array of magazines takes our advert to a wide range audience once again.
All of our products match and work with each other, they are clear on the subject and all give solid evidence about the subject, for example on the radio advert the first words that are said are ‘How do you eat yours’ which is our slogan, like I said before this is combined in all our products. The image for the print advert once again shouts out the topic to the audience.
We have used clips from our documentary in our radio advert and this again links our work together. The same voice over is used to keep the connection between the radio advert and documentary, keeping these elements together gives a more solid and relevant package.
The title for our documentary is ‘Sweet like Chocolate’ which is carried through all of our products; this is a must as without them the audience wouldn’t be able to link the documentary to either of the adverts. Our title is very relative to our documentary as it is all about chocolate; the theme has to stick with all our product, the focused subject has to be present in all of our media.
The radio advert and the documentary are in the same woman’s voice over, this again links the two products together, the voice is very clear and well spoken to make the Radio advert and documentary easy to follow and understand.
The slogan for the documentary is ‘How do you eat yours?’ this slogan is once again shown in all of our media products. In the Print advert the slogan is wrote with the title, channel and scheduling in the bottom left of the advert; in the radio advert the slogan is played right at the beginning so the audience start thinking straight away. This slogan is a well known saying for the chocolate industry from such other adverts as Cadbury’s cream egg, so we know that the audience will know the exact subject before hearing anymore. For example in the opening shots for our documentary there are vox pops of the public answering this question “How do you eat yours?” and they all give their individual answers, this gives the question to them indirectly through answers and becomes present in the documentary itself.
The way in which we wanted to address our audience was in an easy to understand and informative direction, the interviews with the fair trade stall owner Jackie Hancock and the dentist Kevin Dobbs are very informative; however doesn’t get to boring for the audience to watch. These interviews are cut apart with cut a ways backing up what they interviewee is saying. The scheduling of the documentary (8:00PM) is the average time when students, around the ages 16-25 are watching television, also the program is being shown on Channel 4 which is mainly watched by our target audience of 16- 25. This target audience enjoys a familiar and light watch, something not to slow and informative, but snappy and humorous.
The radio advert will be played throughout the day; this is to catch a wide audience. People at work through the day listen to the radio, students are more likely to listen to the radio later in the day, and so having our advert running in intervals throughout the day gives us a wider range audience.
As for our Print advert this can be shown in newspapers and magazines which relate to our audience, from such student magazines as ‘Cosmopolitan’, ‘Hello’ and ‘Nuts’. Not forgetting newspapers and TV guides. This array of magazines takes our advert to a wide range audience once again.
All of our products match and work with each other, they are clear on the subject and all give solid evidence about the subject, for example on the radio advert the first words that are said are ‘How do you eat yours’ which is our slogan, like I said before this is combined in all our products. The image for the print advert once again shouts out the topic to the audience.
We have used clips from our documentary in our radio advert and this again links our work together. The same voice over is used to keep the connection between the radio advert and documentary, keeping these elements together gives a more solid and relevant package.
Sunday 19 December 2010
Defining a Documentary
Defining a documentary is proved to be difficult as there are numerous types of documentaries which all have elements of truth however there are scenes which are ‘set up’. What really distinguishes a documentary is the portrayal of actuality, such things as interviews, sounds, images and facts, something the audience can relate to and understand however there is the question if the scene is set up, is it real? It’s important to also realise that a high level of construction takes place in documentaries; almost everything the audience see will be planned and set up. A documentary does not have to analyse the situation or subject, they are very descriptive and leave the deep thinking to the audience so they can make their own decisions.
John Grierson was the creator of documentaries in the 1930s, however then documentaries were made for the cinema and not for the home as there were no televisions. Grierson’s idea was to show everybody a slight glimpse into other people’s lives and certain situations. At the time there was a depression due to the war and documentaries were often made to boost the moral of people to help the lift of depression.
The scheduling of making a documentary is very important as there is a lot of positioning and timing issues. Prime time television is something which documentaries work around, as they know the times in which people will be watching television and which times clash with popular sitcoms and other shows, they are able to pick the best times in which their documentary can be shown. Also in scenes which are set up there is a great deal off effort to try and make the scene as realistic as possible, using such things as mise en scene and props producers are able to get their desired effect.
Documentaries have to be gripping and interesting to the people, they need to relate to everyday life or to show glimpses into others lives and social situations; such as global warming and nature. Some documentaries offer balanced views and opinions to leave it all up to the audience to decide.
There is the question of how creative you can be with documentaries because it may take away the authenticity of the documentary and this is a very important element. But then it is impossible to capture every event in its raw state so some elements are always fake.
TRUTH- "I mean its your truth that you're seeing. Everybody who makes film is putting their own truth on the screen." Dianne Tamme
In British documentaries a common theme is to oppose the views and actions performed by the government, or such things as current affair programs which aren't documentaries, they are very deep in analysis and last no longer than half an hour. Current affairs deal with issues is society such as teenage pregnancy, weight, economy and other issues.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm2r4XxSohE&list=SL
John Corner said that there are central elements for making documentaries:>
Observation-All the unseen or ignored needs to be in the spotlight, also the way in which the camera becomes the audience's eyes and the camera then becomes a witness.
Interviews- A documentary needs to have interviews, they are a fundamental element of documentaries. Interviews can contrast with the events but not over rule them, often text and pictures are dubbed into the interviews to help understanding and meaning. A interview puts pieces together and fills in important facts, but the interviews are not long winded and one interview maybe shown over the entire documentary.
Dramatisation- The audience feel like an eye witness which brings the audience closer to the subject, everything on screen must appear natural. Forms of reconstructions are always based on facts.
Mise En Scene- All dressing, make up, props and advanced arguments add to the realism of the documentary.
Exposition- The point of view your documentary is backing up or talking about and what the documentary is trying to say to the audience. Narrative may tell the audience facts or show observational sequences.
Documentaries have been known to change the laws and legislations of a country, such as the documentary made by Ken Loach on the homeless.
Dennis O'Rouke once said that all film makers should be rid of the fantasy that the documentary can unprovable representation of reality and truth can be conveniently dispensed and received like valium.
The idea of reality and truth can often be conflicting at times, there is always a attraction of lies. Evidence is always in front of truth.
Documentaries can represent a forever changing or transformed world. The idea of controversy does not go well with documentaries as the network may offend their advertisers and their audience. Documentaries are there to fight for people/views and situations and to make a difference.
Fully Narrated
Direct mode of address to the subject and audience.
Off screen voice overs that makes sense of the visuals on screen.
Fully narrated always lead the audience in a certain direction.
Fly on the wall
This style of documentary is all observational and has no interference with what is on screen. The editing in these documentaries often makes meaning with what is being seen.
Mixed Documentary
This style plays on the narrative, many documentaries take this mixed approach. They contain all/most codes and conventions such as interviews, cut a ways, narrative, voice overs, archive footage and vox pops.
Self Reflecting
Self Reflecting documentaries acknowledge the presence of the camera and have more of a personal response. although these self reflecting documentaries can be confusing as they are more about the maker than the subject.
Docurama
A re-enactment of events as they are supposed to have happened, the stories are based on facts and evidence and there is always a story behind a issue.
Docusoap
For example "Airport" is a docusoap, they follow daily lives of people in a range of jobs and situations in society. Many would dispute that these are actually documentaries. Also they are very low budget.
Disneyfication
Steven Barnett has blamed the 'Docusoap' type of documentary for dumbing down the real issues of documentaries and choosing to win ratings and rating friendly topics.
Plan
Topic vs. importance
make sure to use influences from your own lives and your own experiences.
Choose manageable subjects/ topics
Newspapers, magazines and notice boards, these types of media are good for spotting new topics
Do you have any current knowledge of the chosen subject?
needs to gather emotion for a strong reaction.
Visual
EVIDENCE
pictures
archive footage
Saturday 18 December 2010
Codes and Conventions of a Documentary
Codes and Conventions of a Documentary
What makes a documentary a documentary???
Eyeline one third of the way down.
Backgrounds are always relelvent.
Cut aways must always be relevent.
People need to be on one side of the screen.
Archive footage is used.
Graphics are typically simple.
The light source is always behind the camera.
Fades between interviews.
Voice over is relevent.
Music beds are used to keep the documentary from getting boring.
Informative.
All have clear begining, middle and end.
Some used reconstruction.
Match on action.
Vox pops.
Sound effects.
Location shots.
Mise-en-scene.
Variety of interviews.
All mixed (that we watched).
Ambient sound.
Variety of camera angles.
Editing is appropiate.
Opening and title sequences.
No questions posed on screen.
Names and titles are typically only shown once.
VOICE OVERS
Voice overs are a very important convention when it comes to documentary, there is always a non-diagetic voice, which is most likely authoritative in some ways, this way of speaking gives the audience the impression that the non-diagetic voice is from a specialist in that field which makes the documentary alot more believable. For example David Attenborough with his major links in natural/nature documentaries and the way people know and believe in the words he has to say.
'REAL' footage of events.
A convention in documentaries is that everything perceived on screen is to be seen as 'real' by the audience, also documentaries are known to be non-fiction however there have been debates on whether this is entirely true. Documentarians are also known for going great lengths to convince the audience that what they are watching is real and unaltered in anyway, although editing and voice overs can effect this balance of reality which us viewers see.
Technicality of 'Realism'
In all documentaries its very important to use natural sounds, light and places which people can relate to. This code gives the audience more of a familiar experience when they watch the documentary.
Archive footage and still images
This convention is the process of editing older footage to a new documentary that adds more information about the chosen subject. Plus this convention adds greatly to the feel of authenticity.
Interviews with 'Experts'
Having a interview with a expert in the field in which the documentary is based on adds a great feel of authenticity and discussion to the subject. These experts may also disagree with the documentary however the film maker will prove the expert wrong in some ways. A very important code to making documentaries and needs to be included.
Use Of Text/Titles
With using text and titles on screen the film maker to get information across to the audience very quickly and easily, plus its very cheap. Text is used to anchor images/frames with dates, times, events and facts. When the viewer sees these types of text it becomes unquestionable and convincing to the audience.
Set-Ups
This convention is known as a reality killer in a way, for example in a classroom the film maker will ask for the class to raise their hands as if they had just been asked a question, this breaks the reality of a documentary however the film makers cant wait around to catch everything for real; so speeding up the process in necessary. But if this keeps getting done then the audience will recognise these set ups and break the feeling of reality and becomes unreal. Its a vicious cycle.
Visual Coding
Things like mise en scene and props, also the idea of stereotypes, is a doctor really a doctor if he/she isn't wearing a white coat? This stereotype could just be ruining the reality of the documentary because the person could be seen as a actor. Real people with real professions are needed in documentaries.
Eyeline one third of the way down.
Backgrounds are always relelvent.
Cut aways must always be relevent.
People need to be on one side of the screen.
Archive footage is used.
Graphics are typically simple.
The light source is always behind the camera.
Fades between interviews.
Voice over is relevent.
Music beds are used to keep the documentary from getting boring.
Informative.
All have clear begining, middle and end.
Some used reconstruction.
Match on action.
Vox pops.
Sound effects.
Location shots.
Mise-en-scene.
Variety of interviews.
All mixed (that we watched).
Ambient sound.
Variety of camera angles.
Editing is appropiate.
Opening and title sequences.
No questions posed on screen.
Names and titles are typically only shown once.
What makes a documentary a documentary???
Eyeline one third of the way down.
Backgrounds are always relelvent.
Cut aways must always be relevent.
People need to be on one side of the screen.
Archive footage is used.
Graphics are typically simple.
The light source is always behind the camera.
Fades between interviews.
Voice over is relevent.
Music beds are used to keep the documentary from getting boring.
Informative.
All have clear begining, middle and end.
Some used reconstruction.
Match on action.
Vox pops.
Sound effects.
Location shots.
Mise-en-scene.
Variety of interviews.
All mixed (that we watched).
Ambient sound.
Variety of camera angles.
Editing is appropiate.
Opening and title sequences.
No questions posed on screen.
Names and titles are typically only shown once.
VOICE OVERS
Voice overs are a very important convention when it comes to documentary, there is always a non-diagetic voice, which is most likely authoritative in some ways, this way of speaking gives the audience the impression that the non-diagetic voice is from a specialist in that field which makes the documentary alot more believable. For example David Attenborough with his major links in natural/nature documentaries and the way people know and believe in the words he has to say.
'REAL' footage of events.
A convention in documentaries is that everything perceived on screen is to be seen as 'real' by the audience, also documentaries are known to be non-fiction however there have been debates on whether this is entirely true. Documentarians are also known for going great lengths to convince the audience that what they are watching is real and unaltered in anyway, although editing and voice overs can effect this balance of reality which us viewers see.
Technicality of 'Realism'
In all documentaries its very important to use natural sounds, light and places which people can relate to. This code gives the audience more of a familiar experience when they watch the documentary.
Archive footage and still images
This convention is the process of editing older footage to a new documentary that adds more information about the chosen subject. Plus this convention adds greatly to the feel of authenticity.
Interviews with 'Experts'
Having a interview with a expert in the field in which the documentary is based on adds a great feel of authenticity and discussion to the subject. These experts may also disagree with the documentary however the film maker will prove the expert wrong in some ways. A very important code to making documentaries and needs to be included.
Use Of Text/Titles
With using text and titles on screen the film maker to get information across to the audience very quickly and easily, plus its very cheap. Text is used to anchor images/frames with dates, times, events and facts. When the viewer sees these types of text it becomes unquestionable and convincing to the audience.
Set-Ups
This convention is known as a reality killer in a way, for example in a classroom the film maker will ask for the class to raise their hands as if they had just been asked a question, this breaks the reality of a documentary however the film makers cant wait around to catch everything for real; so speeding up the process in necessary. But if this keeps getting done then the audience will recognise these set ups and break the feeling of reality and becomes unreal. Its a vicious cycle.
Visual Coding
Things like mise en scene and props, also the idea of stereotypes, is a doctor really a doctor if he/she isn't wearing a white coat? This stereotype could just be ruining the reality of the documentary because the person could be seen as a actor. Real people with real professions are needed in documentaries.
Eyeline one third of the way down.
Backgrounds are always relelvent.
Cut aways must always be relevent.
People need to be on one side of the screen.
Archive footage is used.
Graphics are typically simple.
The light source is always behind the camera.
Fades between interviews.
Voice over is relevent.
Music beds are used to keep the documentary from getting boring.
Informative.
All have clear begining, middle and end.
Some used reconstruction.
Match on action.
Vox pops.
Sound effects.
Location shots.
Mise-en-scene.
Variety of interviews.
All mixed (that we watched).
Ambient sound.
Variety of camera angles.
Editing is appropiate.
Opening and title sequences.
No questions posed on screen.
Names and titles are typically only shown once.
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