Final Piece - The documentary

Here is the final edit of our documentary, enjoy.

The documentaries advertising pack - Final Pieces

Magazine Advert

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Bus stop advert

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Billboard advert

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Radio advert (Please click to view)

Advert alone

Advert in radio example

The Evaluation

The evaluation can also be viewed in powerpoint presentation, here is the the quick view option of its powerpoint form:

Evaluation final

View more presentations from heathside.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our documentary very much follows the typical conventions and forms of an expository documentary. It uses many of the techniques which you will see in documentaries such as those produced by Michael Moore. We have further developed this by using these conventions and forms in different ways.

For example here is a list of some of the typical conventions which we have covered in our documentary in the same way as what we are following:

- Interviews
- Continuity
- Fill shots ' cutaways'
- Voice overs
- Archive footage
- Text

- Heading

VOICE OVERS:

Voiceovers otherwise known as 'the voice of god' are used in almost every expository documentaries. There are several voiceovers in our documentary, therefore following these conventions. Voiceovers are used to narrate the story being told, almost ‘guiding’ the footage.

Zoe, our group member, using the Yeti to Voice over

Michael Moore is known for his capitalist left wing documentaries. He uses voice overs, while also appearing on camera in some cases, confronting controversial topics. An example of his work:

Michael Moore

INTERVIEWS:

The images from the left are taken from documentaries by Nick Broomfield and Louis Theroux. On the right they are frames from our documentary. As you can see, in comparison both a very similar due to the position of the camera, the interviewee and the mise en scene. For example the mise en scene is important to keep the relevance of the storyline apparent in the documentary. Our documentary uses these typical conventions.

FILL SHOTS - 'CUTAWAYS':

Cutaway shots are used to establish, split and keep a flow of footage running in a documentary. They will be used in relevance to a voice over or audio that is playing at the same time. They are often used in all genres of documentary.

This is a cutaway shot which has been used in Panorama. A expository series which is on every week, is a common example of this technique.

One of our cutaway shots seen here was used to establish the location of where our interviews were taken place. It is effective for the use of voice overs and establishing the scene.

CONTINUITY:

In a documentary it is key to keep smooth flow of video and audio. To do this, you must think about how you use your shots, how they blend together and be able to merge audio together, staying with mood which is being portrayed.

Through the use of transitions, we have been able to link our footage and sustain a good quality of continuity.

The use of sound has continuity by the voiceovers, dimming, fading out and fading in of our audio.

Here you can see the use of one transition between two different shots. We have used a ‘soft flash’ transition which splits these shots as it zooms in.
This forms good continuity.

ARCHIVE FOOTAGE:

Archive footage is clips that have been used previously before. It is used in the context of proving evidence or showing a point/story. They are an effective way of portraying an incident, which is how we have used them in our documentary.

The archive footage in our documentary we have used news headlines to show the significance of the Wikileaks story as a mainstream topic.

Archive footage is a typical convention in documentaries. Here you can see it in use in Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 where he uses it to tell the story of the time present of the 9/11 attacks.

TEXT:

The display name is a common feature in documentary. It is usually used to give the identity of a character or place. Text is used to do this, and it is important to think about the colour and size of the text. This is so it matches with the mise en scene and the theme of your shot/documentary.

Panorama, also expository, here use an example of a simple but smart text similar to ours. It looks professional and fits in with the situation of the topic.

As a politician we have kept our text here simple and smart. The colour and slight fading border also looks better graphically and works with the scene in this shot.

HEADING:

Most documentaries will have an opening sequence. In that sequence they will have the title/heading of their documentary. There are a variety of styles of headings in documentaries, depending on its form or type. Expository documentaries keep to a uncomplicated design.

Dispatches which is also an expository documentary, has a straightforward heading. We therefore took the idea of also having a plain look, adding in a slight shine effect to create more of an eye catching title. It works well in this genre and uses these typical conventions.

FRAMING:

The rule of thirds is a common theme which occurs in documentary. It adds tension, energy and interest in the shot. Many presentation frames use the rule of thirds as a way of achieving a more detailed shot.

As you can see, our documentary uses the rule of thirds in this frame as the computers on the other two thirds gives more depth and interest in the shot. The information on the computers act as this detail. Louis Theroux’s documentary on the Phelp’s family uses these frames often. The example to the right, shows protesters to his left as he is framed to the one third of screen. A very typical convention which is used regularly in documentaries.

MUSIC:

Music varies throughout most documentaries depending on the topic and genre. After researching conspiracy-like and expository documentaries, I found that a lot of the music was upbeat and quite dark. After researching further, we found a good genre of music. We used a type of electronic music which worked really well with the technology theme which the story brought to the documentary. It is common for documentaries to have a matching track which goes with the story.

In comparison to Foundation...

In the making of this documentary at A2, we have taking into account a lot more issues which had occurred at AS and improved them by developing the techniques used. Continuity was a big factor and we improved this by using better and more achievable programmes for the editing stage, for example the transitions and effects.

The use of Archive footage, relevant text, voiceovers and a cutaways we have been able to use these typical conventions to improve the documentaries final finish. By studying the conventions in more detail, we have learnt the best ways to use them at appropriate stages.

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

It is important to portray a correct image of our documentary in the advertising campaign. This is because it will attract the right audience, create suspense in the public eye and build hype. To make sure this works, I linked our themes from the documentary into the adverts in the finest way possible.

• As a group: we created a radio advert

• Individually: I created three posters to be advertised on a bus stop, billboard and on a page in a magazine


RADIO ADVERT:

The radio advert is made widen the audience we are trying to seek. When creating this ancillary piece it is important to link the similarities of the documentary to the advert. By doing this we use similar sound / clips from the key areas which may cause some controversy, leading the listener to then watching the documentary.

As a radio advert it is key to be clever with the use of sound. We added in the same music to link the advert and documentary style together and give a taster.

We changed the pitch of voices to create and eerie feel which also portrays secrecy

The use of Ken Clarke’s voice will highlight the fact that the documentary has valid opinions. The points made in the advert were strongly opinionated which may cause controversy, further promoting the documentary into more views on Television.

The advert would be played over a range of radio stations which offer commercial breaks. The timing it would be played would be morning and evening rush hours and around midday when people are on lunch breaks. This is the most active time for radio viewings as people are moving to and from work and when they arrive at home, since DAB (digital audio broadcasting) was introduced. Radio’s such as LBC, Capital, Smooth will all range our target audience from mature members to the younger political generation.

Posters:

Comparisons

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?



Media Class - Focus group

For our first set of feedback we approached our Media class and asked their opinion of the documentary. The feedback they gave was right after the viewing and it consisted of eight people. As all internet users, they were linked into our target audience, giving us reliable feedback which we could gather. The point of getting feedback is so that we can learn what areas of the documentary need changing or what worked well. Therefore in the future these mistakes can be worked upon or what went well can be used and developed even further.

:) The general positive comments:

•Editing matching sound

•Computer screen reflecting facts

•Split up interviews using cutaway shots

:( To be improved:

•Lighting in interview with Kenneth Clarke

•Sound in public interviews

Individual Feedback:

Individual feedback is also important to collect. This is due to the interview effect which can happen, when some people may act different in front of a group of members. Therefore to further strengthen our feedback, we interviewed certain members of our sixth form, on an individual basis.

:) The general positive comments:

•Interview with politician impressed

•Sharp, summarised points

•Engaging

•Interesting and current topic

•Good information helped understanding

•Music added to theme

•Transitions worked well

:( To be improved:

•sound (echo)

•shaky shots in areas

•camera quality differs

•Ending, abrupt

•Volume

I have also uploaded the video to the public on Youtube. On here anyone from around the world can watch the documentary. By Youtube’s comment feature, a collection of comments and opinions have been left on the page. This is a great way of extending the audience feedback.

4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

image board summarising some technology used in the process of this documentary

The technology gap has increased quite dramatically since AS level. I have learnt to use a higher standard of equipment and have become more skilled at using different programmes and accessing areas in more detail. The transition from Foundation taught me a lot and I was able to progress in the usage of my technology.

Audience Feedback

The audience feedback of our documentary which I will be looking into more detail in my evaluation. Here is the initial video: