Ancillary task: Double Page spread magazine

Research Verve Productions

Verve Productions  is a British documentary production company that produces factual programmes for bradcasting around the world. Although it specialises in science, medical and contemporary documentaries it also caters to the other genres and therefore has a wide range of audiences. The managing director for the company is Liz Tucker

The documentaries that they showcase can be found on channels:
BBC one
BBC two
BBC four
Channel four: the programme shown is called the man who faked his life. I decided to research more into the documentary as I am intending to schedule my documentary on Channel four

The  man who faked his death has been put into the category of psycho as it unravels the bizaree stories of human criminal behaviour.

Ancillary task: newspaper advert/Double page spread

Newpaper in construction

i then decided to do some changes to the logo which was influenced by this picutre that i saw

my final decision is to use the logo 3 which was

This is because it got the most votes when i  asked people i widened my audience feedback instead of just having students I also asked adults too here were some of their comments on my final logo

The content  outline of my newspaper advert

I would be using this image as my central image and the text showing the scheduled time and the date would be unerneath whilst the heading would eb at the top and the logo would be on the right hand corner of the page

youth of today is going to be my title and i chose the font to be in broadway its show a fun element to it and quite formal whilst also informal. I wanted the title to stand out so chose the colour red to make it eye catching and grb the readers attention. The type font size would be 7. On the picture I am also going to have a caption on the side of the main picture saying
Dream. Believe. Achieve. which would be written in grey colour and the same font broadway would be used
 and would be written in a smaller font size than the title, it would eb in 6 and would look like this

Underneath the caption would have the schedule time and on what channel it would be shown on also what would have a brief description of the show and would look like this

the whole product would look like this

 For my Double page spread I decided that I wanted it to be in Look magazine this was because not many of their spreads focus on teenagers so this would give for a wider audience also for their magazine and would challenge the conventions of the magazine.

I like the idea of a diary which would be how the double spread would be presented

Final video documentary

construction: documentary

these are pictures taken of me constructing my documentary on imovie

Planning: story board sequence/ Running order

Single frame images of mise en scene for cast

Tatenda in the gym—working out

 

  

Anita outside in a natural environment– showing her photography book

 Martin– in a classroom– showcasing his original song 

All three cast in a classroom– discussing representation of children

Scripts for the voice over- what it should contain- for each person

Running order

Checklist for February research

Checklist for february planning

Running order

Introduction of cast- my story- 4seconds
Tatenda introduction with Drake winner- 7.1 seconds
Anita introduction- 9seconds
Martin introduction with his original music- 9.1 seconds
Anita voiceover about inspirations and future plans  32.4 seconds
picture of Anita   4.3 seconds
Tatenda talking about his gym routine 26.5 seconds
Anita with voiceover talking about inspirations and future plans 8.3 seconds
Martin talking about music  42 seconds
Tatenda talking about his inspirations and influences/being filmed working out 36 seconds
Martin talking about music  20.9 seconds
martin playing on the piano 7.8 seconds
Tatenda talking what he is doing at the moment training for olympics 24.8 seconds
Martin, Anita and Tatenda discussing the representation of teenagers in media  22.3 seconds
All three casts talking about the representation of teenagers in media 18.3 seconds
In total documentary would be 4minutes 41 seconds

 

Planning: actual plan for the documentary

Topic: teenagers
Title: my story
Style of documentary: Expository
Channel: channel 4
Scheduling: Monday: 6:30pm/ First showing on Monday 6th May :6:30pm- 7:00pm
Target audience- teenagers/ young adults/adults- 15-40
Primary research needed:

• Interviews with teenagers
• questionnaires
• facebook comments/emails on representation of teenagers

Secondary research needed:

• History of documentary
• research on existing producers/companies
• research on camer angles/framing
• research on documentary modes

Requirements for the shots:

• Iphone- for recording voice over
• camera recorder- for video
• camera- for taking pictures

Narrative structure:
linear structure- with each character telling their story and swtiching from actor to actor

Outline of content:
filming of each of the characters narrating their story/inspirations/influences and hopes for the future, have the characters in their element aiming to show their lives and ending with a discussion between the three different characters of the representation of teenagers

Actors to be used in documentary:
Martin
Tatenda
Anita

Props to be used
Gym equiptment- tatenda talking about his regime /and olympics sport
computer- for martin to showcase his music
piano- martin playing on the piano
photgraphy book- anita showasing her portfolio

Costume:
The actors would be wearing normal clothing to depict visual realism

Location
in classroom- the characters discussion of teenagers
music classroom- martin showing his music
outside- anita showing her photogaphy portfolio
fitness suite- tatenda talking about sports

Shooting schedule
I do not have a production team as I am working by msyelf however I count some of the students in the class as part of my production team as they helped me to do parts of the work and were really helpful in giving me feedback for improving the work
I am hoping to follow these scheduling times
December- I would have to start shooting the video
January- Finish shooting the video and start editing
End of january/february- complete the work and get some feedback from students
February- make some improvements from the feedback of the students
March- continue editing my piece and do my two ancillary tasks and complete/complete evaluation

lightning
In the documentary I will stick to codes and convntions of documentaries in terms of lightning and would let the light come from the environment that is being filmed as this would allow me to create versimilitude from the real world to the diegetic world in the documentary.

camera
I will be using hand held camera there would be no need for a tripod or a dolly by doing this it would add authencity to the documentary through the shaky parts in the documentary and would allow for the viewers to not see the documentary as a construct- although it actually is.

Editing
The editing that i would use would be continutity editing, cutaways, dissolve and probably fade out

Sound
I am going to make use of non diegetic sound and diegetic sound within my documentary
the non diegetic sound would be Drake winner and would be used for the introduction of the male actor and would be 10secs. The diegetic sound would be the original music of one of the male actors. The diegetic sound would be the natural sound from outside as Anita is shwocasing her photography portfolio.

Documentary techniques
the docuemtnary techniques I would use in my documentary would be: direct cinema and the actors talking of their inspirations- interview or known as 'talking heads'.

Camera angles/framing
In the documentary i would make use of medium shots instead of close up shots so that it is not too intimidating to the viewers as most of the older audience have a negative view of teenagers. I would also use long shots and give a bird eye view of these teenagers. This would be shown when filming Anitas art work i would show a bird eye view.
For the framing I would have the characters speaking directly to the camera which would be shown clearly in martins story and also I would make use of framing from the side this would be seen in tatendas story. alternating between the two framing styles would make the documentary more interesting.

Evaluation: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

For my main task I done a documentary lasting 5 minutes and my two ancillary tasks were a newspaper advert and double page spread for a magazine. The combination of the three products was effective as an overall product as each ancillary task serves a different role in advertising the documentary. The newspaper advert is a formal look into the documentary and aims to inform the older audience on the documentary as I researched that there is a niche audience for fashion magazines which seems to be between the ages of 16-30. Therefore I wanted the older audience to also be included and know about the documentary as it aims to present teenagers in a different light to what is presented in the media. On my newspaper was a black male teenager playing the piano and I intentionally shot him looking away from the camera as I didnt want the picture to be intimidating to the older audience as they may note it as negative. The newspaper advert also reflects the distant relationship between the older generation and the younger generation. In addition the newspaper advert would be able to address the issue of negative stereotypes attached to teenagers which led to moral panic for the older generation which was noted by Stanley Cohen. However not all the viewers would be receptive to the change in representing these teenagers as positive but the documentary would be a representative of the voice of teenagers. This is because most "reality" shows or representations of teenagers in the news are controlled by older men suggesting hegemony in the media and also gives a biased view in representing teengaers.

The newspaper advert combined with the documentary was effective because it gave me the opportunity to represent teenagers in a positive way through the different mediums of tv, newspaper and magazine. This was important because often times the media represent particular social groups differently depending on the mediums. So by using tv, newspaper and magazine mediums was a strength as I was able to keep a consistent representation of teenagers. My second ancillary task was a double page spread of a magazine which had an intended audience of teenagers and young adults. The double page spread gives the audience a personal and close look into the lives of teenagers whic was evidently shown through the form of a diary rather than using a standard interview of the teenagers. By doing the double page spread it gave an informed approach to the representation of teenagers in comparison to the newspaper advert. The double spread combined with the documentary was effective as it provided more detail to the audience about the documentary. The combination of the main product and two tasks seemed to be effective as an overall product that could potentially be sold in stores as it caters to a wide range of audiences. In addition the ancillary tasks are valuable in the sense that they enhance the audiences understanding of the purpose fo the documentary. Furthermore they compliment each other as it gives the audience a breif description of the documentary without them having to further investigate about the show through Google. Initially I intended to do a radio trailer as on of my ancillary tasks whic would have been better as I would have been able to comment on three mediums which would have been tv, radio and newspaper advert. Howeveer I wasn't able to do this due to lack of organisation to my part therefore the combination of my product can also be seen as weakness as it fails to explore three mediums thoroughly. Nevertheless the combination of my main product and task has shown to be effective as it clearly advertises the documentary.

Evaluation: what have you learned from the audience feedback

The questionnaire was given to the 6 students that were part of my focus group in the questionnaire I asked the following questions:

1. On a scale from 1-5 how informative was the documentary (1- lowest/ 5- highest)
 1       2        3       4           5

2. Does the documentary run smoothly?
Yes        No

3. Did you hear each of the actors responses clearly?
Yes     No

4. Did the non diegetic music suit the introduction of the male actor (if not please explain why)

5. Was the documentary interesting to watch?
Yes    No

6. Was the mise en scene appropriate for the topic of the documentary (if not explain why)


7. Would you watch the documentary after reading the newspaper advert and double page spread?


8. What would you rate the newspaper advert out of 10? (please circle)
1     2      3       4      5         6         7          8         9       10

9. What would you rate the double page spread out of 10? (please circle)
1       2       3      4     5         6          7          8          9       10

10. Do you think the documentary should be scheduled for 6:30pm- 7:00pm on channel four
Yes   No        (if No state why)

11. Do all the media texts (newspaper advert, documentary, double page spread:magazine) combine well together?
Yes   No

The questionnaire results were as follows:
Q1. 1-0
       2-0
       3-0
       4-6
       5-0

Q2. Yes- 3
       No- 3

Q3.Yes- 6
      No- 0

Q4. Yes- 6
        No-  0

Q5. Yes- 6
       No- 0

Q6.Yes- 6
      No- 0

Q7. Yes- 6
       No- 0

Q8. 1-0
        2-0
        3- 0
        4- 0
       5- 0
      6-2
       7-2
       8-4
      9-0
      10-0

Q9. 1-0
       2-0
       3-0
       4-0
       5-0
       6-2
       7-3
       8-1
       9-0
      10-0

Q10. Yes- 6
         No- 0

Q11. Yes- 6
         No- 0

The audience feedback was vital in the outcome of the final product and ancillary tasks as I was able to use the criticisms and use that to improve my product. I used the target audience that I intended to have for my product because that would enable me to know whether I fully was able to meet the needs of my intended audience and deliver the product effectively. From the questionnaire the main results all of the students agreed that the mediatexts used fit together therefore this showed that I was successful in combining them together which would result in the documentary appealing to the target audience. Also all the 6 students agreed that the documentary show should be scheduled on channel 4 as most stated that there were shows before hand that they already watch so my show would just fit into the time slot. I was pleased that all the students said they would watch the documentary after having read the newspaper advert and double page spread as it gave me the confidence that I combined the main product and ancillary tasks well. The feedback confirmed that the mose en scene was appropriate for the topic of the documentary. I made improvements due to the responses as three of the students noted that parts of my documentary that didnt flow smoothly so I aksed the students which parts these were and fixed it, I made the transitions more smooth and also stabilized the recording of Anita that was shaky. The comments that I received in this section helped me to change some of the parts that were not running smoothly.

Then I went to ask individuals on what they thought of the product and ancillary tasks in terms of whether it would fit my target audience which was between the ages of 15-40. Below are the comments:

 

The audience feedback showed me that my target audience would actually watch the documentary. Using focus groups is also used by real media groups in order to see the documentaries are at a high quality therefore that is why I also done the same. It was also important as it enabled for a critical analysis of my documentary and most of the improvements I made were due to audience feedback which shows the difference between making a product and watching the product.

Evaluation: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products

Within my documentary rather than choosing one particular documentary mode I challenged each mode. Whilst doing that I created my own and developed the documentary mode as I saw weaknesses in most of them and the mode didnt quite fit with the genre of my documentary. This in turn enhanced my creativity skills as I used aspects of different modes known as an eclectic approach similar to the aim of the performative documentary mode as it uses various elements of different documentary modes. In my documentary I used aspects of the interactive documentary mode this was used in the form of the actors engagin more directly with the audience. I challenged the conventions of documentary modes with no useof interview however I developed this as the actors spoke about their inspirations to the audience rather than through a standard interview between two people.

One of the important codes and conventions of a documentary is the framing of actors when speaking. It has been noted that the actor or interviewee should either be framed on the left or right hand and should not be looking directly at the camera. Within my documentary I used this framing for my male actor at times when he was talking about his daily schedule however I challenged this as it wasnt through the close up shot but I used a medium shot which would be less intimidating for the viewers watching. In addition I developed the framing throughtout my documentary this was evidently shown in the other males shot as he looked directly at the camera this was done as a way to create versimilitude from the real world and the diegetic world that was present in the documentary. This framing showed interaction between the actor and the audience which would result to the positive stereotype of teenagers as Perkins (1979) noted that stereotypes can also be good and positive to the audience. In addition within the codes and conventions the close up shot of actors are usuaaly framed in a dark area to suggest the serious matter of the topic. However in my documentary all the actors were framed in a natural setting to suggest a depiction of reality rather than the audience viewing it as a constructed piece, although in theory it is. The use of a bright background was used in order to to connote youthfulness throughout the documentary as the main purpose of the documentary was to challenge the representation of teenagers in the media.

Another convention of documentary is graphics which come in different formats I used this element through the use of a title however I challenged the conventions by not adding credits at the end of the documentary. I didnt do the credits because it wouldnt resemble reali life situations but would imply that the people involved are similaer to the actors in soap operas such as Eastenders and Hollyoaks.

Also the graphics within the documentary which states the persons name and occupation is always positioned underneath the picture of the interviewee preferably at the bottom of the screen so it doesnt distract the audience from the actors face. Although the graphics are vital so the audience knows who is speaking, I didnt use them as I thought it looked too formal. This convention wouldnt allow me to portray teenagers in the way I wanted as I wanted a balance between an informal and formal as it would give for a realistic portrayal. Although graphics are shown on "reality" documentaries I thought it best suited documentaries focusing upon crime and forensic detectives. Within documentaries an essential code and convention is the use of cutaways this allows for the narrative to flow well and also so the transitions flow from one shot to the next. The cutaway was used in my documentary as it allowed the audience to follow the narrative of each of the actors and also make connections to each of the actors. In order to develop my creativity skills I used a cutaway during the voice over of the male actor whilst he was in the gym. Also as my documentary mode was an expository documentary it was vital I wasnt shown whilst filming. However when filming the male actor I failed to use a cutaway when I was shown in the video which was a weakness as the framing looked unprofessional.

In my documentary I made sure in each shot the mise en scene reflected the topic of discussion in my documentary. I thought this was important as the mise en scene feels the viewer a lot which allows for these signifiers to be interpreted differently by the viewers. With this in mind I made sure that all my shots of the actors were shot in classroms and had school equiptments within the framing. Also the mise en scene taken when Anita was being shot outside gave for a light, happy and peaceful atmosphere as it was sunny. I wanted the portrayal of teenagers to be realistic therefore I made sure that they wore clothing that they were comfortable in. One of the male actors wore sports attire with jogging bottoms and a jumper which represented those teenagers that play sport or comfortable in wearing sports clothing. On the other hand the female actor was dressed modestly in a black coat and jeans. It was important for the actors to wear clothes that they would wear in a daily basis as it enables the viewer for a personal look into the lives of these teenagers. Therefore their clothing in the documentary is stereotypical of their roles in society.

Another convention of documentary is graphics which come in different formats I used this element through the use of a title however I challenged the conventions by not adding credits at the end of the documentary. I didnt do the credits because it wouldnt resemble real life situations but would imply that the people involved are similar to the actors in soap operas such as Eastenders and Hollyoaks.

Also the graphics within the documentary which states the persons name and occupation is always positioned underneath the picture of the interviewee preferably at the bottom of the screen so it doesnt distract the audience from the actors face. Although the graphics are vital so the audience knows who is speaking, I didnt use them as I thought it looked too formal. This convention wouldnt allow me to portray teenagers in the way I wanted as I wanted a balance between an informal and formal as it would give for a realistic portrayal. Although graphics are shown on "reality" documentaries I thought it best suited documentaries focusing upon crime and forensic detectives. Within documentaries an essential code and convention is the use of cutaways this allows for the narrative to flow well and also so the transitions flow from one shot to the next. The cutaway was used in my documentary as it allowed the audience to follow the narrative of each of the actors and also make connections to each of the actors. In order to develop my creativity skills I used a cutaway during the voice over of the male actor whilst he was in the gym. Also as my documentary mode was an expository documentary it was vital I wasnt shown whilst filming. However when filming the male actor I failed to use a cutaway when I was shown in the video which was a weakness as the framing looked unprofessional.

In my documentary I made sure in each shot the mise en scene reflected the topic of discussion in my documentary. I thought this was important as the mise en scene feels the viewer a lot which allows for these signifiers to be interpreted differently by the viewers. With this in mind I made sure that all my shots of the actors were shot in classroms and had school equiptments within the framing. Also the mise en scene taken when Anita was being shot outside gave for a light, happy and peaceful atmosphere as it was sunny. I wanted the portrayal of teenagers to be realistic therefore I made sure that they wore clothing that they were comfortable in. One of the male actors wore sports attire with jogging bottoms and a jumper which represented those teenagers that play sport or comfortable in wearing sports clothing. By doing this I was able to use barthes semic theory as tracksuit bottoms is usually depicted as crime however I challenged this to suggest the positive step of the youth as he is interested in doing sports and succeeding in that particular field. On the other hand the female actor was dressed modestly in a black coat and jeans. It was important for the actors to wear clothes that they would wear in a daily basis as it enables the viewer for a personal look into the lives of these teenagers. Therefore their clothing in the documentary is stereotypical of their roles in society. In addition I challenged Propps idea for the 31 ways that character serves in a narrative I didnt use them as I was doing a documentary so the concept didnt apply to my work.

I also used voice overs which is part of the conventions of a documentary. It gives for a more inventive way of the actors speaking to the audience rather than speaking directly to the camera all the time. I developed the use of voice overs as it wasn't just one persons voice throughout the documentary. I used the actors voices in their individuals clip which was more personal and the viewers would also acknowledge that these teenagers are down to earth rather than having negative views of them. The voice over was important as it suggests each of the actors stories to be separate narratives and gave for in depth look at these teenagers that are defined as a collective identity in the media. I also used music however developed this aspect by varying the use of diegetic and non diegetic sound. The diegetic sound was used for introducing one of the male actors which was his original piece whilst I made use of non diegetic sound for introducing the other male actor which was evident as I used the song Drake - winner which I had to download from Itunes.

By selecting a particular theme to focus on I was using conventions as it enabled me to also establish the genre within documentaries that I wanted to focus on. I followed most of the elements of the expository style documentary this was useful as it allowed me to expose the lives of these teenagers rather than scrutinize their actions. As Fowler (1989) noted semiotically "genre can be seen as shared codes between producers and interpreters". With this in mind the exposing style enabled me to maniuplate the semiotics used suhc as the school buildings, use of computer which showed technoloy and music and the fitness gym and equiptments. All these objects allowed for the viewer to also have a shared understanding of my representation of these teenagers. In addition identifying the genre of my documentary was useful as it helped me to keep order and use most of the conventions that it used. As Neale (1980) suggested the genre used would help in shapin the values that are dominant at the time. Thsi was evident in my documentary as I wanted my documentary style to reflect how I would represent the teenagers.

My documentary has a linear narrative structure therefore I used one of Todorov's narrative structures suggesting equilibrium. I done this as it was the easiest form of narrative to understand and implement in my documentary. My product follows the codes and conventions in terms of narrative as it begins with an expository with the actors introducing themselves. The middle section can be seen as the actors speak upon their talents and the end of the narrative is shown through the discussion at th end of the documentary. I also used the idea that Levi Strauss put forward by stating that "a narrative can only end in resolution" I used this aspect which is evidently shown at the end of my video as the students have their final word on possible reasons to why teeangers are depicted in a negative way usually in the media. According to Barthes he stated that each story has a location and I used this concept in my documentary as each of the actors narrating was in a different location to show their topic of discussion that would be focused in the documentary.

Ancillary tasks:

I used the codes and conventions of newspaper advertisement whilst also developing some of them and challenging others. I used a bold central image of one of the male actors in order to create a narrative for the advert this created for suspense and also so the reader would be curious to know about the documentary without giving too much detail away. I positioned my slogan underneath the picture on the right hand side of the page so that the reader wouldnt be distracted by the writing however positioned so that they would have enough detail. By stating the scheduling time on the left and right hand side of the page enabled me to develop the conventions as I was being creative rather than being restricted due to the existing codes of documentaries. Furthermore I followed the conventions by using as little word as possible so that the reader would be intereseted and the page layout would also look more organised if the words are kept to a minimum. I used the code of positioning the channel 4 logo on the right hand side of the advert so that the readers would be familiar with the channel 4 product and also be keen to want to watch the documentary as they may have tv shows that they already watch on channel 4. I also used codes and conventions by not just publishing to one newspaper but publishing to a number such as daily mirror, the sun and daily mail.

Within the double page spread I used the code by using a colour scheme that was shown to be dominant in the magazine already. In my case I used bright colours such as orange and purple as it was similar colour scheme to the Look magazine. I used small images around the writing in order to show the page spread in the form of a diary which was developing the conventions that most magazines had. I used the standifrst in order to introduce the readers on the article and followed the convention by positioning it underneath the headline so it was easy for the reader to understand what the article was about. I used a drop capital in the opening of my article so that the reader would know where to start reading from. I didn't want the first paragraph to be in bold font or have bigger type size so I challenged them as I wanted the article to flow rather than having one paragraoh to stand out as it didnt make sense as to why that should be. The headline that I used was centred around my topic so I developed this convention as I found a headline that was catchy yet focused on the topic of my documentary. Although the magazine is informal I made use of a byline so that it would make it look quite professional. I also made use of a strapline however was not positioned at the top of the page but on the side of the page and written vertically similar to the convention of the LOOK magazine. For the page numbering I also used the code by writing the number on the side of the page with the magazine website next to it. Through my research I found that the look magazine rarely centre the double page spreads on teenagers but rather focus on celebrity lifestyle or high street clothing so I challenged the conventions by having my double page spread focus on teenagers.

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

Research/Planning

The use of Apple Macs allowed me to create verisimilitude between the real world and the diegtic world in my documentary. This is due to the advancement of technology that has created better equipments’ that are better in graphics and also provide more tools for video editing that was useful in my construction in comparison to PCs. Furthermore using Macs has shown to be faster than using PCs and from my experience the Mac also freezes and crashes less often than the PCs. Within the research stage I used YouTube which is an example of Web 2.0 technology as Dan Gillmor 2006 defined as "We media". The use of YouTube allowed me to research existing documentaries and also understand the tools that were needed for the construction of my documentary by watching tutorials that were uploaded by users of YouTube. Also in my research stage I used YouTube to research existing producers of documentaries such as Sorious Samura and Nick Broomfield. This therefore enabled me to analyse their works so I could create my own style that challenged the conventions of documentary modes whilst keeping within boundaries of the task. This allowed me to enhance my creating skills in the construction stage of my documentary. My research findings from the documentary on Google also seemed to be valid as there was a link between the research and my final product.
Through the use of YouTube I was able to make use of secondary research by looking at other student’s works and used this technology to my advantage by emailing those students so I could understand the advantages and disadvantages of using the particular tool. For instance I didn’t quite understand how to import sound from ITunes on Imovie, so as I am a user I emailed the user felicitymatunda93 who showed me how to use it. I also asked questions on the programme as she was using the final cut pro for her coursework. This allowed me to understand the differences between the two programmes. The research on YouTube was easy to access and was not time consuming so was easier for me to find the information I need quickly. In the research stage the use of questionnaires on the pages on Macs allowed for the audience feedback on the representation of teenagers in the media. I done this as it would be valuable information for the final product of my documentary. The questionnaire a use of primary research was put on Face book so I could also interact with the users and also find new audiences which were a positive way to get feedback for the final idea of my final documentary. In the research stage the audience feedback results provided a fair sample of overall opinions as I generalised the questionnaire to ages over 25 as well as teenagers to give a fair and unbiased opinion. This therefore suggests that my research findings are accurate. My research also seemed to be valid as I used the email in order to research the verve productions on the documentaries that they advertise and the initial ideas for the setting up of the company. The use of slide share was a useful way to display what I had researched on the existing documentaries and was also a better way to use technology in presenting my work in the planning and construction stage rather than using blogger all the time. I used blogger in order to organise planning materials although I had a look at word press before but preferred blogging. Blogging similar to YouTube is an example of Web 2.0 technology (O’Reilly 2004). Using blogger is interactive as it allows for followers to comment on your blog. This was evidently shown on my blog as I got comments from some of my class mates which also enabled me to take on board the comments and criticisms that would enhance my work. . For the text on my newspaper advert I used the text font that was provided on the website address- myfonts.com. I used this instead of the Photoshop text font as I didn’t find the font I was looking for that would reflect the social demographics of my intended audience. I also used Photoshop to connect my newspaper advert before manipulating the photos in Photoshop then exporting it as JPEG however was saved in PSD files. This file was used as you can edit the changes and they are smaller which is easier to use however had to be aware of size files in my user area and had to consider the size of my final production piece. The files compacted and condensed the file so it wouldn’t lead to problems such as taking too long to open a file or result in crashing windows.
Furthermore I also used Face book in the construction and planning stage as a way to communicate to my actors and actresses on the location and times for shooting the documentary. In addition I used my Iphone to research the camera angles that were commonly used and saved on my USB stick were the hand out sheets last year on camera angles and what they meant if I were to use them. For instance this was evidently shown in my documentary as I often used the close up shots and rarely used long shots. The use of close up shots was in order to give a personal look into the lives of teenagers that are not often depicted properly in the media.
In my planning stage I found adequate research through the use of Goggle, a prime example of digital technology that was useful as I was able to use the Macs, PCs or my Iphone as I have wireless internet which proved to be useful as I could do my work anywhere. When doing my drafts for my final piece I used the power point of slides to show my work. I decided to work on my own as I thought it would be easier. In my planning stage I didn’t post on my blogs regularly and this affected me meeting the deadlines as I was late in producing my work which was down to lack of organisation.

Construction Film or documentary production is not only done by monolithic film production companies but can also be done at home or school providing the right software and hardware is available. Imovie is used on most Macs and this enables me to edit footage on a timeline and also enhance my knowledge of layering video and audio by uploading and using audio and video filters. Imovie is non linear editing software which allowed me to edit the clips of my documentary and also have particular clips in certain parts of my documentary. The use of Imovie enabled me to make sure that the non diegetic sound matched the video footage when using the sequence timelines to match the soundtrack, which was uploaded to the computer through my USB cable.
When recording the video for my documentary the camera I used was light so it kept shaking when I zoomed in and out therefore when editing I used the stabilizer in order for a smooth transition throughout. In the beginning of my documentary I used a title sequence that resembled a picture of a recording tape as I wanted it to look realistic as I represented the teenagers. This showed a different interpretation of teenagers to be quite open to the audience and enabled for a personal look into their lives. On Imovie there is a range of effects that I could have used because it could have made the documentary look tacky. This could have also implied to the audience that I was looking at the representation of teenagers in a comical way which was not my idea. In the construction stage Imovie was useful in order to edit my documentary. The audio and video filters were useful so that I could record voiceover on my clip as I researched that this technique was commonly used in documentaries. I also wanted my final piece to be professional therefore I avoided the echo tools so it didn’t sound cheap. I used ITunes to import a song Drake- winner as that was the song I selected to introduce one of my male actors in my documentary. The camera I used was the SLR HD camera which was very good as it enabled me to get the detail that I needed for my final documentary piece.
The Iphone was used again however in the construction stage I used the Iphone 4 to also record voiceovers. The Iphone 4 was also useful in the research and planning stage as I took videos of the audiences’ response to the representation of teenagers in the media. I also recorded an interview between my friend and myself discussing the issues surrounding the representation of teenagers in the media. The Web 2.0 technology was used again in order to blog the work I had already completed and YouTube used to upload my final documentary piece. For my ancillary tasks Adobe Photoshop (image manipulation programme) was very useful as it allowed me to edit and cut out the unwanted parts on my newspaper magazine and double page spread of the magazine. The tools that I used the most were crop tools like Marquee (magic wand) and the colour converters such as the red eye corrector. I also managed to manipulate the picture through the brightness and contrast which helped to show the teenagers in a positive way
I tested out two cameras before constructing my final piece in order to see which camera was better. I used the school camera which is an example of digital video the camera had digital single lens reflex. I tested this camera out first by taking few pictures and recorded on it to see the sound quality and visual quality of the video. The use of digital video with the tapes in the camera is an old technology. When using the camera I experienced problems such as recording over parts I had previously recorded. I also had problems with the sound of the camera as it was quite low and the recording tape often scrunched up and I had to wind it back which was time consuming. As film maker Mark Towse (2002) noted the details of using digital video camera I used the hard drive memory disk instead which also had more memory space so I could record as much and not get worried of having to delete the items on the disk for more space.

Evaluation stage Within the evaluation stage I could have simply just written all my evaluation responses via blogger however I wanted to develop my creativity skills from my AS task. I was able to do this by also evaluating through audio files this was very easy and useful for me as I used my Iphone to to record myself speaking which was less time consuming. I also recorded a video of myself answering the questions by using my webcam on my laptop which helped me to use the webcam effeciently. Furthermore I made a slideshow for some of the questiond with notes written on a word document.

Research TV scheduling

The terms used in scheduling:

• inheritance- this is when a programme is scheduled after a popular programme in order to get some of their audiences
• pre echo- this is the opposite to the inheritance as they put the programme in before the popular show in hopes that the viewers would tune in early and watch the programme
• Hammocking- this is when a programme is scheduled to be inbetween two popular shows
• Narrowcasting- is another example of scheduling and can be shown on living and disney channels wherein the viewer is given a choice and therefore they dont have to use their remote controls.

The schedule for TV programmes can be split into three segments known as

Daytime

Post watershed - the term 'watershed' - given to the television programmes that are shown after 9pm and cannot be shown earlier because of the adult content

Evening

the target audience for the three segments are:

Daytime 
BBC1- targeted at an older audience e.g: Antique roadshow, Country file
BBC2- mixture of young and adult-CBeebies for young audience and Top Gear for older audience
ITV1- targeted at housewive and women- Loose Women
Channel 4- targeted at young adults
Channel 5 - mixture of adults and children- milkshake show for childen and House doctor and Derren Brown for the older audience

Evening/Post watershed
BBC1- targeted at young and older audience - Eastenders
BBC2- adults- Culture shown special
ITV1- targeted at audience- Emmerdale/Coronation Street
Channel 4- targeted at young adults: simpsons
Channel 5- targeted at adults: Crime scene investigation due to the scenes

Within each of the channels there are instances were the programmes are repeated - below is the percentages of the programmes shown on each channel

BBC1- 12%
BBC2- 10%
ITV1- 5%
Channel 4- 10%
Channel 5- 15%

Planning: pros/cons

1. The first idea was a tv news programme that imitated an existing programme like CNN or BBC news. This would allow to use conventions whilst also challenging existing conventions- creating new ideas to make it more youthful by engaging with my target audience who I concluded would be people from aged 15-25 a demographic of working students with education and a social life outside of school.

Advantages: 

I would be able to present a TV programme already shown however put  my ideas too so that it would change slightly. 

Disadvantages:

It would need a lot of equipment and thought in order to make the programme look professional. 

 

  2. The second idea was to create my own tv news programme with people discussing news. The purpose of this idea would be to discuss news instead of the tradition of reporting just feeding people with news, by discussing you provide a welcoming approach to the viewer as you are able to engage with them. The broadcasters would also allow people to contact the studio if there are any topics that the person wants discussed on the news. This idea was to challenge codes of conventions whereas the first idea was to use existing codes of conventions.

Advantages: 

Be able to make a TV news programme that is youthful that is not already shown on TV programmes and my target audience would be from those aged 15- 25 

Filming would be done outside of school so I would be able to show another side of teenagers outside of school and present different locations. 

Disadvantages:

I would need to engage a lot with my intended audience in order to know what is missing in the market for TV programmes

  

 3. Focusing on a particular lifestyle of an individual in a western culture, the focus would be on a teenager around the age of 16-18 who is underpriviledged, living in a hostel and have to find a way to achieve their dreams of going to university and the situation (environment) that they are in- filming the journey of how the tenager is able to work hard and not allow the place they live in to define their destiny in life.

Advantages: 

This would enable me to show the different representations of children living in the UK and also bring awareness to the many children that are homeless. 

Disadvantages:

There are shows that are being shown on TV that show the bad situations of teenagers which is often shown in the media.  

 4.  Another idea I had for the documentary was to reinact the life of a celebrity similar to the programme from Rags To Riches. This would show how celebrities endure hardship and work hard in order to become the people thay are, a side that is not often shown to the public.

Advantages: 

To be creative and dress the actors in the style of a chosen celebrity 

Disadvantages:

5.  I had another idea to do a documentary which would focus on teenagers and their school life. This is the idea I would be likely to do because it is easier to film students in school and show a representation of teenagers that is not usually shown in the media. As a director of the film it would enable me to put my input into the film and also through the use of certain shots would be able to show teenagers in a certain light

Planning: Initial ideas

The two initial ideas I thought of when doing my coursework was a documentary and a tv news programme. I eliminated the idea of doing a music video as I wanted to explore other ideas and experiment on narrative and create a storyline that would have limited my ability to do so if I chose to do the music video. There was another option to do a short film but I helped produce a short film with two students from class which was shown at the school film festival which was successful.

The documentary appealed to me the most because it creates a sense of rawness that is not often shown in the media. The ability to see a reality documentary in it's raw state is what I admired the most and hope to reflect this idea in my own documentary by re presenting teenagers in our day and age.

TV News programme

I had a couple of ideas for the TV news programme that I was interested in doing.

1. The first idea was a tv news programme that imitated an existing programme like CNN or BBC news. This would allow to use convntions whilst also challnging existing convntions- creating new ideas to make it more youthful by engaging with my targt audience who I concluded would be people from aged 15-25 a demographic of working students with education and a social life outside of school.
2. The second idea was to create my own tv news programme with people discussing news. The purpose of this idea would be to discuss news instead of the tradition of reporting just feeding people with news, by discussing you provide a welcoming approach to the viewer as you are able to engage with them. The broadcasters would also allow people to contact the studio if there are any topics that the person wants discussed on the news. This idea was to challenge codes of conventions whereas the first idea was to use existing codes of conventions.

Although I was interested in doing a TV news programme I realised that I wanted to do a documentary. I liked the concept of documentary films, allowing people into their world, if it is a third world country then cultural exchange would be the central focus, undrstanding how other people live and understanding their culture. A documentary also allows the people to interact with the viewer by telling their story which can be quite senistive and traumatic for the audience.

1. Focusing on a particular lifestyle of an individual in a western culture, the focus would be on a teenager around the age of 16-18 who is underpriviledged, living in a hostel and have to find a way to achieve their dreams of going to university and the situation (environment) that they are in- filming the journey of how the tenager is able to work hard and not allow the place they live in to define their destiny in life.

I got this idea from the OprahWinfrey Show, a girl named Khadijah Williams was a homeless girl moving from shelter to shelter with her mother, attending 12 schools in 12years and living out of garbage bins among prostitues. Although she was living in these conditions she made it paramount that she succeed in her education and has now graduated and is attending Harvard University.

2. Another idea I had for the documentary was to reinact the life of a celebrity similar to the programme from Rags To Riches. This would show how celebrties endure hardship and work hard in order to become the people thay are, a side that is not oftn shown to th public.

I could have a person impersonate a celebrity and reinact an aspect of their day to day life.

3. I had another idea to do a documentary which would focus on teenagers and their school life. This is the idea I would be likely to do because it is easier to film students in school and show a representation of teenagers that is not usually shown in the media. As a director of the film it would enable me to put my input into the film and also through the use of certain shots would be able to show teenagers in a certain light

Research: advertising

The distributors such as SKY also advertise documentaries such as Ross Kemp's documentaries as it is the production company that produces the documentary and also advertises it through the advertisements. However there are some documentaries that sky advertise that are not produced by them however they will help advertise and will get some of the money as they are using their time slots.
Through channels such as MTV, Channel Four  and BBC two documentaries can also be advertised. The National geographic channel and the channels that promote documentaries also advertise these documentaries.

Research: Reviews on existing documentaries

The documentary the Most Dangerous Man in America by Damiel Ellsberg Review on the most dangerous man in America 

Research: on documentaries

There are useful website that I have looked on in my research on documentaries, these include:

YouTube 

Youtube is a useful website in order to search interviews with documentary film makers and understand the different modes that these documentary film makers use and the purpose for this, which has helped in my own production of my documentary. An example of this is the interivew with Sorious Samura on BBC news in 2008
Interview with Sorious Samura  watchung this video gave me an insight into Sorious Samura documentaries.

Another online service is the 4oD Drama this a useful channel for watching documentaries online for free

Documentary Heaven is an online service for free and is a useful website for research the genre of documentaries and documentary film makers

Documentary films is an website that show reviews of different documentaries and provides information about the industry

Research: Nick Bromfield

•   Born in  1948

•       He is an English documentarist and films with a small crew

Awards:

•       BAFTA lifetime achievement award- for contributions to documentaries

Documentaries include:

•       Proud to be British

•       Kurt and Courtney, this film was banned at the Sundance film festival

•       Biggie and Tupac

Biggie and Tupac trailer

Nick has a reflexive style in most of his documentaries and is often in front of the camera giving narrative guidance .

His films  are valued by the audience because they give an insight into the lives of other people and how the affected by situations.

Research: Michael Moore

Michael Moore is an American film maker, author and a political commentator. He has made four of the top highest grossing documentaries in addition all of his documentaries are expository and have criticised the American government, health care, Iraq war, this suggests why the expository mode was used in order to expose the audience to these problems that are occurring in the world around them.  His well known documentaries are:

·         Fahrenheit 9/11

·         Bowling for Columbine

·         Capitalism: A love story

Fahrenheit a 2004 documentary, the film takes a look the presidency days of George Bush and the war with the use of the coverage from the media. This documentary has the highest box office and is the highest grossing documentary of all time. In addition it was awarded the Palme d’Or, which is the best award at the Cannes Film Festival and was also the first documented film to win the prize since 1956. This film is also an expository film as it exposes the real situations of the American government and highlights the media in a critical way.

The documentary Capitalism:  it is a love story, which was made in 2009 centres upon the financial crisis in 2007 to 2009 this exposed the different elements of the American government. It was awarded the “Leoncino d’Oro prize at the Venice film festival.

Research: Sorious Samura

Sorious Samura is a freelance journalist born in Sierra Leone who does documentaries that are based on factual events especially in Africa. His two famous documentaries are:

• Cry Freetown 
• Exodus from Africa 

However as his documentaries are too disturbing and contain violent images he has been turned down by the British television. However was recognised and won the Rory peck award in 1999 for freelance camera women and men. He was first recognised by Fergal Keane as he used Sorious Samura's material in a documentary. 

Cry Freetown has been a recognised documentary as it highlights the brutal portray; of what happened in Sierra Leone in January 1999. He has shown the civil war to be of international concern to other neighbouring countries. His use of violent images were so that the audience could  do something about the situation and create more awareness to the severity of the situation. The documentary has been successful as it has raised awarenes to some political issues that Africa has.  

The documentary was shot with a hand held camera, on location of where the conflict was, used synchrous audio and used voice overs by the documentarist, which was Sorious Samura. However on some shots Samura Sorious was in front of the camera which shows its use of the mode expository documentary aaas it exposes the problems that Africa has.
Apart from Cry Freetown Samura has done other documentaries which have been a reality series named Living with... which highlighted the reality of the situation by becoming the central character in the documentary this was a way for him to break the boundaries between the diegetic world and the real world. The series included different documentaries such as: Living with AIDs, Living with hunger and Living with Refugee's.

 

Research:target audience

Questionnaire

1. How old are you?

2. What television channel do you watch the most?

BBC1    BBC2    Channel4    Channel5     ITV1   Other

3. Would you watch a documentary on teenagers?

4. Are you currently studying?

5.  What time do you think is the best time for a documentary on teenagers?

4-5oclock     6-7oclock   8-9oclock  Other

6. What channel do you associate documentaries with the most?

BBC1       BBC2     ITV1    Channel 4     Channel 5 

7. What type of background music do you think should be featured?

Upbeat    Jazz    Pop    RnB    Classical    Other

8. Do you watch documentaries regularly?

9. Would you watch a documentary with teenagers featured in it?

The programme is going to be shown at 6;30pm I wanted this time as it is the time that most teenagers are at home from my research conducted as most of the good shows that they watch start from 6 until 9pm. The show would be scheduled to show in term time and not holidays as i thought this would make most of the teenagers want to watch the show if there was a certain time it was shown. i want the documentary to be showcased on channel 4 as that would get the audience I want as the documentaries that are already showcased on the channel are targeted for young adulst however this is in between the teenagers and old audience therefore the show would be able to also cater to them. I also think that social networking sites such as facebook would be effecitve in showing the documentary online and also the online servce channel 40d would also help to advertise the documentary so people dont have to watch it on the tv but also online.

Demographics
target audience: the show is targeted at a wide audience from young to old
the clothes they would buy:
gender- male/female:
where do they live: i do not have a specifc location to where the audience however it would be probably aimed at different people- people living in caversham to the rough area in Whitley- as this would show the wide audience
what kind of hobbies are they into: not a particular hobby
education: in school and also out of educatiom