A2 Media Studies: Coursework evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? This asks you to compare your piece with real documentaries. You should explain the ways in which you have followed the common codes and conventions of TV DOCUMENTARY We were asked to create the opening five minutes of a documentary on the topic of our choice. We came up with a lot of ideas but in the end decided on youth smoking, as we felt that we could ask a lot of people from the college their views, and could talk about the recent college ban on the student smoking area. I watched many documentaries to get an idea of the forms and conventions which are included in real life media products. My group and I used a few of the forms, we developed some of the ideas, and challenged them as well. The documentaries I watched were The Secret Millionaire which is shown on Channel 4. I also watched Inside Death Row which was shown on ITV1, and Supersize Me on a DVD. However, after watching Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents we as a group decided we wanted to base our documentary around this. This is because they share the same target audience as us which is 16-40 year olds, as their show is based on youths, so have to make it fun, yet sophisticated as older people will be viewing it. This is what we aimed our documentary to be like, giving you the facts but in a fun way. Bill Nichols believes that there are different documentary modes, which are; poetic, participatory, reflexive, performative, observational and expositional. In our documentary we included 3 of the 5 modes. First, is the performative and participatory modes which are similar as they both include an on screen narrator. Secondly is the observational mode which is a fly on the wall effect, which we did of people smoking, as the viewer is getting the knowledge they need without being directed by a narrator. And the final mode we used was the expositional, which includes a voiceover and narrative. These modes helped our documentary look like real life media products. The first similarity our documentary shares with real life ones is the opening montage. In Sun Sex and Suspicious Parents their opening is very fast paced and shows short clips of whats to be featured in the show. We wanted to include this convention in our documentary as it entices the viewer to continue watching. I feel that our media product uses this technique very well as we have seven or eight short clips which gives a hint as to what will be included, as we have numerous clips of youths smoking. Sun Sex and Suspicious Montage:

Our opening montage:

Another convention we use, which is also apparent in real media products, is the diegetic music in the background. However, in most documentaries they have songs and music playing to enhance the words and images on screen, where as we develop that by having the same clip of music running throughout the whole of the documentary, which we devised ourselves in garage band. If we were to make the documentary again I think this is something we could have changed slightly as it becomes a bit repetitive to the ear and sometimes doesnt compliment the images and text on screen. Having said this it still doesnt deflect your attention from the messages on screen.

The next thing we noticed from watching real documentaries was that they all include a title screen. The Secret Millionaire has a still title screen, which plays for approximately 2 seconds on screen, giving it time to sink in, and hopefully you will remember the name of the show and watch it again. Whereas Sun Sex and Suspicious Parents adds each word of the title one by one, this makes you linger on the page even more. There is also a background image which illustrates what is to be featured in the documentary. Our documentary develops both of these ideas, by having a type writer effect, adding each letter one by one onto the screen. I felt this went well because as the viewer it makes you take notice to what its typing and hopefully makes you remember the title of the documentary. We also added a burning cigarette in the background which gives a desired effect of illustrating the text on the page. Still opening title page:

Word by word opening title page:

Type writer effect:

We knew after watching the other documentaries that interviews were imperative. We wanted to include both vox pops from youths at the college, and interviews from specialists and professionals in the area of caring for youths. We felt that in doing this it would give a diverse response to the question is youth smoking getting out of control? We thought getting the views from youths their selves and older people would give the viewer something to think about. From watching other documentaries, such as Supersize Me, I noticed that they use the rule of thirds when interviewing someone, which has the interviewee on the left, or right side of

the shot and the eye line a quarter of the way down. This allows you to get a good view of the person in the shot, also making it look professional.

Our documentary

Supersize Me

Also, in Supersize Me I noticed that the names of the people included in the documentary were named. We felt that adding this technique in our product for the professionals would make it clear to the viewer that they were important people on the matter of youth smoking and should take notice of what theyre saying. It also helps you feel more involved as you are introduced to who they are.

Our Documentary

Supersize Me

To make our documentary look professional we used a tripod for the majority of the shots so that they werent distorted in any way, and made it all flow from one shot to the other for the viewer. We also needed this to complete pan, tracking and zoom shots. The use of a tripod, I noticed, is key to real documentaries. From watching The Secret Millionaire there is no use of hand held camera, and it gives it a sophisticated feel. However, we develop this idea by having some clips use with hand held camera, as this could relate to the youths watching the documentary as they may not like the sophisticated aspect and become bored.

Our documentary develops the idea of having a narrator complete their narration on screen. This is because, after watching both The Secret Millionaire and Sun Sex and Suspicious Parents they dont have an onscreen narrator. Whereas in Inside Death Row, the narrator is seen on screen but not whilst theyre completing the narration. We wanted to develop this convention and have the narrator occasionally narrate on screen as it makes the viewer feel more involved, and as if they are speaking directly to you, which makes you engage more in the topic being discussed.

Inside Death Row, Trevor McDonald is on screen but not narrating

In our documentary, the narrator is on screen occasionally narrating.

The main cuts we used in our documentary were straight cuts, as it is a main convention and keeps the pace quick and flows better. However, we challenged other real life documentaries by editing our shots and having a fade to black cut and dissolves. We did this because we wanted to add variety and it also broke up one topic of discussion to go on to the next. We also used cutaways which are also used in real media products. We thought this was successful to keep it interesting.

We also packed our documentary full of facts which we researched ourselves. We included both primary and secondary data, to give facts and to show how thoroughly we have looked into the topic to give the viewers as much information as possible. The primary data consisted of interviews off the students at the college, and the staff. This gives an insight to their personal opinions and is valid information. The secondary data consisted of research off the internet and going into health places to get as much facts and figures as possible. However, because we were asked to produce the first five minutes of a documentary we challenge the convention of a coming up section, to entice the viewer to continue watching the documentary. Having said this, our show will be broadcast on BBC 3 where there are no commercial breaks so we could have got away with it.

RADIO TRAILER We were then asked to produce a radio trailer to be played on a radio station to encourage the listeners to watch the documentary. After listening to other radio trailers in class my group and I noticed a few similarities between them which we wanted to include in ours. The first was a backing beat. We decided to make ours challenge usual back beats as we wanted ours to continue the theme

of our house style which is mysterious and dark. There are also clips from the documentary featured in the trailer, which connects the documentary and trailer together. We also included loop tracks to keeping the track playing without pauses; this was played quietly underneath the narration to give it a livelier feel.

DOUBLE PAGE ARTICLE We were also asked to produce a TV listings double page article to be featured in Radio Times, to give the readers information on the documentary, and to also advise them to watch it.

1. Masthead This gives the reader a quick overview on what will be featured in the article. After reading other articles in the Radio Times we felt that our masthead fitted the correct codes and conventions to be featured in their magazine. 2. Drop cap This is a necessary convention when writing an article as all of real media article use the drop cap to make it look professional. 3. Columns After reading other Radio Times articles we noticed that the majority of them have two columns, which we decided to follow, so that the amount of text on the page doesnt seem daunting and challenging. 4. Main image This gives a clear indication as to what will be explored in the article, and also illuminates the text. 5. Date/time/channel All TV listings in a magazine have the date, time and channel of the documentary they are promoting. However, we have challenged the norms by placing this information at the end of the article. 6. Pull quote This technique allows the reader to catch a snippet at indicating what will be largely featured in the article. Giving you the chance to decide there and then if you think you will enjoy reading it.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? After watching our media documentary again I feel that we have achieved what we set out to do by introducing to our target audience, of 16-40 year olds, of either gender and any ethnicity, whether youth smoking is getting out of control. We had a few interviews from youths about smoking and what their views were about the ban of a smoking area in their college. We included both sides of the argument in the documentary, so the viewers could begin to make an informed decision on what they think about youth smoking. My group and I felt that our documentary did succeed in promoting a good media product to our audience. There is a clear identity that the documentary will be based upon youth smoking from the off set, as there is a fast paced opening montage of lots of clips involving teen smokers. It is also clearly featured throughout the documentary as we use background stills and include clips of cigarettes in all aspects of the film.

Next we then had to make a double page spread article. This clearly is aimed at youths as there are images of teenagers smoking on both sides of the page. This will hopefully make the teenagers reading the article relate to the youths in the images, and make them think about whether they agree or disagree with the media product. I feel that the article promotes the documentary successfully, as the main headline sums up the spread, by asking whether youth smokers stay young forever, which is a problem with teen smoking, which is what our documentary explores. The radio trailer also appeals to our target audience. This is because we have kept it quite simple and short so that people dont become bored when listening to it. It also succinctly sums up what will be featured in the documentary what is what we hoped to achieve. I feel that, like the double page spread, this too promotes the documentary very well, as it gives snippets as to what will be included in the documentary, and emphasises the theme of smoking.

I think all three of our products work well together, and all complement one another. This is because we have created a house style to connect them all with each other. I believe that the house stlye is mysterious and dark. This promotes the dark dangers and effects of youth smoking and how much of a problem it could turn into. The radio trailer has a spooky and atmospheric feel to it, and a result from the questionnaire we handed out someone described the trailer as scary which connotes the dangers youth smoking can bring to teenagers and their health. The double page spread again connotes the hidden darkness youth smoking can bring to teenagers as they progress through life, and this is shown through the dark images on the page. The documentary also continues the house style as there are a number of fade to blacks which again gives it a dark and mysterious feel

What have you learned from your audience feedback? My group and I devised a questionnaire which our peers could complete after looking at all three of our media products. We wanted to include a range of questions, which included open and closed. This meant that we would receive a range of data, some of it being detailed and some quick and easy to analyse.

The questions easiest to analyse were the closed questions. This is because you receive quantitative data which is short and not opinionated. Closed questions come in the form of giving the person filling out the questionnaire the option of circling the answer which makes it quick to judge how much of a success people thought our media products were. Having said this, the open questions provide qualitative data which could be considered as more important as you get to see peoples viewpoints as they can expand on their answers. This was imperative for us to find the criticisms with our media products so we could improve for next time. After analysing the results on the documentary, we had a good amount of positive feedback. This is because 70% of our peers said they would carry on watching the documentary after the first five minutes. In a focus group we asked why, and the most common answers were that it was a subject they were interested in, and that they wanted to see other peoples responses to whether they thought youth smoking was becoming out of control. Having said this, the most common criticism was that we needed to include a more variety of shots. I felt that we did include a large variety of shots, such as long shots, medium shots, medium close ups, zooms, close ups. However, there were a number of people who said that there should have been a variety of shots so we will take it on board and work on it for next time. The results for the double page article were also largely encouraging. This is because 100% of people who filled out the questionnaire said that they would want to watch the documentary after reading the article. This was very pleasing to Dan, George and I as we have put everything we have into making our media products the best they can be and it is

heart-warming to know that our peers appreciate the effort we put into it. The criticism we received on the article was that there could have been more text included as there was some blank space, which I think is a fair criticism which we can take on board. The results for the trailer were nearly as good, as 90% said after listening to the radio trailer it would encourage them to watch the documentary. This again was very positive feedback which all of the group were pleased with. The criticism we got was that we needed to add more clips from the documentary, as we only include the narrators voice. This is good constructive criticism as I can see how after youve listened to it you do become bored as there is no variety of people and voices in the clip. As a group we could have done more in terms of getting audience feedback, as we only devised a questionnaire a past it round to our class and a number of our peers. Having said this I have shown all three products to my family at home. My mother, being an ex-smoker, said that she enjoyed the documentary and thinks that it gives good information about smoking and what effects it can bring. She thought the TV listings appealed to our target audience, and enjoyed the radio trailer. My sister thought that it didnt change her views on smoking as she doesnt smoke herself and never wants to, but it did give her an insight to other people views. She also thought the double page article was easy to read and the radio trailer could have a bit more variety in it.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? DOCUMENTARY The first stage before you begin the production process is planning and getting organised. We planned a schedule around each of our timetables so we could have maximum time filming the shots needed for our documentary.

Researching the topic was also important, and we did this by going on YouTube, and watching smoking clips, and documentaries on 4oD, and BBC iPlayer. After wed watched a variety of clips we had decided on a few ideas to include in our documentary.

Once we had done this we began filming. Every lesson we would hire out a camera, microphone, headphones and a tripod. We wanted the tripod so our shots would look smooth and professional. We filmed for a four week period, and we felt after around 20 hours of filming we would have enough footage to produce the best documentary we possibly could. The next stage was to extract all the clips from the camera onto the apple mac computer.

Once all the clips were on the computer we put them onto Final Cut Express. This was where we were going to edit and produce our final product. Firstly we had to log and transfer the clips onto the software, and after doing that we named each of the original clips one by one so we could easily choose the one we needed ready for editing. We then chose clips and starting putting them into the order we had planned from our story board. Having this helped us save time as we could use that as reference. Once we had the order of the slips completed we began editing them and making them look professional. We spent numerous hours on the software doing this and trying to make our documentary look as realistic as possible. In the programme we used mainly straight cuts but wanted to add variety here and there so added the cutaways, we included one of these in Julies interview, half way through we make a cut away from her to a clip of a youth smoker, which highlights what she is saying but adds a bit of variety on screen.

We also added transitions such as fade to black. We included this specific one in with the cutaway to avoid it becoming a jump shot, so the shots look as if they flow and are fluent with one another.

Another transition we included was a fade in fade out. This was apparent in ours when we are changing the clip to advertise each different interviewee which spoke throughout the documentary. It also is another useful to make the viewer take notice as to what is happening on screen.

We also added a dissolve which also added variety to the page, and we thought it was a cool effect so wanted to add it in our documentary.

Dan then worked on making the backing track for the documentary in Garage Band. George and I would occasionally have input into what we think could be made better etc. This software was easy to use as you just chose from a selection of sounds to use for the base, guitar, percussion etc. After the track was completed we added it to Final Cut Express via memory stick. We had to be careful that this didnt get mixed in with documentary, and to ensure it went on a new line on the timeline which was the audio one. We noticed, when going through the documentary, that some of the clips were quieter than others so we had to adjust the levels using the pan centre tool. If they were still imbalanced after doing this we used the razor blade tool to alter the sound levels at the end of the specific clip to create an even balance from one shot to the next.

Razor blade tool

Using pan centre tool

RADIO TRAILER Before making the radio trailer we had to think about how we wanted it to sound and which extracts from the documentary we were going to include encouraging the listener to watch the show. We hired out the camera, microphone and headphones again and recorded the action whilst holding the microphone a short distance away from the person speaking and used the headphones to ensure it was of a good level to be heard. Once we had all the clips we imported them into Garage Band and began ordering them into an order which sounded good. Once we had done that we again noticed that some of the sound levels werent the same, so clicked on the drop down menu to adjust them. We then made an appropriate backing track to be played in the foreground of the trailer. This added an atmosphere and would hopefully encourage people to watch the documentary. After completion we exported the final product to a disk.

DOUBLE PAGE ARTICLE Before making the double page article, we each drafted a layout of how we thought the double page article should look, after looking at a number of Radio Times article. In the end we drafted the final one. We also had to take our own images using a camera to use in the article, so they had to be effective. We made the article in Adobe InDesign, as it how the most useful tools to aid the process of making the best possible double page spread, as it is easy to add pictures and do drop caps etc.

Throughout the whole process, the evidence we had we would upload to blogger. This is what the final examiner will see, so it needs to look professional. There are things from all different software on there. We used slide share to upload our powerpoints. Our storyboard for the documentary and drafts for the double page spread are also on there. I also used scribd to add the evaluation to the blog.