Wednesday 15 December 2010

Evaluation

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



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


Question 3
What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I wanted to look at audience feedback by asking a number of people some questions on my documentary, poster and radio advert, and also how they work in conjunction with one another, i chose to format this in the sense of 5 questions on each 'text'.
The questions i asked were as follows...

Documentary...
1.Do you think the documentary had a powerful effect? Support your point.
2. How do you feel about the issues raised in the documentary? How were they altered from before you watched it?
3. Do you think the graphics, such as the fact screenshots and the titles, within the documentary were effective?
4. Do you think the interviews were effective in displaying the issues that were raised?
5. How do you think the music and sound effects add to the feel of the piece?
Radio Advert...
1.       Do you think the radio advert has a good flow to it?
2.       Would the advert attract your attention if you were just casually listening to the radio?
3.       Do you think the advert has all the relevant information to find out when the documentary is on?
4.       Do you think that he documentary and the radio advert have a recognisable connection?
5.       5. Does the radio  advert make you want to watch the documentary? Why?
Poster...
1.       What is your first impression of the poster? How does it make you feel?
2.       Is the poster easy to interpret in terms of its concept?
3.       Do you think the title of the documentary is relevant to what the poster represents?
4.       How are the documentary and the poster connected? Is this an obvious connection?
5.       What do you think of all the products in connection with eachother? Do you think the connections are obvious together?
 
These questions summarise the feedback we are hoping to get from the texts and should give us all the answers, i asked 3 people from 3 different social categories to answer the questions, first in written form, and then to be interviewed on record giving their answers.
First audience member
David Franklin
50 years old
Father to 17 year old daughter
Engineer







                                                                            Second audience member

 Susan Jones
                                                                       
  Age 53

  Ex Drug Sales Woman

  Features in documentary

  Mother




Question 4
How did you use media technologies in the contruction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
We used a number of technologies in hardware and software to create our documentary and ancillary texts. To begin with the research of the documentary.

Google was used to begin the first essay, 'Codes & Conventions of documentaries'  where google was vital for research into the topic.
Youtube was also used alot within the documentary research, planning and construction, as it was used to view documentaries for inspiration and research, also to find archive footage to use actually within our documentaries and also to upload our docuementary to in order to upload to the blog.


To get the archive footage for the documentary from Youtube , we used Kick youtube which allows you to download videos from the site to use in your own work.
Our filming started with the use of Canon XM2 cameras, we used these to film interviews and cutways, also clip microphones, Kodak Cinipik Still Cameras, Headphones and Tape were taken on location to ensure that every shoot was as smooth as possible. We mounted the cameras onto tripods to make sure that the shot was as proffessional as possible, and also placed them in the composition that was required. The still cameras were used to document some of our filming processes, although this wasnt possible in all of the places we filmed.
Adobe Premiere CS5
The editing software we used is Adobe Premiere CS5, to add to this we used a DV capture deck, firewire lead, between monitor and PC to keep them in synch and give a more finished product throughout the editing process, Samsung LCD Monitors were used for viewing, and TFT monitors for the actual editing itself, along with a Quadcore PC. These made it as simple as possible to edit the documentary to a proffessional standard. We also used Adobe After Effects CS3 to create the graphics within the piece.
To record out radio advert we used the colleges radio room facilities, to get the best possible sounds for our voiceover, we also used microphones and cameras that are stated above and the Adobe Premier CS5 software again to cut the production together.
Finally our poster was made using only two pieces of technology, a Canon Powershot SX100 and Adobe Photoshop CS5 to capture and create the poster.






Running Order

Wednesday 8 December 2010

Ancillary Text


This is our finished poster, there were a number of versions of the poster, the original mock up poster, used images from google, where we had an X Ray in the background, this was very effective, but it was obviously near enough impossible to get hold of a real X Ray. I went to take a photograph of the skeleton we have in our college and then proceeded to edit it on photoshop, taking away the background and adding in the ribs, i think the poster is very effective, and possibly our most effective piece of advertising and in terms of pointing out the subject of the documentary. It follows conventions of Channel 4 posters, as it shows the channel four logo, which on all its posters is on the right centre of the poster, as shown, also the boxing around the text is a major theme throughout the channel 4 corporate identity.

Friday 5 November 2010

Filming Diary

Days One: 17/10/10

We booked out a camera to film over a weekend, and filmed a family member, Sue Franklin on diet pills and media influence on young girls, we set up in her house, as this was easy, and she was not a 'proffesional' opinion, so a home setting mise-en-scene was appropriate, we framed it so she was to the left of the screen and interviewed her on the topic areas, we got around 30 minutes of footage which was a good turn out.

Day Two: 5/11/10

We had left a long time between filming periods, this was due to organisational issues, today we filmed our vox pops in stockton heath, we got 3 people to interview and asked them two questions

'how to do you think the media has influenced dieting habits?'
and
'what are your opinions of annorexia?'

We found people who were around late twenties to mid forties, this gave a good range, and i think it also gave a good opinion as they are not as such effected, but they can see the effects, and tend to worry more about the younger generations. We also filmed some cutaways in a local pharmacy of diet pills and the shelves, these are not so good so we will probably redo most of them. We interviewed a pharmacist aswell but it wasnt as good as we had hoped, it is definetly useable so it can be used as a last resort, if we cannot get an interview with a GP or another pharmacist.

Day Three: 11/11/10

We filmed a chef named Zoe in our college who knew about food preperation and working in our college had a view on how young girls are effected by the media, and what they eat due to the media.
We asked her the same questions as the Vox Pops questions and also shot some cutaways of food being prepared.


Day Four: 18/11/10
We filmed the narrator doing the voiceover for the documentary, which took about half an hour. He spoke directly into the microphone so the audio quality was at its clearest. There were no problems.



Day Five: 25/11/10
We filmed another voiceover with a different narrator for the documentary's radio trailer. Again, he spoke directly into the microphone for clear audio quality and there were no problems..

Thursday 14 October 2010

Codes & Conventions of Documentaries

 
Documentaries, like any other medium, follow codes & conventions. To investigate these elements, I watched two documentaries and analysed them in detail.
Supersize Me and Loose Change 2nd Edition were the two documentaries I watched, both documentaries have very different styles, but the basis in each follow the same codes and conventions as all documentaries.
          I will firstly begin with the most common of documentary conventions, ‘Talking Heads’, this is the term for the people interviewed in documentaries, on whichever topic of interest is relevant. In Supersize Me talking heads are used very often, this is because the subject in hand can be discussed widely, as it is a well known fact how obese America has become, also there are many specialists in this field, such as dieticians, doctors and the obese people themselves, along with the business men behind fast food chains. Loose Change on the other hand uses very little footage of talking heads, this is most probably because the conspiracy theories of the 911 bombings is not a widely spoken about subject, atleast not loudly, and the only real specialists available are bomb experts and the US government, who im sure would not wish to comment on such issues. However documentaries differ, talking heads are a basic principle behind documentaries, but for some it is far easier to do so.
          The second convention I have found within all documentaries is the use of ‘cutaways’, these are relevant pieces of footage, archive or direct, and stills that help to fill in the documentary when narration is all that is necessary. In Supersize Me there are a lot of cutaways of obese people walking, this is an easy thing to shoot as in public places, this is perfectly legal. Loose Change however, as a consequence of its subject matter, has had to use all archive footage and
cutaways, but makes great use of Google earth when demonstrating what and where the attacks took place. Cutaways are used in all documentaries, as it is not practical or entertaining to have constant interviews flowing, cutaways also form a good visual base for when statistics and facts are being spoken, to keep the viewer interested.
          The third and final, main convention of a documentary, in relation to Supersize Me and Loose Change 2nd Edition, is that of a voiceover/presenter.
The Supersize Me presenter/voiceover is the person undertaking the ‘experiment’, that supersize me is based around, whereas the Loose Change voiceover never reveals himself, why? This becomes apparent at the end of the documentary, as it tells the viewer that being in possession of the film can lead to Guantanamo bay. However a voiceover is a valuable tool in documentaries, as it gives the viewer a constant story telling device to listen to and understand. It helps us digest statistics better, rather than them being presented on a screen, they are read to us, and also to fill in any blanks not given through the visual work or interview.
          There are many documentary codes and conventions, and they are used widely across the board, I chose two very different documentaries as I thought this would give for a more interesting essay, also I think it shows how conventions can still be present in such different circumstances.

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Friday 8 October 2010

Documentary Notes

The Devil Made Me Do It




Type: Investigative documentary

Themes: The main theme of the documentary is teen cults and culture and how they effect other groups and age groups, along with pop culture music, such as marilyn manson who has heavily influenced the teenagers in question. The actual investigation behind the documentary is that of a murder of a nun by teenagers who live in a very religious village in Italy, the documentary goes into depth of why and how they did it, and what influenced them.

Narrative structure: The documentary has a linear narrative structure but with a circular theme towards the end as it answers the question behind why they actually did what they did. But the linear structure behind it shows the events in order of how they happened, such as the actual murder, the trials, the scapegoating of Marilyn Manson and the sentences they were given, along with the effects on the village, religion and the families.

Camerawork: The camera work is fairly basic, it shows mainly handheld camera work, as alot of the shots are from journalists, as it is built alot from archive footage. They use low angles when the police are in shot, to give them power in the scenes, as they are trying to make it look as if they are in control of the situation. When Marilyn Manson is in shot however, they tend to use high angle shots, as he is seen as 'the devil' in question throughout the documentary. Lots of POV shots are used when they are describing the murder towards the begining of the documentary, as they obviously do not have footage of the murder, they had to recreate it through use of sound and camera angels. Hidden and covert shots are used in terms of the shots done by journalists, as alot of it is filmed secretly, as it is a very high profile trial and case.

Mise-en-scene: They use alot of archive footage, and shots of the village in which the murder took place, this is to create the ambience within the village, as it was seen as a very quite village in which murders and such do not happen, ever. They used black and white on some shots which gives connotations of the devil VS god, which is seen as one of the themes of the documentary. Throughout the documentary, the light is dull and dark, there is no sun, which seems to represent pathetic fallacy and gives the impression of sadness throughout. They showed a few 'talking head' shots, of figures such as Marilyn Manson and the parents of the girls who commited the murder, these are general documentary conventions that are used. Costumes and props are not particularly relevant, except when they show use evidence of the girls murder, such as the book they had drawn images of Freddy Krueger in, which they linked to the cult murder they commited.

Sound: At the begining of the documetary they used ambient non-diegetic sound to create the impression of the murder, such as heartbeats, screams and tensional music, which they used to symbolise the nuns murder. As they introduce the girls and there murder, alot more tensional music is in place as the investigation progresses. When they begin to examine Marilyn Manson they use alot of his music in the documentary, this is for obvious reasons, to firstly, give the example of what his music entails and also the lyrics and there effect of the girls.

Editing: Generally just cuts were used, but also some fades and crossfades in emotive scenes as this gave more of a fallacy to what the documentary was trying to 'get at'. There were alot of cutaways to inanimate objects which represented the themes of the documentary, such as churches etc. There were some fast cuts but then going straight to slow, when the themes dramatically changed between subjects. There was about 25% what happened and 75% why it happened.

Archive material: Alot of archive footage was used within the documentary, as the news footage was all taken from the time of and around the murder, they used alot of stills of the town surrounding the murder. Lots of journalist shots were also used as they were captured going into the courthouses etc. They used concert footage from Marilyn Mansons concerts, to illustrate how aggressive the crowds are and what effect this has on the fans.

Graphics: Black and white title graphics, to illustrate the god VS satan battle, very simply writing, possibly to represent the life of the nun? As they lead very simple lives and also dress in black and white.

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Loose Change


Type: Investigative & persuasive documentary

Themes: Conspiracies theories were the main theme of the documentary, they formed the basis of the subject matter along with the US government and how they are corrupted, the documente'rer' also constantly abused the government verbally, giving the impression he is passionate about the subject. Another running theme of the documentary was science, he got specialists to quote about how some of the government claims were clearly impossible.

Narrative structure: Relatively random narrative structure, it had a circular base to it as it began with the attacks of 9/11 but then went back on itself a number of times to re-evaluate the subject matter. I would say overall it was a circular base theme but also has a random element.

Camerawork: Zooms are used as the documentary is made entirely of archive, google earth and graphic work. There is alot of handheld camerawork because he used footage shot by standers by of the attacks, and also archive imagery of the other attacks from that day.

Mise-en-scene: Google earth was used alot, and very effectively, to illustrate the areas and why/what actually happened. Arhcive footage was mainly used, and alot of images of the attacks and aftermath. There were no interviews as such because of the subject matter being so delicate to the US government as is represented at the end of the documentary when they issue a statement saying 'you can go to guantanamo bay for being in possession of the dvd'. Stills and zooms of documents and contracts, such as the insurance policy taken out on the world trade centre. Images of government officials were used as they could not be interviewed, again this is down to the subject matter.

Sound: ambient music, to demonstrate the somberness of the issue. Explosion sounds to illustrate the demo's he created, voiceover the whole way through to narrate the documentary as it was not possible to show him on screen.

Editing: Simple cuts together, blends and fades to create somberness, not only representing his feelings towards the government but also to represent the feelings of the entire USA towards what happened on 9/11. As the documentary is built entirly of archive footage and graphics, it is hard to analyse the editing as such, as it is very simple.

Archive material: News reports on the 9/11 attacks, footage of the attacks from bystanders, imagery and stills of government officials.

Graphics: Animations (zooming into important sections of text on news websites and simulations of planes crashing), important text fading in and out, google eart etc. Highlighting pieces of text that is important on contracts and documents etc.

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Frontline: the Meth Epidemic


Type: Investigative documentary

Themes: Drug abuse was the official theme of the documentary especially focusing on mehtamphetamine use in Oregan a state in the US. The crime that takes place due to meth addiction was a major factor in the documetnarym and how people were trying to stop it, the main investigator looked at trends in crime, meth addiction and accidents and death throughout the documentary, as they all matched up. Also the spread across America of the so called 'meth epidemic'.

Narrative structure: Circular theme of the documentary,as it is investigative it answers the questions asked at the end.

Camerawork: Low-angles during re-enactments of certain events for dramatic power, talking heads of people who have suffered at the effects of methamphetamine.

Mise-en-scene: Talking heads of people who have suffered at the hands of methamphetamine, and also specialists interviews along with archive footage of 'faces of meth' , which was created in Oregan to create awareness of meth, they used shots of happy families to illustrate what meth effected families are not. They used documents and graphics of graphs and statistics and facts to demonstrate the hard eveidence of meth addiction.

Sound: Dramatic music dubbed over re-enactments of certain events and sadder music in the background of people who have suffered.

Editing: Cuts an fades to create empathy with the sufferers. Other editing is mainly simple cuts.

Archive material: Faces of Meth.

Graphics: Animations (timelines of correlations between drug abuse and purity of the drug)

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Grizzly Man


Type: Investigative

Themes: Bears and how far they can be pushed, what they behave like in the wild and how they can be influenced by human contact. Treadwells relationship with the bears was a running subject throughout the documentary and also specilists and their opinions of Treadwells behaviour towards the bears.

Narrative structure: Circular as it begins with Treadwells murder and slowly investigates into how and why Treadwell was killed when he was clearly so loved by the bears.

Camerawork: Handheld of Treadwells footage, Talking Heads of specialists.

Mise-en-scene: Specialists, People who knew him, his bear footage, bear fights, how people have been hurt by bears.

Sound: Director narrating the documentary himself out of admiration for Timothy Treadwell, the main focus of the documentary

Editing:

Archive material: Footage from Treadwell's camera

Graphics: None

Record of Mind Map

The mind map helped us to have a physical record of the ideas we want to present within our documentary, for example who we could interview etc.

Initial Idea

Initial Ideas

1. Religion, the people in our group have very strong views on religion, there is concern that this could be too contreversial.

2. British politics, again the people in our group are very passionate about the subject, i think it would be a good documetnary to do, especially as there is always something current in the news about british politics, and it would be easy to interview a local MP.

3. Dieting, again there is always something current in the news and it is easy to find a target audience at is generally teenage girls who are interested in subjects like this.

4. The environment, always something current in the news about the environment and recently there has been a push of environmental friendliness.

5. Cheese manufacturing, it would be highly amusing to do, plus we live in cheshire and could quite easily investigate into cheshire cheese.

6. Martial arts, Ryan in our group is a black belt in martial arts and is currently taking a class furhter into the subject, it would be easy to investigate, interview and get footage for.

7. Drug Abuse, we live near a very drug infested place, and it would be easy to get interviews with police, doctors, addicts and people who have been effected.

8. Runcorn, its where we live and there is always something happening in Runcorn.

9. Teenage Peer Pressure, we are infact teenagers and know exactly what this is about, it would be easy to interview cause we know everyone who is going through this.

10. Trees, again a highly amusing topic.

Once we had come up with ten ideas, we had to chose the best three and develop them so that they were substantial.

We chose religion as one of our preliminary ideas becuase we thought that the topic of religion was still fresh in peoples minds because of the Popes recent visit. We also thought that there would be a wide range of opinion as to what religion had become in recent years. One of the origional reasons that we chose religion as an idea was because it was somewhat of a rough topic to tackle.

Dieting was our second preliminary idea, we chose this subject becuase it was a topic that was still in the forefront of peoples minds and was a topic that a lot of poeple were related to, a lot of people have been on a diet or have known someone on a diet which is why this idea was carried through to be developed into a more sunstantial idea.

Our third preliminary idea was chees manufacturing, this idea was chosen becuase it differed a lot from our first two ideas. We first chose this idea because it seem like an idea that would not normaly be looked at in detail. The uniqueness of this idea made it stand out to us which is one of the reasons why we decide to move it into the preliminary ideas. The main reason why we chose this idea to take forward was because it was so different from our other ideas, and so would be more interesting to develop.