Final documentary piece.

final newspaper ad

Final double page spread.

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

USE OF MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES.

• For the production, I used a Mini DV video camera to shoot my film. Along side this camera I used a tripod to ensure the shots looked professional. This gave me maximum control over what I was filming , especially during the filming of the interview, as I didn't have to control the camera. The set up for the interview was the hardest, because documentaries often have a side on shot, and the eye line had to be precise. Using the Mini DV format was especially useful as it is cheap and very easy to manage. Although I did not need to use the special features on the camera, as the conventions of the form prohibit this, I found that this type of technology was perfect for this particular type of production as it is easy to set up; easy to work with the rushes and easy to re-shoot if required.

• For my ancillary text images, I used a digital SLR camera for the best picture quality, and style of photographs. It further allowed me to adjust he lighting via the shutter speed and aperture. I also used the flash gun for the extra light due to poor lighting conditions. The large pixel count on the camera gave me the freedom to crop as required without losing any image quality in the editing process.
• As part of the preproduction research, I used the Internet (YouTube.com) to find out the conventions and styles of other documentaries for product research and uploading video extracts of other documentaries as well as extracts of my own, onto my blog. The access to a wide range of similar media texts had a major impact on my approach and influenced my choices and decisions regarding my own work in a whole range of ways. For example, Life Through The Lens (Annie Leibovitz) influenced my use of mise en scene as well as my editing decisions. The use of web 2.0 has increased the ability to share things much more easily, and it is less time consuming. In my efforts to research other documentaries I have managed to find so many which would have been near enough impossible and expensive if I was unable to watch it on YouTube, as the resources would have to be purchased and there may be limited access to them.
• The concept of postmodernism applies here as the line between the audience and the producer has been blurred and the ability of almost any 'audience' to become a 'producer', has been enabled and enhanced by the development of the internet thus we, as an 'active' audience, can produce as well as receive.

• I used the social networking site-Face Book for audience feedback. This was helpful because I could ask a wide range of people with the advantage of it not being time consuming or logistically complicated. This however may not have external validity as the participants were all aquaintances of mine, therefore they may have had a biased view.
  
  
  
• I used iMovie to edit my film. It's straight forward and easy to use editing package and though it is limited there were many tools which I could use. Because I was making a documentary my effect options during the production were limited, if I had a more professional system like Final Cut Pro then I would be able to make the editing (including effects and sound quality) much better. However, the nature of the form meant that the software and its capabilities were not really a major concern, although a few more timelines would have been good.

• To edit my photographs for the double page spread and the newspaper advert I used Adobe Photoshop CS3, and within this computer programme there were many tricks which I used to make my ancillary texts look more professional. This included using the airbrush tool, and cutting out images when required and manipulating them if necessary. Photoshop is in some ways easy to use and there are a number of processes which can be applied to ones images, but it is a very technical and time consuming programme so careful planning and image choice is required. In particular I used the dodge tool to bring light to the area's of the face which were slightly darkened. This wasn't a major issue because I controlled the camera well when I was taking the photographs.
• What helped me to use photoshop was the YouTube tutorials.

• I had to convert the I Movie format to Quicktime full qulity, so I could upload my work to YouTube. This enabled me to be able embed my clip on to blogspot without having to weight for it load or the hassle of converting the file and then downloading it straight from the computer.

• Microsoft Word was used to make questionnaires for my audience research, which helped me get the results and increase my understanding of what my audience demand.


• I used Microsoft Publisher to put the results on to graphs and converting them to JPEG images, so I could upload them on to my blog to help make it easier to read as well as visually appealing.

EVALUATION question 3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Because of the ability of web 2.0, I put my documentary extract on the social networking site Facebook in order to make it easy for my target audience to comment on my work at their leisure.

In general my documentary was well received but there were criticisms. Some respondents argued that in my extract, the people interviewed spoke for too long and there should have been more inter cutting with real life footage clips, including the use of diagetic sound. To an extent I took their criticism on board but the set of circumstances I was faced with, for example time constraints and access to locations and participants, meant that I had to compromise on some aspects of my production. I also wanted to include as much information as possible - one of my original aims when starting out on the project - so I was aware that the end product was a little heavy on the talking heads and perhaps would have benifitted from being mor visually stimulating.

On the other hand the mise en scene was appreciated, and my extract was said to have a very realistic quality to it.

When I first gave out my questionnaires to gain an understanding of what my audience want from my product, my respondents felt that the reason why they don't take an interest in documentaries is because of the length of the programmes. Usually they are quite time consuming and the audience don't have much time to spare. Respondents summed up their preferences in the following manner in relation to the following headings.

-Duration of Documentary: The extract was approximately 4 minutes long and is part of a larger documentary, which would run for half an hour giving the main points of photography in terms of its history and its function in society. I wanted to achieve this outcome in a a form that is sensitive to the nature of peoples viewing habits in an age when there are many draws on an individuals time. The fact that the initial braodcast would be on BBC free to air t.v. and subsequently on iPlayer meant that audiences could watch the documentary as part of their schedualed viewing or create their own viewing schedual via iPlayer.

- Subversion of Stereotypes: The audience want a more accurate view of the subjects of particular documentaries. For example, they don't want photography to be aimed at white middle class Britain: they wanted to see other cultures and ethnicities involvement in and experience of the arts. The fact that my piece would air on the BBC meant that I had to consider all aspects of the licences paying public. I used both white British and British Asian people for the talking heads, appealing to the ethnic minority aspect of my audience while at the same time not alienating the predominantly white elements of my audience. If my piece was produced for a more independent channel, say, E4, I would have been able to be more niche audience minded.

-Regarding a type of Culture: All in all, my respondents would have prefered a less generalised product. My audience feed back told me, both males and females would watch a documentary about specific types of culture, for example, my questionnaires revealed a perception that photography is a valid art form and is a significant part of a communities culture. I chose photography for the topic because I felt that it is conceived of as largely a white, middle class preoccupation and therefor I felt I could subvert this and construct a new perception of the field, moving forward.
From portraits of rich people to fashion and beauty, photography has an image that has steadly developed through its relatively short history - in its current form. Therefor, productions like mine would possibly help those who may be interested in the subject but have, in the past, felt it was not for 'them'. I wanted to communicate through my work that they could make photography what they wanted it to be.


When I was doing my Product research, I found out about the typical conventions of an 'art documentary' that was based around photography. According to what my audience want, these professional documentaries are lengthy and hold a lot of information without going into detail about each issue. Instead they cram in all the information about the artists and this means there is too much for the audience to concentrate on. I have subverted this and concentrated on one main issue that will run for a period of 30 minutes, as this is a good amount of time for the younger generations to watch without getting bored. I feel that by doing this I will not put them off the subject but will intrigue them, making them want to pursue their interest.

EVALUATION question 2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

My main product is an extract of a photography documentary so the images for the advertisement and double paged spread link to photography. In particular analogue professional photography as there is a sense of simplicity depicted in all three products.

In terms of the dominant ideology in the all three products, you know the documentary will be about photography, and the title gives the clue that it will explore photography and its socio-historic roots as one of its themes.

Overall.

• The mise en scene of the ancillary tasks are very simple, as the main focus is on the subject and what they are doing. In this case Balpreet my model was holding a analogue camera in the newspaper ad in a "in your face" paparazi style shot which is hard hitting and immediately captivates the reader, arrousing curiosity within them, so they read further. As my ad will be in The Metro newspaper which is free and mainly read by people with little time or even little money such as students, the ad is price efficient and consists of little writing, only indicating the bare necessities of they need to know, which is where and what time. The institution that will be braodcasting my documentary will be BBC which is a a terrestrial channel so mostly every one will be able to have access to it, and if they can't watch it on t.v it will be available to them on BBC iPayer. Perfect for those who have lttle time to spare during the day.
  
  
• Both ancillary tasks construction consists of a mid grey background which is simple, but does use colour at the same time, the colour grey also connotes being in the middle as it is a mixture of black and white. Although I did recieve some criticisms on the colour scheme , the main factor was that it needed more colour. I used the colour grey because it relates to the simplicity of the docmentary as even in the documentary the use of simple sets emphasized the information being presented. Not only does the grey emphasise the subject but it subconsciously makes the viewer believe that this area of photography is unknown to them. I chose not to use white as it would be to typical, and the lighting was not good enough for white to be useing the backgroung. I could have edited the white into the background but the model was not lit well enough , and grey suited the "raw, street" effect I was going for.

• In the documentary piece, there was an intercut of an extreme close up of a girl taking a photograph with a digital camera, which links to the newspaper ad as it has a close up of Balpreet holding a analogue camera. Strauss' theory of binary opposites is the thematic appraoch that I have taken here, in which it is believed that people understand things as complete opposites and can make assumptions that they relate. In the case of photography this works well as a tool to help the audience gain a sense of nostalgia from when they saw the newspaper advertisement, thus the combination of the ad and extract work very well.
  

• In the double page spread, there was an interview with the director, symbollising an auteuristic style, because I am taking a personal, resposible and independent style appraoch when talking about my work. The mise en scene consists of Balpreet holding a digital camera, and on the opposite page it is a mirror image of her holding a analogue camera, connoting a sense of battle, and this is exaclty what is explored in the documentary. Analogue and digital photography go head to head in an exploration of the possibility of analogue photography becoming obsolete.
  

• The iconography within the documentary itself is interesting. The talking heads are placed on the set as a midshot of a work of portraiture, because they have a image behind them emphasizing, as the rest of the products do, that this documentary links to photography.
  

• The combination of both ancillary and main products work well because the link is made through the use of photograpic equipment such as camera and photographs. In addition the colour themes link well with one and other; as some of the major rules in photography is the rule of thrids, and the focus must be on the subject. Some way of doing this is either centering the subject or placing them in an environment which is simple. Therefore the style is consistent and conventional as well as a subversion of stereotypes within the actual content of the documentary through the utilisation of young and ethnic people, in terms of advertising and creating a documentary something which is thought to be for the older and stereotypically white majority.

EVALUATION question 1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media product?

My product is aimed at young people, to avoid a stereotypical view of today's young generation. As it is produced for and will be broadcasted by the BBC, I have had to take special care of representation, because BBC is mainly aimed at the older portion of the target audience.

Conventions of a documentary:

-Archival footage -Talking heads
-Hand held camera
-Re-enactments
-Voice over narration
-Real people

• In my product, these conventions are subverted, for example I don't have official archival footage, as my resources were limited, also there was no need for re-enactments because this was not a documentary regarding historical events. although this documentary does have an element of socio-historic roots, the development of photography over time is being explored.
• However there are real people interviewed in my extract, so the audience can relate to the themes of the documentary.

I feel that the use of a hand held DV camera was particularly effective for some of the real life footage because it was shot from the point of view of the audience. Hand held camera shots are usually used for independent documentary's due to a lack of funding, but I have used it as a means of identifying with the audience as well as giving a home made atmosphere to the extract. Using hand held footage is unusual of a BBC documentary although it is used in the watch dog production to capture real life footage, in the same way that I have.

• In the first 30 seconds I have used a voice over narration to introduce what the documentary is about, but I have also used the talking heads' voice over to match the moving image, giving continuity to it.

The construction of shot (mise en scene) of the interview is a head and shoulder shot, the mise en scene consists of photographs in the background which gave the effect of the person being interviewed as a portrait. This links to my artistic theme and emphasises that the extract is from a photography documentary.

Application of theories to the film extract.

• Hyperdermic syringe theory: My extract is a of a typical documentary where information is fed to the audience without them having to act for or against it. There is nothing that will cause a debate as it explores both aspects of analogue and digital photography, therefore my audience remain passive, because this theory relates to messages being "injected" into the audience.
  
• Cultivation theory: This theory is built on the basis that the audience start to gain an opinion of people in the extract and gain an opinion about them, this may result in stereotyping. My extract however, has tried to avoid racial stereotypes so the audience are less likely to stereotype photography themselves.
  
• Uses and gratifications theory: Documentaries interests those who have the need to find out and understand about the frequencies of ideologies held in culture, and information about the new technologies (this may also include art). What interests the audiences most is when binary opposites are used and they can compare and interpret it themselves after viewing external opinions, and fulfill their own needs and make uses of what they are receiving from the media (this could be in the form of escapism, communication and enrichment- use of gratification).
  
• Ethnography: The peoples response to my documentary. Although one of my targets was to aim at the ethnic minority as well as the majority. I feel that the ethnic minority still do have a stereotyped view of photography and mainly take an interest in the topics that directly influence their life.

Representation.

Representation of the interviewer's came across as well educated in their field and as an influential figure in the photography industry, because of their understanding even though one of which was an amateur photographer. If the audience knows they are being informed by a trust worthy source, then they are more likely to implement it to everyday life and take notice of what the documentary is trying to educate them on. The main message here is the invasion of web 2.0 and the over taking of the old technologies by the new.

My target audience is also pursued through the use of sartorial codes. The casual wear and the use of a photography teacher to bring a sense of nostalgia to the older viewer's and the photography student talks with a passion which captivates the audience.

Institutions, ditributors and advertisemnets.

The institution my documentary is made for is the BBC, they are also my distributors, and so the double page spread will be in radio time magazine as it is a formal media, which is aimed at a more intellectual audience. There will further be an advertisement in the free news paper the Metro as it's free, and given out at the train/tube station so most students as well as people with little time to spare will be reading this. The key feature of this ad is that there is hardly any text to read, just a captivating image with a teaser line telling you where and when to watch the documentary, making the viewer want to know more.

Narrations and Narratives.

The narrative explores how the digital media era effects analogue photography. This sticks to the traditional documentary form because the whole point of a documentary is to be informed with new information.

I have a omniscient style narrator in the opening sequence sticking to the traditional documentray form. The whole idea of a documentary is to be informed with new information; however the voice over is a female voice and is a subversion of normal documentary styles as they are usually narrated by a male. This voice over gives a brief summary and update of the current situation of photography in the technology industry.

ART.

My documentary is of the art genre. It is typical of the mixed style documentary therefore it uses a range of intercutting techniques which allow the person being interviewed to give brief voice overs, but it also includes an original narrator, with real life footage, giving a range of visual texts to the audience to keep them entertained. The extract is 4 minutes and 14 seconds.

The mise en scene is really important in art documentaries. It needs to reflect the subject of the documentary but at the same time it must not over power the interviewee the people being interviewed look like portraits which emphasizes the artistic quality of the documentary.