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.