EVALUATION

Bella ChudasamaCandidate Number: 7247

Documentaries come under various categories such as resigned, light-hearted, optimistic and condemnatory. The first five minutes of a documentary is important as it sets the tone for the viewer with the type of documentary they are about to watch.

Before we started our task of producing a five minute documentary, we researched into many other documentaries to see how they were made and what codes and conventions they had used to compliment their choice of topic. We looked into American documentary theorist Bill Nicholls’ theory of Documentary Modes (2001) to distinguish particular traits and conventions of various documentary film styles. Nichols identifies six different documentary 'modes' in his schema: poetic, expository, observational, participatory, reflexive, and performative.

The expositional mode has a narrative and a voiceover throughout, it is also very factual and rhetorical in the way that it narrates to the viewer. Unlike the subjective content of poetic documentary, or the rhetorical insistence of expositional documentary, observational documentaries tend to simply observe, allowing viewers to reach whatever conclusions they may deduce. The performative mode engages the filmmaker in the story creating an almost autobiographical description of subjective truths that are significant to the filmmaker. An example of this is Morgan Spurlocks ‘Supersize Me’. The documentary we have produced, ‘Education: Questioning the Quality’, is an expository mode. The viewer is addressed directly and it emphasises the impression of objectivity and a well supported argument.

I looked at other documentaries which followed the forms and conventions of a typical documentary such as voiceover's, music, editing and interviews. Some of the documentaries I researched into was ‘Supersize Me’, ‘Jamie’s Dream School’ and ‘The Family: Teen Stories’.

This research was vital for the production of our own documentary as we were able to gain more knowledge and it equipped us better. Research was important because it helped us in the decision making process. Here are some charts that I have filled in based on factors such as target audience, camera work and narrative structure.

In preparation for creating our own documentary, we watched various other documentaries to see what codes and conventions they used such as the types of camera shots. The documentaries I saw which were focused on the types of camera shots were, ‘Supersize Me’, ‘Jamie’s Dream School’ and ‘Educating Essex’. From watching these documentaries I have learnt that similar shots were used across all three of them. The shots included Close Ups, Medium Close Ups, Establishing Shots/Long Shots and Extreme Close Ups. The most common type of shot was a medium close up as it was used for interviews and vox pops, it shows peoples facial expressions and we can easily judge how they feel towards a situation. We also included Medium Close Ups in our documentary, here is one of our shots compared with a Medium Close Up from ‘Supersize Me’.

Camera

Our Documentary Supersize Me

In the production of our documentary we filmed various types shots with a tripod, just like many real life documentaries. This gave the shot stability and meant we could use other skills such as panning, zooming and tracking without the camera shaking.

The tripod was an important part of our documentary as we had to get the correct positions and angles for our expert interviews. This allowed our documentary to look more professional. We had to use the rule of thirds when interviewing experts as this was a main convention of interviews. The interviewee should be looking into a dead space and positioned a third of the way into a shot. As well as this their eye level should be a third of the way down. Here is an example of an expert interview from our documentary and ‘Supersize Me’.

Our Documentary Supersize Me

Sound is a really important feature of television documentaries as it can set the mood of the programme. Sound includes background music, voiceover, presenter, diagetic and non-diagetic sound.

Sound

During ‘Supersize Me’, Morgan Spurlock was the presenter of the documentary as well as the voiceover which was effective because it made the documentary feel quite personal to the audience. However as a group we thought our documentary was more informative and therefore we did not need a presenter, just a voiceover.

We recorded interviews, vox pops and many voiceovers from scripts we had produced. We used a microphone and headphones to produce the sound when we were filming our shots. These sounds were then placed into Final Cut and positioned into the correct order. The sound was also adjusted between each shot to make sure that the sound levels were consistent throughout as we had filmed in several different locations. Here is an example of the audio that was recorded from some camera shots.

When watching other documentaries we had noticed they all used background music to create a certain mood for the documentary and to make the documentary more professional. As the background music is sometimes played under the voiceover, it has to be simple and not too overpowering. We needed a background track that would work alongside the voiceover and clips from the interviews and vox pops.

Background Music

To create the background music, we used Garage Band where there are various simple and catchy beats. This was perfect as we could choose a track that we liked, we then imported the track as an mp3 into Final Cut so that we could have the track running throughout the documentary. I thought the background music complimented the documentary well.

Before we started the documentary we had completed lots of research and planning so we could grasp an idea of the topic we had chosen. Through this process we were able to highlight key points in the news and interesting facts and figures to include in our documentary.

These are some of the facts we used in our script. We wanted to educate the audience through the documentary as well as showing the opinions of various teachers and students.

When watching other documentaries such as ‘Supersize Me’, we had noticed that many facts and figures were shown throughout the documentaries so the viewers were aware of information such as problems and statistics. The documentaries was full of first and second hand research and we were hoping to do the same.

Research and Planning

Special EffectsWhen watching ‘Supersize Me’, we had noticed the amount of special effects that Morgan Spurlock had used to keep the audience entertained as well as keeping them interested with the information he was giving out. This was a every effective way of engaging the viewer. We included special effects in our

documentary by blurring a shot and then speeding it up. We wanted to show the amount of people that were walking through the canteen as well as creating enough time to present some facts and figures.

To speed the documentary up we had to increase the percentage of speed. We thought that adding this feature will set our documentary apart from others and will keep the documentary more exciting.

Between the shots we had used various video transitions to make the documentary flow from one shot to another.

Here is an example of a ‘cross dissolve’ that we used at the beginning of our documentary. We decided to use this specific effect to make the title of our documentary stand out and to have a smooth beginning to our documentary.

During Morgan Spurlocks ‘Supersize Me’, there were many montages used which gave the audience an alternate way of learning new facts and figures. It was also very appealing to the eye and stood out in the documentary, making it more memorable.

We decided to take a similar approach by making our own montage to go in our documentary. We thought that this would keep the viewer more entertained by offering them an another way of presenting a documentary.

Our Documentary

Jamie’s Dream School

Supersize Me

Other codes and conventions include name captions that have come up with an interviewer. This is crucial in most documentaries as the viewers will find it helpful knowing the interviewees name. I have compared our documentary with ‘Supersize Me’, ‘Educating Essex’, and ‘Jamie’s Dream School’.

Educating Essex

One of the key codes and conventions of a documentary is visual coding. This includes features such as the mise en scene and props. This also tells us more about a character by the arrangement of scenery and possessions to represent the setting.

In our documentary we have placed the interviewee in front of a whiteboard and some bookshelves. This gives the impression the interview is being filmed in a school setting.

Similarly in ‘Supersize Me’, the doctor is sitting in his office, surrounded by medical equipment and wearing a stethoscope. This presents an obvious sense of him being a doctor.

Double Page SpreadFrom looking at existing magazines such as ‘What’s on TV’ and ‘Radio Times’, we were able to create our own magazine with similar codes and conventions. This is what our final double page spread looks like (left) compared to a ‘What’s on TV’ article (right).

Masthead

Main Image

Stand FirstDrop cap

Additional Show Information

Advertisement

A drop cap is usually found at the beginning of a piece of text. We added a drop cap in our article to make it look more professional.

Most articles have 2 to 3 columns in them. By looking at the article in the ‘What’s on TV’ magazine, we decided to go for a similar layout of using just two columns.

We have also used a pull quote to grab the readers attention and emphasise excerpts of text.

We decided to add a ‘What’s on TV’ logo to make the article look more realistic and to show the readers exactly what magazine we were producing the article for.

It is important to include the date, time and channel of the show on a magazine article so viewers are clear about when they can watch a programme. We decided to use a similar colour pallet as ‘What’s on TV’.

Most images on a double page spread have captions to inform the reader more about what is happening in the picture. As a group we decided to include a caption to make the article look more professional. After looking at existing magazine articles we placed our images in boxes to make them stand out more.

Coverlines are typical conventions of a double page spread therefore we thought it would be sensible to add our own. We decided to add a drop shadow to make the coverline stand out more.

We felt it was important to add social networking sites and websites to the magazine article because the internet is growing vastly and more people are likely to use these sites now. It also gives them a chance to find out more about our documentary.

The masthead is one of the key features of a magazine article as it is probably the largest text on the screen and more likely to catch the readers eye. We decided to use the colour yellow as it is bright and eye-catching.

Radio TrailTo become fully aware of the codes and conventions of a radio trail, we as group listened to many different radio trails and analysed them based on different matters such as audiences, locations and delivery. We listened to trailers from radio stations such as 5 live and Radio 1. From the conclusions we made, we were able to focus on the basics of a radio trail such as length, topic and sounds. Here is an example of a radio trail analysis we have done.

We created our radio trail on Garage Band. We cut extracts down from our documentary and added them into the radio trail as this was a common feature in the previous radio trails that we had analysed. We also added a school bell at the beginning to link in with our topic of education.

We have tried to combine our main product and ancillary texts through numerous, effective ways. We needed to make sure that all three products worked well together as they had to appeal to the same target audience.

Our target audience was mainly parents and careers as they would be sending their children to schools and colleges therefore they would want to know more about what is happening behind the scenes. The documentary could help parents decide what types of schools to choose and the locations, or maybe if education is the best road to go down altogether with the growing demand for vocational courses. We have also tried to interest adult students as they are relevant to the education system and the future of the economy.

Our three products are aimed at no specific religion, race, or disability but at working class families that have planned for their children to attend public schools and colleges. With regards to gender, they are all aimed at both males and females to extend the audience. Psychographics looks at the way people see themselves and the kind of lifestyle they would like to have, this includes succeeders, mainstreamers, individuals, carriers, aspirers, reformers. I feel our documentary is aimed at succeeders and mainstreamers. The succeeders feel secure, generally they are in positions of power. This means that they may have a clear mind set and are in control. The mainstreamers are concerned with stability and security and therefore this documentary would suit them because they would want to try and find the best futures possible for their children.

One of the reasons the documentary is aimed at parents is because the interviews present facts about school and academies that most parents would not know about. We wanted to give them something that they could learn from and adapt to. It also gives an insight of what students feel the ‘quality of education’ is like and puts current situations about schools and colleges into perspective.

I think the documentary is also relevant to the target audience of older students as we discuss issues such as the increase of university tuition fees.

All three product have been brought together by ‘Jake’ who is the voiceover for the documentary as well as the voice for the radio trailer. We have tried to link him into the double page spread by adding ‘JAKE AND THE TEAM INVESTIGATE’. This gives the viewer a clear connection between all three products and sets a stamp for our brand.

We decided to use extracts from the documentary in the radio trail. The clips we used included interviews and vox pops which we hope the viewers can easily recognise in both the radio trail and documentary. Including these clips in the radio trail also helped support the documentary by providing a foundation to the topic.

I feel that our radio trail and double page spread combine together well and they create a good atmosphere, for the documentary, which makes them work efficiently together. Here are a few ways in which the documentary has been promoted through the radio trail and documentary.

The double page spread and radio trail contains essential information about the documentary such as the date, time and what channel the documentary will be broadcasted on.

The radio trail and the magazine double page spread were both used to advertise our documentary therefore we tried our best to try and represent the documentary by adding extracts and clips from it.

We have combined our magazine article with our documentary by using the same or similar images. An example of this is the image of a student working, we used this image in the documentary montage as well as the magazine article which gives a sense of connection. As the magazine article is there to promote the documentary, it was essential that we included some bits from the documentary to give a flavour of what might be coming up. I think this promoted the documentary well.

Magazine Article Documentary

I think the radio trail definitely promotes the documentary well as it sets the theme and subject matter of the documentary. ‘The BBC remains an important part of young people’s media consumption, reaching around 92 per cent of 15 to 34 year olds each week.’ To connect with the appropriate target audience for our documentary (15- 40 year old) we chose to broadcast our radio trail on BBC Radio 1. Also, Radio 1 is one of the most listened to radio stations in the UK which means it is heard by people from all over.

This graph shows that Radio 1 is by far the most versatile between both categories and is attracted the most by 16 to 34 year olds.

All the products are linked together through the target audience. I felt Radio Times would be the most suitable choice of magazine for our double page spread as more than half of it’s readers are aged between 15 and 44. Radio Times is third in the TV listings magazine market which means a larger audience will watch the documentary. This is also a link between the documentary and the double page spread.

We also looked at previous double page spreads in the Radio Times magazine. We had noticed that their articles contained documentaries that were to be aired on channels such as BBC Three and Channel 4. We were satisfied to hear this as our documentary was also going to be broadcasted on Channel 4.

Once we had completed our documentary, radio trail and double page spread, we asked 18 college students various questions about our products. We thought that using a questionnaire would be the most appropriate method of gaining an adequate critique. This helped us find out information about what our best features were and suggestions of ways in which we could improve all three pieces of work.

We asked our sample if they thought the documentary uses the normal conventions of a documentary. We were pleased to find out that they all agreed we did. This meant that we made sufficient use of normal conventions such as interviews, voice over's and music.

The interviews and vox pops were important to the documentary because they are the backbone of a documentary and send out a powerful message. Therefore it was important to try and get the framing correct. Only one person thought we could have improved our framing, this is something we could improve on if we were to create a documentary again.

Documentary

We also asked the students what they liked most about the documentary, we gathered similar results as the previous question as they were impressed with the formal interviews, variety of shots and the montage. Other feedback involved responses such as ‘the documentary flows well and is consistent’, ‘the editing makes it look professional’ and ‘the relevant information keeps the documentary interesting.’ It was rewarding to see such fantastic comments as we had put a lot of effort into these details.

Since our topic was education, we asked if our documentary relates to the subject well. We received many positive comments such as ‘lots of detailed shots of colleges and books’, ‘appropriate interviews with plenty of information’ and ‘good use of shots, facts, figures and opinions.’ This was satisfying to hear as the main purpose of the documentary was to get a message across in various contexts.

The music that we chose for our documentary was quite relaxed and light-hearted as we wanted it to play throughout and set at different volumes. However, 11% of the students disagreed with our taste of music and stated that we could have included alternate upbeat music.

We asked questions about the audio in our documentary such as the voice over's and consistent volumes.

The results were divided as people thought there was still room for improvement. The students said that in the voiceover some of the words had been mumbled and that the music in the background sometimes drowned out the sound of the voiceover.

There was also a divide between the students when asked if the volumes were consistent. 17% of them said they were not where as 83% claimed they were. This is something I think we could improve on if we were to do the documentary again.

An essential part of our documentary was to send out a message to the viewers, we felt that this was important and therefore asked the students if the documentary has taught them anything new. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that everyone had learnt at least one new thing. Some of these answers included, ‘I have learnt more about the significance of academies, the funding process and how they effect the future of education’ and ‘the documentary has opened my eyes to different statistics and change in exams at GCSE’.

According to our audience feedback, our documentary also had some room for improvement . When asked if there was anything you dislike about the documentary there were two dominant answers. The found footage that we had chosen of David Cameron was bit blurry which made the documentary difficult to see. Also, we had decided to include a background track throughout the documentary which people were not too keen on as other audio parts in the documentary could not be heard properly.

Similarly, when we asked how we could improve the documentary, we received similar answers such as replacing the David Cameron interview with better found footage. We were also suggested to either turn the music down during interviews and vox pops or completely get rid of the background tracks through these sections. Finally, we were advised to make the documentary more entertaining and upbeat as there was lots of talking and interviews. We have learnt a lot from the audience feedback for our documentary with good constructive criticisms.

Radio TrailWe also asked the students questions about our radio trail. From the feedback we have received I feel we could have done better. When asked if the trailer made you want to watch the documentary, 13 out of 18 replied yes. This showed that the trail was pleasurable for the majority of people.

The sound levels are important in a radio trail as there are no visuals to look at and people are concentrating on what can be heard. Out of the 18 students, only 1 person claimed the sound levels were not up to a decent standard. Although we had to take this into account we were pleased to know that for the most part of the group, the sound levels were satisfying.

Similarly, we were happy to know from the audience feedback that the music worked with the voiceover. This was crucial as we did not want either component to clash with one another. All of the students agreed that the voiceover worked with the music.

We also questioned the students about what they liked and disliked the most about our radio trail and these were our results.

Like Dislike The bell at the beginning gives a

good effect as the radio trail is based on education.

The extracts make the trail sound more appealing and professional.

The music goes well with the topic. Good use of audios.

There are a lot of interviews. Could have done with more

voiceover. The music was a bit loud. There was some loud background

noises on some of the vox pops.

From these results we think there is a problem with our sound levels and the amount of interview extracts that we have used. However we were pleased to receive positive

feedback as well.

Double Page SpreadWe asked the students what they liked the most about the double page spread and we obtained a mixture of positive and encouraging answers. These answers for the double page spread included comments such as ‘colourful, vibrant, powerful, images go well with the topic, the social networking section stands out, the layout looks impressive, looks very professional, framed images stand out, appears quite informative.’

We tried to make the double page spread as realistic as possible by looking at real life magazines. When we asked the students if the magazine featured the normal conventions of a TV magazine they all said yes which was pleasing.

We tried to add lots of information on the double page spread that would stand out and catch the readers eye. We put this to the test by asking the students if the double page conveyed enough information. All 18 students said yes which was gratifying.

In contrast to this we asked the students what they disliked and how the double page spread could be improved. One student stated that there was too much writing on the page and it could be cut down.

Popular answers for improvements on the double page spread were to use a different colour for the masthead, especially for the word ‘GOOD’ as it cannot be seen very clearly. In addition to this, some students have suggested to use a better image.

Before starting our documentary we had carried out various forms of research and planning. This was important to the production process and helpful for us as we were able brainstorm ideas before making any final decisions. We had produced a list of suggestions we could base our documentary on and we were able to contemplate the realistic factors that go into making a documentary, i.e. resources, access to interviewees and relevant places film. We worked out the pros and cons for each idea we thought of and decided to stick to the topic of ‘Education’. As education is quite a broad topic we had to chose a specific area and taking all things into consideration, we chose to base our documentary on the quality of education. This allowed us to then begin our research by looking on the internet and various news websites to get the latest information.

Research and Planning

As well as finding research about what to include in our documentary, we also had to learn more about what types of documentaries are broadcasted on what channels. We looked at many different documentaries that were shown on BBC Three, Channel 4 and BBC One. We had to chose a channel that would more than likely be able to broadcast our documentary based on education.

To view the documentaries on these channels we used on demand services such as BBC iPlayer and Channel 4 On Demand. Some of the documentaries were no longer on these sites as they were broadcasted many years ago so we had to watch them on YouTube which was beneficial.

Here are some links to some documentaries we have watchedJamie's Dream School – YouTube

Educating Essex - YouTube

We also looked at websites such as BARB, this was useful as we were able to see the viewing figures of documentaries which varied with each channel and the time of when the documentary was shown.

It seemed sensible to chose Channel 4 as the channel to broadcast our documentary on education because many of their own documentaries were based on education such as ‘Educating Essex’ and ‘Jamie’s Dream School’. Also their target audience were more likely to be parents and young adults therefore we chose Channel 4.

From all of the research we had gathered and arranged, we were able to upload it onto a website called blogger.com. Each individual in the group had access to this so we were able to upload our own work into one blog and bring our ideas together.

Before placing our work on Blogger, we had to upload our work onto Scribd and Slideshare first. The research and planning we produced on Microsoft Word was uploaded on Scribd and we used Slideshare for the work we had constructed on PowerPoint.

From all the research and planning we had gathered from the internet and other documentaries, we were able to produce storyboards for our own documentary. The storyboards described the type of shots and angles as well as what was meant to be occurring in that specific shot. This gave us something to work towards when filming for our documentary.

FilmingWe carried on our research and planning into the next stage by helping us pick out specifically what to film. To record our shots we used a Canon HG20 HD Camera which allowed us to use various features such as ‘white balance’ which gave us more lighting and the zoom and focus which was useful because it gave us more effects to play with.

Here we filmed an out of focus shot on the camera.

We wanted to make our documentary as professional as possible and therefore we used a tripod to capture the best shots. This was particularly useful when we were filming interviews and vox pops because we needed the camera to be still and positioned in the correct angle. It was also convenient and effective for filming establishing shots as we were able to zoom and pan shots easily without the camera shaking.

As well as capturing the visuals, we needed equipment to record the audio such as the sound for vox pops, interviews and the voiceover. To do this we used a directional microphone which helped prevent the amount of background noise. To make sure the sound levels were suitable, we were able to listen to what we had filmed by plugging in headphones to the camera.

When producing the main product and ancillary texts we used five different types of software.

Final Cut

InDesign

We have used Microsoft Word to write scripts for voiceovers, to create mindmaps and to gather evidence of research and planning.

We have used Microsoft Excel to create graphs and charts for results of questionnaires.

I have used Microsoft PowerPoint to create an evaluation of the three tasks we have been producing over the past few months.

Editing: The DocumentaryOnce we had finished all of our filming, we uploaded all of the clips onto an Apple iMac from the camera. This was a simple procedure as all we had to do was copy the files over to our media drive. We used Final Cut Express to edit and start arranging our documentary. The very first stage of this was to 'Log and Transfer' all of the clips we had filmed and could potentially use in the documentary.

We labelled our clips so it would make it easier for us when we were editing. Once every clip had been logged and transferred, we were able to begin editing.

To cut some off the clips down we had to use the razor blade tool. This was useful to crop interviews and vox pops down so that we could fit in other shots.

Our unedited clips

Visual clips for

documentary

TimeAudio

Editing tools

Window for viewing the documentaryMontage images

Final Cut

To construct the montage we had to begin with taking photos of objects and subject names that we thought were relevant to the documentary.

After uploading them onto the computer we had to ‘Insert Tracks’ for each photo we took, as shown in the diagram.

By lengthening each shot a few milliseconds more than the previous, we were able to create a montage.

When combining our interview and vox pop audios with our background music sound levels, it was important that the background music did not overpower the rest of the clip.

To adjust the sound levels we simply had to drag the pink line up and down until the sound levels were balanced. Regulating the sound levels was practical because we were able to fade in and out of the music and interviews when we wanted to. It was also important to keep the sound levels consistent.

Audio from interviews, vox pops and voiceovers

Background music

The background music was made and put together on garage band and then exported as an mp3 into Final Cut. We then had to add it into our audio timeline.

Whilst using Final Cut we had learnt how to increase and decrease the speed of a clip. This was useful for some of the shots we had taken such speeding up the clip of students walking into the canteen. We did this to emphasise the amount of people that were walking through the canteen. We had condensed the clip from two minutes to a few seconds. To change the speed was very simple, we just had to change the percentage. We also blurred the shot to make it out of focus as we thought this would give the clip a better effect. Decreasing the speed was equally as handy as some of our establishing shots were taken too quickly. This allowed the audience to capture the shot properly.

Another skill we have developed is the use of transitions. Through most of the documentary we have used straight cuts because this is what most real documentaries use, however, we have added cross dissolves in the beginning of the documentary to make it look more appealing and to let the clips flow from one to another.

The wireframe in the canvas allowed us to position a shot so that it was centred. It was also useful for zooming into a shot and getting rid of any unwanted edges. We used this tool to centre David Cameron and this shot of books.

As well as the background music, the radio trail was also produced in GarageBand therefore it made the process easier to handle. We decided to include the most interesting statements and facts from the documentary so the radio trail will attract more viewers. In addition to this we included some more voiceover which stated the date and time of the documentary's broadcasting.

Editing: Radio Trail

There was a huge variety of music and rhythms we could choose from. Unlike the background music, we made the music for the radio trail more catchy and electronic so it would be memorable for the listeners.

To repeat a track we simply had to drag the edge of the clip out.

GarageBand was easy to use as we just had to drag the sound levels up and down. This was useful because we had to turn the volume of music down for the parts where our voiceover, interviewees and vox pops were speaking. It allowed us to fade out some beats and rhythms at the beginning and end which gave a interesting effect.

We also had to position the interview clips and music chronologically so they didn’t clash and overpower one another.

Editing: Magazine ArticleTo produce our double page spread we used Adobe InDesign. This program was useful because it helped us produce an article which looked quite professional.

This is what the development of our double page spread looks like.

We learnt how to add drop caps so our double page spread will look more realistic.

Before starting our double page spread we took a picture that we would use as a main image. We then used Adobe Photoshop to alter this image so that the double page spread could have the best possible picture. To do this we had to change the brightness and contrast.

By looking at existing magazine articles, we noticed that most of them use a drop shadow. This makes the magazine look more professional and therefore we added a drop shadow to most of our text on the article to make the writing stand out.

To make the masthead stand out more we changed the opacity of the word ‘GOOD’ and added a yellow stroke to it. We were hoping that this would emphasise the title a bit more.

To stick with the theme of education, we decided to write our article on a piece of ripped paper. We scanned the piece of paper and changed the ‘levels’ down to 0 so that none of the lines on the paper could be seen. We then added our article text on top to complete the look.

We also used the ripped paper effect on the images at the top so the double page spread would look more consistent.