AS Practice Documentary

The Introduction will show you two documentaries that I have analysed to see what the codes and conventions of documentaries and you will see a quick small documentary I created in a group to practise and have a go at making a documnetary. The documentary is about mobile phones.


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CONVENTIONS OF FILMING AND EDITING INTERVIEWS

In Documentaries there a remany ccodes and coventions that makes a documentary suite the theme of the subject of the Documentary as well as looking professional. There are two documentary videos below with conventions that I have seen in the videos that to me makes it look like a documentary.

In The Teeth of Jaws
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Firts of all i noticed the setting of the interviews, they had mise en scene that related to the movie Jaws. They used:
. Ocean background
. Cut out of a shark as a background
. Posters of the movie Jaws in background

The documentary didnt have any random people talking about Jaws, they had the people who were involved in making the film. E.g. Director, Producer, Author, Actors, Screenwriters etc.
Graphics also used with the theme of Jaws, attacking the screen, plus used as the pop up of the interviewee's name and Job Occupation.
Throughout the documentary there will be cutaways to either the sea, scripts and scenes from the movie to emphasize and give more meaning to what is being said by the interviewee.
Cutaways of actual footage of using the electrical shark to show more depth of what the problems they had to overcome while making the movie.
Cutaways of them making the movie to show what it was like on the set of the movie
Music of Jaws is in the atmosphere that the interviewees explain about Jaws, so the theme tune of Jaws will be playing, then when its calm there will be calm sounds.

The Simpsons 20th anniversary in 3D on Ice
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First of all The Simpsons documentary started with its theme tune, however to make it look more like a documetary they have cuts of the theme song being played by other people with all types of instruments, so cutting to the theme scene to people playing the song with different instruments. Added with people making some comments on The Simpsons. The mise en scene of the interveiwing setting is again in tune with the documentary of The Simpsons. Thats because you can see Simpson cutouts behind the interviewee's or you will see them in offices but they will be realted to the Simpsons in some way. Example 'Kent Brockman' in Simpsons used in an interview comparing him to news reporter. The interviewee is in NBC studios answering the questions.We have the interviews were interviewees are saying how The Simpsons changed the way animated cartoons are today and how it has impacted the global audience. E.g. Seth McFlarrenInterviews with the creator himself Matt Groening to ask what he makes of the Simpsons.Then we have interviews with the Actors with their character cutouts behind them to emphasize who they play in the Simpsons, so it makes itself clear to the audience who they are.E.g. Marge Simpson played by Julie Kavner (cutout of Marge Simpson behind Julie in interview)A narrator who is explaining what is going on throughout the documentaryAlso there are cutaways to actual Simpson episodes to give more meaning to whats been said with some humerous reasons as well to add more entertainment to the documentarty, which also helps make more sense of what the narrator is explaining so the viewers can understand whats going on.Showing footage of the global success of The Simpsons, The presenter going around to different countries to talk how the Simpsons has impact their country. Sometimes in a good way or in a bad way. So if the presenter went around to different countries to make this documentary, it would have taken months to complete the documentary.Raw footage of simpson merchandise to show success with still pictures that have the narrator explaining about them.Since there is a presenter talking and looking at the camera makes it more like a documentary because it looks like he is talking to us the viewers.Vox Pops of general public saying who is their favorite character and why they like Simpsons, they are quick scenes that quickly move on.Sound of the Simpsons Documentary stays with the modd that is set, music that is happy etc.Clever cuts graphics to open next scenes e.g. Marges hair going past the screen or a donut rolling past the screen.Funny Simpsons scenes to highlight the funny parts of the documentary.


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MOBILE DOCUMENTARY AND EVALUATION

Planning and Research

Well we quickly made a mide map of what we were gonna need in the documentary, so we knew that we needed cutaways of phones and people using them. Plus we had to get someone to interview. Plus we decided to interview our interviewee in front of a blue screen so we caould put mobile pictures as the background for the interviews. We didn't do much research because we had a really limited time in doing the quick documentary so we just had to get everything we needed and start the filming process.

Filming Process

So the first thing we film was the interview, once we got that out of the way we could get all our cutaways done. In the interview filimbg all we did was have the interviewee look past the camera answering question about mobiles that we were giving her. Once the interview was done we started getting tracking shots of phones in close up shots. Recorded people on the phones sat on fields and students using their phones so that we could give meaning to what our interviewee was saying. Once that was all done we went to the edit suite to start uploading our recordings and starting editing them together.

Editing

When we started to edit our documetary togther we had to first we had to use the razor tool on adobe premiere to cut up the interview so that we could split the questions up and separate them so that we could add cutaways between them and to make the documnetary longer as well. With the editing we had to was add the photos of the mobiles for the blue screen. and then we had to find some music and add it to the documentary to help set the atmosphere.

Evaluation

As a first documentary i would say it was a successful first documentary because it has the interview that anwsers questions about mobile phones. It has mise en scene that is in the same theme of the documentary and the music is alright of keeping a chill and relaxed atmosphere. The cutaways are fairly decent and I think they doo help with giving more meaning to what is being said, but sometimes I don't think I got decent cutaways that were more relevant to what was being said. The graphics - Blue Screen, the only problem was that the background has overlapped the recording so now the interviewee looks like she is floating, next time I would have checked the settings and fixed that problem. So in conclusion I think the for a first documentary that was done for a short period of time that it was fairly a success.

Reasearch and Planning & Codes and Conventions of Documentaries

Research Notes on Documentaries

So a 'Documentary' is a document off an event being recording with evidence attached to it to make sense of what is being said in the document and can have 'Actual Footage' being used. In Documentaries they can use 'Reconstructions' of events that have happened to give more in depth meaning to what is being said. Plus there can be a 'Voice-Over' in the Documentary explain what is being shown on the screen to the audience watching. However over the years the definition of 'Documentary' has become 'Problematic'. Numerous of documentaries resemble elements of the truth but can have elements that a fictitious from facts from an interviewee. As the viewers watch those types of documentaries, it leads to questions of realism in the documentary. Documentaries are distinguished by a portrayal of records and sound and images of actuality.

"JOHN CORNER" 1995

"giving a factual account of an event does not always means giving actual footage, some documentaries are partly staged, using actors and sets to evoke feelings for audience."

In most documentaries there are HIGH LEVELS of 'Reconstruction' used in them. Documentaries don't necessarily have to be about 'analysis' on a subject, but can be 'descriptive' which gives the viewer to decide on their own opinion.
The Documentary was define by:

"JOHN GRIERSON" & and his team GPO "General Post Office" in t 1930s
The definition was that a documentary is 'a creative treatment of actuality'.

YouTube - Housing Problems 1935 needed
YouTube - Coal Face 1935 needed

In the 1930s documentaries were used to target cinema audience since TVs weren't invented yet. These documentaries were used then to boost morale at war times which did have government investment in the documentaries.

Also scheduling a documentary is important and very tricky because you have make sure you get viewers so you have to get the prime time slots of the audience so that get viewers. In documentaries they tend to use emotional stories to get the audiences attention. As well as offering balanced opinions in the subject of the documentary sot hat the viewers can make up their own minds. Documentaries are more renowned for their investigative journalism which usually opposes the government. Within documentaries how creative should they be? and how important is 'Authenticity'? But it is impossible to catch every actual event in their raw states, therefore some elements are faked. So that means that some creative roles are taken to help reconstruct scenes from an interviewee point of view.

"Diane Tammes, Film Maker"
"She says that everyone who makes a film is putting their own truth on the screen that they have therefore researched"

However they are arguments over a 'True Documentary'. That's because there are sub-genres that fit the tern documentary. There must be:

: elements of recorded images
: sounds of actual reality
: Not just Facts
: Social critical opinions that can provoke the audience

You see 'Current Affair Programmes' are half way between a 'Documentary' and the 'News'. Deep analysis of an issue, can range to a couple of minutes, but to 30 Minutes or longer is in the more traditional length of a documentary. Weity issues and social problems will be discussed, and sensible issue to the broader audience.

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John Corner say that there are five 'Central Elements' of a documentary and they are:

. Observation
. Mise-En-Scene
. Interview
. Exposition
. Dramatization

OBSERVATION
Most Documentaries contain observation where the programme makers pretend the camera isn't there or it is unseen. In which case the camera is the eye-witness.

INTERVIEW
This relies on having one on one interviews that has pictures dubbing over what interviewee is saying to make sense of what is being said and anchoring the meanings. Interviews are used in two ways:

1. A Full Flowing Interview
2. Place interview in segments in between elements of observation

DRAMATIZATION
All documentaries use drama to give more meaning to what is being said. This dramatization makes it look like the audience is an eye-witness to the dramatic events taking place. When recording the drama it has to take place naturally in front on the camera. Drama can take form of reconstruction, but should be based on facts.

MISE-EN-SCENE
Documentaries have to really consider the mise-en-scene to ensure that it allows the drama to unfold. Mise-en-Scene is also used to advance the argument of exposition

EXPOSITION
This is the line of argument that is made up of description, combined with commentary. Which can be plain or direct, indirect or hidden. Then it can have the Narrator telling the audience what to think, though it may be done by observational sequences. However it always has the observational sequence from one side of someone point of view.
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But with current affair programmes they have a shorter deadline than documentaries because documentaries take months to complete. CAP are more into providing to infor-tainment. In which the public have the right to know what the documentaries are made for and why. Documentaries usually gain much authority from connections they have with the 'Democratic Process'.

This was the case for Ken Looachs
Documentary - Cathy come Home BBC 1966 video needed)

This documentary helped make improvements of the homeless. However documentaries rarely question the deeper organization and fairness of society. Plus,

"it is critical that film makers be rid of the fantasy that documentaries can be an unproblematic representation of reality and the truth that can be conventionally dispensed and received like Valium." - 'Dennis O'Rourke'

This can have ideas of reality and truth conflicting at times that can attract counter claims of lies. In which 'Corner' believes evidence rather than truth would help with this problem. That were he stated that recording technologies can trace physical world. Traces can be used as evidence of actuality or reality. So evidence can support the exposition. Sometimes only one side of the story is played out with the witness that fights for one side of the story to be told. Which shows documentaries representing the transformed world.
Also when it comes down to it documentaries are the first shows to get cancelled if commercial channels find money. The documents that are a winner with the public are:

. Sex

. Violence

. Law & Order

But controversial documentaries are not popular with the TV networks as they may offend advertisers. That makes a documentary a three-way process, of what people in the doc its aimed at, people who are in it and the reactions from audience after watching the documentary. Documentaries about society victims for example and they side with the victim to protect their side. In those doc's they will use humans as evidence in exposition like big brother for example, but the controversial doc can have people complain about whats on TV and say why its wrong.

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Types of Documentaries:

FULLY NARRATED






This type of documentary has a direct mode of address which is an off screen voice over, that makes sense of visuals. Example of this is a nature documentaries. The voice over usually has a sense of authority - "Voice of God".

FLY ON THE WALL




Draw on cinema but mostly observational documentary that has no commentary or narration, its just the cameras left to record subjects without interface. sometimes the camera will uncover something chilling. Also the camera affects behavior of the subjects. To create meaning to this type of documentary depends of the process of editing.

MIXED




Mixture of observational and narrative to advance the exposition. Which gives contrast of the God voice of narration which often adopts a modern news reporting style. Also has the 'Journalist' speaking too.

SELF REFLECTIVE

This one is where the person acknowledges the presence of the camera and speaks directly to the film-maker, talking to the interviewer who is behind the camera. Critics say this is a confusing way to do a documentary because it makes the documentary look more about the film-maker than the subject it meant to be about.

DOCUDRAMA

(get a video) hillsbrough documentary )

This is a Reinactment of events that are based on the truth. has style-elements of argument and exposition are combined with fictional narrative, with the story based on facts.

DOCUSOAPS

Its a phenomenon of recent years where it follows daily lives of people in a range of different jobs or positions in society. E.g. airports, cruise liners, however there are disputes that if these doc's are actuality documentaries. But they are very popular and cheap to create.

DISNEYFICATION

Steven Barnett has blamed the docusoaps for dumbing down the real issues of documentaries and choosing to win ratings and with ratings friendly topics.
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Planning Our Doc

.Topic is important
. Use influences from your own lives from your own experiences
. Choose manageable topics
. Newspapers, magazines, notice boards and check what you can document
. Try and have some knowledge on your chosen topic
. Try not to have any emotional attachments to subject

VISUALS
Got to think about what can be shown, what will be your evidence to back up your opinions, get action based pictures or static ones. Make sure to use archive footage.

INTERVIEWS
Can hold the interviews anywhere you like but try to make sure the settings affect the meanings of the documentary to the viewers. Plus home interview can make the interviewee feel more comfortable in their own environment, when doing it outside make the interview more anonymous. Sometimes unusual settings can add drama. Make sure to start off with factual questions then move to questions that need more details.

VOX POPS
These can and must be used as a light and humerus interviews, they can give a sense of relief from the hard facts. Example street interviews of the general public.

NARRATIVE CONVENTIONS
Have to have a clear beginning, middle and end with the central questions being ask at the beginning of the documentary with some dramatic footage at the beginning.
The middle should be complicated and mostly compelling and should focus on the peoples opinion. Then present a blockage to leave the viewer more interested to find out more.
The end should make the exposition completely apparent with some sort of a resolution
Make sure there is conflict in different peoples views and beliefs and highlight the conflicts with narrative conventions.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF DOCUMENTARIES

. Observations
. Relevant Cutaways
. Interviews
. Evidence
. Conflict in the Middle of Documentary
. Archive Footage
. Resolution at End of documentary
. Natural Interview Sounds
. Beginning of DOC - Fun, Fast Paced Editing to Attract Audiences to Watch
. Questions asked at beginning of Documentary
. Vox Pops
. Close Ups of people of Importance
. High angle shots of town, cities etc.. (Establishing Shots)
. Relevant Backgrounds in Interviews
. Static Cameras used
. Simple Graphics introducing Interviewee - only shown up to 1 - 3 seconds
. Sound Effects of Relevance to documentary theme e.g Tomb Raider documentary sound from the game being used
. Background Music to build an atmosphere to the documentary
. Narration - "The Voice of God"
. Eye line the third away down in framing of the interviews
. Always have cutaways
. Interviewee needs to be on one side of the screen looking past the camera
. Some documentaries use fades
. Lighting coming from behind the camera
. Voice Over used
. Exposition made clear
. Use reconstruction to help emphasizes whats being said
. SFX used
. Location Shots
. Mise en Scene - made relevant
. Variety of interviews are used
. Natural Sound
. Variety of Camera Angles
. The Editing is Appropriate to the documentary Running Order
. Opening Titles at the beginning
. No questions heard in the interviews
. The interviewee names pops up first to verify interviewee

Genre Analysis

This section has documentary analysis of Documentaries that we have watch:

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1. The Devil Made Me Do It

TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY
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This documntary wasa 'Mixewd Documenatry because it used observational footage of kids at 'Marylon Manson's' concerts. Some of them were used as evidence to support what was being said by the interviewee or the narrator which was also used in the documentary. So the voice over pushes the narrative forward and even reconstructions were used to dramatize what was being said.

THEMES
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The themes in this documentary are murder where a nun was killed which then ends up having a religious theme, and since the nun was killed by teenagers that has become a theme as well as youth rebellion. I.e. Marylon Manson fans. That then includes music and the effects of media has on the youth.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
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At the begininig of the documentary there are opening scenes to attract and interest the viewer to watch the documentary. The documentary starts off with saying that a murder took place on a 'NUN' that was unprovoked and had no motives for her to be killed. This is to leave the viewer wanting to know more and see why she was killed.
In the middle the killers were idendified as teenagers, which lead to finding out reasons and influences that lead the girls to such as violent act. One Influence that came about was Marylon Manson who is a 'SATAN WORSHIPPER' and writes and sings rock and dark songs.
By the end of the documnetray a resolution was resolved by hearing that the teenaged girls had been sentence for their crimes and final thoughts of the interviewee's and giving their different opinions on what they think caused these girls to do such a thing.

CAMERAWORK
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There are a numerous camera angles used in this documentary, such as low angle shots up at Marylon Manson while he is at his concert. This signifies that he is all powerful and has all the people in the concert under his influence. Furthermore makes him look like a 'GOD'. Plus we have High angle shots used over the town the nun was murdered in, this gives connotations that the town is vulnerable because of the act that has taken place and how everyone is in shock by it. There is also a canted angle shot that has been used in a reconstruction with the teenaged girls explaining the murder. So that signifies to the viewers the confusing and how wrong this act was because the camera isn't up porperly. Plus its like its putting you in the nun shoes with the blurry effect showing the confusion the nun would have been while she was attacked. Throughout the documentary there were lots of close ups on graffiti and inverted crosses to help give more meaning and depth to what certain interviewee's are saying.

MISE-EN-SCENE
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The 'Psychologist' was wearing red which signified that she had power because she looked clean and presented herself as very strong. Shows that she wanted to know the reasons and how Marylon Manson might influence young teenagers even without him meaning too. The setting of the interviewees you can see there are in their own enviroment, e.g. bedrooms or homes. This is relevent to the documentary because of the situation that has happened. So it gives connotaions of them feeling safe in their homes as well as protection from the dangers from the outside.
Then we had setting of marylon Mansons concerts. This setting was all dark which signified darkness and evil, and what he wears on stage has connotations of the devil and hatred of the church. Plus the clothes of what the fans are wearing which is all white painted faces with black make-up on their eyes and lips with black clothing. The black clothing again signifies darkness and the white make-up can mean death and supporting it can be signified as worshipping the devil. Furthermore since all the young people a wearing similar clothes to Marylon manson can show how he has influenced or brainwashed the kids to believe what he believes.
Plus we see two sides to Marylon Manson, the singing of him at his concerts where he is acting controversial and hating on teh Church and the part of Marylon where he is wearing none of his costumes and is visiting 'Vaticans', which leaves confusion on what he is being controversial on.

SOUND
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First of all we have church music which helps emphasize the meaning that a nun has been murdered and tells the viewer right away that this documentary is going to be about religion etc. In the reconstruction the reconstruction of the murder was more about sound rather then visuals. Like you could hear a knife sounds and other noises that went through the murder to dramatize what the nun was going through and to make the viewers feel sorrow and pity for the nun. Obviously Marylon Manson's music was used showing him at his concerts etc. The clash between his music and the churches music shows the conflict between them in the documentary.As well as showing you what might be influencing and brainwashing young people into violent beliefs. There where also natural sounds from the streets and birds to show some calm of the streets of the town, so to signify the calm after the storm. Then we have a heartbeat at the reconstruction of the murder. The heartbeat gradually going slower why the girls explain the murder which dramatizes what they did and gives a chilling feel to what they are saying.

EDITING
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There were lots of cutaways that was relevant to what was being said, this helps give more meaning to what is being said from hearing as well as visually to make more sense of the story. We also see match on actions in Marylon Mansons concerts. You can tell because the camera will cut to different cameras but will always saty looking at where the action is which in this case is Marylon Manson on stage performing his songs. there were also eyeline matches that were disoriantated at the nun murder sequence to make you feel what the nun might of been feeling when she was being killed. Also had some long takes, but they were mostly establishing shots of the town so that the viewer knows where the murder was taken place. Then we did have some fast pace editing to build tension and excitement and we also had slow pace editing which helped dramatize certain scene, i.e. the nun reconstruction.

ARCHIVE MATERIAL
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Marylon Manson music videos are Archive footage and you can watch his 'SWEET DREAMS' music video at the top of this post. This helps give more meaning to what type of music he puts out into the world and why he does it. Footage of the trial the teenaged girls had to go through which is evidence showing the viewer that the nun being murdered is in fact a true story. We have some archive footage of Marylon Mansons concerts but most of them in this documentary were observational. There is archive footage of what I presume is the NUN FUNERAL which emphasizes how upsetting this act was on the people of that town.

GRAPHICS
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There were only simple graphics used in this documentary, this is so that the graphics won't take attention away from what is being said. Plain white text used to introduce the interviewee's and theur occupation. Plus used as subtitles to the girl describing what they did to the nun. Reason for that was so the viewer can understand and to make sure they dont miss a word of what they did to show that much more on how guilty those teenaged girls are in their murderous act.

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2. Marketing Movies BBC2 Education Documentary

TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY
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This is a mixed documentary because it has archive footage of movies such as 'Mouse Hunt' as well as trailer and other films footage like 'The Little Mermaid'. It also has observational sequences of movie premieres and cameras looking at the movies stars and getting little interviews from them. Plus narration is ysed to explain what is on the screen so that the viewer can understand more in depth of what is being said.

THEMES
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The themes in this documentary are about Marketing films around the world, as well as persuation. Also about the target audience of the films and how to attract certain types of ages groups to come see the film. Plus how posters can help get a success full marketting campaign. The rest of the themes are advertising and publishing.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
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Begining of the documentary you get the question asked so that the viewer knows what the documentary is about. Then we get told how important marketting is for films and that added with beaty tune makes it look fun and interesting to watch which attracts viewers.
Middle slows down the fun ffrom the beginning to give a bit more of a serious atmosphere, which then leads to the importance of marketting and how money is sed during marketing with evidence of cutaways to give the viewers facts on what is being said. Example of cutaways is 'MouseHunt'.
Ending is about how they marketed Mousehunt and how they made the posters and trailers persuasive to the movie consumers so that they will go and watch it. They did use stuff like Publisity, which was interviews with the stars of the films and posters and trailers to tease the target audience to come and watch the film.

CAMERAWORK
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Close up in interviews with static camera used. Deep focus to see posters in the background posters which goes into shallow focus to see the intervieweee. High angles looking down on Londin to show its the filming capital of the UK. Close ups of tickets and money from people going to see films. Close ups of posters and what elements are important in a poster.

MISE-EN-SCENE
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Posters in the backgrounds of interviews are relevant to the documentary with the interviews in places that are relevant in marketing, that helps achor the meaning. Cinemas setting off premieres of film with famous faces showing upp that helps publisize films. Everything was pretty much set in London the Uk capital of filming. No American voice over narration which it should have since they are experts on film marketing.

SOUND
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First of all we have Natural sound which tell the auddience that this interview has real answers and truth. There was a music bed throughout the documentary to make the whole show seem exciting with upbeat music near begining and end. However sound was underused in this documentary.

EDITING
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At the begining of the documentary you have quick cuts to make the documentary look interesting straight away to get the viewer interested in the show. Throoughout you have cutaways from interviews and film footage etc.. that helps make the vviewer more intrigued on what the documentary about. All cutaways are relevant to what is being said so that the viewers can understand the explainations. Fade is used in the interview from a man talking to another interview which makes it look very amateur. Superimposition is used to show graphics in a scene to visualizes what is being said to make it more undetsatndable to the viewer on what is being said. Plus dissolves where also used and this is usually used to show time passing by in a interview to miss out the less important things that are being said.

ARCHIVE FOOTAGE
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Actual film Footage is being used such as 'MouseHunt' & 'The little Mermaid' etc. Also with trailers of lion king and more.This helps suport what is being said. There a actuality and observational footage of premiere nights with famous stars coming to watch the film that is soon to be released. All this used as evidence.

GRAPHICS
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The graphics were used constantly in this documentary showing the interviewees names and job occupations. Plus a little cartooon clamping a film action tool which is aimed at the target audience of the more younger generation. Used box graph graphics to show how marketing is done.

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3.The Music Biz

TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY
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This is another mixed documentary becasue its has interviews that are relevant and has narration and observational sequences with archive footage of relevance to the music biz.

THEMES
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Meatloaf the singing artist is a main theme of this documentary and how important it was at their time to get a christmas number one single. Plus as well as marketing and music in general as the main themes of this documentary.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
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Begining your given a little information about the music buisness to see if it interest the viewer as well as seeing 'Meatloafs' change of Image over the years. That added with a little conflict from little cut interviews of peoples opinions on marketting music.
The Middle you see Meatloaf explaining on how to relaunch himself to get his career back on track. Then we see more conflict about how Meatloaf went about doing that, like how he had to remorgage his houses to pay for his new single video release.
The Ending the resolution is that all the sacrifice Meatloaf made had paid off because his music video became number one for 8 weeks and even all the money problems paid off.

CAMERAWORK
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There are lots of close ups in Meatloafs interview which signifies that he is the star of the documentary and how he is more important than anyone else in the documentary. There are some close ups of some people of importance. As well there are mid shots in the interviews we can show less importance but they do have something to say in the documentary. Medium shots of celebrities accepting awards to be shown as evidence of winning music awards. Also have panning shots following people again with importance. There is also interaction with eh camrea man where he nods the camera to answer a question. Zooms used to get in close to see Meatloaf and used on Meatloaf conferences.

MISE-EN-SCENE
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Grean/blue screen was used as the backdrop in the interviews that was showing backgrounds that were relevant to the documentary. We saw the settings of Meatloafs photoshoots and music videos that shows his style of music. We can see who he characterises as when he puts on his make-up. Award cerormony settings that look extravigant to show its a special occasion where stars are winning awards. That where Meatloaf gets the press coverage as well as recieving awards. This documentary is set in the London and LA scene, so big cities.

SOUND
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We again have natural sound from the interviews and then a narrator that is guiding the viewers throughout the documentary. Since the documentary is about the music biz we hear tracks from the charts from the 1900s. We also here Meatlaofs Track and some village music used. Again with the natural sound in the press conference. Sound FX we hear is a heartbeat in the background and this is to build tension as well as emphasize how important is was at that time to get a number single.

EDITING
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Reverse and reverse cut to show maybe the conflict of who is more important between Meatloaf or the Director or can show what there relationship is like. Relevant cutaways shot of Meatloafs music videos and archive footage to enforce facts to what is being said. Fast pace editing at the begining again to make the documentary look exciting to show what the documentary is about with little snippets of interviews and cutaways. We also have a dissolve that to give a little break from the interview for a minute.

ARCHIVE MATERIAL
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Footage of Meatloafs music viideo as evidence and his concerts as well to be used and show the viewers why he is famous. We also see the Mr Blobby video which is used as evidence to show what song Meatloaf had to face against for the christmas number one. Then we have award ceremonies to see music artists winning awards for thei music. Plus we see 'TAKE THAT' music video, and also grammies footage and conferences all again used to enforce what is being said throughout the documentary.

GRAPHICS
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Simple graphic text to show names and job occupations of the interviewees. But the opoening titles of magazines showing faces of people and looks fancy graphics, which makes the documentary look fun and exciting.

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4. Lara Croft that Thing

TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY
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This documentary is another mixed docuemntary because it has archive footage of the Lara Croft game itself as well as clips from the movie that was doone. Plus had narration to explain observational sequences of for example people playing the game. Then we have the interviews from people who are in relevance to the game Lara Croft like the creatorr of the game.

THEMES
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Well the themes in this documentary is first of all games and star icons. It then has themes of feminism, sexual fantasies and girl power. Especially the effects of the media because Lara Croft became a celebrity who is fake because she is a game character.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
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The begining you got an introduction to what the Lara Croft games whre about and interviews from gamers and talking about how it started to become very poupular.
The middle of the documentary started to talk about how Lara Croft started to become a realistic character because of CGI and how some fans startd thinking she was a real person. Since Lara Croft became that popular the game is turned into a movie and we see footage of the movie and an interview from Angelina Jolie who portrayed Lara Cfroft. We also see fans sites dedicated to her as well as sexual sites dedicated to Lara Croft.
The ending we see observational footage of fans trying to mimic Lara Croft and how people had expectations for the movies.

CAMERAWORK
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So there was a static camera used in the interviews with medium shots in the interviews as well so we can see who is being interviewed. Get cutaways shot of the Tomb Raider games to enforce whats being said, as well as seeing the cutaways from the films that star Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. Plus we have over the shoulder shots of people playing Lara Croft's Tomb Raider game to be shown as evidence that the game is popular. We also have canted angle shots used as well.

MISE-EN-SCENE
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The settings of the documentary are relevant to what the subject is, so we have people playing Tomb Raider in a gaming setting, everything looks dark and the projector the gives the backdrop makes the interviewees look like they are in the gaming world. So it makes the interview and documentary look a bit more sinister since Lara Croft the game has turn into a lot more than just the game. Everything in the settings is based around gaming, so we see computers, buttons and others stations that are involved in creating a game.

SOUND
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Well we get obvious sound effects from the Tomb Raider game itself which enforces what the documentary is telling the viewers about. To make the documentary exciting we have action music playing which is diegetic because lara croft is an action character. We also hear gun shots which gives a bit of fun and danger to the documentary as well as telling the viewer on what the game is like. We also see and hear trailers from the Tomb Raider movies which is used as evidence of Lara Croft risen popularity.

EDITING
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They have a numerous amount of cutaways of the game Tomb Raider and the movies to enforce how popular the game and Lara Croft has become. We seepeople playing the games as well which is again used as evidence of the fans who love Lara Croft. Plus we see cutaways shot of sites that are dedicated to Lara Croft and that is used as evidence on how obsessed fans have gottn over Lara Croft. We also see adverts of Tomb Raider.

ARCHIVE MATERIAL
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In this documentary we have footage of adverts for Lara Croft the movie and the games. Then we have film footage of Angelina Jolie potraying Lara Croft in The Tomb Raider Movie.

GRAPHIC
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Simple text graphics to introduce the interviewee, but the main graphics was the man in side the computer screen which made him look more important because his interview looked different Before he even spoke you would always see a close up on a mouse clicking the play button to continue with his interview.

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5. The Simpsons Access All Areas

TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY
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This is a mixed documentary because it has narration throughout the show, wiith archive footage being used to support what is being said. It has interviews from people who work on the animations of The Simpsons and some famous faces talking about why they like Simpsons. Observational sequences are used on people with Simpsons merchandise and characters etc.

THEMES
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Themes in this documentary are about cartoons, how they are created, the audience of the Simpsons, the success of the show, and family since the Simpson is based around family and how the Simpsons started.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
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Begining of the doc you have them introducing the main characters of the sjow, and talking to producers about how Matt Groening created the Simpsons after his first funny sketch and how he came up with the characters. Then introduction to some of the actors who play simpson characters and more simpson characters shown.

Middle of the doc you have them talking about the acting of the Simpson characters, and also about the writing of the scripts of the episodes and how they come up with decisions on what works in the script and what doesn't. You also see all the stations where the Simpson is created and see how much work is put into the making of the simpson episodes.

Ending of the doc they talk about how they will carry onn with the simpsons until people start losing interest and because its one of the longest cratoon ever run. Plus with Matt Groening saying that they will never run out of ideas for episodes. Plus with little comments on the contraversy the show gives.

CAMERAWORK
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Over the shoulder shots used for example of the comoser composing the simpsons theme tune. Medium shots of the interviews with the right framing for a documentary. Pans used in the composing cutaway just to show you all the people playing different instruments. Close up of the instruments to see in detail what instruments are being played. Close ups of people drawing the simpsons. Full shots of observational sequence of pedestrains getting photos on a real-life simpson couch and getting photos with the Simpsons character wihich are in costumes. We even get an observational sequence of Matt Groening drawing one of the simpson characters which signifies him being more important since he is the creator of the simpsons.

MISE-EN-SCENE
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Everything in the documentary fits into the theme of the simpsons. The background of the interviews have cutouts of the simpson characters, we get to see the studios of the simpsons to see where they are created and what sections do what for the making of an episode. So we see places like the storyboarding areas, colouring studio, recording studio and more. Some poeple in offices for their comfort etc. Also green screeen has been used for some famous faces too look like they are sitting on the simpsons couch with is a fun effect.

SOUND
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The Simpsons tune is usedat the beginning of the documentary, and we have sound effects from simpson episodes to give humor into the doc. We have interviews of stars talking about what they like about simpsons with natural sound from the interviews.

EDITING
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We have simple cuts from one interview to the next to help pish the subject forward. HAve fast editing at the beginning at the opening titles to make it look exciting with quick interview answers and observational sequencesof pedestrians getting photos with the simpson characters, on a real simpson coach. Also slower editing so you can see what is being said and will also let us see the process of making an episode of the simpsons so won't go to fast so that the viewers are able to know how things are done in the studios to be informed. Cutaway shots of simpson episodes to give more meaning to what is beiing said and to add humor. Plus observational sequences of people working on the simpsons eppisodes.

ARCHIVE MATERIAL
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First of all the Simpsons episode cutaways are archive footage, and we also see all the sketches of the Simpson characters from the first drawing to how they are drawn now. This archive material shows us the audience how the simpson have grown and been improved over the years.

GRAPHICS
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On the opening titles the characters of the simpsons faces are shown so you know what the documentary is based on. The names of the interviewees stayed with the theme of the documentary, for the text it was black and the box around the text was yellow, yellow is the colour of the simpsons sskin, so it matches.
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6. Medical Detectives: In the Bag

TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY
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This is a mixed documentary because it has archive footage from scenes of the murder and court case hearing etc. has interviews with families and crime investigator experts. Observational sequences of street houses and cars driving. Narration forwarding the story. Reconstruction of murder to push the narration as well. Plus cutaway shots.

THEMES
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The theme in this documentary are murder, luck, money, evidence and family.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
_____________________
Beginning of the documentary was about the little grandson discovering dead grandparents and then telling people, with the police trying to find out if they had any leads which they didn't - cliffhanger.

Middle of doc they find a small lead on a family suspect and start finding evidence and mootives on suspect which is the son of the granddad. Showing how the experts use the equipment to collect evidence to convict or connected to the murder.

End of doc was the resolution of the murder was the grandfathers son being the murdered and being convicted, shows footage of the court hearing. Then we see a full reconstruction of how the murder took place that has been built around facts.

CAMERAWORK
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Have a lot of close up cutaway shots on when they are looking at evidence, like the shotgun, showing how they use their equipment to collect evidence. We also have wide shots being used of houses and roads of the town in which the murders took the place. Cutaways shots of archive footage used as evidence to what is being said so the viewers can see that they are using true facts that they can beleive. Also have canted angle shots used in the reconstructions which gives the meaning that the crime being committed is wrong and shcoking. Folley shots used to show travelling of the small boy running to his pre school. Meadium headshots in the interviews. Over the shoulder shots of the man getting the serial number of the shotgun. a pan down to up of people on the bridge to show the height of the bridge.

MISE-EN-SCENE
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Setting matches the theme of the documentary, with the police and the crime investigating scene, like the labs and the police stations etc. Interviews are if they a involved in the investigation of the murder like the police or people in crime labs, they are interviews either in the police station or an office or in the crime labs. Family members are interviewed at their homes where they feel most likely feel comfortable being interviewed. Setting in the reconstruction where all in the same theme of mystery and murder, this help dramatized what the murderer had commited, which also helps the documentary give out emotional responses to the viewers who could be disgusted to what has happened in the crime.

SOUND

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Piano based music that sounds very eerie, to evoke fear into the viewers as well as to make the documentary seem shocking. Plus to gove suspense and tension build to make the viewer more interested. Music kinda sounds like the excorcism. Gunshot sound effects which are synchronous sound used in the reconstruction to resemble the gun firing. Serious music being played to signify that the investigation is making progress. Sound FX of a bang to the cut the scene to the next scene, gives a shock to the next scene to the viewer. Narration to ppush the narrative and the interview of the interviewees had natural sound.

EDITING

________

Superimposition of crime reports andd photos appearing in front of eachother to show evidence that they are taking into account to help catch a lead on there murder investigation to solve the murder. Quick cuts at the opening titles to intrigued the viewers of the police solving a real murder investigation. Normal slow cuts to picture, observational and interviews so that the viewer can keep up with what is being said and as well as understanding whats going on.

ARCHIVE MATERIAL

__________________
We have real footage of the scene of the murder with the victims dead bodies in the room with the camera looking around the house. Pictures of the families to help show who they are why they explain about their lives. We also see wedding pictures of the murdered couple and suspects as well. We also see phone call history papers which are used as evidence. Footage of the trial of the murder of the son of the murdered man being trialed for the murder. this is shown to the viewers on the swift resolution of himgetting sent down for the murders. Newsppaper articles of the murders were used as well as crime reports.

GRAPHICS

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Simple white text that introduces the interviewees wwith a small black box behind behind text that represents darkness, with red colour moving in the box as well which can signify blood or murder. The opening titles had fancy police tage saying "MEDICAL DETECTIVES" and a simple text saying 'in the bag'.

Brainstorming

So we had to come up with Ideas on what to make a documentary on. So in a group we made a massive list of subjects that we could make a documentary on. They are:

. Teens . Glosses . Wildlife . Hair . Money . Art

. Giving . Clocks . Green . Skates . Metal . Grass

. Trainies . Trainers . Senses . Sight . Sound . Smell

. Shoes . Nightmares . New York . Stationary . Books . Chips

. Nail Varnish . Fishing . Body Image . Phobias . Technology . Pets

. Fashion . Rugby . Cages . Cars . Darts . Bikes

. Ice . Broken Britain . Make-up . College . Communities . Uni

. People . Colours . Collections . Eating out . Urban Redevelopment

. Music Biz . Teacher Training . Buses . Cheese . Zoo . Music

. Sharks . Animals . Beauty . Internet . Religion . Pens

. 3D . Buisness . Government . Posters . Seasons . Snow

. Lettuce . Drugs . Smoking . Sex . Tans . Shock

. Healthcare . Old People . Brown Hair . Jewels . Films . Tables

. History . Transport . Fast Foods . Social Networking . Foods

. Celebrities . Violence . Media . Animals . Education . Army

. Alchohol . Illness . Childcare . Reality TV . Racism . Hats

. Festivals . Photography . Work . Holes . SuperMarket . Jobs

. Obesity . Runcorn . Football . Chocolate . Coffee . Tea

. Death

Initial Plans

For our documentary we have chosen to explore the topic of senses (sight, touch, taste, hear and smell). We have decided that to make the first 5minuets of a documentary containing all of the senses it could appear a little hap hazard so our documentary will be part of a series and we intend to make the first five minuets of the sight idea. Our target audience for this will be people aged 17 and onwards and will be shown on channel four, we chose this channel as it was the most popular when looking at the results from our questionnaire; we also found that most people watch TV in the evening, so we are scheduling our documentary to be on channel four after wedding house in order to inherit some viewers and before Ramsey’s best restaurant in order to pre-echo viewers.



Planning
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-Topic is important.

-use personal experiences and influences

-choose a manageable topic

-look in newspapers, magazines and notice boards for inspiration

-do I know about my topic? Choose something you have some knowledge on to avoid hours of research

-what can be shown concerning your topic, what evidence can I use in the form of images and action based footage or archive footage and is it all accessible.

-interviews can be held anywhere but where it is held can effect the meaning behind what is being said and the way in which the audience inter operate it.

-vox pops don’t need to be staged and are more spontaneous and interesting if aren’t

-unusual settings can create drama without having to do much at all

-start with factual everyday questions when questioning in order to relax who you are asking and then become more detailed and focused with your questions

-vox pops can be light and humorous in order to detract from whatever the topic is and give a sense of relief

-street interviews of the public can add another dimension to your questioning and cutaways


Narrative Conventions
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-documentaries must always have some form of conflict within them because without it would just be people agreeing and that would not be interesting to watch, narrative conventions are used and followed to highlight this conflict as well a s the evidence and the filming.

-documentaries like stories have a beginning middle and an end and must have this in order to make your topic understood and your documentary watchable.

-the topic needs to be made clear at the start I order to give the middle something to build on

-always start your documentary with something hard hitting because this will be the first thing people are going to see it should grab there attention and make them want to see more and what you have to say

-the middle needs to be complicated enough to follow and must focus on people opinions as this is where most of the discussion and facts will be given

-it is always good to have some form of “twist to the tale” that turns the whole thing on its head as it makes it interesting and gives the opportunity for future questioning

-the end is all about the exposition and at the end it must be apparent, it is also where you should round up your topic either by offering the audience a solution or opinion or letting them make up there own minds.

Target Audience Research

This section is going to show our Target Audience Research which graphs to show our results that we got from our results:

1.

This is an average age of people who filled out the questionnaires. As it took place in college, a lot of people that filled in the questionnaire were 16 or 17. So we thought it best to simply make another column for people older than those two categories. We found that the majority of people asked were older than 18. But we still have a good cross section of ages.

2.

We asked if the audience preferred simply a narrator over a presenter that talks to the viewer directly. Thankfully the preference swayed to a narrator as this is the format we intend to use. We were advised to used this option regardless, but we were grateful that our audience agrees with our decision.

3.

We asked if the audience preferred a more personal voice of their narrator, who they can relate to. If they preferred someone who represents a voice of authority so that their information seems more reliable. They favoured the more relatable voice over. So its very likely that one of our own group members will take on that role.

4.

We left questions about your favorite channels. But unfortunately we forgot to specify that it was meant for the terrestrial channels only. So we grouped the channels that fell into the digital category together. Regrettably that category came out on top, so we decided to go with the runner up as far as preference went. we chose channel 4.

5.

We made tick boxes for this question so that the subjects could tick their preferred time of day for our documentary to air. The results show that almost everyone wants it to show in the evening. So we decided it will be hammocked with two of the most popular shows on channel four.

6.
We asked the audience if they themselves classed blindness as a true disability. Shockingly the results were not as one sided as we presumed. With an entire 40% not counting blindness as a disability. Realistically, anyone who is legally blind has the right to be classed as physically disabled.

7.

We wanted to find out how people would feel if they woke up with no eyesight. We had a lot of different answers, but we managed to generalise them into two main categories. 'Scared' and 'Sad'. There was one outlier to the normal results from someone who simply said, they'd feel "WEIRD".

8.

We asked if the audience preferred simple, straight-forward graphics, or if they liked more interesting and complex graphics. The results were in favour of complex. We will have to see to what extent what we can incorporate into our documentary. It will depend on our own ability with the program we are using, as well as the limitations within it.

9.
We wanted to find out if our audience preferred glasses or contact lenses. This can show peoples attitudes towards wearing glasses in general. We found out that 80% said they preferred contact lenses. Which means they are far less popular than we anticipated.

10.

We asked if the audience could live without their eyesight if it were suddenly taken from them. Unsurprisingly a massive 93% said that there was no way they could get by without their vision. But 7% said the could easily manage without the use of their eyes.

11.

We also wanted to know if the opticians brought about similar feelings to going to the dentists. 37% said that they didn't mind going or that they found it an enjoyable experience. 63% compared it to the dentist and the experience was fearful.

12.

We were exploring the idea of glasses as a fashion accessory, rather than just a tool to help improve eyesight. We found that 100% of people considered them to be as an accessory. This clashes with our earlier question about actually wearing glasses. Which we found that people do not entirely like glasses. But they still consider them accessories.

13.

We have also researching into guide dogs and found out that they are funded almost entirely through charity organisations. We asked the subjects what they thought about this. Everyone of them said that they should be funded by the government and not made to fend for themselves.

14.

We asked of the audience considered themselves to have good eyesight. Some were wearing glasses, some weren't. Only around a third of people considered themselves to have good eyesight.

15.

We were interested in what the last thing people see when they go to sleep. We received a mixed bag of results, but managed to generalise them into these categories. Quite a few of those answers were people watching TV or Reading a book before going bed. But mostly it was simply lying awake in the dark, waiting to fall asleep.

16.

This chart conforms with our contact lenses over glasses chart from earlier. It appears that most of our audience do not like wearing glasses. Whether they do already or simply don't like the idea is unclear. But as a whole, our audience simply don't like the idea.

17.

We were interested into what our audience considered to be the most amazing thing they'd ever seen. Then we generalised them into four categories. Less than a third said a celebrity or a new born relative. Another third said it was some amazing view, possibly the landscape over a country, or the view from a mountain top.

18.

Linking into our loss of sight question, we wanted to know if people thought they took their own eyesight for granted. A massive proportion of our audience said that they think they take their own eyesight for granted. This is an unsurprising result given our previous question about the audience losing their sight.

19.

We considered the price of glasses frames these days. Oddly only half of our audience thought that glasses needed to be cheaper. Its possible that those asked payed different prices for their frames and prescriptions.

20.

Similarly with our eyesight question we asked if the audience thought they needed glasses. A third of those asked said they needed glasses. Again we asked those who were already wearing glasses. So it shows who actually has glasses.

Research videos:

Brainstorm of Content for Documentary

Interviews
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Well we need to get interviews from professionals on eye sight such as opticians, and we are going to see if we can set up a interview with an optician probably at specsavers since its in our groups local area Runcorn. We need to interview some older generation pedestrians so some of us in the groups are going to interview our nans. We also need to get VOX POPS so that it can be used to fill in spaces in the documentary and maybe give some humor to our documentary by asking some questions that are serious and some questions that might have the interviewees guessing to add a bit off fun to the documentary. Also we need get an interview with a Blind person and we have got an interview with someone to ask him questions on his life style. Also getting interview with someone who wears contact lenses so we can get conflict on what is better glasses or contact lenses.


Cutaway Shots
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So for our documentary we had to come up with some ideas for cutaway shots that have relevance to what our documentary is about, which is eyesight. So we thought of cutaways such as close ups of peoples eyes to give meaning that we are researching and explaining to the viewers on the subject of eyesight. Also thought of eye glasses cutaways to be used to show others aspects of eyesight and to be used to show evidence on how they help eye sight. Also cutaways of people walking in the streets with and without glasses just to emphasize how the population have a mixture of good eyesight and bad eyesight. Since there is other ways to help your sight without glasses, which is contact lenses we thought we could use cutaways shot with a mixture of medium shot and close ups of some one or people putting contacts on. This can be used to inform some of the viewers on how contact are put on if they don't already know. Since our documentary talks about sight we also talk about blindness, so we want to get cutaways if we can off guide dogs that help them get by in life as well as some shot of blind pedestrians going out in public still living there lives. This can be used to inform viewers that the blind can still live there lives. Also thought of some fun cutaways such as glasses falling for example to use certain cutaways to give more meaning to what is being said. then we would have cutaways of archive footage such as specsavers adverts if we get interviews with opticians from there which will helps advertise there business as well as let the viewers where we have got the interviews from. Most of the cutaways that I have described are going to be observational sequences like the guide dogs playing on a field for example. These cutaways will be happening in the interviews to give meaning to what the interviewee is saying.


Pictures
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Well we want to get some pictures maybe of the first ever made glasses and maybe all the logo for glasses opticians and the designers labels that make glasses frames. Bit we would like to use 'SUPERIMPOSITION' in our work to make our documentary look graphically interesting and to use it to show data that we have research that we have undertook. We will also use some pictures such as famous sights e.g. liberty statue to be used as cutaways to vox pops of what people have seen that has amazed them.


Setting
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Well we want our documentary to look bright because we don't want to be a depressing documentary about sight especially when it comes to the blindness of the documentary. We want to make sure that the interviews have the right background setting, like if we are interviewing a pedestrian it would be better to interview them at home since it will be a comfortable environment. As for interviewing an optician it would better if we interview him in his office or a background like the specsavers logo if he works in that opticians. Plus if the interviewee wears glasses they can wear there glasses to show that they need them to see.


Opening Titles
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We thought of an idea of a pair of eyes looking around the screen then looking directly into the camera to connect to the viewers then the title of the documentary will come up.