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In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products

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A2 Media Corse work evaluation In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and

conventions of real media products


During the process of making our documentary we used the following codes and conventions to make our documentary fit in with the documentary genre and succeed in being professional

Professional interviews
We looked at several documentaries on YouTube and online on sites such as 4OD. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iS4X78dLUw http://www.channel4.com/programmes/steve-jobs-ichanged-the-world/4od Here are two of the documentaries that we looked at to compare to our documentary to. We focused on looking at how the professional interview was set up and the mise on scene was formal to show their professional status and it backed up the profession they were in. Small bit of head

Professional

room above his head Medium shot The mise en scene shows his profession No eye contact with the camera Title for the professional Our Documentary

Having the mise en scene being in a radio studio you know what his profession is and makes him seem more authoritive. In our documentary John is a Dj therefore he has his decks and a stereo in the background. Giving him a title shows his importance and because the information he gives is factual and is coming from a professional the title highlights this. A normal convention for a documentary is that the interviewee doesnt give eye contact therefore we have done this as well to continue fitting into the codes and conventions. Also we have left a bit of head room as it allows us to get the whole of Johns face in. The use of the medium shot is used to have a good view of the person and so you focus on that person. The opinions of the professionals add more credibility to the documentary.

Professional
Our Documentary In the professional interview we looked at on YouTube it has an establishing shot to introduce the different professional relating to their job. We interviewed a DJ therefore took a shot of him mixing music on his decks. We had a singer and got a clip of her singing, a radio DJ so got a clip of him in action in a radio studio. We used these as the continued to follow the standard structures of a documentary.

Voxpops
For our documentary we got a lot of the general public to answer some simple questions about illegal downloading, where they download from, if they do it, how often etc. We looked on youtube at how voxpops were set up. Here is the following link we used to see the mise en scene and the types of camrea shots that were used. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAWt1wdQXkY.

Member of the general public Our Voxpops Mise en scene in a public area

Professional Voxpop

The Mise en scene on the voxpops was just on the street or wherever the public were. Therefore we filmed some voxpops in college just by reception. However we did take the camera into Solihull to film some voxpops in front of HMV as this was linked to the subject of our documentary just like supersize me film some vox pops in front of McDonalds when Morgan Spurlock asks about how many McDonalds they eat. We noticed that the background sound wasnt a big issue and was digetic as it added to the effect that we had just asked a random person from the public a few questions making it realistic again following the convention of a documentary. The voxpops also do not need titles for each individual person as it is just a few questions and not going into a lot of detail unlike the professional interviews. We noticed medium shots were used in already produced documentaries so we did the same and it allowed us to focus on the person more than if we used long shots were the audience may end up focusing on the mise en scene as well as the person.

Music
We looked at the following documentaries to see what kind of music they used. One of them is about illegal downloading however the other one is a different subject to ours but its Here is our music from our documentary which we professional from channel 4 therefore has the correct codes and repeated throughout the whole 5 minutes. We used the conventions of a documentary that we neeeded to follow. The same one throughout as it was electro sounding and genre we came to conclusion was a electro, up beat beat. It was paced it. We had to edit the music to the right fast upbeat as it kept the feeling of the documentary fast paced sound levels so it would have to go quieter when the Highlighted in the red circle is where we have changed the which is what you need to keep the audience engaged. The professional interviews were on. The music also sound levels toquite alertnessyou if its hear what Nick says channel 4 documentary still had an upbeat beat however it sounded go quieter so as can an important topic and and ityou at this level stays wasnt about illegal downloading so wasnt as electro based. Our should listen. while Nick speaks. music we chose has an eletric sound which was purposley We had the choice of these tracks for our chosen as it fits in with the topic of our documentary. documentary and choose the one we thought was fast paced and alerted people http://www.youtube.com/watch? to keep them interested. We chose dance v=sDcMzcGPruE&feature=related 43.aif http://www.channel4.com/programmes/steve-jobs-ichanged-theworld/4od

Editing
When we looked into existing documentaries we noticed more of the clips would just be straight cuts as it gives a formal tone to the documentary. We followed this convention as we wanted our documentary to have the serious tone too. However we did use an edge wipe when we introduced Solihull sixth form this was simple because we were showing the Solihull sixth form sign straight into a pan of the actual college. This is our edge wipe from the two different shots of the college

Background footage

This is the panning shot This is the edge wipe of the college effect we used to cut from the shot on the left to the one of the college on the right.

Here is a when the professionals were speaking. The We used cut aways throughout our documentaryprofessional interview from the documentary clips would fit in to what above. At the point in which the tree clip is Again this the interviewee was speaking about to add more interst to what they were saying. cut away iswas following the codes when the My says looked at a taking long walks channel 4 and conventions of an informative documentary. mangroup We started documentary fromand thinking what is life all about. Our group noticed that http://www.channel4.com/programmes/steve-jobs-ichanged-the-world/4od to see what kind of things they cut away too the for. and how long they would leave cut a ways cutaway fitted perfectly to what he was speaking about therefore applied the same function to ours.

Professional documentary This black line is the tool we used on final cut express to fade into the cut away. We used fade as the transition looked smoother however the professional documentary did not use fade just cut a ways therefore we went slightly against normal codes and conventions.

In our documentary here Lee speaks about going to live gigs therefore we have a cutaway from a live gig.

We added in other effects other than fade in simple for the reason so we could add text over the top of some statistics we gave. We looked at this documentary which used an example of statistics over background footage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iS4X78dLUw. They put statistics over articles however we put it over the top of people walking however it still had the same purpose to supply the audience with facts but still allowing background footage shown. The voice over also read out the statistic like what we did.

Both of the statistics are the main things that stand out on the screen with the use of drop shadow and a colour that contrasts to the colours of the background footage.

We had a choice of these effects but chose blue as it made the statistics easier to see.

Our documentary starts with these 6 different clips all to do with illegal downloading but dont quite give it away. The use of the cuts into each other also gives a serious tone to the documentary and is just simple. Its not till the 7th clip till we reveal the name the audience engaged The start of our documentary is very fast paced which keeps of the documentary Revolution or Robbery however also showing urgency and that the whichis important. givebegan with lots of cuts allows the topic still doesnt We it away completely but audience to have guess and makes them quickly into different clips as it hinted at what our documentaryawas about just like how want to watch on to find out the audience have an idea what the other professional documentaries start so immediately what it is about. documentaries about.

Magazine article
Our magazine article that we created used all the codes and conventions of a real magazine article. Images fitting with the theme including information about the documentary Interview questions. Questions and answers in a different colour

Pictures from the documentary

Drop Caps Biline, to say who did the images.

Embedded quote

Rule of thirds Our magazine is good as it used a colour scheme and includes information about when the documentary is on and the purpose for the magazine article is to advertise. It also contains interesting text as it is an interview with the documentary producer. The pictures we used are from out documentary so it gives away some content and the other images for example the cd, iPod and ear phones all link to the theme of the documentary. I think we could of improved this by adding captions under the pictures to give a bit more detail and the use of anchorage could have been incorporated. Also we could of split the article to fit more with the convention of rule of thirds however our layout still looks neat therefore its not too much of an issue. In class we looked at other articles to give us ideas. We didnt make our article to busy either as it would make the audience want to look at it than if there was loads of writing. Here are some of the magazine articles we looked at.

The fonts we chose in our magazine article were simple and clear to read as the whole purpose was to make it to read. Our target audience is young adults about 16 to 21 therefore we used colours and lots of pictures to not give Drop caps is used to show the too much of a serious tone. beginning of the text we used this as it made our magazine The embedded quote article fit in with the codes and allows us to highlight an The biline used is small conventions of a professional important thing that is said and on the side as it article. By making the number in the text. We put it in red gives credit to who did higher on the image above it and bold to stand out also the images however isnt would increase the amount of the lines highlight it even as important as the title. lines the J took over. more

We made the pictures in the shapes of circles to make the article look a bit more interesting and looked like snippets of photographs from the documentary.

Radio Trailer

In our radio trailer we used a different voice over. In our documentary it was a girls voice so we decided to use a boys voice. This was just so we had an interesting combination instead of the same voice again. The voice over was less informative using more commands instead to connect with the audience immediately. Our radio trailer structure was simple and only give 30 It then went into the voice over tolastedthe day it was seconds like two more quotes on and then afterwards giving trailers you hear from this is said Well its a growing crime. We In on only hinting at the topic. professionals again popular radio stations forThen decided to use it as it only hinted what the returned into the example capital. We beganabout adocumentary was about. voice over to say what its with quote from the documentary. then another quote from the documentary however this time the quote gave a lot more away. Here is the whole script.
[clips from doc] Starting thursday on channel 4 [clips from doc] New documentary explores how the music industry is being effected by illegal downloading with professional views and public opinions [clips from doc] Tune into channel 4 at 8pm on thursday to find out how illegal dowwnloading is effecting the music industry Is it a revolution or is it a robbery

We listened to clips from youtube of previous radio trailers to give us the ideas of the structure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo2HfZZ_FFs&feature=related It gave clips from the documentary and gave details of when the documentary was on just like our radio trailer. Therefore I think our radio trailer is strong as it gets the information across quickly in an interesting way.

2)How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts
Personally I think our 3 media products all work and link together very well. The radio trailer used the same music that we used in the documentary. It showed the urgency in both of them and kept the fast pace going. We also used clips from our documentary in the radio trailer again connecting them. Our magazine article linked to the documentary as it included images that were taken out of the documentary and would easily be identified if you were to watch the documentary after viewing the magazine article as it is a photo of Lee who is the most recognisable face from the documentary as he appears the most out of the professional interviewees. The image that we use in both the documentary and listing article all help to great a brand identity between the three media products as they become identifiable as a set. I thought a huge factor of why our documentary interconnected so well with the ancillary texts was the target audience. For each one the target audience was 15-21 and in class E and D. They have all have a serious tone as it is a serious topic however they are clearly aimed for young adults as they dont use to highly elevated lexis. The documentary interviews people from college therefore this is allowing the audience to connect and have the same views as the people in the documentary. In the radio trailer too the voice over doesnt complicate anything it is just simply telling the audience when its on. The colours used in the article also link to the target audience due to the fact it adds a bit of interest using blue. The colour used is unisex too so that it appeals to both girls and boys. In the documentary again unisex colours are used for example simple white and black text and vox pops are both girls and boys opinions and answers. Another reason why all three media products link together the create a branding identity is for a simple factor that they all have the same subject. All show the link to illegal downloading. The documentary is all about seeing how its affecting the music industry with interviews backing it up, statistics and background footage. The magazine article promotes the documentary as it has pictures from the documentary therefore having the same subject also including other photos of ipods to fit into the subject. It contains a detailed interview with insights of the producers views which is going to help promote it to the audience as its interesting and asks why certain things in the documentary are used so the audience want to see it in the documentary. The radio trailer promotes the documentary very well to as it gives small clips from the documentary which make the audience become intrigued into what the content of the documentary is. The professional interview answers in the

radio trailer especially increase the chance of the audience wanting to watch the documentary because they only hint at the subject.

3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?


To collect audience feedback we simply created questionnaires for our classmates to feedback on our documentary to see what was good and what could have been better. Here are some of the results we received. Did the opening thirty seconds of the documentary interest you enough to continue watching? 17 out of the 20 class mates strongly agreed that the first 30 seconds interested them enough to want to watch on. Some of the answers why S trong Ag ley ree were it was fast paced, the opening titles were Ag ree good, it was engaging and there was lots of F irly a short interesting facts. The results showed we D a ree is g had successfully engaged everyone into wanting S trong D a ree ly is g to watch more with how fast pace it began and drew people in.

Did the background music work well with the theme and pace of the documentary? 20 out of 20 stongly agreed. The reason being it had quite and electronic sound which fits in with Agree the theme of illegal downloading because know? Did the documentary give you enough information that you didnt already of Fairly computers. It also was upbeat keeping it fast paced. Also a lot of feedback said it sounded Disag ree S trong Ag ley ree 1 if the message agreed, 14 people urgent as person stronglyof the documentary agreed, 4 people said fairly important S g tron ly was urgent to be told and and 1 person disagreed. We Ag ree Disag ree realised we had done a okay job with giving Fairly statistics but because it is a subject people are Disag ree taught about people already knew a lot so to avoid this we could of added more statistics that S trong ly people may not of known about instead of Disag ree Did the background footage support what stating quite obvious ones. was it relevant? was being said throughout,
S g Ag tron ley ree

S g Ag tron ley ree

14 people strongly agreed and 5 people agreed and 1 person said fairly. Our background S FairlyAg tron ley ree g footage fitted with what was being said and audience feedback said we had lots of good Ag Disag ree ree cutaways when the professionals spoke Fairlytron ly S g 11however we could of got more of said they said they strongly agreed and 9 shops selling Disag ree agreed. All the of filming more from a computer. cds instead professional interviews had Disag ree suitable mise en scene however when we asked S g tron ly what we could of improved we should of made Disag ree nick look the other way and on Lees interview gone for a medium shot or medium close up How professional does the set up for the interviews with the experts look? instead of a medium long shot.
Agree

Did the voxpops express how big of a problem Illegal downloading is?
S g Ag tron ley ree Ag ree Fairly Disag ree S g tron ly Disag ree

4 strongly agreed, 10 agreed, 3 said fairly and 3 said they disagreed. We learnt that the vox pops werent as informative as we would have liked however we didnt need them to be informative just to back up what we were saying about so many people downloading. The feedback was some were good as it related to them when watching it however it just didnt express it was that much of a problem because our questions just found out if people did do it and how instead of why

Overall the audience feedback was pretty positive as we got a lot of positive comments back such as, good content and lots of informative professional interviews. Lots of cutaways. Very fast paced to keep which kept me interested. We could of improved the statistics and facts we gave as a lot of them were already known by the audience and included some extended answers from the vox pops to give more information from peers there age who featured in it. Also our sound levels at one point go very loud therefore we could have edited this. However I think we did a good job on our documentary giving lots of information with plenty of cut a ways and background footage and informative interviews.

4)How did you use the media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stage? For research and planning we used several different media technologies as this way I could use all methord that were available to me. To get the full potential out of my research and planning I used various different software and hardware. Some software was unfamiliar and some was very familiar.To begin with we analysised documentaries and articles which was all classroom based and home technologies like TV and window PC. We used the computers mainly for the internet using blogger.com for our planning materials and analysing existing products on the colleges virtual learning site moodle and the following software and hardware. BLOGGER During research and planning we used a blog to post and help plan what we were doing. We posted all the research we found being articles, target audience research, tv channel research and videos of professional documentaries. We used blogger.com to post everything we did in the beginning stages. A blog is an on-going content stream usually about one subject in particular therefore it was perfect to keep an update of the groups work and to keep looking back on as the production of the documentary began. We used bloggers multimedia features for example embedding a youtube video, inserting a picture and hyperlinking to websites. Adding photos was the easiest tool on the blog whether it be adding print screens from our documentary, scans and images found online. These were all positives of the blog as it allowed a lot of creativity with pictures and videos. The blogs kept all the post in date to so it was easy to see when we did what. INTERNET Another media technology that I used throughout research and planning was the internet. This enabled me to be able to access real documentaries on channel 4 od, bbc iplayer and youtube.

I could watch these on any computer that could access the internet which I found very useful to get creative ideas for our documentary. They helped me to understand the codes and conventions of real documentaries produced on the television and the kind of stylistic features we could use in our documentary. The colleges virtual online learning of moodle had articles that we could look at to give ideas for the TV listing article. It also had previous documentaries the past students have created in the media studies area therefore I really benefitted from watching these to get an idea of the structures and content past students had included.

The final part of the use of the internet was to research into what tv channel we would air the documentary on, the TV listing magazine our article would be published in and the radio station our radio documentary would be played on. The internet allowed us to find loads of different radio stations, channels and magazine each media product could be viewed or heard on. Our final choices were the following:

SCANNER The most important hardware we used was a scanner. The scanner allowed us to bring in articles we found in newspapers or magazines. It allowed us to scan on our script for the documentary and radio trailer, the risk assessment and mind maps of different ideas for our documentary that we had. Canon HD20 Once we began production we discovered the camreas were up to date using hard disks instead of tape decks. camcorder Hp scanset 5370c with hard drive This was a positive as transferring our footage onto the scanner apple macs was a lot less time consuming and simple using a plug in wire connected to the camera then a USB lead from the camera to the computer and the camera its self was lighter making it easy to carry and travel with. However on the negative side post production began to take a lot longer as if the lighting wasnt right which varied in every environment you were in we had to tweak with the gamma, exposure and saturation due to the loss of focus because of the compact design. Other than this we found the cameras to be easy to use and could easily be connected to a tripod which is exactly what we needed to keep the camera steady as every part of the documentary needed the camera to remain still to give the serious tone. The camera could also connect a microphone and headphones so we could easily record sound and listen back to the quality of it and keep an eye out for the sound levels. We used a directional microphone so we could choose the focus of our recording whether it be the audio technica professional interviewee or recording someone in a microphone vox pop. Also being to focus on one thing allowed so unwanted background noise to not be heard. It was very easy to set up only taking seconds to plug the connecter into the microphone and camcorder. However we had to be careful we had set it on the headphone mode from AV on the camrea otherwise there would be a buzzing sound in the headphones meaning when we upload it the sound level will be very quiet.

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