Today my teacher went through the A2 course outline so that I knew what to expect during the year. We noted down what we would be studying.
Coursework
- TV Documentary- opening 5 minutes
- Newspaper advert promoting documentary
- Radio advert
- Blog
Exam
‘Critical perspectives in Media’
A) Theoretical evaluation of production
1) Skills development
- Digital technology
- Creativity
- Research and planning
- Post production
- Using conventions from real Media texts
2) Evaluate one production in relation to a media concept: - genre, narrative, representation, audience, media language.
B) Contemporary media issues
Media and collective identity
‘We Media’ and democracy
We had a class discussion on documentaries that we have seen and their purpose. This was so that we could start to produce our own research in preparation for the production of our own documentaries. This is the research we gathered:
Documentaries
A record of something
Purpose of documentaries- to inform and entertain
To document i.e. report with evidence something that has actually happened. It can show this by using actuality footage or reconstructions. So it is like a historical record.
Documentaries are mediated to an audience. They undergo a creative process e.g. picked out emotive facts, music used to heighten emotion, footage, dramatic reconstruction.
Types of Documentary
Fully Narrated- e.g. National History documentaries
An off screen voice over is used to make sense of the visuals and anchor their meaning.
Fly on the wall- origins of cinema varité. The camera is observing real life as it happens and the participants are ‘’unaware’’ of the cameras presence.
Mixed- using a combination of interview, actuality observation and narration to advance the narrative. Uses a wide variety of material.
Self- reflexive- when the subjects of the documentary acknowledge the presence of the camera and often speak directly to the film maker.
Docu-drama- re-enactment of events as they are supposed to of actually happened.
Docu-soap- genre originated in the UK, examples of this include; ‘Driving School’, ‘Airline’ and ‘Rat Catchers’. It is a multi-strand narrative that follows different characters throughout the programme and it is usually occupation based.
Narrative Structures
In the lesson we looked at the different types of Narrative structures used on documentaries. This is because we are going to start analysing documentaries in order to form a list of codes and conventions to follow when we produce our own.
Construction of Reality
Artificial picture of real life- edited, constructed for the audience.
Camera work- One view, handheld
Gate keeping
The Documentary maker controlling the flow of information in the documentary. They select and reject content to go into the documentary.
Narrative Structure
Open Narrative- when there are lose ends/ unanswered questions at the end of the narrative.
Closed Narrative- when all of the questions have been answered
Single Strand- One narrative so that the audience can easily follow.
Multi Strand- More than one narrative thread.
Linear- follows chronological order.
Non Linear- events do not follow the order of time in which they took place, for example flashbacks and flash forwards are used.
The Circular Narrative- the start and the end point of the documentary are the same. The audience gets an exposition of the argument and then it goes back to the open question, leaving the audience to decide for themselves.
Documentary Analysis
'The Devil Made Me Do It'
Today we analysed a documentary called ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’. This documentary highlighted whether Marylyn Mason’s music and ideals influenced 3 teenage girls to commit murder. The purpose of this exercise was to recognise different techniques that the documentary makes use to keep the audience sustained.
Here are the notes I produced analysing the programme.
Type of Documentary-
Mixed
Contains- interviews, actuality footage, achieve material, Manson music video clips, TV programmes
Themes-
Religion, Good vs. Evil (binary opposition), the power of the media- can music influence the behaviour of young people?
Narrative Structure-
Single strand- one narrative- Why was the murder committed?
Open narrative- question not answered, points of view given with no definite answer.
Non Linear- flashback as to why Manson had a bad experience in Italy.
Camera Work-
- Hand-held- actuality footage, so that camera person can react quickly to surroundings.
- Close up/ medium close up- interviews framed either to the left or the right of the shot (conventional)
- Low angle shot of Manson- lighting on one side of the face (represent good) and the other side of his face in shadow, with white eye (evil). Duality two sides to the person.
- Slow pans across the town- day and night- sense of being quiet and deserted. Shots of deserted streets contrast with shot of busy street full of teens at the end of the programme.
- Lots of shots of religious iconography to re-enforce message.
- Press conferences- observer’s shots of viewfinder of camera and journalists to show different motives of filming conference.
- Shots of Manson’s gig- observing
- Police shot outside door through glass- trying to get in on the action but there is a physical barrier.
Mise-en-scene-
- Interviews- reflects life and occupation- e.g. police chief placed behind desk with hat placed nearest to the camera.
- Contrasts between what Manson stands for (against government, religion and the establishment) goes to McDonalds- shows he is just like everyone else, going against his beliefs and that he is a hypocrite.
Sound-
- Voice over of Narrator- male, quite young, standard English (everyone can understand), no clear accent- purpose of the voiceover- glue that holds the narrative together.
- Voice over’s used to translate Italian- English with Italian accent- anchor that the audience is watching an Italian person. The age and gender of the translator also matched the visuals.
- Music- reflected subject matter/ mood e.g. Religious choral music
- Sound effects e.g. heart beat, stabbing sound
- Manson’s music
Editing-
- Cut, cross cutting
- Montage- from later in the programme- teaser of what is coming up
- Fade to black/from black- used to signal end of scene, take from one place to another
- Created pace- frenetic pace- busy streets
- Slow motion- fans arriving at the gig
- Juxtaposition- religious music over images of teenagers swearing highlights good vs. evil.
‘That thing’
Type of documentary: mixed- variety of content
Themes: Lara Croft, game, popular culture, feminism, representation of gender
Narrative Structure: Single Strand, Closed Narrative, Non- Linear.
Camerawork:
- Medium close-up/ big close-up of interviewee framed to the left or the right
- Close up/ big close- up of inventor of the character- tilted frame
- Hand held of people sat at computers
- Point of view, tracking shot- in internet Café
- Zoom in or out on still image
- Panning
Variety of shots used to sustain the audiences interest.
Mise-en-scene:
- Chromakey- (blue/green screen) filming- images of game are projected in editing- relevant to what the person is talking about.
- Back projection/ front projection with the interviewee of extracts from the game.
- Inventor of the game in a computer screen, big close up tilted frame- to indicate that he is part of the game.
Sound:
- Music from the game
- ‘Ray of light’ by Madonna- specifically links what interviewee is talking about.
- Dance music
- Voice over- male, young, standard English- with elements of slang- reflects people who play the game.
Editing:
- Expert placed to the left or right over moving image/ projection on face
- Fast motion wide shot tracking forwards in studio
- Cutting- most common edit used
- Super imposed backgrounds of the game
- Montage of interviewees talking about the same thing- show different viewpoints and interpretations
Archive Material:
- Clips from Lara Croft Tomb Raider
- Interview with Angelina Jolie the actress playing Lara Croft
- Film Clips
- Websites, Fan forums
- Nike advert
Graphics:
- Credits
- Sans serif, white, no capital letters, all lower case.
- Persons name and relation to subject linked to title ‘that thing’.
'Battle Scarred' – Monday 7th September 2009 on Channel 4.
Type: Self-Reflexive
Themes: Trauma, war, suicide, support, post traumatic status
Are the soldiers getting enough psychiatric help?
Narrative Structure: single strand, open
Camera Work:
- Zoom in on stills of soldiers eyes- emotive, show fear and trauma
- Hand held
- Tracking forwards follow family members
- Interview medium close up
- Close-up mobile phone- last images of the man
- Point of view shot out of window- creates a sense of isolation
- Close-up of words in suicide note- conveys dyslexia
- Close-up of toy doll with eyes shut- contrast from images of dead children in close-up of computer screen shown earlier.
- Wide shot of gym- zoom in on punch bag- central in frame- conveys frustration
- Close-up of alcohol- show how they turn to drink
- Blurred shot of alcohol comes into focus matches dialogue- ‘a litre of vodka a night’- shows the effects of alcohol.
- Close up/ Zoom in on knives- protection
- Shot of framed pictures in drawer- hiding them away
Mise-en-scene:
Red poppy on cross- symbol for death, war
Stills of road side bomb attack- shows the danger that the soldiers face every day when they are on patrol.
Sound:
- voice over- documentary maker- can hear him asking questions- relevance to visuals
- No music
- Dialogue: - ‘self destruct mode’, ‘such a waste’, ‘ ...if you don’t have a physical injury there is nothing wrong with ya’.
Editing: Cut, cross cutting, fade to black after end of each segment- signify death. Simple editing so that it is easily followed by the audience.
Achieve Material: Footage from the army- actuality footage taken on mobiles by other soldiers
Graphics: Title- ‘Dispatches Battle Scarred’
Names of soldier that the individual narrative is about
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/battle-scarred/4od#2970493
'The Falling Man'- More 4 Saturday 12th September 9:05pm
Type: mixed
Themes: 9/11, Humanity, Death, Identity
Narrative Structure: closed, Non Linear
Camera work:
- Pan across newspaper clippings
- Zoom in on still image of falling man- iconic image used throughout the programme
- Close up of interviewee framed to the left or right, which their face partly in shadow- could represent how they are trying to shed light on the event.
- Pan across table/close up of food- reconstruction on restaurant in tower, similar to reconstruction of office.
- Stills of family photographs of the victims
- Wide shot of kitchen sink in restaurant tap dripping- conveys emptiness, loneliness- reflects the grief of their families and how they must have felt waiting for death.
- Establishing shot of busy street and ‘morning call’ building- shows life goes on
- Different shots of reeling newspapers- to show the mass production with iconic image on.
- Close up of missing posters- emotive
- Pans down fence with cards tied to it reflecting sunlight- connotes heaven, peace
- Wide shot of sunset and statue of liberty contrast with a close up near start of programme of statue of liberty in a snow globe- suppressed and trapped like the people inside the towers. Sunset connotes that their suffering has come to an end- new day.
Sound:
- Voiceover: male, young, Standard English used and no clear accent.
- Music- piano and strings creates a sense of sadness.
- Clapping sound effects and cheering “U.S.A” with visuals of rescuers to show that America has not been defeated and they are pulling through.
- Voiceover gives a list of different occupations in the building, which gradually fades out, showing that the list goes on and the vast amount of people that lost their lives.
- Sound clips from press conferences with the president, calls for help from the building, news broadcasts, screams.
- Translation of interview with authentic accent
- Dialogue re-enforces message- “lonely 10 seconds journey”, “forced into an impossible decision”, “it must have felt like flying”
- Credits- names of victims being read out faintly with piano music- emotive
Mise-en-scene:
- American flag with national anthem- as a nation they have pulled together
- Snow globe of statue of liberty juxtaposed with people being trapped.
- Religious iconography- reflects some beliefs that ‘the jumpers’ souls damned to hell because they committed suicide.
- Lasers representing towers making a connection with heaven.
Editing:
- Montage of images of 9/11 at start as taster
- Cut and cross cutting
- Fade to black/ from black
- Dissolve
Achieve Material:
- News footage
- Actuality footage from ordinary people on mobiles
- Newspaper clippings
Graphics:
- Title: 9/11 The falling man- seemed to get lower in framing to represent falling
- Name of people being interviewed and relevance
- Credits
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/911-the-falling-man/4od#2934914
Codes and Conventions
The purpose of analysing these documentaries was so that we could recognise the codes and conventions for the documentary genre and then we could then use the codes and conventions as a guideline for when we produced our own documentaries.
- Must use varied camera work to keep the audience sustained
- Interviews in close up/ big close up/ medium close up
- Interviewee framed to the left or the right
- It must follow either a single strand or multi-strand narrative
- Must create mise-en-scene to anchor what the interviewee is talking about
- Must use subtitles for translation.
Camera work
- Varied shot types and movement ( e.g. panning, zoom in/ out, tracking) to keep interest of the audience
- Handheld camera work is used for actuality footage where necessary.
Interviews:
- medium close up or close up is conventional
Big close up or extreme close up can be used
- Stationary camera (tripod)
- Eyeline a third of the way down screen framed to the left or right of shot.
- Establishing shots are used
- Pan and zoom used when filming still images- point of view shot sometimes used to position the audience in the action.
Narrative Structure
- Varied open/closed/circular
- Single strand used so that the audience are not confused
- Most documentaries are Non- Linear
Mise-en-scene
- Behind interviewees is either relevant to the subject e.g. Chromakey or anchors their job or relevance to the subject.
Archive Material
- Taken from a variety of sources e.g. films, TV programmes, newspapers, newspapers, magazines, internet websites, music videos- (from other media) photographs.
Graphics
- Used to translate were necessary
- Title- unique and creative
- Name and relevance to the subject/ role of interviewees anchors who they are and relevance to the subject (Name usually in a larger type size than the line below)
- Credits at the end usually scrolling, all archive material credited
Sound
- Voice over used to link everything together- standard English, age and gender relative to audience/ subject. Emotionless statement of fact- impartial.
- All questions are edited out
- Music used is relevant to the topic
- Interviews no background noise or kept to a minimum
Editing
- Questions edited out of the interviews
- Editing creates pace
- Cut- most common edit, dissolve is used
- No editing effects used unless relevant
- Cutaways are used frequently- always relevant to what is being talked about
- Fade to black/ from black sometimes used to convey passage of time or the end of a segment
