a2 media studies documentary evaluation 2 final

8/2/2019 A2 Media Studies Documentary Evaluation 2 Final

1/9

A2 Media studies Documentary Evaluation1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of

real media products?

From the original inception of our documentary we were individually strengthened by our

group knowledge of generic documentary conventions. With aid from texts and examples in

and outside class, we were able to plan and create the fundamentals of our media

documentary. The task set was to produce the opening extract of our documentary, this

allowed research on other elements and equipment to ensure that our technique and skills

were professional when making the final product.

The first obstacle we faced as a group was finding an angle to base our documentary on, and

how it could be professionally portrayed to the audience. After deciding the topic and basis of

our documentary we decided an interview was the best way of conveying and important piece

of information, especially from an expert in the field, but without permission of a direct

interview, we became stuck for ideas. Then following a popular documentary convention we

decided to use and record a phone interview. This allowed us to get a professional interview.The other obstacle with this was making it suitable and relevant for the audience. With the

original interview lasting 11 minutes it was important that we extracted the correct parts of the

interview.

Also we had to decide how it could be visually presented or what

could be on screen to entertain the audience, yet convey the

appropriate information. We decided to present it in the traditional

interview style and containing the compositional theme by framing

the interview with smoking products and advert. We filmed the

phone adding a clear indication of who was talking and included a

small relevant montage of shots to accompany it. This then became one

of the main subjects of our documentary and also featured in our radio trail.

Also the sound of this particular interview was messy and in

occasion hard to understand which needed to be edited to be

clear for the audience. The sound levels were modified; our

backing music was dropped and left subtly in the background

during the interview and voiceover. The sound during the

phone conversation had to be lowered because of the clarity of

the voice, the phone provided unwanted feedback that was

avoided with level adjustment.

With music being a common convention in documentaries it was important to supply thecorrect music to flow through the documentary. When adding the background music to our

piece we had to constantly check and modify the sound levels to ensure that there was a

consistent yet clear volume throughout the entire documentary, the volume level of the music

was enhanced in-between the voice over and interviews, to avoid gaps and keep the piece

looking and feeling professional.

Sound level editing.


2/9

We chose to use a montage introduction to our documentary as this is a very common

technique used in documentaries. At the beginning of the montage there is a voice over done

by one of our interviewees Tom Kravec, after which our voice over takes its place to introduce

the documentary to the audience.The shots used in the montage are short and quick and in some scenes sped up for effect, and

the title is clearly displayed in front of footage.

During this process we struggling to make them appear professional, so we added the fade

transitions , we discovered that with the use of fade transitions we managed to create a more

dramatic feel and helped ease into the beginning of the documentary, however after a few

shots we decided to pick up the pace to match the audio, here we made use of straight cuts to

ensure a rapid effect.

Our interviews were shot framed and presented with relevant mise-en-scene to either the

subject of the documentary or of the particular person being interviewed. The shots we mainly

decided to go with where medium close ups and were framed using rule of thirds or half of the

shot.

However we did not keep a constant interview, there were many opportunities where we filled

it with various other shots, like the establishing shot to familiarise the audience with location

and setting, the cut aways the relevant footage.

Alot of our other footage had its original audio taken out and was the used asfiller. These were

used to piece together the rest of the documentary and create a basis to cover with voice over.

It also allowed us to make links between shots and relate the audience to the documentary as

much as possible, without destroying the consistency of the documentary.

Shots from the introduction montage

Medium close up

Relevant mise-en-scene

occupying about half the

shot

BBC Horizon We Love Cigarett

Examples of establishing shots Examples of cut aways


3/9

After the correct Research and planning, Our radio trail was created

out of the original interview with Mr Withers, we feel this was a wise

choose as we based majority of the voice over on his interview. We

wrote a voice over to be dubbed over the top and encorporate our

original documentary music.

This allowed us to convey a small amount of the heart of our documentary. Instead of usinggarage band we decided to use final cut allowing us to finely edited the sound levels and make

sure the music and voice over were balanced correctly, especially when editing the feed back

from the phone interview with Mr Withers.

When creating the double page spread it was very important to keep with the conventions used

on the channel four website, as out documentary was for channel four.

First we had to pick a suitable picture for the background and a double page spread. It is

also important o follow generic conventions used

inmagazines when creating one professionally. We

decided to go with a split in half approach instead of

following the rule of thirds, because it suited our image

much more.

Each image had to be edited and considered for the

double page. We also had to decide a way to convey the

text and style appropriately and effectively for the

audience.

With our double page spread, we decided to

Keep the consistency of the Channel four

webpage. We used it colour for the text and background, surrounding framing, and the logo to

re create this page but as a magazine. The image we chose was edited to appear more

professional and darker; this would help it fit in with the consistency of the pages.

Examples of cut aways

Selecting an image for the double page

This page keeps to an failry simple colour

constancy of black and white. The headings are

clearly displayed in alternate colours. The font

used is consistent through out. The Channel four

logo is easily recognizable. The page is also framed

by a black border clearly indicating channel four

and all other references from the page. Relevant

large image clearly displayed with catchment text

placed around it.


4/9

Our double page spread is set out in

half the page being the main focus of

the image and the second page being

used for text. The page features grab

quotes directly from the text and the

entire background is made up fromthe image. On the bottom left of the

double page we featured a few

screen shots and captions from our

documentary piece. We also kept the

original continuity of the channel

four theme and created a frame to sit

around the frame which featured the

channel four logo. In order to make the text stand out on the image we created a transparent

box for the text to be placed on. To create and transparent box for the text I created an original

text box and altered the settings. This allowed me to have a professional looking background

with a stylish and effective colour theme. In

this example the background image provides

basis over the entire article which is similar

to our piece. The left page is used for the

main focus of the image, and the second

page is used for text in a similar fashion to

our piece. Here you can see that our double

page spread covers and challenges most

conventions of the average magazine article.

We also cover all text based conventions, the

second page is broken up into the rule ofthirds, there is use of drop caps and grab

quotations, and sub text below the title.

After research and careful planning we decided that the focus of our Target audience for our

media products were ages 15-25, this is why we chose channel four because of its direct

reputation with this particular age group. The topic of the documentary had a big impact on the

target audience as we felt it was more significant at that age. Our documentary was created

around the ideal of this particular age group, which influenced a lot of choses for the

documentary.


5/9

terviewee who also featured in the double

ge spread

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I feel as though the three products we created work generally well together as they all have

similar consistency and continuity throughout. The radio trail and documentary both feature

the same music and voice. There are also particular aspects of the products that are

specifically significant to both of the pieces, tying them togetherand making them easily recognisable and relevant to each other.

The double page is consistent with the themes and colour of our

documentary. It follows the pieces directly and we feel gives of the

same feel and therefore relates to the other pieces. The double

page also featured screen shots from the documentary; this

helped create a link with the two products. The radio trail also had

featured one of the main aspects of our documentary, and

element of the Mr Withers phone interview, we added this

because of its significance in the documentary and felt it was the

best way to get the topic across during and small radio advert. All elements and products are

easily identifiable as a set and relate directly to the subject of the documentary.

The only problems that occurred was the basis of text for the double page spread, where as in

the documentary and radio trail, talking about the topic was fairly easy. Writing the article was

difficult, it had to be based around the topic yet not too text heavy, it was also a concern on

whether it was appropriate for the target audience, and whether it was too fact heavy.

However with the chatty relaxed style of a magazine I feel we have improved it from a

senseless fact log. We decided to use fact based information to tempt and promote the style of

our documentary. Also our radio trail was slightly rushed and couldve been improved for the

use of footage and relevance.The documentary was the strongest aspect of the three products, it had the most powerful

conventions and aspects that conveyed the topic of our documentary. There was a large variety

of editing types and personal views and opinions. It used the facts and opinions directly from

the experts of the trade.

Overall I think the two tasks combine perfectly containing elements of each other and

supporting each other through out. They look and sound as if they belong with each other and

have clear links with interviews and information that promote the subject of smoking. The radio

trail is short, exciting and contains all the correct elements to inform and entertain the target

audience. The double page spread continues the continuity of the style of the channel fourwebpage while still in relevance with the documentary piece. perhaps if we were to improve

our products, we would perhaps change the aspects of the texts in the double page spread, and

create less of a factual formal feel, and allow more of a chatty easy going style to fit our target

audience.


6/9

no

yes

Was the sound levels balanced correctly?

no

yes

Was the background music appropriate and effective forthe documentary and radio trail?

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

We sent out questionnaires during the showing of our documentary to get accurate feedback

directly from our target audience to ensure that our documentary was as effective and relevant

as possible, this would also help to highlight and improvements needed.

We asked how effective the music was in the background of the documentary and received apositive response, this is one of the main aspects of our documentary that we felt could break

the barrier to the age group, so to know it was effective was a good sign.

Majority of our feedback was positive, however, we did receive some negative responses. This

showed us and area of improvement. We asked the audience about the sound levels in our

documentary, this was a significant aspect of our documentary and so it was important to get

correct, especially with our variation of medium (phone interview).

In the future we will work harder to improve on aspects like the sound levels. Especially as its

such and important aspect to the documentary. However we were always aware of the riskwhen using a phone interview, and how difficult it can be to edit the sound with such difficult

feed back.

If we were to repeat the project again, we would spend a lot more time on the sound levels to

ensure the clarity for the target audience, also to take out less relevant information to again

improve clarity.


7/9

Cannon HG20, HD camcorder with hard d

Audio technical directional microphon

4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and

evaluation stages?

When creating our media products we used a variation of different programmes, software and

hardware, both familiar and unfamiliar. We also used technology along the initial planning of

our work, with the use of other documentaries, questionnaires and class discussion. TheInternet was often referred to for strong secondary research along with TV. We also used the

computers for majority of the creation and editing of our documentary, we also used blogger to

upload progress throughout this task. Using blogger we could effectively save and recover

work. It was also a reference and a clear productive medium of communication between mine

groups.

We also used as number of sites to help our research:

The video on demand services proved helpful especially with examples and guides. Blogger was

useful for documenting and presenting our work, however did prove difficult and confusing,

especially when we began using the site, it also didnt provide much in the way of features,

were as other sites like Tumblr can allow music and video files, and may have been

and easier way to store and present work.

When designing the majority of the ancillary task we used Indesign to create a basic template

idea for our double page spread, the programme easily allowed us to create an accurate and

effective design.

When we began production we were introduced into the CannonHG20 and its high quality and many useful features. The camera was

easy to use and explore its features, we learnt several new techniques

like, racking focus shots, unique shots using sunlight, handheld ect.

and ensured we got the footage we needed. It also came in use

when uploading needed to be done, it was quick and manageable to

move the images and footage I needed for my products.

In order to get a clear and accurate sound from interviews and the

voice overs, we used the Audio technical directional microphone

The audio in our products was recorded effectively, and even good

quality for our phone interview.


8/9

Examples done on photoshop

These are the applications we used in during our product research, editing and design. In design

helped us create edit and design our double page spread. Safari was what we used to access

the internet and get the appropriate information needed. Photoshop was used to edit pictures

at a professional level for our final products, and Final cut express was used to edit and createthe final documentary product.

We were fairly familiar with safari and could navigate and use it easily. The interface was clear

and it enabled us to collect secondary research and resources effectively.

We used Photoshop to edit our images from our camera, this helped our final design for our

double page spread. The final image really helped with the colouring, continuity and style of

our products. We also learnt a lot of techniques for editing images while experimenting and

learning the software, which raised a big advantage when creating our final product.

Final cut was a new software to me and I learnt a lot in the process of editing and adding effectsto a video. This is where we leant the many effects featured in our documentary, and where

we learned how to effectively edit the sound levels, and properly present our documentary.


9/9

One of the more useful things I learnt from Final cut express is the transition editing where we

were able to create a slow yet more dramatic transition between shots, which was a great

advantage when creating the opening montage to our product.

I also learned how to modify the speed of a shot which also combined to the effectiveness of

the opening montage sequence. We were able to show a large amount of significant footage

and present it in a interesting and suitable way.

We also learned how the effectively break up cut and re-arrange footage. This improved the

efficiency of our documentary and helped up to edit out useless of irrelevant footage. It also

work with the audio which allowed us to carefully craft the interview to create effective

feedback and avoid off topic discussion.

We also used Final cut express for our radio trail. We felt more comfortable with the software,

and it was easier to manage the audio straight from the original clips. The sound levels were

easier to adjust because of our practice throughout the documentary, and we believe to have

created and effective trail fit for its target audience.

Fade transitions edited into our documentary

Examples of cut footage

a2 media studies documentary evaluation 2 final

Documents