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1.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms of
conventions of real media products?

In this coursework I needed to produce a media product that keeps the


traditions of the BBC. The key values of the BBC are impartiality, accuracy,
originality and balance. Impartiality means not taking a stand in the debate,
not expressing an opinion and basically not telling the audience what to think,
therefore the audience can form there own opinions on the argument. The
topic should reflect a diversity of opinions. This can be shown through the
register of voice over. The language should not be judgemental but should be
formal and cautious. Accuracy refers to the facts in the documentary being
true and clearly sourced. Another main value is that information is balanced
meaning all significant perspectives and sides in the debate are represented.
The documentary should include speakers that are for and against. This
makes it unbiased. Originality refers to the topic being new.

The topic chosen for the documentary is hard news (BBC style). The title is ‘Is
University worth it?’ it discusses University tuition fees and effect of it being
raised from £3000 up to £20,000. It also includes how this might affect
further education students looking for higher education. It looks at a variety
of opinions regarding the consequence of the rise of fees.

The documentary uses, develops and challenges forms of codes and


conventions of real media products, effectively. The Mise en scene, Camera
work, Editing and Sound are television techniques used to persuade the
audience of the truth, they are conventions that help a documentary to
valuable. Mise en scene refers to everything we see and how it is conveyed.
The lighting used in the documentary is natural and high key. This type of
lighting was used so the subject of the interview can be seen clearly and non-
verbal communication, which shows how they react to the questions; this is
shown in figure 1.

Natural, high key lighting

I had to avoid over elimination as


this will bleach the subject out, and
take skin tones and background into
thought when filming.

Figure 1
I had to consider the location of the interviews. I looked at how background
information in a location can build creditability and equally avoid distracting
information in the background. This makes documentary more real and
accurate, engaging audience in the debate. See figure 2

This is the interview with Noel


Otley, the principal of Havering
College Further and Higher
education.

The location of the interview was


in an office; he positioned by a
desk and dressed in smart wear.
These key elements create

Figure 2
The camera work is another important convention of a documentary. It was
Figure 2
essential that the interviews were framed in a particular way. The rule of
thirds (figure3) was applied to the framing of interviews. Figure 4
demonstrates the rule of thirds

Figure 3

This shot of the interview with


Dave Wood (university lecturer)
follows the rule of thirds. The
speaker should occupy to the
thirds of the frame.

There should adequate head and


looking space, keeping distance
around the interviewee.

This gives consideration to the


Figure 4 mode of address
The eye line match should also be considered in filming interviews. Speaker
should not directly address camera, this breaks the continuity. They should
look at an off screen mind point about diagonal 30 degrees. The eye line
match is shown in figure 5.

Figure 5
Also during interviews the shot should be eye level, this type shot involves
the audience in the documentary. This is a contrast to last years thriller
coursework, where many close ups, low and high angles were used to create
suspense and anxiety. In this coursework I am not dramatising the person, so
there is no need for variety of shots during actual interviews. See figure 6

Figure 6
Cutaways are another established convention in documentaries. It is a film
shot that interrupts continuity by adding a view of something else. Cutaways
bring out the creative side to documentaries. It is essential that they relate to
the topic. It should emphasise views, facts and figures and opinions
presented in the documentary. So it works well with the voiceover and in
interviews. This appends to the realism of the documentary. Figures 7, 8, 9
exposes cutaways used in the documentary and show how it convey meaning
to the audience.

Figure 7

This cutaway came alongside the voice over ‘Government could


no longer afford the expansion of higher education because of
other financial arrangements’

I decided to use news headlines linking to the increase in tuition


fees. This the possible effects of the rise, therefore connecting to
the voice over. All of this engages the audience in the debate.
Figure 8

Some of the facts and figures in the documentary were


presented as graphs.

I chose to use these as it helps the audience to


understand the statistics in the argument; it is also
artistic, drawing viewers to the topic. It is a way of
informing, educating and entertaining. This is part of the
BBC aim.
Figure 9

Figure 10

I used many cutaways of students as the topic is based around them, making
the shots relevant. The interviews related to the rise and mentioned the
effects on students. The cutaways flowed well with the documentary. Mainly
wide shots were used for cutaways I used shots of students in university,
college etc However I feel the range cutaways were not sufficient to keep the
audience visually. This is one of the weak parts of the documentary. I could
have displayed facts and statments in many other ways to intrigue the
audience.Examples are charts, newspaper cutting, diagrams, pictures. In my
opinon some of the cutaways were not stable due to the way it was shot. I
mainly used students as my cutaways, this opposes the balance part of the
editorial guidline.

Editing was my role in the documentary, it is a vital feature of real media


products. It was improtant that I followed a continuity, this enables the
footage to flow. I know it is impossible to stay fully impartial, because editing
leads to mediation and thats a type of selection. I took many rules into
consideration, such as 180 degree, match on action, eye line match, use of
cutaways. I have demonstrated some of these uses in figure 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
I had to use techniques that suited the documentary e.g transitions and avoid
ones that dont, such as jump cuts. See figure 11 for the software I used to
edit (Pinnacle).

Figure 11
On screen graphics were presented in the documentary. Examples are titles
and text. The titles included full names of interviewees and occupational
status. See figure 12.

Figure 12

The On screen graphics was another creative side to the


documentary. During my analysis of other documentaries, I studied
the designs of their on screen graphics and produced my own. I feel
unique and draw the attention of the audience.

The titles needed to be of adequate size so they easy to read. They


were bold and simple following the convention of real media
products.

The titles notify the audience of the interviewee, making the


documentary true.
Transitions such as dissolve, fade and fade outs, were included, this helped
documentary flow. (Figure 13)

Figure 13

The sound and voice over challenge conventions of real media products.
Figure 13 Diegetic and Non diegetic sounds were used to indicate where attention
should be focused. The Score was copyright free material. It was called
reaction time (nightwalker), the style was electronicals. It was chosen as it
flowed with the documentary really well. The score is supposed to create an
emotion conveying points to the audience. I feel the music applies here. The
score was formal but entertaining it appeals to the audience, and that is how
it develops the conventions of media products. The music was mainly played
during the voice over; this involves the viewer in the debate.

The voice over should be formal, clear, delivered in accent, meaning it should
understood by all. I had to think about the impact of gender, and consider the
class in terms of mode of address. The voice over is suppose to anchor the
meaning of the topic. It is important to be unbiased here, and to take into
account for and against of the debate. The voice actor used in the
documentary was Andy Popperwell. The voice over followed the codes and
conventions of real media products. It does meet expectations of the
audience engaging them in the topic.

I followed the codes and convention of real media products, as it makes the
audience feel secure. It meets their expectation, this leads to
accomplishment of purpose of the documentary. The audience should focus
on the content and think about the issues raised in the debate. Compare to
the thriller last year, it was all about variation and ways of surprising the
audience, this year it is about repetition and established conventions.

‘Genres are instances of repetition and difference. And difference is


absolutely essential to the economy of genre’

Steven Neale.

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