AS PRESENTED & CRITIQUED BY D1

Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction to the Key Concepts
Divya Soni
Chapter 2 Documentary Theory
Laura Kelsey
Chapter 3 Production Analysis
Thomas Pidcock
Chapter 4 Audience
Reginald Adepoju
Chapter 5 Genre
Savannah St. Rose
Chapter 6 Narrative
Emma Lawson
Chapter 7 Representation
Raluca Maria Polodeanu
Chapter 8 Conclusion
Holly McLaren

Chapter One

Introduction to the Key Concepts

Divya Soni

There are 4 key concepts that help us to understand media:

Audience
Genre
Narrative
Representation
These help us think more critically and analytically, turning us into visually
literate viewers rather than tacit viewers.
In this book, we will be explaining the various key concepts in relation to A

Day In The Life Of A Phoneless Teenager.

The documentary can be accessed below:

https://vimeo.com/groups/72hour/videos/145455957 - A Day In The Life Of
A Phoneless Teenager.

Audience
As a simple, generic definition, an audience is the people that are viewing the
content. However, for most media content the target audience is a lot more
specific.
A target audience is based on factors such as age, social class, gender, etc. and
each piece of media content is produced with that target audience in mind.
This can be seen in TV shows with colourful characters and happy music,
which are likely to be produced for young children as they have a short
attention span would find it harder to be engaged by one thing for a long time.
For example, the intended audience for this documentary is young people as
they will be able to relate to the teenagers aged 13 19 in the film who
describe their phone dependency.

There are 3 main models that aim to describe the communication between the
media content and the audiences:

The Hypodermic Model

The Uses and Gratifications Model
The Encoding-Decoding Model

We will go into more detail about the Uses and Gratifications Model and the
Encoding-Decoding Model in the Audience chapter of this book as these are
more relevant to the documentary than the Hypodermic Model.
Genre
The types of documentaries are slightly different to that of films, books, and
TV shows.
There are 6 main types of documentary according to Bill Nichols, an American
academic.
These are:
Poetic
Expository
Participative
Observational
Reflexive
Performative
A Day In The Life Of A Phoneless Teenager was filmed in an expository and
poetic format in an attempt to highlight how dependent people are on their
phones and how much of an impact they have on our daily activities. This was
further emphasized by the narration, which explained the purpose of the film
and put the interviews into context.
Narrative
Narration on a documentary is not uncommon and can be used to help
introduce a story, explain events, and even help the story progress.
In A Day In The Life Of A Phoneless Teenager, the narration was used as an
explanatory tool to help the viewer understand the main aim and message; the
worrying amount of time people spend on their phones and the discomfort
that face when separated from their phones for a relatively short amount of
time. Without the narrative voice, moving the story forward, it would be
harder for the audience to decipher the meaning of the film.
The narrative for this day in the life style documentary can be seen as an
omniscient voice that guides the viewer through this story. Because of this all
knowing voice, the audience is likely to become more influenced (possibly
subconsciously) by the narrator, thus taking on the views that are being told to
them by a prominent detached opinion.
Talking about the structure of narratives, Vladimir Propp said "Functions of
character serve as stable, constant elements in a tale, independent of how and
by whom they are fulfilled. They constitute the fundamental components of a
tale.
4

The number of functions known to a fairy tale is limited." - Morphology of the

Folktale
This can be used to suggest that the narrator of A Day In The Life Of A
Phoneless Teenager explains the purpose of the documentary by labeling
phones in a negative way. By vilifying the way teenagers use their phones,
there becomes a classic hero/anti-hero style narrative to the film, with the
outside world being the safe and promising hero.
Propp claims there are different characters in each story, and this is can be
seen in the way phones are referred to in a derogatory manner in A Day In
The Life Of A Phoneless Teenager, and how we are labeled robots, implying
phones are controlling us and taking over our lives.
Representation
Representation is the way in which things are presented. On screen, things are
often filmed or photographed at a specific angle, only representing what the
content producer wants to signify. Similarly, colours, location, sound (or lack
thereof) etc., can all be used to represent a specific point of view.
In this documentary, many of the
camera angles for the interviews are
medium close ups of the interviewees.
This puts the focus on them and gives
the impression that what theyre
saying is important, more important
than the background or anything else
outside of that frame, for example: any
furniture or other people.
Similarly, the close ups of the actors using their phones at the start of the film
highlights how antisocial it is to be constantly looking down at their screens
rather than up at the world. By filming from those close angles, the producer
is indirectly showing the viewer how secluded they are when being online in
their virtual world. This is also reflected
in the types of questions asked during
the interviews, which in turn yielded
specific answers that would fit in with
the way the producer wanted phones to
be represented, showing them in a
slightly negative light.
The structured interviews, the camera angles, and the narrator all contribute
to the overall representation of phones in everyday lives during the
documentary, and also the way the producer wishes the audience to view their
own phones, ultimately having watched the documentary.
The documentary is slightly biased in favour of human interaction and these
minor effects such as a camera angle are indirectly able to put an idea in the
viewers head about how phones should be viewed.

It is very subtle, yet extremely effective when trying to persuade or dissuade

an audience.

Chapter Two

Documentary Theory
Laura Kelsey

Nichols documentary theory categorises the different forms of documentary

filmmaking, how its used and created, which are often applied to various
documentaries. The Day In the Life of a Phoneless Teenager documentary is
difficult to categorise completely into one documentary type as it uses different
techniques conventionally used throughout specific theories. Performivity and
expository are specific genres of documentary theory which have common
themes and features that separate them from other forms of documentary
filmmaking, these share the most conventions with Day in the Life however there
are some elements of the documentary which use conventions of other genre
documentary categories. A variety of documentary filmmaking styles are used
throughout the film, this gives an engaging and unique experience for the viewer,
as it may be unlike other documentaries they may have seen and gives a fresh
perspective on the topic discussed within the piece.

The performative style of the staged narrative at the beginning of the
documentary is used to engage the audience by using filmic conventions that will
familiarize the audience to the piece as most people will recognize these
conventions however the use of narrative within a documentary dismantles the
objectivity most people expect from this form of media as many view it as it
should only a pure form of information such as Nichols however some theorists
believe that documentary can never be objective, that it is mediated by the
filmmaker. The story of the university student using his phone at the beginning
and end of the film establishes the narrative and creates cinematic visuals, which
makes the documentary a form of filmic art as well as information, it also gives
the documentary a flow and ties the interviews together.

Many documentaries use the Voice of God narration such Blue Planet, this is
used to provide information to the audience on the images they are seeing and
give an expository documentary. However Day in the Life uses the Voice of God
narration in a poetic way. Through invoking emotions and inspiration through
thought provoking language such as we are slaves of the technology, our
virtual social world, this indicates to the audience the importance of the
message the documentary is trying to convey. It also ties the images and
interviews together in with music to create a flow for the documentary and give
a modern feel, familiar to the generation the documentaries audience primarily
appeals to. This is evidence that the documentary is bias as mobile phones are
seen as negative throughout, it was as though it was made by older generations
who are concerned by the over use of mobile phones and not by the generation
who are the ones using smartphones as often they see little problem with how
much time they spend on their phone.

The aim of the documentary was to be informative and factual using interviews
of people and their attitudes towards their phones, this expository style is
dominant within the documentary however interviews are subjective to the
individual being interviewed and not wholly factual as it does not give any

information or statistics. The documentary instead gives opinions, attitudes and

ideas regarding whether young people spend to much time on their phones
without proper analysis however an experiment was conducted in order to
obtain information as to whether those asked can spend a day without their
phone although, again, no factual information was obtained other than these
peoples experiences and opinions. Bruzzi contends that the spectator is not in
need of signposts and inverted commas to understand that a documentary is a
negotiation between reality on the one hand and image, interpretation and bias
on the other (Branston and Stafford 1996)1 this is shows that the audience does
not need to be given hand fed information in order to understand the text,
however the audience can be shown examples of real situations and can
therefore bring about questions, debates and their own theory and
understanding of the concepts within the documentary. For example the
narration provides the encouragement for the audience to go away from the
documentary and think about whether they need their phone as much as they
thought or want to come less isolated from reality.

Dziga Vertov created the modern documentary through need of journalism in
1920s Soviet Russia in order to give objective factual information to an audience
however according to his brother he aspired to not inform dispassionately but
to Influence the mind in a certain direction (Hicks and Vertov 2007)2 this is
evidence that Vertov wanted to invoke an emotional response from the audience
by involving them within the world of the documentary. Day in the Life of a
Phoneless Teenager does this in a compelling way for its audience by using
people of the audiences generation, which they can relate to and presenting them
with a debate on how much time they spend in their phones and whether this
has a positive or negative impact on their lives. This is often used in
documentary filmmaking particularly when they want their audience to be
involved/informed of their cause such as a charity for example.

Some footage used dispersed through the documentary was taken in the fly-on-
the-wall style as an observation on the general public and their daily phone
usage. As people were on their phones when present with other people and
whilst walking down the street, its interesting to see how often people do this
particularly of the generation the documentary target and demonstrates peoples
dependency on their phones and their detachment from reality. Highlighting
these issues during everyday is effective in order for the audience to realise
there may be a problem they didnt notice before.

The documentary may be fragmented because of its different elements from
documentary theories and the range of conventions. However as a whole it is a
piece of filmmaking, which flows from each segment where each element
provides a role and purpose giving the documentary substance and a creative
new outlook with a message for its audience to think about after the
documentary ends.

1

Branston, G. and Stafford, R. (1996) The Media Student's Book. London: Routledge

Hicks, J. and Vertov, D. (2007) Dziga Vertov. London [u.a.]: Tauris

Chapter Three

Production Analysis
Thomas Pidcock

In the 72-hour challenge we created a reflexive documentary offering a

message that young people can learn and relate too. We wanted to make a
documentary about how long teenagers spend on their phone without
realising. The aim was to create the film from a neutral point, which gave the
product a polemical approach. A plan was initially produced to gain a clear
vision on how the group would all contribute a segment of footage that would
become the interviews and montage. The obstacle was to maintain a standard
of quality, however create a product that would be seen on a platform like
Vimeo.
The specific sub-genre of the documentary was chosen to portray a message
that teenagers spend too long on their phone, We aimed to inform this by
producing a series of interviews that gave an insight into the topic, however
the important role that the narrative gave to the overall product reinforced the
genre into a reflexive documentary. Interviews were staged to cut in-between
each other in post production because this gave multiple opinions that
connected, but at the same time made the product flow, therefore engaging
the audience. Most members of the group conducted these interviews; the aim
was too offer a series of questions that successfully connected during post.
During post-production, a clear
emphasis was on the phone being a
key convention throughout the
documentary. The decision was to
use a point-of-view (POV) shot to
show how attached the character is
to his phone, this allows the
audience to experience what the
character is seeing and hearing;
demonstrating that his phone is
more important than anything else.
This intention was to create a linear narrative that represented what A Day In
The Life was like for this character, displaying what the usual routine would
be for someone whos addicted to his/her phone. A collection of interviews
were shown that posed the question of what it would be like if the interviewee
didnt have a phone, the result reinforced the fact that; 89% of 18-244 year
olds own and operate a phone; our interviews conducted with subjects at this
age demographic confirmed and furthered the fact that they rely on their
devise for everything. This was shown to inform audiences of an older age how
hand-held technology has formed into such a crucial role for young people. In
this segment of the documentary, the main character was not intended to be
seen. This decision was made to direct the emphasis from the character to the
question that the documentary is posing, however still maintaining a narrative
by moving the character from interior to exterior to show the transition.

The choice of music was intended to be up-beat, fast tempo to keep the
audience interested & engaged. This was not dominant in the production
however gave an effective backing track by having a beat that was catchy. The
decision to start the music during the titles was intended to offer a new
beginning to the documentary, creating a new chapter within the production.
The font used during the title sequence was specifically aimed to stand out on
the screen. This was deliberately shown 50 seconds into the documentary to
show the contradiction between having a phone, and not having a phone.
Since the narrative that the audience saw beforehand; was a teenager addicted
to his phone. This was to make the audience ask the question whether the
character could fundamentally survive without his handheld technology.
Which furthers the question whether we depend too much on smart phones,
that it has become too important in
todays world. The poetic sequence
was deliberately implemented into
the final product to offer a more
balanced opinion into the debate
behind the documentary. For
example we wanted to take a
balanced stance and let the audience
decide what they want to learn from
it.
The main character; Jack was represented to be a young adult around the age
of 18-21, hes very socially active therefore he spends most of his time
maintaining his social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The film
also saw him browsing messengers; representing the fact that he doesnt need
to socialise with the outside world because everything he needs is on his
phone. We attempted to represent his surroundings as a student flat, which is
usually described as a social environment; which makes the fact that hes not
interacting with anyone else another sign that he is addicted due to online
interaction fulfilling that need.
Overall, the production process of Day In The Life Of A Phoneless Teenager
was successful in delivering the intended conventions that was to be delivered.
The first example of this was the emphasis of the phone; this was deliberately
represented as a more important factor than the character himself. Another
was the Genre of the documentary itself, we discovered that due to the poetic
sequence from 1:58 2:50 the product became more reflexive with an aspect
of informing due to the interviews. This resulted in an effective hybrid that
thanks to feedback; successfully conveyed the message that the product was
aiming to show.

10

Chapter Four
Audience

Reginald Adepoju

To understand how the media makes sense of the world, we need to

understand the process of communication that connects the media to its
audiences. In every form of media, the media producer must take into
consideration how their texts are revealed to match specific spectators or
listeners. In order to do this you must be careful not to assume that everyone
is an individual, but instead understand how to categorise audiences. There
are two main ways in which audiences are categorised: demographics, where
audiences are grouped by their social category such as race, age, class and
gender; and psychographics which is the grouping depending on variables like
personality, values, opinions, interest and lifestyle. A Day in the Life of a
Phoneless Teenager makes it is clear that the media producer aimed to target
the documentary at a teenage audience between the ages of 13 to 19. The fact
that the title suggests a teenage life without a mobile phone may attract this
audience due to their curiosity of this sort of alien type of living. This is key
concept is important as now that the media producer is aware of the main
audience, they can make careful selections during the filming and editing
process for this demographic age profile in order to identify with its primary
audience.
Dating back to the 1970s, media theorists such as Denis McQuail, Jay Blumler
and Joseph Brown argued that audiences are much more active than they
were being given credit for. UK theorist James Halloran (1970) sums this up
quite nicely; We must get away from the habit of thinking in terms of what
the media do to people and substitute for it the idea of what people do with
the media3. This is where the Uses and Gratifications theory comes in. It was
expressed by that there are four reasons or pleasures in which people
consume a media text: diversion, personal relationships, surveillance and
personal identity. During the 1964 election in the United Kingdom Blumler
and McQuail examined people's motives for watching certain political
programmes on television. By categorising the audience's motives for viewing
a certain programme, they intended to organise viewers according to their
needs so they can understand any potential mass-media effects. It can be
argued that this documentary provides a diversion for its primary audience as
it demonstrates an escape from their typical everyday mobile phone driven
life. For example, the documentary provides interviews where teenage
students discuss their day without their phones. However, the documentary
also offers audiences personal identity. This is delivered through the distinct
non-diegetic narration that ran through a montage of footage showing
teenagers using their mobile phones. This narration allows viewers to learn
about themselves; We are the generation that is stuck in this invention called
mobile phones; we are robots of our own life. The anchoring of this
documentary allows us to believe that it is informative, where it is rather more
reflective. The polemical nature of the documentary again brings in personal
identity as it poses important questions by reflecting on issues as to why when

3

McGuigan, J. (1992) Cultural Populism. London [England]: Routledge.

11

we step back from this device of illusion, and look around you feel so
confused of the outside world? Not only does this allow viewers to think and
reflect, but it also invites them to learn about new values and a way of living.
As mentioned earlier, media producers must make specific selections in order
for spectators to stay immersed and connected to the text. This is clearly the
case with this documentary, portrayed through the editing process. The
upbeat non-diegetic soundtrack and interview format creates quite an upbeat
and energetic effect. Although the soundtrack is very low, it still provides
some entertainment values, especially during the narration as it helps create
the effect of time passing. The interviews are edited in a way that is also
engaging as audiences are left fixated on the different interviewees by cross
cutting between one then the other. It is clear that the media producer
selected this form of editing as audiences can familiarise themselves with this
format through similar texts seen throughout social media, such as, BuzzFeed
videos where the interviews produced provide entertainment values due to the
editing cuts. This editing arrangement also allows audiences to see different
views and opinions. The majority expresses how they struggled and couldnt
live without their phones, whereas, one said that she could survive without
her phone. This format is important as it provides a clear back-to-back
response in which a large range of audiences can relate and agree with one or
the other. An iOS app titled Moment created by Kevin Holesh in Pittsburgh,
PA tracks how much people use their iPhone. It is shown that on average a
standard teenager uses their phone up to 6 to 7 hours per day. The back-toback editing clearly confirms this by the way it cross cuts as they explain they
use their phones approximately 6 hours a day.
Cultural studies scholar, Stuart Hall, first developed the Encoding and
decoding model of communication in 1973. He claims that audiences are
presented with messages that are decoded, or interpreted in different ways
depending on factors such as background and personal experiences.
Juxtaposed to other media theories that disempower audiences i.e. the
Hypodermic model (1930) 4 , Hall industrialised the idea that audience
members can play an active role in decoding texts relying on their own social
contexts. Hall states that the viewer can respond in three different positions:
dominant, negotiated and oppositional. "The level of connotation of the visual
sign, of its contextual reference and positioning in different discursive fields of
meaning and association, is the point where already coded signs intersect with
the deep semantic codes of a culture and take on additional more active
ideological dimensions."5 It can also be argued that A Day in the Life of a
Phoneless Teenager may appeal to adults from ages 35 and onwards
(primarily parents), setting them as its secondary audience. The encoding
provided by the text offers parents a preferred reading. The cinematography
contributes a great deal with this. During the opening sequence of the
documentary, the exaggerated point of view shots offer a stereotypical daily
life of how teenagers constantly use their mobile phones. This immediately
allows parents to have a dominant reading, as the text is a sort of

Giddens, A. and Griffiths, S. (2006). Sociology. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Hall, S. (1973). Encoding and decoding in the television discourse. Birmingham [England]: Centre for
Cultural Studies, University of Birmingham.

4
5

12

representation of what adults expect to see from modern teenagers, enabling

them to relate with the text where it conforms to this stereotypical view. One
could refuse this by developing an oppositional reading where they completely
disagree and reject the messages encoded from the text. Take for example the
primary audience, they could refuse the idea that they are being represented
as slaves to technology which has been represented by the interviewees
expressing how hard it was to have their phone taken away from them. On the
other hand, there could be a portion of this teenage audience that accepts this
idea, but also deviates with the initial message, providing a negotiated
reading. Perhaps they would argue that they could actually live without their
mobile phones expressing the same views as one of the interviewees.

13

Chapter Five
Genre

Savannah St. Rose

The term genre is used to provide a blueprint and an informative outline

which producers of media texts use in order to create successful productions.
This is used across all forms of moving image media, for example, film, TV
programmes, adverts etc. it is mainly used to convey messages through the
producers encoding certain messages for the audience to decode. The
audience has to be able to identify the genre easily without struggle; therefore,
the central factors that determine the genre of a media text are the codes and
conventions. These are common signs that appear in all media productions
that allow the audience to tap into their understanding and fully enjoy the
media text to its fullest. They provide the foundations for all media and
producers can either choose to deviate from these paradigms or stick to them
strictly in order to guarantee both positive audience feedback and financial
success. This also links to Steve Neales repetition and difference theory. This
theory states that across genres and media texts, the producers choose certain
aspects to replicate and in order to separate themselves from the norm; they
incorporate a new factor to restore their individuality. An example of this is
interactive documentaries, which is defined by Galloway, Mcalpine and Harris
(2007) 6 as any documentary that uses interactivity as a core part of its
delivery mechanism.
The definition of a classic documentary is something consisting of or based on
official documents or definition two is, using pictures or interviews with
people involved in real events to provide a factual report on a particular
subject(Oxforddictionaries.com 2015)7. Upon looking at these definitions it
very much anchored our understanding and made it possible for us to move
on with the planning of what exactly should be included. We recognized that
discourse and semiotics were key factors to the audiences understanding and
inevitably decoding the connotations we, as the producers, encoded. This is
also known as the Active Audience Theory, this is a theory created by, Stuart
Hall (Durham and Kellner 2001)8.
According to Bill Nichols, there are six modes of documentary: expository,
poetic, observational, participatory, performative and reflexive. These are all
very unique styles of documentary that describe the way in which the key
features, such as, voiceovers, interviews and set-ups are utilized to give their
own distinct effect. In relation to the documentary, A Day in the Life of a

6 Galloway,

D., McAlpine, K. and Harris, P. (2007) 'From Michael Moore To JFK Reloaded:
Towards A Working Model Of Interactive Documentary'. Journal of Media Practice 8 (3),
325-339
7
Oxforddictionaries.com, (2015) Documentary - Definition Of Documentary In English From
The Oxford Dictionary [online] available from
<http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/documentary> [20 November 2015]
8
Durham, M. and Kellner, D. (2001) Media And Cultural Studies. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell
Publishers

14

Phoneless Teenager, it is easy to establish that this piece falls into more than
one category. The main one being observational, this is due to the fact that
these types of documentaries focus on following real life situations as
naturally as possible. This is an objective method which sees the filmmaker as
a neutral party, also known as, Fly on the wall. The filmmaker is never seen
and remains behind the camera. Expository is also suitable as it is used when
trying to put across a logical and formal message, which is done through the
use of authoritative voiceover to induce the right answer that anchors the
interviewers theory. These documentaries tend to focus solely on proposing a
strong argument and convincing the viewer, the argument in the case of the A
Day in the Life of a Phoneless Teenager documentary was that a lot more can
be achieved if we, as young people, step out of our technological world.
Through the use of the voiceover in the documentary, an element of poetical
persuasion was incorporated. This was evident through the creative dialogue
the narrator used, for example, we are robots of our own life. This is not a
typical way of speaking in a documentary and it shows a clear effort in
achieving an emotive response from the audience, which is common in poetic
modes of documentary as it focuses on the viewer finding truth in what they
see and hear. In reviewing the documentary final product and trying to
categorize it according to Nichols, it is clear to see where the contradicting
theorist, Stella Bruzzi, stands when she argues that documentaries cannot
always be simply fit into one category as reality is not perfect and cannot be
labeled as one specific mode.
According to John Corner, there are modalities of documentary language
(Corner 1996) 9 . This is a piece he wrote which explains the correlation
between the two main elements of TV and film documentaries; visual and
sound. The model gives a guideline on how each factor can be used and
depending on how the filmmakers pairs them, they then go on to create a new
sub-genre and they can continue to be mixed and matched to create an
unlimited number of subgenres. In terms of the visual aspect, it is evident
that the documentary falls into the evidential mode, reactive
observationalism. This is due to its fly on the wall style, which suited our topic
perfectly as it allowed for the subjects to be observed naturally and come to
their own conclusions. For the second aspect of sound, a lot of testimony
speech through the use of detailed interviews with the teenagers and also
partial commentary to further
elaborate on the points and
theory. The interviews are used to
anchor and authenticate the
information portrayed in the
documentary. In some cases the
interviews can be used to get an
oppositional view which the
filmmaker will then go on to
disprove, an example of this is in

9 Corner,

J. (1996) The Art Of Record. Manchester: Manchester University Press

15

Reggie Yates recent documentary where he investigated Russians

conservative view on homosexuality (Yates 2015)10. For the documentary,
multiple indirect interviews took place. Indirect interviews are a technique
where we see the subject talking on camera, but we don't see or hear the
interviewer asking questions in the same shot. This was done not only to save
time but also so that the main topic was always the main focus the notion of
being without a phone.
As a result of all of these factors, it is clear to see that they are all key and play
major roles in obtaining the audiences understanding. Without these
features, everything would fall out of place, thus, losing the viewers attention.
Documentaries are always being produced and it is very important that all
information that is correct and never misleading. Facts should be backed up
and emotions should be legitimate. All of this is made possible through the
careful use of all the codes and conventions.

10 Yates (2015) Reggie Yates' Extreme Russia: Gay & Under Attack. [film]

16

Chapter Six
Narrative

Emma Lawson

Narrative has always been an important part of any produced piece of media.
It gives a sense of structure to the production; through the careful selection
and arrangement of key elements within a piece of media we are able to
establish a account, in which ideologies are portrayed. One of the most
common narratives seen within media is the linear narrative, which contains a
clear beginning, middle and end. For example a Day in the Life of a Phoneless
Teenager, the title would suggest that the documentary follows a linear
narrative due to the fact that a day in the life would suggest that the linear
narrative follows the simple passage of time in a day. However while there is a
clear beginning and end to this documentary, the middle, arguable the most
important part according to theorists such as Todorov, due to the importance
it plays upon restoring or creating a new equilibrium, is not clearly structured.
Instead the use of a mixture of poetic narration, which plays the part as
Bordwell, might put it of the voice of the omniscient narrator (Branston. G
2010)11, along with one on one interviews, is used in order to describe the
issue at hand. In this case the provoking question is in regards to our
dependence upon technology, more specifically our mobile phones.
The phone is talked about through out the narrative in a negative way, the
language used within this pieces such as we are robots of our own life would
propose that it is the phone which plays the part of the villain, and instead of
us using it as tool to enhance our lives we are instead controlled by it. While
this is clearly a characterisation drawn from Propps character theory, we
could upon further expansion of this documentary suggest that the narrator
plays the part of the hero or at the very least the dispatcher. This is due to the
fact that it is used to incite the idea that we should put down our phones the
real world starts when we shut our phones and open our doors. The affect this
has depend upon whether the audience is perceived to be included or part of
the narrative, for example the audience them selves could be implied to be the
princess, suggesting that this partial informative documentary might some
how influence the audience to stop using their phones and thus save them
from becoming robots of their own life. While this documentary does not
have a interactive narrative, there is no doubt that the producers have tried to
appeal to audience emotions in order to make the narrative both universally
consumable (Branston. G 2010) and thought provoking.
If we were to examine this documentary via Todorovs five stages of narrative,
we could argue that the alarm from the phone at the start of the documentary
is the disruption face by the characters. This is due to the fact that it promotes
a change in situations, for example going from sleeping to having to get ready
and go out side. However on the other hand it could be argued that the
disruption does not in fact occur until later. For example the portrayal of a
normal morning, of having to get up and do simple things like eating

11 Branston. G, Stafford. R. (2010) The Media Students Book London: Routledge

17

breakfast, doesnt suggest a disruption to an equilibrium. It does however, as

suggested by Aristotles four-step theory of narrative, add to the exposition.
This is due to the fact that it is still introducing the audience to the characters
and settings.
Instead of witnessing interviewees without their phones, the movement from
the beginning of the narrative to the end is done in a more discursive way, this
suggests a restricted narrative (Branston. G 2010) is present within the
documentary. In a way, a restricted narrative places more of the control in the
hands of the producers, instead of having a sense of balanced control between
the consumer and the producer. However, there are issues with this type of
narrative, it becomes more difficult for the audiences to interoperate the
significant ideas that are being portray, as they find it difficult to follow from
the beginning of the narrative to the end.
The use of constant imagery of the phone through out the beginning of the
narrative; as the camera follows a character through out their everyday
morning routine, suggest that the directors are attempting to implant it as one
of the codes of this documentary. It acts as Barth suggests as an enigma code
(Branston. G 2010), this is because at this moment in time the audiences is
unaware as to why we are following a phone, and at this point the audience is
left to question what the purpose of it is.
The fact that the charterer is seen only at the beginning and the end of the
narrative suggest that he is simply a place holder and in fact could be used in
order to represent the audience themselves, for example we are not told his
name. Therefore the character is another enigma code, which is used to
create suspense with in the narrative.
The point at which we actually experience the disruption is through the
introduction of new characters and interviewees Im a student, and today Ive
not had a phone. The narrative changes at this point. This is the point when
the instead of trying to show us a normal life it suggests that, that life which
we have been leading isnt normal. It does this by using what Lvi-Strauss
might suggest to be binary oppositions (Branston. G, Stafford R 2010), for
example the juxtaposition of scenes of people using their phones and the ones
in which the interviews talk about their experiences of not having a phone,
attempts to draw the audiences eye to what might be considered to be a issue
with society. Nevertheless while this documentary attempts to set out on a
quest as such, to find why we are so dependent upon our phones, it could be
argued that there is no real conclusion to this narrative. While yes we are
shown the character walking away without their phones, there is a sense that
no real answers are achieved, and instead suggests an all or nothing solution.
We either dont use our phones at all, or we keep using our phones as we are.
There are clear lines towards the first idea being suggested as the new
equilibrium, in spit of this it is not reflected within the middle of the narrative.

18

Chapter Seven
Representation

Raluca Maria Polodeanu

It gives generous access to the public. It is capable of direct description,

simple analysis and commanding conclusion, and may, by its tempod and
imaginist powers, be made easily persuasive. It lends itself to rhetoric, for no
form of description can add nobility to a simple observation so readily as a
camera set low , or a sequence cut to a time beat. But principally there is this
thought that that a single say-so can be repeated a thousand times a night to
a million eyes, and over the years, if it is good enough to live, to millions of
eyes. That seven-leagued fact opens a new perspective, a new hope, to public
persuasion.
(Dahphd.ie 2015)12
Media representations are the ways in which the media represents particular
groups, communities, experiences, ideas, or topics from a particular
ideological or value perspective. Rather than examining media
representations as simply reflecting or mirroring reality, we will be
examining how media representations serve to re-present or to actually
create a new reality.
The mobile phone has accompanied us for about 30 years now. Within the last
decades it has evolved from a means of simple communication to a personal
assistant that facilitates our everyday life. Beyond of having conversation cell
phones are good for safety & security reasons, but in my opinion it is not
needed a smart phone with all the gadgets. However, it can be very frustrating
when people believe their smart phone is a need.
We chose to show the representation of the mobile phone in a faintly negative
way. Even though teenagers made the production of this documentary, this is
a way of saying that we do realize the gravity of the situation the new
generation is going throw.
A Day in a Life of a Phoneless Teenager is a documentary presenting the
teenagers need of a mobile phone. We chose to represent the reactions of a
number of students after a day spent without their phones in a normal
environment. This representation is an experiment and can be viewed weather
for an informative programme or in the free time. As we saw in the chapter
about audience the spotted are obviously teenagers of all sexes or religions.
The subjects we carefully selected: white, black, covered Muslims, Christians,
young or old. This selection represent that no matter who you are or where

12Dahphd.ie, (2015) Daniel Fitzpatrick Revealing The Real An Introduction To Documentary Film (Notes)
[online] available from <http://dahphd.ie/danielfitzpatrick/2012/02/01/revealing-the-real/> [20 November 2015]

19

you are coming from you will always be one of those using technology for an
escape from real world.
The subjects chosen are talking freely about their experience of a day without
a phone. We all know how indispensable our phone is to us so this activity was
atypical for some of them. One of our subjects confessed It was really good
for me to being disconnected, another said that is was a really nice challenge
but she will never repeated it.
We expected them to feel nervous about not having their phones, insecure or
stressed as they did. They were conforming to our expectations.
The overall conclusion, as they said, was that spending a day without the
personal phone is like youve been persecuted, separated from the world.
The decision not to show the entire actual day in which our subjects havent
used their phones was taken in order to keep our audience engaged. We chose
to show only the beginning and the end with the same character to stabilities
the narrative of the story. Filming the actor from a specific angle (getting up
from the bed and instantly grabbing his phone, eating while scrolling on
Facebook, going out with his phone glued to his hand) highlights the
antisocial behavior of a person when he/she is stuck into this device of
illusion.

We have chosen few students to narrate the experience of not having a phone
for a day.
Our subjects are represented as normal undergraduates with natural
background, surrounded whether by their room, spending time at university
or being at work. The effect of using stereotypical locations/mise-en-scene is
that it contributes to the formation of cliques in peoples mind. Societies often
associate the image or the story with those similar to them. So, for our
documentary to touch a big amount of persons we chose to film in neutral
backgrounds.
Their representation has been framed as a portrait, helped by standard closeups that display the most detail. They do not include a wider scene, as the
attention was focused towards what they were saying. Questions such as
How have you noticed your interactions change because of not having a
phone?, What things on your phone had you dependent on? How difficult
was it for you to alter those behaviors? and Would you ever consider going
without your phone again? have been asked during the interview, which
engaged the interlocutor to fit into a representation the producer wanted,
showing the need of a phone in a vaguely damaging manner.

20

As Nichols stated, the poetic mode moves away from the objective reality of
a given situation or people, to grasp at an inner truth that can only be
grasped by poetical manipulation (Documentary 2011)13.
We have chosen to create a poetic sense to our documentary to highlight the
representation of media in our lives, the capacity of it being far beyond our
powers and the way it have become a considerable part of our life and also for
a better understanding of how mobile phones harm our intimacy, our relation
with the real while living the virtual one.
Concluding, documentaries are not use only of bringing nostalgia from the
past but also to overcome a problem that has overwhelmed a whole
generation. By representing the problem, coming up with a solution and
bringing into people thoughts this issue has been a great pleasure. A Day in a
Life of a Phoneless Teenager is the ultimate way of representing an obsession
that is well known all over the globe.

Documentary,
(2011)
Poetic
Mode
[online]
available
from
<https://epowdocumentary.wordpress.com/documentary-modes/poeticmode/> [20 November 2015]

13

21

Chapter Eight
Conclusion
Holly McLaren

The key concepts used in A Day in the Life of a Phoneless Teenager (that were
discussed in this book) were prevalent in implicating significant codes for its
audience. It is essential for all media texts to adhere to codes and
conventions, which act as signposts of what exactly that particular text is
trying to convey. Knowledge and understating of these concepts are crucial for
film and media producers, in order to induce desired effects.
When first approaching the creation of new media, creators must think about
their target audience; what their target audience wants. No product is solely in
existence without an audience or consumer, therefore it is always essential to
reflect on media with the knowledge of this. In relation to A Day in the Life of
a Phoneless Teenager, the audience was reflected in the content, particularly
casting. By casting young people as the documentary leads, an automatic
association between a youthful audience and the media occurs. This is due to
the fact that the audience of this documentary may feel as if they have been
represented, however this interpretation would adhere to the historical belief
that it is possible to categorize everyone watching into one broad group which
shares the same ideas and values
(Dawkins 2009)14, of which we know it
not entirely correct. Appealing to a mass
audience or at least within the young
persons demographic has been strived
towards, with particular attention to
multiple
viewpoints
within
the
demographic (as seen in the interviews).
Furthermore, codes and conventions outline the genre of the documentary. It
is widely understood that genres are instances of repetition and difference
(Neale 1980) 15 and therefore it is important to assess which trusted
conventions of the expository format were adhered to throughout the
documentary. It is also invaluable to reflect upon what subverted typical ideas
of this genre. The most notable semiotic occurrence was the use of a voiceover,
which is prevalent within this genre in order to anchor crucial ideas or
arguments. However, the poetic style of the words spoken shift the audiences
potentially passive viewing to a viewing that could indeed be more engaged. It
also has the potential to covert passive audiences to active, or even
oppositional audiences, due to their expectation of the documentary being
challenged.

14 Dawkins, S. (2009) Video Production [online] 1st edn. available from

<http://www.palgrave.com/resources/CW%20resources%20(by%20Author)/D/Dawkins/Video-
productions-bonus-chapter.pdf> [25 November 2015]20/11/2015
15 Neale, Stephen (1980): Genre. London: British Film Institute [solely concerned with film]; an extract can
be found in Tony Bennett,
Susan Boyd-Bowman, Colin Mercer & Janet Woollacott (Eds.) (1981): Popular Television and Film. London:
British Film Institute/Open
University Press

22

The placement of the non-diegetic voice-over midway through the

documentary is a key narrative point. It poses questions and allows for active
thinking as a conclusion is reached. The negative verbal commination of the
narrator fused with the mundane admittance of the interviewees that they
would be lost without their phones suggests that they are a negative addition
to the technological world that we live in. A complete narrative is formed with
the visual aids beneath the voiceover. Images of bored, anti-social young
people (who, according to historical understandings and constructions, should
be the polar opposite, as seen in TV shows like Skins or Geordie Shore)
accompany an exasperated tone,
suggestive of a cause and effect
relationship (Thompson 1997) it is the
mobile phones that are negatively
impacting young peoples lives. It does
adhere to the representation of youth
being
anti-social
in
the
wider
community, showing a deep lack of
socialization out of the digital world.
Therefore, it could be argued that the representations in A Day in the Life of a
Phoneless Teenager are that of actuality; representations that move away
from the accepted stereotypes of the youth of today. By choosing to conduct a
real experiment, passive audiences would accept the interviewees quotes as
authentic without hesitation. However the careful narrative construction
alludes to the idea that the filmmakers assembled specific ideas and themes,
creating a somewhat biased piece. With this in mind, readers of the text may
reject the proposed representation, due to the audience being the same
demographic as those presented in the documentary. Unflattering windows
into the world of a teenager has the potential to aggravate the audience, which
is perhaps substantial to the producers choice in non-diegetic soundtrack. The
bubbly, up-beat, electronic music could be described as cheery, indicating the
idea that those presented in the documentary are too cheery.
These conflicting representations are almost echoes of the conflicting
expositional and poetic genres that faintly overlap in the documentary. By
avoiding the use of a stagnated, easily recognizable format, A Day in the Life
of a Phoneless Teenager, the filmmakers perhaps resonate the message of
their documentary in their post-production choices; encouraging oppositional
reading and the asking of questions. When assessing these key concepts, it
would suggest that the audience is potentially the most important factor when
producing new media, however it cannot be the audience alone that allocates
all of the directorial decisions, as genre conventions need to be obeyed to in
order to draw an audience in the first place. Balanced measures of all concepts
are needed in order to create a fully functioning piece of media; as without a
single one of these concepts, the text would become unhinged.

23

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Poetic
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24