Question 1

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

Documentary

Presenter• One screen presenter: We chose to use the popular convention of an on screen presenter paired with a voiceover

instead of just one of these as we believed that this made the documentary more engaging and fit in with the documentaries we have seen (e.g. supersize me).

• - We chose to have our OSP introduce themselves and the documentary respectively as this is something we have observed in other documentaries to be rather effective in establishing a relationship between the viewer and the OSP

• - In our introductory scene we chose to have our OSP walk closer to the camera we thought this convention would, as well as preventing the OSP from appearing uninteresting and distant to the audience by standing still, create the appearance of embarking on the investigation with the OSP. This sense of involvement would increase the viewer’s interest in the documentary

• - We also chose to make the on screen presenter use direct address in order to appear as though they are directly communicating with the audience (e.g. ‘we’, which can be compared to SSM’s use of ‘you’ etc.)

• - The OSP also used rhetorical questions rather frequently as this is something which we have identified is common in documentaries which use OSPs (SSM) and include a young demographic.

• - We attempted to imitate a comical manner similar to MS’s in SSM (e.g. the camera nodding in the bathroom scene) as we believed the addition of a comedic element to our documentary would aid us in appealing to our young target audience

• -We had our OSP directly involved in the interviews as this exhibits their involvement with the entire documentary itself (e.g. MS in SSM). We showed this through reaction shots (nods) of the OSP throughout expert interviews to display their interest in the answers provided

• - We followed conventional positioning for the OSP as while they were introducing a topic or location, they would stand next to something which would represent it and if they were the prime focus of the shot, they would be stood in the centre.

Titles• Titles: We chose to include a number of titles as we believed that they would enable us to add useful detail for the audience into our

documentary.• - Through our research into documentaries, we had observed that quite a few of them include title sequences introducing the documentary.

Therefore we had decided to follow this convention in our own documentary. However, as there are no set restrictions into exactly how these titles sequences could be done, we were entitled to a certain degree of creative freedom providing the finished product appeared effective and professional. Due to this, we had decided to recreate the stop-motion style we had seen in a previous student documentary as we believed the unique nature of this intro would help appeal to our audience. We made the length of the title sequence rather short and paired it with lively background music as this conforms the conventions we had previously observed and the fast pace would appeal to our young audience. We had also mimicked the way in which the font of the titles would represent the topic of the documentary For example, the text used in Supersize Me’s title sequence included colours similar to McDonald’s which was the prime focus of the documentary. As the topic of our documentary was typically feminine, we had designed the ‘makeup’ part of our title in a similar manner to the well-known ‘Barbie’ doll font (being cursive pink with a white outline) as this is seen as something which is stereotypically ‘girly’ and relates to our topic. In order to further emphasise this we had followed this text with a ‘bell’ sound effect as we had found that such sounds are often featured in beauty tutorials. We had also positioned the text in the centre of the shot and increased the size in order to draw the audience’s attention to it so they have a clear understanding of what the documentary is about.

• - We included name titles for our experts, with the their name of the first line and their occupation on the second, as we noticed that these are used in order to reveal more detail about the expert to the audience, which is useful as they explain their relevance regarding the topic of the documentary. We had followed Supersize Me’s example of positioning the titles in the bottom left of the frame in order to prevent obscuring the expert and having the title only enter and exit the frame within a few seconds instead of throughout the shot.

• - Another convention we had included through observation of existing products was the use of statistics as we believed these provided valuable backing for the statements made in our documentary while also establishing our documentary as a professional media product due to the inclusion of facts preventing it from being solely based on opinion. We had followed Supersize Me in positioning statistics near the centre in order to draw the audience’s attention; an additional attempt at this was the use of white font for the statistics so that they stand out from their blurred background which featured a multitude of colours. Similar to Supersize Me, we had also included background footage relating to our statistic by featuring a canteen of young individuals while stating a statistic related to them. Through featuring the subject in the background, we have reinforced the importance and relevance of our target audience as they are the topic of our documentary.

Sound• Sound: We had used conventions of sound in order to achieve certain effects• - We had decided to feature a range of sound effects in our documentary as through our research we had found that the use of these

aid in making the overall documentary appear more animated and as we aimed to appeal to a young audience, this would help us ensure this aim is fulfilled to the best of our ability. For example, our inclusion of a bell sound after texts in stereotypically girly fonts such as ‘makeup’ and ‘after’ reinforced the idea that our documentary was targeted towards a young, female demographic while also adding some humour and making the documentary appear rather light-hearted.

• - Through watching existing documentaries, we had found that voxpops done in public settings usually contain quite a bit of ambient sound. We believed that this emphasises the realistic nature of documentaries while also highlighting the fact that these voxpops are conducted naturally, without extensive preparation unlike expert interviews. This makes the documentary appear more personal to the audience as it features everyday people with possibly a similar amount of knowledge into the topic as them as well as similar views.

• - We had observed that the vast majority of documentaries included some form of music in order to keep the audience entertained and engaged throughout. To ensure that our documentary had achieved similar results we had followed this convention by incorporating one main track, entitled ‘Pop 40’, into our documentary. This track appeared to be rather energetic and lively which we thought would appeal to our young audience quite well and suit the light-hearted tone of our documentary. We had also decided to include another track, entitled, ‘dance 47’ during our title sequence and ‘after the break’ segment as the fast pace of the track invokes a feeling of being near a catwalk, and so has connotations of trendiness which relates to our topic. We ensured that the sound levels on this non-diegetic music remained lower than the diegetic audio in order for the latter to be coherent and clear to the audience so the entire documentary stimulates and entertains them while also keeping focus on the information provided.

• - In addition to having an on screen presenter, we had decided to also use a voiceover in order to display more visual images and footage in our documentary so it appears more animated and engages the audience. We decided that the voice over would feature the presenter in order to provide consistency and familiarity to the documentary and to the audience so the latter is able to establish a relationship with both the presenter and the documentary as a whole.

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Interviews• Interviews: We had observed that, while a few documentaries did not include any interviews and were merely narrations, the most effective and

engaging documentaries were ones which did as they aid in making the documentary seem more varied and thus are more likely to retain the audience’s interest. Due to this, we had decided to include a number of interviews into our own documentary, using experts which could provide relevant and valuable information. Unlike the rest of the documentary where emphasis has been placed on information and entertainment in almost equal measures, the main purpose of expert interviews is to inform and the only additional features have just been included in order to keep the audience’s attention. Due to this, expert interviews stand out from the rest of the documentary and have a far more formal approach.

• - As we had found that expert interviews tend to be very formal, we had attempted to use mise en scene to ensure audience stimulation. We had learnt this could be done through observing Supersize Me’s use of McDonald’s related artwork in one expert interview which we believed, in addition to emphasising the expert’s relevance to the documentary, added an element of entertainment as it made the shot appear rather visually satisfying which would encourage the audience to keep their focus on the documentary and prevent them from becoming uninterested. We attempted to recreate this effect in our own documentary through the use of props which relate to the expert interview featured and thus our topic; we did this by including various makeup products in one interview featuring an actual makeup artist.

• - Through observing a number of expert interviews, we had found that the camera was usually positioned in a certain way, in line with the rule of thirds, with the expert frequently positioned on the left or right third of the frame. This is in order for the expert to take up most rest of the frame to display the expert’s environment so their professionalism is emphasised not only through how they carry themselves, but also through what they surround themselves with. The audience may also gain a sense of what exactly it is that the expert does. For example, in Supersize Me the expert interview featuring a former surgeon was conducted in an area which seemed to be surrounded by books, which implied that the expert’s profession required a certain level of academia, representing the highly intellectually focused field of medicine. We recreated this convention in our own documentary by featuring a media expert in front of a computer screen displaying pictures related to makeup, establishing them as someone with knowledge of media particularly the role it plays in the makeup industry. However, to ensure that this surrounding space does not distract the audience from the expert, we have also followed the convention of using a medium shot in order to ensure the expert remains the main focus of the frame and we have also had them sit down in order to limit their movement to optimise the audience’s concentration on the statements made by the expert.

• - From our research into documentaries, we have noticed that the vast majority of them are conducted using natural lighting and that quite a few of them have the expert sat near a window in order to achieve this. We believe that this is done in order to emphasise the realism of the documentary as it shows that the producers have attempted to make use of as many natural elements as possible. Also, this could also merely be due to avoiding the discolouration which often occurs when using artificial lighting as it tends to produce a sort of yellow tinge or a whiteness which makes the area appear rather sterile. Due to this the use of natural lighting may be more aesthetically pleasing to the audience and appear much clearer.

Footage• Footage: We had found that the use of footage in documentaries aids in the display

of information as it makes it visually stimulating to the audience due to this we had decided to include a range of footage throughout our documentary.

• - We had observed that numerous documentaries included background footage during a voiceover in order to display content related to the topic being discussed. We believed the use of this would be effective in our own documentary as it is a way of presenting the topic on two levels simultaneously. For example, when discussing the makeup industry we had included background footage of a Lush storefront as it is associated with the industry. We had also included background footage of crowds which we had found was a common convention amongst the documentaries we had watched, the inclusion of such background footage proves effective is the vast majority of documentaries as it relates to their generalised statements of the groups of people they are focussing on. For example, documentaries such as Supersize Me which discuss young people often include background footage of young people socialising. As our focus was on a similar demographic we have followed this convention.