corsework evaluation

8/2/2019 Corsework Evaluation

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Coursework EvaluationBenjamin Mills


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In what ways does your media

product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions

of real media products?


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Introduction As a class we all studied togethercommon codes and conventions of TV documentaries,

looking specifically at supersize me which contains a vast array of codes and conventions

typical of TV documentaries and also provided examples of where conventions were

challenged.

Our group (three in total) were therefore able to

bring together a vast mixture of knowledge ofcodes and conventions from TV documentaries,

both learned in class from year 12/AS level, year

13/A2 level and also from own personal

experiences of documentaries outside of the

classroom.

Our aim was to create a documentary that replicated as closely as possible a real lifedocumentary, therefore implementing as much professionalism as possible from the

knowledge each member of the group could offer. Therefore we ensured that each member

provided as much input to every section of the coursework as possible as to exaggerate our

use of understanding and reach our aim. Also the use of further research into real life

documentaries helped to guide our own creation of our three media texts and again to create

a professional piece of work.


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We created story boards to help put all our ideas down and to figure out the best way

to start the documentary and the best way to grab and hold the onlookers interest.

The use of a story board helps to provide images to get a better feel for how the

opening will turn out and if the combination of clips would work well together.

One of the most difficult decisions our group had to make was deciding how to open our documentary as the

first 30 seconds are crucial to grabbing the onlookers interest and creating a theme and atmosphere for the rest of

the documentary to flow from.

http://www.youtube.com/

watch?feature=player_e

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Through research on our topic we found that many documentaries begin with afast montage of clips which usually involve the target audience/the audience

that the documentary is featured around. After studying the documentary series

Embarrassing Teen Bodies (Binge Drinking dangers episode) we saw that

introducing the target audience in the opening clip was a popular convention.

Therefore our documentary begins with a fast pace edit of students at Solihull

Sixthform College.

Embarrassing Teen BodiesFYI Binge Drinking

Opening the Documentary


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What we found from studying super size me:We took guidance from Morgan Spurlocks use of media codes and conventions during his formal interviews to

create the appropriate mise-en-scene in our own.

use ofmedium

camera shot

Interviewee isnot looking

directly into the

camera

Use of a title and a subtitle, informing the onlooker of both the name of

the interviewee and their profession.

Half of the frame used to provide space for; mise-en-scene; appropriate to the profession ofthe interviewee as to provide assurance of their line of work, in-turn giving greater value to

what they are saying.

Both subjects dressed appropriately as to signifyprofession and formality of the interview.

Head close to the top

of the frame


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We also used many other techniques shown in supersize me which help to create documentary: continuous flow and

fast pace, this provides the onlooker with lots of information in a short space of time and keeps speed in the

documentary as to prevent boredom and monotony.

The use ofincreasing footage speed (x4) and fast cuts gave the documentary a fast pace. This is a media

convention learned from watching supersize me and other related documentaries as they all aim to keep onlookerinterest and attention.

Also the use of an establishing shot was a convention that we observed in our research stage of the documentary

creation process. The establishing shot is used in many professional documentaries as it offers a short introduction to

a clip, such as an interview, showing the surroundings and setting the scene.

http://www.youtube

.com/watch?v=oHK

Cb0_2oD0

Similar to Morgan Spurlocksdocumentary; Supersize Me, our

documentary FYI Binge Drinking also

uses establishing shots to provide an

introduction and the setting of the scene to

an important clip, as it is important to

provide the audience with as much

imagery about the upcoming clip as

possible as it exaggerate its significance.


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Vox-pops The use of vox-pops in our documentary, FYI Binge Drinking allowed us to gather masses

ofopinions and attitudes of young people (our target audience) vox-pops often accomplishgathering the opinions of the public and those who the topic affects directly. We, like manydirectors of documentaries used the vox-pop convention to portray how unaware our targetaudience were of the affects of binge drinking and how easily it can become a major problemthereforeproviding a basis for the creation of our documentary.


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Codes and Conventions: Radio Trailer

The redline shows the

sound levels that have been

adjusted in each clip as to

maintain a constant level of

sound throughout.

We studied the above conventions as to create a radio trailer that would be suitable for our chosen topic (Binge drinking) target audience

(13-23year olds) and radio station (Capital FM). From the majority of radio trailers that we studied they included clips from the

documentary/program that they were advertising therefore we also included this convention in our own piece, using a variety of differentclips from the documentary that would create an exciting and shocking radio trailer.

Extracts taken from the

documentary, following the

codes and conventions of

advertising radio trailers.

Voiceover- same voice used as in

documentary. Voiceover is sharp

providing the listener with quick

need to know information as not

to confuse them with an

information overload.

We used the program Final Cut Express to create our radio trailer, the same program we created our

documentary on, therefore having all the necessary tools and footage in the format which we required.

Voiceover script:

"For your information: Binge Drinking""1 in 4 teen drinkers will become alcohol

dependent"

"Channel 4, Thursday the 16th February, 9PM.

Be there - Become aware."


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We found that binge drinking tended to peak towards the later teenage

years therefore these were also a group we were keen to target to offer

information to help them become aware before the problem became

threatening, causing direct damage to their bodies or leading to alcohol

dependency. Therefore appropriate media codes and conventions wereused in order to target this group in particular, involving quick camera

cuts, pans and fast zooms to encourage a feeling of pace and movement

in the documentary.

The target audience we chose was both males and femalesbetween the ages 13-23. Binge drinking is something that affects

both males and females all over Britain (and in many other

counties across the world) and we saw that it could begin with

those as young as 13, young teens experiencing their first parties

involving alcohol. Therefore we believed it was best to tackle the

issue right at its root as to prevent the issue starting and then

becoming more difficult to control.

Target Audience

The radio trailer also had many fast, informative, shocking clips and quotations with a serious

voiceover as to provide a balance of light-heartedness when needed and also seriousness around the

topic as a way to relate well with the target audience.


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How affective is the combination

of your main product andancillary tasks?


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Documentary

We chose a fast upbeat

soundtrack to play

throughout our documentary

as to provide pace and

continuation, filling in any

silent areas such as

background footage. The

fast pace and upbeat trackwe chose specifically as it is

young and trendy and fits

well with the target

audience 13-23year olds.

This track was also used in

the radio trailer as to ensure

continuation through the

media texts.

Upbeat voiceover

helping link the

different pieces

of footage

together, the

same voiceover

used in the radiotrailer.

Professional

interviews with

biology teacher,

student development

officer and

representative of a

health campaign, whoprovided us with

information that we

turned into shocking

facts which were used

in both the radio

trailer and the

magazine article also.

The main

product/document

ary was the basis

for our ancillary

texts which were

created around it.


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Radio Trailer

The samebackground

music from the

documentary used in the

radio trailer as to ensureconsistence and brand

identityShocking statistic taken from the

documentary and used in the

voiceover script, to add both

brand identity and also

consistency and regularity

throughout the three media texts.

Voiceover states the channel that the

documentary will feature on, channel 4. This

channel often broadcasts documentaries with a

similar/same target audience to our own

Short, fast pace, shocking

clips/quotes taken from the

documentary itself, used at the

start of the radio trailer to grabthe listeners attention.

Sound of smashing bottle, loud

and shocking, grabs listeners

attentionbefore the listings

information is given such as the

time and date of the documentary

showing.


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The Magazine Article The magazine article also combined well with the other two texts and the documentary specifically. The use

images of significant vox-pops and professional interviewees enables the onlooker/target audience to make

reference to them if they happen to watch the documentary after reading the article, providing information to fill

the cliff hangers that we created throughout the article as to encourage the reader to watch FYI Binge Drinking.

Quotes from the article feature also in both the documentary and radio trailer giving reference and relation to

those also.

The article aims to provide

three different factors;

To be both informative and

shocking with scary facts about

binge drinking.

To inform the reader that our

documentary is different to any

other!I

t takes a student/younglight hearted approach but also

focuses upon and highlights the

importance of preventing binge

drinking.

Overall to encourage the reader

to watch our documentary as to

find out more about the problem

of binge drinking.


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The use of our strapline in the documentary; are you

aware? was used as the title to the article instead of

the name of the documentary (FYI Binge Drinking)

the strapline features in both the radio trailer and

documentary also and we considered it a more catchy

title for the article.

Significant vox-pops and

formal interviewees.

Familiar faces in our

documentary as the

subjects both occur

multiple times

throughout. This

therefore gives relation

and significance to the

reader if they then

choose to watch the

documentary

The main large image of a smashed bottle used on

the article is in one of our first clips to the opening

of our documentary when the title appears on the

page, therefore a significant image that links the

documentary and magazine article together.

Shocking facts/quotes taken from the

documentary and from our research and

development stage of the project.

The use of this image,

taken from the

documentary shows

the light-hearted

approach we have

created as the character

in the image is wearingeye distortion glasses

which replicate the

feeling of drunkeness

on the eyes and the

bodies spacial

awareness. This is

light-hearted theme is

something we haveaimed to create

throughout all three of

our media texts.

The content of the article makes reference to

the formal interviews and highlighting the

serious side to the topic. Providing the

reader with enough information to gain

interest and encourage them to watch the

documentary.


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What have you learned from

your audience feedback?


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Audience feedback- The Audience

16 and under = 10%

17-24 = 80%

25 plus = 10%

Males = 40%

Females = 60%

This was the group that we

showed our three media texts

too and asked for audience

feedback from. We specifically

chose to gain information from

the 17-24 year olds as we

thought that although our target

group was 13-23 we thought that

this was the more refined target

audience and the ages in which

binge drinking is most likely to

occur.

There is always the issue when producing products in media that you can influence them to

appeal to your own age group/a target audience that you would fall into, this is known as director

bias and can therefore prevent the documentary appealing to people you have included in your

target audience who are on the boundaries of the scope, for example the youngest or oldest in

your chosen group. Therefore we made sure that we included the 16 and under target group when

collecting audience feedback as to ensure that our media texts did appeal to them also.


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Audience Feedback- Documentary.

We asked our audience: Of what interest did you find our documentary?

Interesting = 70%

Little interest = 20%

Not very interesting = 10%

70% of our audience stated that they found the

documentary interesting which is a good result.

10% stated that they though the documentary

was not very interestinghowever we later

found that this 10% didnt drink alcohol,

therefore they are less likely to be interested in

our documentary as they do not desire to

become more aware about the affects of binge

drinking, this may be because they are already

aware of the damaging affects which has led

them to that choice in the first place.

We asked our target audience:Do you think our documentary is appropriate for our

target audience?

Yes = 100%

The most appropriate people to judge whether the documentary is

suitable for our chosen target audience (males and females 13-23 years

old) is the audience themselves and 100% of them though it was. This

means that even though 10% of people stated that they didnt find the

documentary interesting they still thought it was appropriate for the

target audience explaining that their disinterest was due to personal

choice/individual differences.


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We asked our target audience: How professional do you think our formal

interviews looked?

80% of our feedback stated that the

formal interviews lookedprofessionaland that of a real life

documentary. the other 20%

suggested that the formal interviews

seemed only average or even

unprofessional. We allowed a space

on the feedback questionnaires in

which we asked the participant tostate why they made that decision.

Some of them did not state why,

therefore not helping with our

feedback research as it doesnt

inform us what we would change

and alter as to improve our product.

However from the ones that did

provide an explanation we found

that: The mise-en-scene could

have been more creative

Professional = 80%

Average = 15%

Unprofessional = 5%

We ensured that our

professional interviews were

in an appropriate

environment as to reflect

their profession. For

Victoria (from white ribbon)

we set up binge drinking

awareness boards behindher. For Richard the

Biologist teacher we

uploaded images of the liver

on a computer behind him,

and Julie was in her office,

her natural place of work as

the colleges student

development officer.


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Clear voiceover

A fast pace keeping interest

A good opening sequence grabbing interest from the word go

Appropriate background music

Good consistent sound levels

We also conducted some verbal feedback from a class of students (approx 25 people) as

to gather some more qualitative feedback rather than just the quantitative feedback from

the questionnaires. Some of the main points were as follows:

Some points were also made on how we could improve our documentary:

More formal interviews from people external from the college-we did attempt to get formal interviews from doctors at local surgeries and from the local police however we wereunsuccessful.

Some of the statistics were not on the screen for long enough

-This is true and the fault was made due to attempting to keep the documentary fast pace, however if we were to do

this project again Id make sure the statistics were left on the screen for long enough to read them properly as they

are there to shock and make an impact.


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Audience feedback- Magazine Article

Appropriate

Not appropriate

Appropriate = 90%

Not appropriate = 10%

90% of our audience believed that our

magazine article was appropriate and

good enough for a professional magazine.

From verbal feedback we found that:

They particularly liked the broken bottlethat scattered, from the bottom right,

across the page

The mixture of images and text and how

the images were imbedded into the text.

The use of quotes in large red font across

both pages to help break the article upwhen reading.

They liked the use of a question in the

title as to make them think Am I

Aware??

We felt that our magazine was appropriate for our

target group and our feedback audience agreed, some

stated that the article was quite text heavy, however

others disagreed and made the point that the text is

well broken up with images and appears light to read.

We suggested that our magazine article was suitable

for the radio times. Our audience agreed that it was

however that they didnt regularly look at the radio

times and that the radio times was not necessarily a

times listing magazine that is appropriate for our target

audience of 13-23year olds.

We asked: Is our magazine article appropriate for our target audience ,13-23 year

olds?


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Audience Feedback- Radio Trailer.

Appropriate

Not appropriate

Yes = 80%

Somewhat = 20%

No = 0%

We asked: do you think the radio trailer is appropriate for its target audience

13-23 year olds?The majority, 80%, of the audience thought that the radio trailer

was appropriate for the target audience (13-23year olds)

The audience said that they especially liked the use of the

smashing bottle as to add a shocking effect.

The audience also liked the way that the radio trailerinfused

both feelings of humour and light heartedness, appropriate for

our target group, and a sense of seriousness also as to create

interest and concern about their own health.

The audience also liked the upbeat music used and said that it

fitted well with the pace of the radio trailer and was appropriate

for the target audience. Overall the audience agreed that the

sound balance was good.

Those who stated that the radio trailer was only somewhat appropriate for the target audience went on to explain

why:

Some thought that the voiceover was too mono-tone and believed that a radio trailer for young people should

have an upbeat, bubbly, positive voiceover

Some believed that the voiceover spoke too slow

- There was a reason behind the slower speech, than in the documentary, and this is because we wanted to ensure thatthe listener heard every word that was said.


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Overall:

I am very pleased with the results that were concluded from the audience feedback. The

results show that the target audience are happy with the three products we created and

enjoyed watching, listening and reading them. Therefore they were a success. However

we have also been given very fair valid points that explain how we could improve the

three media texts. This is very useful and is taken as constructive criticism and has

helped guide my learning in media, providing me with knowledge of what I would do

differently next time.

Many of the audience stated that the products looked as though they could be real life

media texts from professional producers, this was one of our aims and I feel that we have

succeeded this objective to the best of our ability with the knowledge we had and the

equipment we used.


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How did you use media

technologies in the construction,research, planning and evaluation

stages?


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Research and planning

In the research and planning section I used a whole variety of media technologies however all ofwhich I was very familiar with and had good knowledge of using. Such technologies as;Television, Radio, Youtube, Channel 4oD (online), and BBC iplayer all helped with the gatheringof research, providing our group with the relevant information as to be able to start planning andcreating our own documentary.

The use of the internet allowed us to create very specific searches, through Google, and thereforewe could access material that would be highly significant to the planning of our own documentaryinfluencing many ideas and decisions made.


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ProductionDuring production we were introduced to some equipment that we had used previously, inside and outside of college,

and some equipment which was totally new to us.

We were provided with a digital video camera, we all had previous experience with a video camera inside or outside

of college, our experiences were all different and therefore we had a mixture of knowledge to bring to the table and

offer each other. The video camera had a variety of complex settings allowing us to make the image perfect for each

situation, from dark rooms to bright and sunny outdoor shots. The video camera also has an inbuilt hard drive which

was very useful as it allowed us to upload our footage really quickly at the end of a session.

Due to the camera the footage gained was of a high quality which helped to create a more professional looking

documentary.

We also used a directional/shotgun microphone, this was a new piece of technological equipment to all of the

group, however the microphone was simple to use and conveniently plugged into the video camera. The directional

microphone aims to pick up the sounds in which the tip is directed towards and then block out background noise. We

found this very useful when interviewing vox-pops as often the interview was done in a loud crowded place. However

the microphone was not effective at cutting out the sound of wind and in some of the footage we collected the wind

was to disrupting to the shot forcing us to be unable to use that footage.

We also used headphones. This is an item we had all used in the past and were very familiar with. They again

conveniently plugged into the video camera and helped us to monitor the sound levels, ensuring that the microphone

was working properly and we were picking up the desired sounds from each shot.


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Editing and CreationAll of the editing and creation of the documentary took place on the Apple iMac. This

highly technological piece of hardware allowed us to manipulate our footage in many

different ways through several different programs as to create our final product.

The majority of the work was done on a piece of software called Final Cut Express.

This program was new to us all and at first we found it quite overwhelming and

complex. However after familiarising ourselves with all the tools and the functions we

found that the intricacy could be put to great use to manipulate our footage in the best

way possible to create a smooth flowing documentary that replicated as closely as

possible a professional piece.

Final cut express allowed us to do complex editing to many pieces of our documentary right from the start to the

end:

at the opening using a tool that sped the footage up as much as we wanted as to create a fast pace, which was

suitable both for ourtheme/topic and target audience.

Using fades during formal interviews as to create smooth transitions from clip to clip.

The ability to overlay video footage with text as to offer a caption or title to a formal interview.The ability to mix together different components in a well arranged time line so that the soundtrack, video footage,

text and voiceovercan all be viewed and controlled so that they work well along side each other to create a well

mixed piece.

The ability to alter the sound levels on footage and voiceover tracks as to ensure that a constant sound level is kept

throughout.

The ability to cut/select pieces of footage in the middle of a piece so that unnecessary video footage could be

removed.


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Final Cut Express- Documentary

This window

allows you to view

what you havecreated/placed on

the timeline so far.

The time line, with a zoom barallowing

you to view certain clips close up or

view the timeline as a whole.

The tool bar

offering a

vast variety

of tools to

manipulate

footage.

Thebrowsercontains the

imported footage before

it has been edited or

manipulated

More tools in the drop

down menus; Modify,

Effects, Tools

Sound level

monitoring

barsThe top section shows the footage

and the bottom section shows its

sound and any added sound tracks


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Final Cut Express- Radio Trailer

We were given the option to create our radio trailer in either Final Cut Express, or in Garage

Band. I had used garage band before for a previous media project and was therefore fairlyfamiliar with the software, however after working on Final Cut Express for a long period of

time on the documentary we had become very familiar with the software and the best way to

use the tools and manipulate the footage therefore decided that we would also use Final Cut

Express to create our radio trailer.

Final Cut Express offered all of the tools necessary for the creation of a radio trailer and

was the most efficient way of producing one as all of the footage from the documentary

was on the system so it was very simple to access and the format did not need to be altered.

We could therefore take any piece of footage sound track from the documentary and simplydrag it into the new timeline for the radio trailer. An advertising radio trailer, like ours,

often takes sound tracks, quotation and clips from the documentary as to offer a glimpse of

what the listener could be watching.


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Final Cut Express- Radio Trailer

Redline allows you to alter the sound levels. Crucial in

a radio trailer as the sound must be consistent

throughout.

Browsercontaining all the footage we required, made more

simple due to already having all the footage imported onto final

cut express during the creation of our documentary.

Sound level

monitoring barscrucial. A tool

that was crucial

in the creation

of a radio trailer

as the sound

levels must be

consistentlyperfect

throughout.

Timeline- the quotations and

clips on the top line and the

background music on the bottom.

Tool bar providing

the ability to clip,

move and

manipulate the

footage.


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Adobe InDesign- Magazine Article

The creators of Adobe InDesign state that it is: software lets you design and preflight

engaging page layouts for print or digital distribution with built-in creative tools andprecise control over typography

We therefore though that Adobe InDesign would be perfectly appropriate for the creation

of our magazine article as we aimed to design an engaging page layout and wanted to

ensureprecision throughout.

Adobe InDesign is a piece of software that we had all used before to create a magazinearticle, therefore we were all very familiar with all of the tools and the necessary techniques

to create a well designed magazine article.

The program allowed us to create a magazine that we believe suitable for our target

audience

The use of the colour coding in the swatches shows the

professionalism of the software and how it is often used by

professionals working in the media industry, signifying to

us that it was an appropriate program to use.


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Adobe InDesign- Magazine Article

Swatches- used to apply

colour.

Cursor tool bar,allowing for the

movement and

manipulation of

different components

on screen.

Size altering tool bar,as to change sizes of

text and images.

Having the use of

different layers as to

make movementand manipulation

easier and to prevent

layout formation

being disturbed.

Layout guidelines as to

help direct the arrangement

of all the components

within the magazine article.

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