Evaluation Question

OneIn what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of existing media products?

I identified a gap in the market through researching existing

documentaries: ‘Oh You Pretty Things’ ‘All This Stuff’ and’ ‘This

Old Thing’ (click links)

Although there are documentaries about vintage clothing (This Old Thing),

obsessive thrifters (All This Stuff) and Retro fashion (Oh You Pretty Things), there is

a gap in the market for a documentary about thrifting vintage clothing in youth

culture.

For the film, I decided to adopt codes and conventions from all three analyzed

documentaries to create a gratifying product suitable for my target audience.

Conventions

from Oh You

Pretty Things

Conventions from

This Old Thing

Conventions

from All This

Stuff

Cutaways Use of Presenter Social

observation

Alternative

Music

Eclectic aesthetic Interview with

vintage enthusiast

in their home

Archive

Footage

Multiplatform

marketing including

social media

Documentary Title

Documentary Title

I adopted the convention of using a clever pun in the documentary title –

often a feature of documentaries aired on mainstream television.

‘This Old Thing’ is a pun on the common expression used when modestly

describing an outfit often used ironically – as in this context, the ‘old’

nature of the clothing is the emphasis.

‘Fashionably Late’ also uses a pun to hint at the documentary content:

Fashionably Late usually means Arriving behind time to an event which

does not normally require one to be punctual.

In the context of the film, it refers to how old retro clothes have become

fashionable, items surface as ‘cool’ late, reflecting the zeitgeist

appropriate to this target audience.

Film: Use Of A PresenterAn analysis of ‘This Old Thing’ suggested the use of a presenter directly addressing the

audience establishes a strong relationship with the audience. What made Dawn

O’Porter’s representation gratifying was her informal style – addressing the audience like

a friend instead of a pupil. I adopted this convention by addressing the audience in an

informal setting; the mise en scene indicates an interestingly decorated bedroom. The

presenter wearing and unusual 1970s paisley patterned shirt presents her as a vintage

enthusiast, thus proving to the audience vintage clothing can be youthful and fun.

The documentarian (O’Porter) is also represented as an aspirational figure: she reflects

the programme target audience demographic, she is well groomed and attractive, she is

charismatic and enthusiastic.

These conventions were adopted in my own product: As my documentary’s primary

audience is teenage girls to young women (14-25) so the presenter’s appearance also

reflects that demographic.

Representing the documentarian as an aspirational,

relatable figure is a relatively new convention.

Presenting reality via documentary was developed by

John Grierson, depicting people on screen “performing the

actions that they would do in their normal lives.”

Film: Use Of A Presenter

Film: Use Of Cutaways‘Oh You Pretty Things’ ‘Fashionably Late’’

The most effective, appealing

aspect in my opinion of ‘Oh You

Pretty Things’ was the frequent

cutaways of old archive footage,

or images of youth culture. I

adopted this technique in the

opening titles, quickly cutting

between shots of youths.

This convention effectively

establishes the ‘retro’ aesthetic.

Film: Use Of Cutaways‘Oh You Pretty Things’ ‘Fashionably Late’’

However, because my documentary focuses on the

contemporary youth scene, I challenged the conventional

exclusive use of old footage in Oh You Pretty Things –

curating far more modern looking footage as well.

Film: Use Of Cutaways

I developed the conventional use of found footage by beginning the

documentary with an extract from an interview with Sonic Youth’s lead

singer Thurston Moore.

Unlike ‘Oh You Pretty Things,’ this retro footage establishes the

documentary’s tone : focusing on youth culture and self expression in

the world of ‘big business’.

Film: Interviews from expertsI adopted the technique in ‘All This Stuff’ of

interviewing someone in a position of

authority, to insightfully explore the trend in

thrifting from a business perspective.

An expert opinion provides the audience

with valid information, giving the film more

informative authority.

I framed the mid-shot of Linda to create a

clear mise en scene of a retail store room

(heaps of sorted clothing, clothes rails) in

the same way that Ben the ‘boomerangs

manager’ is clearly at work in a thrift store.

Similarly to Ben discussing unusual

customers in ‘All This Stuff,’ I asked the

manager questions regarding customer

trends

Adopted convention: Name and title gives speaker

authority & keeps interview relevant

Film: Use Of SoundThe use of contemporary non diegetic music challenged the codes and conventions of fashion documentaries. Whereas ‘This Old Thing’ featured nondescript upbeat instrumental music, ‘All This Stuff’ used minimal monotones and ‘Oh You Pretty Things’ used archived music of the period, none of the analyzed fashion documentaries used alternative recent music.

Why I chose to challenge conventions:

Mallrats – The Orwells

the fast paced chaotic sounding indie rock music is unconventional

suggesting the documentary will explore ‘edgy’ youth cultures.

Hot Wax – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

featuring a less well known contemporary band gratifies the target audience

of explorer psychographic. Audiences can discover new music as well as

fashion

Teenage Girl – Cherry Glazerr

the band Cherry Glazerr is popular amongst the target audience: teenage

girls with a desire to defy mainstream culture and experiment with fashion.

Film: Interviews from interesting

characters

‘Oh You Pretty Things’ ‘All This Stuff’

‘Fashionably Late’

Focusing on eccentric characters is a key convention in fashion/culture documentaries. The selection of the individual is usually to enforce the ridiculous angle of a subject. E.g. the awkward odballs in ‘All This stuff’ is used to suggest the world of thrift shopping can attract obsessive fanatics.

I adopted the convention of including a personal interview (featuring ‘Emilie’) but challenged the convention of eccentric characters being portrayed in a negative light.

Emilie is presented as cute. Humble and interesting with an extensive knowledge of vintage clothing. The teenage bedroom miseen scene humanizes the interviewee rather than mocks her.

The customer in ‘All This Stuff’ fits the

stereotype of a ‘crazy old lady,’

perpetuated in popular culture as

obsessive and unsettling.

The importance of Ancillary productsA key convention of presenter led documentaries is a cross media platform

presence through ancillary media products. Without ancilliary products, the target

audience will not be able to engage with the documentary’s presenter and brand

identity therefore will not choose to consume the film.

The newspaper advert would particularly appeal to the secondary audience of

professional women aged 30 plus. It would most likely appear in a broadsheet

newspaper that promotes individuality and the arts such as The Independent of the

GuardianI also chose to adopt a similar

aesthetic to non documentary

media products aimed at my

target audience – as the main

function of ancilliary products is to

attract the attention of an

audience.

Ancillary Products: Newspaper

AdvertFrom my research on documentary publicity material, here it is

important to effectively portray the mood and aesthetic of the

documentary, rather than the actual content.

A convention of stylish fashionable

documentaries is to create a

dazzling image and brand identity

to capture the attention of the TA.

This Old Thing adopted a similar

aesthetic to glamorous american

dramas.

Although it is not a documentary,

‘The Carrie Diaries’ has the same

target audience, young lower to

upper middle class women of the

explorer or aspirer psychographic,

as my film. I considered the

newspaper ad’s aesthetic in my

own product.

Ancillary Products: Newspaper

AdvertAs my product will be aired on E4, a subsidiary channel of

Channel 4, it is important to consider the conventions of

channel 4 documentaries with their distinct house style.

Title and information in bold text box

Striking image, often

dramatically edited

Institution logo

I adopted the house style of Channel 4, featuring title and

information text in a bold text box using Trebuchet font –

the closet commercial font possible to Channel 4’s

copyrighted font

I adopted the vibrant, retro fun

aesthetic conveyed in ‘The

Carrie Diaries’ advert with the

use of piles of colourful vintage

clothing

I developed the convention of documentary adverts using striking

composite images by creating unusual eye catching title text, filled with

quirky vintage clothing patterns.

Similarly to the 60s retro looking ‘This Old Thing’ title, I used a retro

Bauhaus Font to emphasize the stylish retro aesthetic to the

documentary.

Ancillary Product: Listings MagazineKey conventions I identifiedand adopted:

Eye catching anchor image

Titling enforcing brand identity

Similar aesthetic to newspaper advert

Presenter Interview

Info on what else is available to watch

I adopted the convention established in presenter

led documentaries (identified in my research):

Press shots used for reviews and features only

include Dawn O Porter, demonstrating how the

participation and involvement of the presenter is

pivotal to the documentary.

The presenter posed at a slight angle holding up

her arms to look dynamic and fun.

I developed the convention of using a

well respected presenter (Dawn

O’Porter known for lifestyle and fashion

documentaries) by describing Ellie

Bleach in the listings magazine copy.

I attracted my target audience by

mentioning partnerships with ‘One

Direction and Made In Chelsea’ artists

and programs in the TA’s cultural capital.

Including opinion and commentary

from the presenter reinforces the

friendly relationship with the

audience

To create a realistic

listings magazine

layout, I included

television scheduling

for one specific

evening, a key

convention.

This also allows the

audience to asses the

documentary against

competing films on at

the same time, Monday

8pm.

In Conclusion

The main product: As conventions of documentary making are so broad, Fashionably Late the documentary extract adopted codes and conventions from a variety of documentary case studies. However, these conventional adoptions were selected in order to entice, interest and gratify the target audience in the most effective way possible.I developed my creativity by developing existing documentary conventions. These include: featuring contemporary alternative music, a positive representation of a thrifting/vintage enthusiast.

As the primary function of ancillary products is to promote the main product, I adopted conventions from television programs aimed at my target audience such as The Carrie Diaries – despite it being a fictional Drama. I also focused on my ‘This Old Thing’ case study, adopting the way in which the presenter was represented as charismatic and aspirational.