Media Theories

Theories

Gender Representation- I chose to use a female subject when creating my documentary. I chose to use a woman, to challenge the idea that it is men that are typically scholars and well read people. Although this is an old view now and women are considered as equals to men, the audience that I feel my documentary would be suitable for, would be older, and therefore may still have these outdated views. The representation of women in my work is highly significant to feminist theories and challenges the idea that female subjects must be sexualised. ‘A look into the life of one woman and her love of books.’ The quote that I have used for my newspaper advertisement is particularly important in the representation of women, as it shows that this woman is intelligent and has based her life around furthering her knowledge. The fact that my documentary does not specifically talk about the subject as a woman is also vital, as I wanted to highlight the fact that her gender should not be regarded when considering her successes and failures with the bookshop. I also feel that to highlight her gender would show inequalities.

Intertextuality- I used intertextuality in my documentary, with the shot of the fly fishing book. This was a comical reference to the yellow pages ‘J.R. Hartley’ broadcast in 1983, significant because it was set in bookshops. This reference would be picked up on by the audience.

Narrative- Although narrative theories apply more to fictional works, a narrative does run through my own work. I created a narrative through my interview technique, not using the interview questions, and the direct mode of address to the audience. This way the audience feel as if they are personally being told a story. When the subject is discussing the history of the bookshop, there are quick cuts to old sepia photographs of the bookshop. This creates a visual image to accompany the telling of the history. I then use cuts throughout to reference what the subject is telling us. The overall narrative is that of the life of the subject owning the bookshop.

Audience- The cultivation theory can be seen in my syntagm. First developed by Professor George Gerbner, the cultivation theory is a social theory. The idea is that over time exposure to television ‘cultivates’ an audiences perceptions of reality. It views audiences as passive, and that television subtly alters their stance of society. I used this theory in the sense that I want my documentary to alter the view of bookshops and reading as outdated. By showing the bookshop as interesting in my documentary I wish to alter these views. It also plays a part in the sense that I wish to alter the viewer’s idea that scholars are primarily male.

Evaluation- Question 4.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Pre-Production- In the pre-production stage of my work video hosting sites such as YouTube helped significantly. They allowed me to look at similar and previous products of what I planned to create. They also let me view old A2 projects which I could get inspiration from. The website of the location that I planned to film also aided my research and helped me to develop interview questions.

Newspaper Advertisement- To create my newspaper advertisement I used the software Adobe Photoshop, because of its highly praised photo enhancing abilities. I had never used this software before, but got to grips with it quickly watching video tutorials online. After deciding to use a photograph as the entire background I had to change the project size and image size. I changed the image size in a separate project, so that I could monitor the quality of the outcome of the image after reducing its size. I was concerned that it would affect the picture quality because of the re-sizing of the pixels, however after adjusting the options on the image size tool I found that picture quality was only minimally affected. I then transferred this image into my initial project. The other function that Photoshop was particularly helpful in was the text option. Because of its advanced nature it had many effects to toy with, when concerning the text. This allowed me to use the shadowing around the letters, allowing them to stand out, and also allowed for the independent shadow on my main title. Because of the simplistic nature of newspaper advertisements I did not use the full scope of effects and tools on Adobe Photoshop cs4. I rectified this in the creation of my double-page spread.

Double Page Spread- I also used Adobe Photoshop Cs4 when creating my double-page spread. It was in creating this that I used a greater variety of Photoshop’s features. First I made my page the size that a double-page spread would be. Then I set myself some page guidelines, so that I could see the layout of my spread. It was in this project that I relied on the idea of layering. This became significantly important in the final outcome of my project. Firstly I created a solid colour for my background, dark blue. Then I imported the images that I had taken at the shoot into the project. I imported one of the images, from the front of the location, into a separate project, and used the ellipse tool to make it circular. I did this as it in conventional for double-page spreads to use at least one circular image, breaking up the text. Because I wished to place these images over a white background I created white boxes slightly bigger than the images using the rectangle tool. I then moved the images up the layering list, so that they would be on top of the boxes. I also made adjustments to some of the picture colours using the image tool, to brighten them up a bit. I then made copies of the image of books and used the move tool to align them at the top of the page. I then created text boxes and positioned them in my desired places.

The Video- To edit my video I used the software Final Cut. I used this as a pose to IMovie, as it is a more professional programme. Using Final Cut also allowed me to progress and develop my editing skills from last year, when I used IMovie to create my project. To familiarise myself with Final Cut I watched some online tutorials. The most complicated part of the editing process was boosting the audio levels. To do this I had to open up my audio channel window and adjusting the volume slider. I also had to do this to quieten the music that I applied over the top of my interview. I kept to a basic style of editing in my project, as I found in my research, that transition edits are not commonly used. As a pose to transition edits I added many cutaways to my timeline to break up the interview. I did add a few fade effects to my shots, however did not want to use them too much. To create these transitions I just dragged the desired transition from the "Video Transitions" drop down menu in the effects tab. I also added an audio dissolve to my audio timeline to fade out the music towards the end of my documentary. I then exported the video into Quicktime.


Blogger- I uploaded all of my work onto blogger. I found this process easy; however had problems with the video upload. I had not anticipated the upload limit of 100MB and shooting in HD quality meant that my video was over 800MB. This meant that I could not upload the video in its initial format. I had to heavily compress the file to allow the upload of it onto Blogger.


In the evaluation stage I used social networking site Facebook to gain audience feedback. Social networking sites such as this are very important in the current media world, and are a good source for advertising.

To conclude I used various media technologies in the post-production and production of my project, and feel that I have acquired a vast knowledge of each of them.

Evaluation- Question 3.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

After my first rough cut I organised two small screenings of my documentary; one for my fellow media students, and the other for some members of staff at my place of work. I decided on these two groups of people, as fellow students understand the project that I have undertaken and what the documentary should include, whereas the people at my place of work are of an elder generation, which would probably be an age more suited to the documentary. Through organising these two showings, I was able to get a vast range of opinions from people of different age, gender and social class. I then asked them the questions: *What are your initial thoughts on the documentary? *What elements did you like about the documentary? *Was there anything in the documentary that you did not like? *Are there any improvements that you think could be made to the documentary? After seeing the first five minutes, would you watch the rest of the documentary if it were feature length?

The feedback from my screening for classmates was generally positive. One element particularly praised was the cutaways during the interview. One classmate said ‘I felt that the use of the cutaways helped me to remain focused through the documentary.’ Another added ‘I really liked the cutaways, but I think you should use more, it would help make it more interesting.’ The mood lighting was also praised, one student mentioned ‘I think the lighting was good, it helped create an impression that the bookshop was really old.’ All had positive feedback about my choice of music too. They felt ‘it really suited the style of the documentary’. The feedback from my work colleagues was also very positive. This was the group that I expected to impact more, they were all aged over 40. One colleague said ‘I really liked the music; I could really see this being a real documentary.’ Another mentioned the reference to the fly fishing joke saying ‘It really made me laugh, added a bit of humour if you understood it.’ When asked the question about watching the remainder of the documentary if it were feature length, an important question given my brief, all of the viewers said that they would.

This was all very positive feedback however there were some constructive criticisms from both groups, which proved very helpful in editing my final cut. As I have already mentioned, one student thought that more cutaways should be added, which I took into account. Another said that one of the shots, of the staff members, was too shaky. It was one of my cutaways however this criticism made me decide to change it for another. I did feel that a few of my shots were a bit shaky; however I did not have enough footage to edit them out completely, and felt they were passable. The final criticism which was also made by my tutor was that ‘The interview audio isn’t loud enough.’ This urged me to boost the sound levels. In conclusion to the feedback of my rough cut I found the comments extremely helpful and they lead me to make much needed changes to my work.



On completion of my final cut I posted a link onto social networking site Facebook. I felt that this would be a way to reach a wide audience, and gain vast feedback on my work. Social networking sites have become very important in the media industry and advertising. So I felt that it was a fitting way to gain feedback.

After posting the link I received very positive comments. One read ‘Congratulations, really good work, I can imagine it being a real documentary.’ I was particularly pleased with this comment as it proved that my work had gained credibility and could be an aired documentary. Another comment read ‘I’m impressed. The cutaways were really nice, and I liked the choice of music.’ From this feedback I am confident that I have created a credible documentary extract.

Evaluation- Question 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
When coming up with the ideas for my three products, I wanted to make sure that they had themes running throughout them, to create intertextuality between them. I recognised that all three products must work harmoniously in order to achieve an effective advertising campaign, and in turn an effective video product.

The idea that I wanted to portray through all three of my products was the sense of stepping back in time. The bookshop is over 100 years old, and retains the impression of being old. On visiting the location I decided that this was the idea I wanted my viewers to get when watching my video, and I felt that it was important to carry this idea through my advertising campaigns also. The way that I achieved this was through the images of old dusty books. These were featured in all three products. For both of my prints I used the same image of the subject, which helped create a link between the two products. I purposely placed the subject in front of shelves of books, so as to show firstly what the documentary was about, and secondly the second-hand dusty old nature of the books. To combine the print with my video I placed the subject in the same place when filming her interview.

Lighting was also important in creating effective print texts. I wanted the photos to have a dingy effect to them, and luckily the area that I photographed had good mood lighting. This dingy lighting was featured in all three of my products. It gave the desired effect of an old dusty shop.

The main title on both print products used the same font. I chose this font as it looked like a calligraphy style writing, which was commonly used in older lettering. I used the colour white for the fonts in both products which helped link the two together. This was also featured in the quote at the beginning of my documentary which was also written in white.

Evaluation- Question 1

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

The Quote- The use of a quote at the beginning of my documentary differs greatly from the normal conventions of real media products. It is extremely rare to see a quote at the beginning of a documentary, and I found none in my research of previous documentaries. In this way I have challenged the forms and conventions of real media products.

Shot 1-Establishing shots- My establishing shots were of the front of the location that I was filming. These were a typical convention of observational documentaries. They are used to introduce the audience to the location, and to create the sense that they too are in the bookshop, and experiencing the events with their own eyes. My establishing shots were wide shots, and I feel worked very well in introducing the shop. I feel that I developed the idea of location establishing shots, by using six different shots of the front of the location where many documentaries only use one. An example of establishing location shots would be Channel 4’s A Long Weekend With The Son Of God. This documentary also uses more than one location shot to introduce the documentary. I found many similarities in my documentary with that of Channel 4 documentaries.

Shot 2- Close-up of subject- This shot is typical of documentaries. I placed the subject on the left of the screen as the viewers eyes look from left to right, so the subject would then be the first thing that they say. The use of a close-up is also a convention of observational documentaries. It makes the shot intimate and personal, creating an attachment between audience and subject. An example of the use of close-ups of the interviewee in documentaries can be seen in Channel 4’s Ambreen: The Girl Boxer. As you can see from the screen grab, the close up shot of her creates a very personal feel to the documentary, she is also placed slightly to the left, the same technique that I used. This intimate image is similar to what I feel I have achieved with my interview.

Shot 3- Cutaway- The descriptive cutaways used to break up my interview are a very common convention in observational documentaries. I feel that mine worked particularly well because I used cutaway shots related to the subject that the
interviewee was discussing at the time. I developed the idea of cutaways by using them quite frequently throughout my video. It is an important aspect in my documentary, as it helps keep the audience focused and means that the video does not become monotonous and boring. Another important aspect is the interview audio continuing to run throughout the cutaways, this helped to create a sense of continuity throughout the film; this idea is commonly used in similar products. All in all I felt that the cutaways worked very well in my project.

Shot 4- Crane Shot- I used a crane shot in one of the cutaways from the interview. This shot was very important in the final cut of my video, as it helped to add variety to my use of shots, and showed a development of my use of camera angles. I decided on the crane shot because it helped to show the entirety of the first level of the bookshop, and it also allowed the audience to see the customers browsing, without the camera interfering; this meant that I effectively showed reality of every day life in the shop. And revealing actuality is the aim of a documentary. This shot is an uncommon in real media products. It is rare that a documentary can show true reality, as there is always the idea that the camera would cause people to act differently. By making the camera less obvious I was able to document actuality.

Shot 5- Pan shots- The shots that panned were difficult to achieve, because of the equipment that I had to use. I liked the shots that I captured, however they were slightly shaky, which would be something to consider if undertaking a similar project again. Pan shots are common in documentaries, and when undertaking initial research into the subject area I found great usage of them in real media products.

Suggestive Visual Elements- Where the interview took place there were several bottles of alcohol. By placing the subject near these bottles, which was not intentionally done, it suggests certain things about the subject to the audience. From these bottles the audience may come to speculate about the interviewee and come to conclusions that perhaps she drinks heavily. Although this was not intentionally done by me, many documentary makers do use suggestive visual elements intentionally, perhaps to force ideas into the viewers mind. However I did not want to be biased in my own work.

Encyclopaedia of Fly Fishing-When on location I found the book An Encyclopaedia of Fly Fishing. I decided to include the book as one of my cutaway shots because of the yellow pages advert from the 80’s about J.R. Hartley’s Fly Fishing book. Although it did not exist many people looked for the book and it became a very famous advert. The advert was also set in bookshops, creating a direct link to the subject of my own work. Although younger generations may not understand the joke, I think many of my target audience would pick up on the joke. Jokes such as the one I have included are not common in documentaries; however I feel that by adding subtle humour to my documentary it will keep the audience engaged.

Interview Style- The interview style in my documentary was particuarly important, as I did not use the standard question answer interview technique. Instead I opted for letting the documentary sound mildly like a story. It was as if the subject were talking directly to the audience, unaided by being asked questions. I did this simply but cutting the footage of asking the actual question, the piecing it together, to act in a story telling type way. This is not common of all documentaries, however is occasionally seen in observational documentaries where only one subject is interviewed and shown speaking.

Newspaper Advertisement- My newspaper advertisement follows many conventions of real media products. The use of an image as the entire background is often seen in advertisements for particular products. I got the idea for this from my initial research into newspaper advertisements, when I found the Ad for the Falcon Ford car. I manipulated many elements from this advert and used them in my own work. The use of the image of my subject as the background for my advert worked well I think, as it draws attention to the eye, and makes us curious as to what is being advertised. The use of a border around my text was not conventional, and initially I would not have thought to include it. It became necessary because the text would not show up well in either plain black or white font. I probably would not have chosen to use the shadowing option if the text had been easy to read without it. If I were to carry out a similar task again, I would have taken into account the colours of the background so that the shadowing tool wouldn’t have to be used. It is not a typical convention of newspaper Ad’s to use shadowing on text, so in retrospect it does however challenge the typical concepts of advertising. I decided to stick to the idea of intertextuality in my products, using the same font for the main title of both my newspaper advertisement and my double-page spread. This allowed readers to relate the two together.

Double-Page Spread- My double-page spread followed many typical conventions of real products. I used a definite colour scheme, as seen in many magazine spreads of a similar nature. I feel that this was very important, as it allows the spread to be easy on the eye, as a pose to using many different colours, which could become overwhelming for the reader. I could not use one large image spread across the two pages, as in most magazines, because my photos were not of a high enough quality, and when the pixels were stretched the image looked distorted and surreal. Instead I opted for a few smaller photos with white borders. I feel that this still had a nice effect. My text was all in white and the font was Times New Roman, This is a common convention for text, as it stands out from the background colour. I used the same font for the main title in both my newspaper advertisement and double-page spread to create intertextuality. This is a common concept in advertising campaigns. The quote from the subject between the to right hand side photos is also seen frequently, and it creates the idea that the subject is speaking directly to the reader. One aspect of the double-page spread that was not conventional was the use of the images of books behing my main title, and across the top of the page. I felt that challenged concepts here, and in my research did not find anything similar; I felt that the images worked well on my final product.

Media Video - A Bookumentary

The quote at the beginning of my film

In the editing process I decided to use a quote at the beginning of my documentary. I came to this decision as I feel it introduces the documentary and its theme well. I found the quote on a framed board behind the counter in the bookshop. Because of this, it also relates well to the documentary. The quote reads ‘On the Buying of Books by a Bookworm. If he passes a booksellers shop he may choose not to stop, if it is a second-hand shop, which is at all times more interesting than a shop of new books, his feet without any violation and of their own accord draw him within it. – T.N. Foulis.’ I felt that this quote emphasises the character of second-hand bookshops, and of Hall’s bookshop itself. I used white writing on a black screen.