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.