You should be watching a variety of documentaries at home and creating a folder of information/notes about them. Make sure you are looking across all three media platforms. In Section B of the exam you will be assessed on your ability to apply your knowledge and understanding of the products and processes in documentaries across a range of media platforms. You should also be able to explore how meanings and responses are created.
At the top level of Section B you should show the following:
Thorough application of knowledge and understanding of the processes by which media audiences consume media products across at least three different media platforms.
Thorough application of knowledge and understanding of how meanings are created and communicated to audiences, demonstrated by detailed examples from the cross-media study.
Clear, well organised and appropriate communication. Well structured response; ideas supported by examples.
Fluent use of media terminology and expression of ideas, which support
an engaged explanation of the responses of audiences.
Try to show these skills in the homework (below). We are looking at all three platforms in class but you must also do this at home in your own time.
Your homework is:
Choose a TV documentary to watch and answer/make notes on the following things:
Type of programme:
Channel it is broadcast on:
Topic of documentary:
Voiceover: Male or female? Regional accent or standard English? Famous person or celebrity/actor?
Talking to camera: Who talks directly to camera and why?
Talking off camera: Are questions asked by someone off camera? Does the person being questioned answer to the person off camera?
Vox pop: Does the programme include street interviews to get 'ordinary people's views'?
Interview: Is the person interviewed in a special setting? Are they filmed with dramatic lighting? Are their identities kept secret?
Literisation: Are words used on screen to give further information e.g. sub-titles, translations, dates, times, place names.
Music: Is music used to dramatise segments of the programme? To create suspense? A sense of tragedy? Humour? To fit a particular image?
Camera techniques: Fly on the wall? Hand-held? Following people around?
Homework due: Thursday 7th March
Type of programme: Documentary
ReplyDeleteChannel it is broadcast on: Channel 4
Topic of documentary: Family- Life of a big family.
Voiceover: Male voice over with standard English accent. This allows us to understand more about that is going on in the programme, making it clearer for the viewer.
Talking to camera: Each family member talks to the camera when asked questions about their daily life. Also the families occasionally talk to the camera when they are doing family activities, letting the audience know what it going on, this could be seen as personal identity. The public also talk to the camera when asked questions about the family in the street.
Talking off camera: The questions are asked on camera and we can’t hear the questions, just the answers given. This allows the audience to feel like the interview is more personal; it allows a greater amount of interaction between both the interviewee and the audience.
Vox pop: The programme does involve interviewing people from the public; they stop people in the street and ask questions about the families featured. We then see the thoughts and feelings of the public, allowing us to see the situation from a different point of view.
Interview: The families interviewed are interviewed in their home. The background if blurred so that the focus is on the person. When people are interviewed in the street there is natural lighting with no other effects.
Literisation: When a different families story is show it shows what the family is called at the bottom right hand side of the screen. Then, when people in the family are getting interviewed it shows their name and their age in the bottom left hand corner too. This is useful for the audience and follows the typical codes and conventions for a documentary.
Music: The music is light hearted almost giving off a humorous feeling because of the size of the families. When a problem occurs the music slows down and becomes tenser to fit in with the situation. The music is non-diegetic over the clips shown.
Camera techniques: The camera is hand held and follows the family around. Then, when people are getting interviewed they use a medium close up shot so we can focus on what they are saying and not the surroundings.
Type of programme: Documentary – An Idiot Abroad
ReplyDeleteChannel it is broadcast on: Sky 1
Topic of documentary: Karl Pilkington gets out of his comfort zone travelling abroad and to different places.
Voiceover: Male or female? Male Regional accent or standard English? Standard English Famous person or celebrity/actor? Sometimes Karl Pilkington voice over’s his activities.
Talking to camera: Who talks directly to camera and why? Karl Pilkington talks directly to the camera about how he is feeling and his experiences. This helps audience to relate and informs them of information helping to make them feel like they were there.
Talking off camera: Are questions asked by someone off camera? Does the person being questioned answer to the person off camera? Questions are asked off camera but it’s very rare. Sometimes the camera men ask Pilkington questions about how he is feeling, or what he is thinking etc.
Vox pop: Does the programme include street interviews to get 'ordinary people's views'? No, but the programme does show ‘Ordinary people’ in their natural habitats. This gives the audience an idea of how the other people’s lives are, and how different they are to there own.
Interview: Is the person interviewed in a special setting? Are they filmed with dramatic lighting? Are their identities kept secret? There isn’t any interviewing in the programme. Questions are asked sometimes, but I wouldn’t consider them as an interview.
Literisation: Are words used on screen to give further information e.g. sub-titles, translations, dates, times, place names. Sometimes when Pilkington is talking to people who speak different languages or have strong accidents, the programme has sub titles added. Also the places Karl Pilkington travels to are displayed on the screen in text.
Music: Is music used to dramatise segments of the programme? To create suspense? A sense of tragedy? Humour? To fit a particular image? Non-diagetic music is often used in the programme. It often adds a sense of comedy due to Sky’s choice of happy sounding music. The music often fits the emotions of how Karl Pilkington is feeling.
Camera techniques: Fly on the wall? Hand-held? Following people around? They tend to have hand held camera shots to give the audience a sense of being there, and showing what Karl Pilkington is going through. It also gives a sense of realism. On the parts when its just Karl Pilkington talking to the camera, after the events, they tend to use a medium long shot. This shows Karl Pilkington in a more relaxed atmosphere and helps to relax the audience, again putting them in a similar situation as Karl Pilkington.
http://susiebeckmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/documentary-analysis-2.html
ReplyDeleteThis World American Poor Kid
ReplyDeleteType of programme:
A documentary about the USA’s flagging economy, told through the eyes of children
Channel it is broadcast on:
BBC 2 – has to be unbiased
Topic of documentary:
Poverty in the USA, and how it affects families and children in particular.
Voiceover: Male or female? Regional accent or standard English? Famous person or celebrity/actor?
Female voice over, British- to help us (British audience) to relate with the American culture.
Talking to camera: Who talks directly to camera and why?
Family and children talk to camera – This gives the audience a personal opinion from the child talking to the camera.
Using children possibly gives a more real effect to the documentary as children are naïve and speak exactly what they think. Also people are more likely to sympathise with them.
Talking off camera: Are questions asked by someone off camera? Does the person being questioned answer to the person off camera?
No, as it makes it feel like the kid is expressing their feelings, rather than set questions.
Vox pop: Does the programme include street interviews to get 'ordinary people's views'?
People in the salvation army are asked what they think about the poverty.
Interview: Is the person interviewed in a special setting? Are they filmed with dramatic lighting? Are their identities kept secret?
No, it is often in their own home or in a setting which is familiar to the children.
Literisation: Are words used on screen to give further information e.g. sub-titles, translations, dates, times, place names.
No, there was no language barrier so probably not needed.
Music: Is music used to dramatise segments of the programme? To create suspense? A sense of tragedy? Humour? To fit a particular image?
Some acoustic guitar style music, which emphasises the sympathy that the viewer has for these people.
Camera techniques: Fly on the wall? Hand-held? Following people around?
Still, close up and mid shots when the kids are separately talking to the camera, and hand held camera when following the kids round their everyday life. This handheld camera adds realism to these peoples life for the viewer as it makes the scenes seem less planned and more of a natural flow.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/jaws-the-great-white-myth/4od
ReplyDeleteType of programme:
Documentary - Jaws: The Great White Myth
Channel it is broadcast on:
Channel 4 - 4oD
Topic of documentary:
History behind the 1975 movie, Jaws and the impact it had on the world after its release.
Voiceover: Male or female? Regional accent or standard English? Famous person or celebrity/actor?
Male, RP English accent.
Talking to camera: Who talks directly to camera and why?
The people being interviewed talk, not directly to the camera, but as if they are speaking to the interviewer behind the camera. Many different people are interviewed during the documentary. Such as, shopkeepers, a crew member off the film Jaws, a shark attack survivor and life guards.
Talking off camera: Are questions asked by someone off camera? Does the person being questioned answer to the person off camera?
No, there are no voices asking questions off camera. The video has been edited so that is seems people addressing the camera by telling a story as they seem half way through what they had to say.
Vox pop: Does the programme include street interviews to get 'ordinary people's views'?
No. The interviews are all one to one.
Interview: Is the person interviewed in a special setting? Are they filmed with dramatic lighting? Are their identities kept secret?
The person being interviewed are usually filmed in a setting to do with the subject. In this case they settings are mostly sea harbours, the shops they own, beaches and shots with the sea in the background to keep it relevant to the subject.
Literisation: Are words used on screen to give further information e.g. sub-titles, translations, dates, times, place names.
Subtitles are used when a new interviewee is introduced. They display their name in large, white font and beneath is their occupation in a smaller size.
Music: Is music used to dramatise segments of the programme? To create suspense? A sense of tragedy? Humour? To fit a particular image?
Dramatic, sombre music is used when sharks are on the screen to create an air of terror. To emphasise danger, rock music is used as the subject is intense and rock music represents daredevil-like situations. This applies well to the documentary later on during it some people dive to come face to face with a shark.
Camera techniques: Fly on the wall? Hand-held? Following people around?
Close ups and medium long shots are used when the people are talking to the camera. The documentary uses establishing shots of the scenery to show the documentary has been filmed in many different areas. Handheld footage is used extensively for when showing close up images of sharks and when divers are in the cages viewing them. Archived footage of experiences with sharks is also used as well as clips from the movie, Jaws.
Type of programme:
ReplyDeleteDocumentary - Oscar Pistorious: What Really Happened?
Channel it is broadcasted on:
BBC
Topic of documentary:
Rick Edwards looking into the murder of Oscar Pistorious' girlfriend and seeing both sides of the story as to whether Oscar, who claims to have murdered his girlfriend but by accident mistaking her for a burgalar, is guilty or not.
Voiceover: Male or female? Regional accent or standard English? Famous person or celebrity/actor?
No voiceover. Only Rick Edwards talking to the audience throughout. British accent, famous.
Talking to camera: Who talks directly to camera and why?
Throughout the documentary, Rick Edwards talks directly into the camera when talking about Oscar and the murder. Talking directly to the camera/audience gives a more personal approach which is fitting due to the serious nature of the documentary. Witnesses, friends and news reporters are interviewed throughout.
Talking off camera: Are questions asked by someone off camera? Does the person being questioned answer to the person off camera?
The people who are interviewed throughout the documentary are asked questions by Rick Edwards who is not seen during the interview, but you can hear him asking the questions in the background behind the camera. When speaking to news reporters they aren't asked questions but give their view on Oscar and his girlfriend before the murder and how his girlfriend, Reeva, had recently became in the public eye.
Vox pop: Does the programme include street interviews to get 'ordinary people's views'?
The documentary doesn't show any street interviews but Rick Edwards refers to statements made by 'ordinary people' who were around the area at the time of the incident.
Interview: Is the person interviewed in a special setting? Are they filmed with dramatic lighting? Are their identities kept secret?
The documentary is set place in South Africa, where Oscar and his girlfriend lived. There is no added lighting or special effects throughout any of the interviews with none of their identitites kept secret. Everyone interviewed has/had a reltionship of some sort to both Oscar and Reeva and they introduce themself with how they're related, e.g. a girl who was Reeva's housemate or a close family friend of Oscars.
Literisation: Are words used on screen to give further information e.g. sub-titles, translations, dates, times, place names.
Some of the footages in the documentary is real footage from the night of the incident and from statements made from police. In the clips from the night it happened there are subtitles showing what was said.
Music: Is music used to dramatise segments of the programme? To create suspense? A sense of tragedy? Humour? To fit a particular image?
There is no music used throughout the documentary apart from at the end when a tribute is playing in memory of Reeva where pictures of her are shown and there is music over it.