Editing the Documentary

The first sections of our documentary that we began to edit were the interviews. Due to complications with the School's server system being down, we did not have the images to begin editing the opening titles, so we could not start from the beginning which may have been easier. We did our editing on Abode Premier Pro, and the first slice of editing we approached was cutting out the interview questions asked by us to the interviewee (Tattoo artist and Rachael's uncle). We did this by dragging the clips onto the timeline and using the razor tool to cut between each answer, to be able to get a definite cut-off point for each section. We placed the interview with the tattoo artist before the interview with Rachael's uncle on the timeline, as this is the order they'll appear in on our documentary.

After this we began to edit out the questions in the Voxpop, and all irrelevant filming (e.g. the mic getting in the film framing - would be unprofessional to display). This eliminated us actually using two of our interviewees for our voxpop, as the filming quality was poorer than what is eligible to use. We edited these out using the same technique: the razor tool. This just left us with the remaining interviewee's opinions with us to work with. We placed this on the end of our timeline, to match its place in the documentary.

Leaving this behind for further editing, i then dragged the filming of the girl getting a tattoo onto the timeline, placing it between the two main interviews between the tattoo artist and Rachael's uncle. I then attempted to edit out 30 seconds for us to use in the documentary, using the razor tool once again to cut and delete all unneeded film. (However this later got changed).

When we had finally re-took the photos for the opening titles, and Rachael had filmed the photos all side-by-side as a printed out JPEG image, Radu and me began to lay it all out on the timeline near the beginning (leaving space for the short-section Montage of tattoo images that would be going before it). All the images were saved as 'JPEG' files, and we uploaded and dragged each one onto the timeline separately. The first image we edited was of the 'T' image, were we set the viewing time and then adjusted the image to fill the screen appropriately. We did this to all the images, setting them out in order to spell out 'The Human Canvas'. We then set a flash inbetween each of the images, using a shorter-timed white colour block situated on the timeline above, and used a quick cross-dissolve to create a flashing effect. After doing this we rendered the work area so it would flow smoothly. At the end of this sequence we placed the full filmed title, and the dissolved this to black after a few viewing seconds. Until we uploaded the backing track for this (Linkin' Park - Crawling), we had this section finished.

Examples of editing:

Permission for the Music:

To be able to use the music that we chose to include in our documentary we needed to write to the company to ask permission for it, as it legally belongs to them and could be seen as copyright. The following images are screengrabs of the emails i sent to the each of the companies that owned the rights to the music:

Filming the Documentary:

Within terms of filming for our documentary, we have filmed 2 interviews, a voxpop, cutaways and the opening titles.

For the interview with the tattoo artist, we visited the our interviewee in his actual workplace - Global Tattoo Studios - and filmed in his surrounding work area. We did this to make our interview more authentic, as the mise-en-scene was already set-up all around us. The area we actually chose to to film the interview, was chosen as it perfectly outlines the effect we desired the create, mainly based on tattooing as an art (e.g. the massive explicit tattoo images seen in the background). We had trouble whilst filming with the door alarm constantly going off (as people entered/exited the shop), however we feel we have obtained enough film to be able to avoid this disturbing the footage we use in our actual documentary. My participation in this interview was filming with the camera, whilst Rachael asked the interview questions. We both helped sort the framing for our footage.

Our voxpop was filmed in Liscard village, within the shopping area. We chose to film in front of McDonald's and the street, as it plainly shows the viewers that we were interviewing the general public, and not a targeted audience biased towards the topic (such as only filming people with tattoos). Also, it more-so follows codes and conventions for this style of filming. My role within filming this was once again filming, and holding the microphone above the interviewees for them to talk into. Radu held up the images to our participants of the voxpop and asked questions such as 'What do you think of these tattoos?', 'Would you consider getting this done yourself?' and 'Why?'. We both helped to gather up volunteers with opinions to film.

We attempted to film the voxpop twice. The first time, we experienced troubles trying to find willing volunteers to film and also experienced abuse from passers-by (mostly due to the way we were dressed, as we were dressed up for Halloween in school). We also had troubles with the tripod being to small to film with, and even after trying to balance it on a bench we still had trouble. When we came back the week after to film however, we were delightfully surprised with the good feedback we hadn't been offered before more people were intrigued and interested to take part. We learnt from our mistakes, and made sure we had the correct equipment to film with, and chose our framing with confidence.

Setting up:

The Images used for Voxpop:

The interviewees reactions:

The cutaways for our documentary came from a variety of places. Some are images that were obtained from the Internet, other images are ones which Rachael took of friends/close-relations, and we even filmed some footage whilst in the Global Tattoo Studios - e.g. equipment, Ed Hardy posters/tattoo images, drawing ideas, old-school tattoo tools and even the chair in which it all happens. We all helped to film the pans over the military images for the starting voiceover, and the tattoo images of the lizard man and the Tiger-man for the voxpop:

To do this, we needed to stick our printed images on a black background, and find the right lighting to film in so the image can be clearly seen on the screen. We stuck them to a wall as our filming would be straighter and look more professional.

Here i am filming one of the military tattoos, making sure to pan both up and down, and zooming in to get the whole picture in the frame.

Finally, the filming of our Opening titles. To create this we got some paints from the art department, and painted each letter of our title 'The Human Canvas' on a different part of Radu's body. We then used a camera to take the pictures individually for the opening titles. We took these images both with flash and without flash to see which sort came out looking best - we ended up using the ones without flash. I painted the letters, Radu was our canvas, and Rachael took the pictures. We then uploaded the images onto the computer, Rachael re-arranged them into a full-screen title, printed it off and then we filmed that too for a few seconds. This time however we stuck the image to a white background - another useful blank colour to use as a backdrop for our filming.

Interview Questions


Tattooist Interview:

1) How did you get into the profession?
2) Tell me about the most unusual tattoo you have ever had to make.
3) Tell me about the different designs you do?
4) Do you do tattoo removals?
5) Tell me about the most popular tattoos that people get.
6) Tell me about your favourite tattoo.
7) Tell me about your tattoos.
8) Tell me about the different tattoo designs you do.
9) Tell me about the process of tattooing.
10) Is tattooing an art?
11) Tell me about the tools you use.
12) Tell me about the inks you use.
13) How do you get the tattoos to stay on the skin permanently?


Person with Tattoos interview:

1) Tell me about the time you got your tattoo.
2) Were you scared of getting a tattoo?
3) Tell me about the parts of the body you got it on.
4) Tell me about the designs you chose.
5) Are you planning on getting any more?
6) Tell me about the designs you are thinking of getting.
7) Tell me about the reason you chose to get a tattoo.
8) Tell me about your parents view of tattoos.

Task 8

Running Order for Tattoo Documentary:

Documentary: The Human Canvas
Channel: Channel 4
Scheduling: Wednesday evening, 8.00-8.30pm
Duration: 24 minutes


Montage of images of peoples tattoos (music in background)
20 seconds

Opening titles (flick through each letter of ‘The Human Canvas’ that’s painted on body parts) display on split screen to show title.
15 seconds

Still images of old history tattoos e.g. military ones. Voiceover asking the question ‘Where did they come from?’
30 seconds

Interview with tattooist – cuts of tools etc.
1 minute 30 seconds

Footage of girl getting her tattoo.
20 seconds

Interview with person talking about tattoos, opinions and showing their tattoos
1 minute 30 seconds

Voiceover cut to prison break (show map tattoo) how this glorifies tattoos. Cut to lizard man and voxpop of reactions to him.
35 seconds

Interview with Cheryl Cole on tattoos1 minute
30 seconds

Interview with Cheryl fan who has copied her tattoo. Her inspiration.
1 minute

Voiceover explaining celebrity craze of tattoos whilst showing cuts of celebs different tattoos
20 seconds

Archive footage and pictures of Hell’s angels and about them. Rock music playing. Voiceover explaining how it makes them individual
1 minute

National identities and the different tattoos that countries get. Pride in their country
40 seconds

Voiceover about Jehovah witness’s with a shot of church.
10 seconds

Interview with a Jehovah’s Witness about not allowing tattoos in their religion.
1 minute

Montage of religious tattoos – voiceover explaining each tattoo
30 seconds

Interview with Muslim man about his views on them
1 minute

Interview with Tattooist. Point of view shot of fast motion around tattoos
40 seconds

Archive material of Miami ink (Hawaiian episode). Shows the tools and the symbolism of their tattoos
2 minutes


Advert Break – 3 minutes


Interview with doctor about tattoo removal. Cuts of removed tattoos
1 minute 30 seconds

Shots of horrible tattoos and shops
30 seconds

Show a tattoo badly removed – Archive material
20 seconds

Interview with person who wants their tattoo removed
1 minute 30 seconds

Voiceover asking if tattoo is an art form, show footage of art and tattoos
20 seconds

Interview with art critic on what he thinks if they are an art form
30 seconds

Show lizard man and tiger man. Voiceover on how people want to look different but other people don’t get it
30 seconds

Voiceover asking where will we be in the future with tattoos? What will they look like?
25 seconds

Total time: 24 minutes

Task 6 and 7

Formal Proposal

Topic: Tattoos

Type of documentary: Mixed

Style of documentary: Informal, Funny, Chatty

Channel and Scheduling: Channel 4, 8.00-8.30pm

Target Audience: 15-40 years

Primary Research: Interviews, school rooms, tattoo parlour

Secondary Research: Internet, books, newspapers, radio programmes, magazines, images, statistics, television programmes

Narrative Structure: Open, single-strand, non-linear

Outline of content: Interviews (tattooist, youth, etc)

Resource requirements: Digital camera, computer (with software), body parts, tripod, video recorder, microphone



Research For The Programme:

Primary Research
- Interviews:
Tattoo artist in a tattoo studio
Doctor in a GP Practice
Preist in a church
General public/people with tattoos
Headteacher in a school

- Filming Locations:
Voxpop in Liscard
In a car
Tattoo shop/studio
Outside
In a library
In school
Living room
Doctors Practice

- Props
Books
Articles
Liazrd man/Tiger man picture
Tattoos/Images of tattoos

Secondary Research
Lizard man
Tiger man
Star-face girl
Miami ink
Prison break/momento
Tattoo magazine
Books/Internet sites on the history of tattoos
Images of tattoos
Henna Tattoos

Task 5

Possible Content for our Documentary:

History of Tattoos - Origin, Creator, The First Tattoo, First tools used, Now and then comparison, Historical people with Tattoos, Military

Designs - Tribal, Animals, Names, Symbols, Cartoons, Famous people, Different languages, Flowers/Hearts/Stars, Cover-ups, Make-up, Deeper meaning

Fear - Phobias, Shame, Needles, Pain, How they affect people and their lives/views, Regret

Opinions - Parents, Doctors, Religious, Atheist, Youth, Friends, The Media - how they contrast

Stereotypes - Emo, Mosher, Chav, Preppy, Indie, Rockers, Punk, Nerds - is there a link?

Copycats - Fans for celebrities (why?), Friends, Relations

Culture - How they relate themselves with tattoos, Do some cultures value them more than others? E.g. Chinese, Arabian, Hebrew, Scottish, Welsh, etc. How Do they differ and why?

Symbolism - Symbols related to religion, Hobbies, Love, Passion, Meaning - where do tattoos come into this? What do the symbols mean? Are any mistaken?

Interviews - Famous Celebrities (e.g. Rihanna, Cheryl Cole, David Beckham, Paris Hilton, etc), Parentals, Teenagers, Young adults, Older adults with tattoo's, a Tattooist (artist), People who have had them lasered off, People with regrets, Anyone related to subjects above. Ask why, how, what it means to them. Pain? Any problems? Voxpops!

Voxpop - Obtain image (i.e. of lizard man) and wander Liverpool shopping area asking opinions - What do you think? Would you do this? Do you know anyone with unusual/shocking tattoo's? Do you have any yourself?

Task 4

Audience Research
Questionnaire:


1) Are you…?
□ Male □ Female




2) What is your age?
□ 15–19 □ 20-24 □ 25-29 □ 30-34 □ 35-40




3) What is your occupation?



4) Have you got a tattoo?
□ Yes □ No



If yes, what part of body do you have it on?




5) What does the word tattoo mean to you?



6) What is your favourite colour?
□ Red □ Blue □ Green □ Yellow
□ Black □ White □ Other (please specify)__________



7) Who is you favourite celebrity/idol?



8) Does your favourite celebrity/idol have a tattoo?



9) What is a meaningful image to you?



10) Are you religious?
□ Yes □ No □ Undecided




11) Do your parents approve/have approved of tattoos?
□ Yes □ No

If no, why not?



12) If you don’t have a tattoo or if you want one, what would you like?





Questionnaire Results:



1) Are you….?

Male – 11 Female – 19

Conclusion: There were 11 males and 19 females that took our questionnaire; because there were more females than males this shows that our documentary may be biased towards the female gender of the audience. We will have to take this into account so we don’t overlook the male audience, and as to make sure the documentary appeals towards both genders equally.

2) What is your age?

Conclusion: Looking at the results, the majority of our audience opinions will rely on people aged 15-19. As the next greater quantity of age lies in the 35-40’s category, we have basically got enough evidence to support both the youngest and oldest age, and this will hopefully account for the lack of information claimed by the other ages in between. Taking this in, we therefore should be able to comprise a documentary relative to every person between the ages of 15-40 – our target audience.

3) What is your occupation?

Conclusion: From the pie chart we can see that our documentary will attract a broad range of audiences. This tells us that we must make sure that we keep the documentary interesting for everyone, by appealing to subjects relative their common interests.

4) Have you got a tattoo?

Yes – 10 No – 20

Conclusion: 2/3rds of the participants answered ‘No’ to this question, which could create a problem within how much interest there is from our documentary for our target population. However, there is the 1/3rd of the audience who do have tattoos, showing that significant proportions have got tattoos and that our subject for the documentary may draw at least 1/3rd of the populations attention. Also, taking into account that the documentary is about tattoos and will be aimed at people with them as well as without, the other 2/3rds of the population may still be intrigued, increasing viewers and appealing to a wider target audience.

If yes, what part of the body do you have it on?

(image will be uploaded soon)

Conclusion: The parts of the body which people desire to get tattoos are varied, which allows us to use a greater variety of footage (e.g. images of different tattoos in different places).

5) What does the word 'Tattoo' mean to you?

Conclusion: Looking at the graph we can see that greatest meaning for the word 'tattoo', according to our participants, is that it is a 'picture on a person’s body'. The second most popular answer was a life long memory. Combining both these answers informs us that most people may think of a tattoo as a picture which represents something to the person wearing it, and that different images can mean different things for everyone. Extracting this meaning, we can now go on to portray it in our finished documentary of tattoos.

6) What is your favourite colour?Conclusion: From the graph we can see that most of our participant's favourite colour is red with, the colour blue coming close second. We will incorporate these colours in the documentary as to attract more of an audience to our documentary.

7) Who is your favourite celebrity/idol?

Conclusion: From these results we can draw the conclusion that the most idolised celebrities are Cheryl Cole and Beyonce, which were both recorded to have tattoos. This therefore gives us the preferred option to use these two celebrities in our documentary, as most people recognise them and this will regulate more of an interest to the documentary.

8) Does your favourite celebrity idol have a tattoo?

Yes – 15 No – 15

Conclusion: From the results we can see that in our documentary we will have to explore the issue regarding “Do celebrities influence people getting a tattoo”.

9) What is a meaningful image to you?

Conclusion: From the pie chart we can see that Nature/emotional/family(including background)-related images are most popular when it comes to tattoos and what they mean to different people. This tells us that not every image means the same to each individual audience, and that we should try to use a wide-range of images to portray the subject of meaning, including these top 5 selected images.

10) Are you Religious?

Yes: 6 No: 19 Undecided: 5

Conclusion: From the results we can see that a majority of the population may not be religious, however this does not mean we can not have some debate between different religions and their views on getting a tattoo.

11) Do your parents approve/have approved of tattoos?

Yes – 16 No – 14


Conclusion: From the results we can see another issue we may need to address in the documentary is “Why might parent's feel having a tattoo is bad?”

If No, Why not?Conclusion: These results reinforce the issue about parents disagreements on tattoos. From the results we can plan questions or plan a segment about the different reasons parents give to their children when rejecting them the right to get a tattoo, and why that might be.

12) If you don’t have a tattoo or if you want one, what would you like?

Conclusion: From the piece chart we can see that tattoos are developing and people don’t seem to want the traditional tattoos such as a rose anymore. People are starting to come up with their own ideas about what tattoo they want, whether it is simple imagery or personal meaning, and this is another thing we can discuss in our documentary.

Task 3

Our Documentary:

Topic: Tattoos
Target Audience: 15-40 years
Channel and Scheduling: Channel 4, 8.00pm-8.30pm
Title: The Human Canvas

Task 2

Possible ideas for documentary:

Film/Radio - Video games - Race - War - Music - Schools - illness - fashion - Pregnancy - Beauty - Nature - Poverty - Alcohol - Animals - Recession - Teenagers - Technology - Media - Celebrities - University - Obesity - Saturday jobs - Elderly - Food - Cars - Diet - Eggs - Sweets - Drugs - Travelling - Holidays - Disability - Relationships - History - Discovery - Helplessness - Stereotypes - Pastimes - Anorexia - Homelessness - Chocolate - Wallasey - Sixth form - Clubbing - Mobile phones - Murder - Money - Drink - Family - Hair - Nails - Children - Houses - Bikes - Bears - Sleep - Babies - Dinosaurs - Fish - Egypt - Books - Roads - Tables - Pens - Cinema - Life - Sky - Sex - Crime - Natural disorders - Public transport - Wealth - Festivals - Dancing - Penguin - Blue - Waffles - Chocolate cake - Laptop - Shoes - Bags - Make-up - Friends - McDonald's - Bacon - Zoo - Rings - Hiccups - KFC - Sneezing - Shopping - Parks - Wales - Love - Hate - Dress - Liverpool - Pink - Working - Sport - Exercise - Tattoos - Takeaway - Dolphins - Bubblegum - English - Kisses - Jewellery - Beatles - Pringles - Photography - Facebook - Texting - Gigs - Senses - Seven deadly sins

Egypt's New Tomb Revealed

Homework Analysis of Documentary 2:

Type of Documentary: Mixed
Themes: Egypt/Tutankhamun/Tombs/Discovery/History
Narrative Structure: Open/Single-strand/Non-linear

Camerawork:
Intro - pan over images of tombs/coffins/labour(digging)/candle light.
Tracking and panning over Valley of Kings.
Handheld - following man ('fly on the wall' style) and close-ups of artifacts.
Interviews - framed to the left or right. One centre screen. Medium close-up.
High angle and low-angled shots - e.g. looking into/out of tombs, up ladders, H.A of man narrating.
Two shot of men working together and talking to camera and each other.
Extreme close-up and close-ups of coffins and artefact's - detail.
Tracking backwards of man asking camera questions, with name and occupancy.
Close-up on introducing new people - establishing shots.
Track forwards following one man, then sideways to switch to another important man - inventive.
zoom on detail and point-of-view shots when handling artefact's.

Mise-en-Scene:
Coffins, tombs, rocks, Tutankhamun.
Artefact's.
Architectural instruments - establishes occupation involved.
Tools.
Interview backgrounds - tomb walls/above ground by excavation work.

Sound:
Voiceover - male, slight accent. Voiceover and narrator on screen.
Quick pace music - excitement.
Unusual music - relates to discovery (techno-ish).
Eerie music (going underground).
Light music - different images of new finds.
Informative interviews.
Similar music used - sci-fi likeness.
Slow/low music - anticipation (quieter).
Scraping sound match with flash.

Editing:
Dissolves
Cuts
Montages of tomb images
Zoom in on coffins - direct lock on smaller coffin
Superimposed film - people making markings over those found/statue over image/diagram over coffin.
Flash - old-new images and between some interviews.
Negative flash image
Light up of inscription on stone
Blurred film
Lots of reused shots
Cut to adverts before mummy revealed - suspense

Archive Material:
Actuality footage - inside tombs, coffins, Valley of the Kings, excavating, discoveries, following man, etc.
Blue/colour diagrams - underground tomb work, where coffins are situated, timeline. All 3D.
Re-enactment footage - people making marking, statues carrying mummy's to tombs - basically past predictions.
Images of Egyptians.
Image of stone heads (rotate shot).
Old black and white photos.
X-ray images.
Examples of 'mummification process'.

Graphics:
Title: Tutankhamun wooden image with 'EGYPT'S NEW TOMB REVEALED' - 'revealed' slightly smaller text size.
Interviews - name of interviewee, e.g. 'Dr KEN NYSTROM' and occupation 'Physical Anthropologist' - written in exact case. Establishes who they are and relation to subject. White type - easy to see.
Informative info about future work at end of Doc. - white type over black background.
Credits: scroll upwards over black background - white type.

My SHOCKING Story: 'I Gave Birth To A Mummy'

Homework Documentary Analysis 1:

Type of Documentary: Mixed
Themes: Pregnancy
Narrative Structure: Closed/Single-strand/Non-linear

Camerawork:
Extreme close-up on unidentified face (glasses) looking at scan. Both from front and behind angle
Interviewees on right or left of screen - Medium close-up or medium shot.
Side-wide shot of woman going into scan, cut to her entering scan(high angle)(match-on-action). Also extreme close-up used.
Close-up of surgery - incisions/stomach/finding baby (stone). All handheld.
Establishing shots - countryside, etc.
Tracking forwards/sideways takes.
Handheld filming (travelling in cars/surgery)
Close-up on fiddling hands (anticipation) and probe.
Slow pan over foetus scans. Extreme close-up of woman's eyes (anticipation). Close-up of dissection.
Zoom in on stone baby - whoa, what? factor. and slow pan (detail). Extreme close-up used for finer detail.
Zoom in and out of stills.
Close-up of adult hand touching babies - meaning/size difference realisation.

Mise-en-Scene:
Interviews - hospital bed, Tree(nature), Family pictures(homely values)
Town and deserted country - establishes surroundings.
Shot of sun breaking through clouds and shining on dark house - spiritualisation (with spiritual music).
Old women interview - light clothes, symbolises purity and innocence.
dusty roads, dead-looking city (significance to dead stone-baby)
Doctors in white coats in front of white light from Windows down a dark corridor - signifies doctors goodness.
Bookcase and scans behind and to the left of doctors interview footage - establishes occupation.
Dark shot of house under horrible cloudy weather - foreshadowing daunting news.
Images of lifeline in background of operation footage (life tracking) - slowly becomes more focused on.
Sunny shots of couples and children in field - connotes purity. complete difference to old lady's footage.

Sound:
Intro - tense music with female voiceover about old woman's story 'crippled in pain'. No accent.
Translation over voiceover (accent matches). Translation finishes before interviewee.
Spiritual music for old woman and stone baby.
Tinkling and religious music (whilst telling of losing baby - mourning status).
Sinister music - twins may be in danger - warning.
Disjointed music on images of probe and news of triplets, etc.
Ambulance sound in background before we see ambulance - sign of trouble.
Very technical music - panic for trouble (quickened), calm for calmness, disjointed for others.

Editing:
Lots of dissolves - matching similar filming (disjointed shots down hospital corridor)
Cuts
Blurred film to connote woman's suffering. Also blurred surgeons in surgery (hide identity) and blurred film of painful flashbacks.
Black and white film of country passing-by.
Pan shot over dark and sinister country with woman's voiceover of sad story (similar to Melanie's confession).
'Perilous surgery' over film of surgical instruments - direct link.
Brightness added to shot of tracking handheld down corridor - turning a meaning into a memory.

Archive material:
Images (x-rays) of 'stone' dead foetus.
Kinetic drawings showing egg implanted in woman - describing and showing what happened.
Re-enactment footage of unidentified woman in pain behind hospital curtain - signify old woman's pain - also alludes to the meaning of the pain and suffering.
Actuality footage: Surgery/operations and finding foetus, images of stone baby, real delivered baby, scans, footage of family in park (happy families).
Re-enactment of being rushed into hospital in ambulance, and of woman waking in pain.
Images of other 'stone babies' and diagrams.
Film of special care baby unit.

Graphics:
Title sequence - images of human body(diagrams), newspaper stories and 'My SHOCKING Story' (written in case used).
Interviews - only displays name of interviewee, e.g. professor______, Dr________ (capital at beginning of each name, lower case for rest). Only displays names for doctors/professors - not for subject people.
Credits: running upwards over black background. simple.

Codes and Conventions of Documentaries

Narrative structure is varied - most are single-strand and non-linear

Camerawork:

• Varied shot types and movement to keep the audience interested.
• Handheld camerawork is used for actuality footage where necessary.
• Interviews:
  - Close-up or Medium close-up is conventional
  - Big close-up and extreme close-up can be used
  - Stationary Camera (tripod)
  - Eye-line is roughly 1/3 way down screen
  - Framed to left or right of shot.
• Establishing shots used
• Pan and zoom are used when filming still images
• Point of view shot sometimes used to position the audience in the action

Mise-En-Scene:

• Behind interviewees - either relevant to the subject (e.g. chromakey) or anchors their job/relevance to the subject.

Archive Material:

• Archive material from a variety of sources e.g. films, TV programmes, newspapers, magazines, websites, music videos - from other media.

Graphics:

• Graphics used to translate where necessary.
• Name and relevance to the subject/role of the interviewees - usually two lines. First line clear, second in italics. Anchors who they are and their relevance.
• Credits - scrolling, all archive material is credited.

Sound:

• Voiceover used to link everything together - Standard English/Age and gender relative to either audience or subject/emotionless - statement of fact.
• All questions are edited out.
• Music is used relevant to the topic.
• Interviews - no background noise (or kept to a minimum if unavoidable).

Editing:

• Questions are edited out of interviews.
• Editing creates pace.
• Cut - most common edit.
• No editing effects used unless relevant. Dissolve is used.
• Cutaways are used frequently - relevant to what is being talked about.
• Fade to black/from black sometimes used.

"That Thing" - Lara Croft

Analysis of Documentary:

Type of Documentary: Mixed
Themes: Representation of gender/Feminism/Popular Culture
Narrative Structure: Closed/Single-Strand/Non-Linear

Camerawork:
Interviews - framed either left or right of screen ~ Mid-shot, medium close-up, close-up, or big close-up(inventor) used.
Tilted frame (inventor)
Close-up on Angelina Jolie on 'naughty' - cheeky smile.
Handheld
Tracking
Point of view shot
Zoom/Pan

Mise-En-Scene:
Green lighting - front projection, over interviewee.
Chromokey (green or blue screen)
Back projection - behind interviewee.
Put inventor in a computer screen.

Sound:
Sound effects: gun shots
Music from the game (soundtrack)
Voiceover - asking Q's (male, young, accent, standard English).
Change to Madonna song when mentioned
Dance music - popular culture

Editing:
Superimposed imagery - man over film/game
Speed-up motion
Montage of clips
Match description to image
Cut

Archive Material:
Shots of game (Tomb-Raider)
Film extracts
Interview with Angelina Jolie
Fan email - images - competitions - official history.
Cultural mags
Nike advert

Graphics:
Man in laptop screen
'Lara Croft' words.
Titles of interviewees and relation to subject matter. Sans serif/white/lower case.
Credits over clip of game

Marketing Meatloaf

Analysis of Documentary:

Type of Documentary: Mixed
Themes: Marketing/Music Industry
Narrative Structure: Single-Strand/Non-Linear/Closed

Camerawork:
Handheld
Low angle - Radio City - Pan down to entrance full of people - establish location
Point of View shots (behind-the-scene exclusive outlook)
Low-angle shots of meatloaf - signifies importance
Interviews - positioned either left or right of camera, close-up/medium close-ups
Detail shots - e.g. close-up on meatloaf's monster nails.
Rotation shot
Close-up on press conference of meatloaf
Pan-overs of albums.
Side-shot handheld of conference with Meatloaf after accepting Grammy - authenticity (watching as an onlooker ourselves)
Wide shots/Pans/zooms of stills

Mise-En-Scene:
The Music Biz magazine - opening.
Brit awards posters with dates on, behind film stars (time awareness)
Interviews - metres moving up and down (sense of urgency), recording studio
Hard rock cafe poster - establishes location
Marketing screen (being watched)

Sound:
Opening - bouncy music
Voiceover
Matched music to film - e.g. positive music for good times, Dark/sinister music used for bad times (e.g. dramatic soundtrack used when meatloaf's bankruptcy is mentioned).
Sound effects - e.g. heartbeat (serious facts)
Different Meatloaf song's used frequently
Diegetic talk in production of music video

Editing:
Superimposed image of man talking over a film screen of meatloaf playing - visual stimulus
Lots of Dissolves
Cuts
Flash of image (matches YMCA music)
Shot reverse shot
Juxtaposition
Stills

Archive Material:
Clips of famous people walk-bys.
Clips of interviewees being interviewed by someone else
Clips of Elton John
Clips of media workers - bored - already rehearsed
Awards evening clips/concert clips
Virgin Records
Many pans over stills of words 'meatloaf' and song names.
Music video clips
Newspapers (e.g. 'The Independent')
Top of the Pops
Magazine front covers (e.g. KERRANG!, Q, Sunday, Vox, etc. - Rock audience)
Posters
'Singles Chart'

Graphics:
Moving images/film fit into music magazine space (portray stories involved)
Graphic CD shot (many angles used)
Lake - reflective image
Credit strip at finish
Stills

The Devil Made Me Do It

Analysis of Documentary:

Type of Documentary: Mixed
Themes: Religion/Good vs Evil/Spirituality/The Power of the Media
Narrative Structure: Single-strand/Open/Non-Linear

Camerawork:
Close-up/Medium close-up of interviews on the whole and framed to left or right of shot.
Manson Interview: low angle (signifies power), lighting from one side - half face lit/dark (signifies good/evil)
Slow pans across town - day and night, sense of being quiet and deserted.
Shots of deserted Streets.
Lots of shots of religious iconography
End of Prog. - shots of busy streets, teenagers chilling out ~ contrast to previous shots.
Press conference of Marilyn Manson(MM): We are the observer of both MM and journalists. Documenters are impartial to what is happening.
Shots of Manson's gig - observer
Handheld - actuality footage.
Creative camerawork - tracking.

Mise-En-Scene:
Interviews:
Police - Office, at desk, hat on desk near camera - in his environment
Veronica's father - in white & blue room, signifies purity and calm (or victimised)
Old significant man - books and images of holy people - his actual background.
Other:
Contrasts between MM and what he stands for - e.g. the sequence of him buying MacDonald's is hypocritical.

Sound:
Voiceover-Narrator - Male, quite young, Standard, English, No clear accent
Voiceovers used to translate Italian - English with and Italian accent, age and gender matched visuals.
Music - reflected the subject matter/mood. Traditional Italian/Religious music (choral) or dark/sombre music.
Sound effects, e.g. Heartbeat/Whispering.
Marilyn Manson Music.

Editing:
Cutting/Cross-cutting
Montage
Fade to Black/Fade from black
Created pace (few second shots) and mood
Slow Motion
Juxtaposition of images and sound (Religious music over film with swearing, atheist teenagers).

Archive Material:
Marilyn Manson concert footage (actuality footage)
MM conference(actuality footage)
MM material
Newspaper
Music Videos
Italian news (nun, etc.)

Graphics:
Subtitles over music videos
Credits over film of fans leaving
During interview - subtitle of name, job and how they are relevant to story. Anchors meaning and relation to topic.
Dates appeared on screen - to anchor when something took place
'The Devil Made Me Do It' title - Celtic cross used (Gothic overtone)
Translation subtitles

September 8th 2009

We talked about the purpose of documentaries and the different types:

Purpose of Documentaries:

• To inform
• Document - to record
  To document i.e. report with evidence something that has actually happened. It can show this by using actuality footage or reconstructions.
• Information is mediated to an audience
• Mediation - undergoing a process to make something easily understood to an audience (e.g. use of dramatics)

6 Main Types:

1. Fully Narrated:
   An off-screen voice over is used to make sense of the visuals and anchor their meaning, e.g. natural history documentaries.
2. Fly On The Wall:
   Origins in cinema verite. The camera is observing real life as it happens. Participants are "unaware" of the cameras presence.
3. Mixed:
   Using a combination of interview, observation and narration to advance the narrative.
4. Self-Reflexive:
   When the subjects of the documentary acknowledge the presence of the camera and often speak directly to the film maker.
5. Docudrama:
   A re-enactment of events as they are supposed to have actually happened.
6. Docusoap:
   Example - Airline. Usually occupation-based. Series of programmes following subject-making celebrities out of real people.

September 7th 2009

We went through coursework information, and exam information and preparation for both Section A and Section B:

Coursework:
TV Documentary ~ opening 5 mins
Newspaper advert (promoting Documentary)
Radio advert (promoting Documentary)
Blog
--50% of final grade

Exam:
Section A: Theoretical evaluation of production
_________two questions: 1)Skills development
______________________2)Evaluate one production in relation to a media concept

Section B: Comtemporary media issues
_________Two topics: 1)Media and collective identity
___________________2)'We Media' and democracy
--50% of final grade

A2 Start Of Year: September 4th 2009

Introduced to new course and sorted out retakes of exams. Spoke about Documentaries and what kinds we had watched over the summer (e.g. sci-fi, nature, 9/11, etc).

Evaluation Script of Slideshow

The practical for my media coursework was to produce a creatively designed music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread. The choice of what style of music we wanted to base our magazine on was of our own, therefore I chose independent music. Familiar to the music and to local bands that followed the trend, I knew almost instantly that this was the best choice for me.

Slide One:
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This first slide is on my front cover of my newly created magazine. As you can see I have made many fair points about different aspects of my design. First of all is the simple one worded title which is the most common generic convention of magazines, and the most important. I chose the word ‘Academy’ to be the title of my magazine as I thought it a very independent word, but also a word which could make my audience feel like a part of a team, by being involved with my magazine, like an academy would do.
The next point I have made is about my positioning statement, situated just beneath the title. This is to create a direct link to the title, insinuating the corporations ‘promise’ to the audience: ‘This is the music of independence’ – It is revealing/informing the readers of what it is offering.
The next evaluation I have stated is about the main coverline. My main coverline ‘Flightplan is taking off’ is on a slanted banner to illustrate how it relates to the main image. I wanted to portray the phenomenon of it catching the image and hooking itself around it to claim a larger ownership over the image. By doing this it automatically dominates all of the other coverlines, and anchors the coverline to the image. I have used a white banner also to make the colour of the text stand out against the image, which is a typical technique of media creation.
The main image itself is important within attracting my audience. This can be done by directly addressing the audience, through the characters eyes and expressions. Having the members of the band in my image face the audience, and looking them in the face will turn more heads than if they were looking away. It generates more interest having the image look interested in the reader. Next is the coverlines. They are separate from the main coverline, but also count to being an important aspect of my front cover. As you can see I have positioned the coverlines to the side of the page, avoiding the band members’ faces in the image. This is to help the image draw more attention with its full intensity, rather than covering up the main interest. I have also used a light text as to ensure the type is visible over the dark image. It makes the coverlines easier to read and more eye-catching.
Lastly, I have evaluated the banner at the bottom of the page. These are very common on music magazines as they inform the reader of what other interests they have to offer. For example, a list of bands is useful as using the right band names, which may appeal more to the audience, will ensure even more of an opportunity for a customer to want to buy it. The word ‘PLUS!’ is a typical leading word to use for the bottom banner, as it hints to additional stories contained inside.


Slide Two:
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This next slide is the evaluation of the contents page I have designed for my media product. At the top of my page, in the left hand corner, is the title of my magazine. It is a smaller type-size than on the front cover as to convey it as a sort of logo, to show it belongs to the academy and this is their contents page. The title ‘contents’ is a considerably bigger type-size as to represent it being the contents page, and dominating the space at the top of the page.
Next are the reasons why my subtitles are split into three. I have done this as it is easier for the reader to find what sort of information they want to read up on, and as it is a more organised layout to read from. This is another typical code and convention of magazines. The subtitle ‘On the Cover’ is different to the other two subtitles as it stands out more, aiding the reader in finding the cover story they want to read.
There is star at the top left hand corner of my evaluation of my images to link the evaluation to each image on my contents page, which I have also placed stars on. The stars are not actually part of the images. I feel the images I have used are reliable to my product as they are different. They are carefully organised but manage to stand out in their own way. For instance, the full image of the band, the solarized image connoting abstract music, and the image of different members of another band split into three are all of their own styles. The fact that they are not all unevenly spread out, also gives the images further presence. This method of organisation is distinctively common in music magazines.
I have given the subscription box a similar link as I used for the stars, by encasing the subscription evaluation box and the subscription on my contents page, in a red box. I thought the use of a subscription on my contents page would be essential as there is usually always an offer for a subscription in magazines. It is just one of many ways a magazine can advertise and promote itself.
My own independent design for my contents, I think, comes from the block of purple behind the contents list and title. This use of a single block of colour helps make the text stand out on the page, and separates the list of content from the images. It gives a simple but more interesting layout, and relates to the colour scheme my magazine uses, creating another link between contents page and front cover.
The last aspect I have evaluated on for my contents page is the numbers on the images. This is evidently a convention of music magazines, as it links the image to its content story and gives the reader a better understanding of what the images are trying to portray.

Slide Three:
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This slide is the last slide evaluating my actual finished product: The double page spread for my feature article. I worked hard to come up with an imaginative design, one that could stand out for a first feature article. I aimed to do this by using a background image, taking up the whole background of the double page spread. The image is the silhouette of the band stood right in the centre, engulfed in red light, to render a professional attitude just within the use of body language, and also to give them a mysterious persona. The use of red lighting actually creates a link to the smaller images down the side of the right-hand page, as they as well use red lighting, and separately introduce the band members featured in the images.
In this box here (points to box titled ‘Anchorage text on images’) It evaluates why I have used text over the images. My reasons are that the text anchors the image by explaining the who/what/where and when of its origin of creation. Basically, it is more formerly introducing each band member’s participation in the band.
My title for the article is the same as the main headline I used on my front page, to create a direct link to the right article. I have made it a large title so it jumps out at the reader and seizes their attention - similar to codes and conventions of magazines.
Underneath the title is the standfirst, which is the explanation of the article. There is a different typography for this as to separate it from both the article and the title, and to show it is part of neither, so readers do not get confused.

Slide Four:
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This slide is feedback from my target audience towards my music magazine. I used questionnaires for my feedback, but also recorded a few answers from people who filled out my questionnaires.
The first answer I have recorded is for the question ‘Would you consider buying this magazine?’ (click on speaker image underneath question to hear feedback).
The next feedback I have recorded is for another question ‘What do you like about my music magazine?’ (click on speaker image underneath question to hear feedback).
The last answer is to the question ‘What do you think the downfalls to my magazine are?’ (click on speaker image beneath question to hear feedback).
The good points made by my audience are a hopeful sign to my media product being a success. However, I have been offered criticism about my media product, which tells me that my magazine isn’t the best to its ability. If I’m to achieve the target of creating an awesome music magazine, I will ensure that I remember these criticisms the next time I create a media product.

Slide Five:
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For my evaluation we were given questions from our teacher to include in our slide-show. The first question asks ‘In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?’.
I developed my production to follow codes and conventions of typical music magazines. I kept an NME magazine with me every lesson I attended, to ensure maximum compatibility between my layout and independent music magazine types. My first example is one which explains how I challenged the forms and conventions of music magazines within the ways I have stylised my product, which was by using a slanting banner for my main coverline. Having it at the bottom of my front page challenges the general orderly layout of coverlines. I have situated my main coverline ‘Flightplan are taking off’ near the bottom of the page instead of near the top as to keep the coverline in the centre of the page without covering the band members faces in the image. The banner is slanted upwards to connote flightplan ‘taking off’. As well as this, the banner also uses forms and conventions of music magazines as it was used to make the colour of the typing stand out from the image, which is a technique that music magazines use.
My second example is about how I have developed my magazine, which I have done by my use of a background image and 3 others atop of it on my feature article. It is usually more common for one layout to be used when handling images, other than two sets of layout. I decided to design my double-page spread in this particular way though because of the link made between the lighting, which I mentioned before. It makes the article look more professional, and additionally quite artistic.

Slide Six:
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The second evaluation question asks ‘How does your media product represent particular social groups?’. The first representation in my product is the use of colour. Purple is colour that applies to both males and females, which means that the colour scheme of my product appeals to any social group in general. The next representation of certain social groups is my choice of music. My music magazine represents any social groups interested in ‘Indie’ music. This includes the choice of bands I have incorporated into my contents, as they need to be the right ones to appeal to a diverse range of social groups. For example, using articles on unsigned bands would appeal and refer to young tunefully motivated musicians.
The images of different bands I have used (Flightplan and Kurrupt in the Head) would also represent young musicians. Portraying the right style of attitude (such as lead singer Joe Jackson’s face on the front cover) and a ‘cool’ style of clothing would represent to social groups that can knowingly relate to these attractions. The image for the content story ‘abstract music’ could represent social groups with a creative nature, even more so with my use of solarize to make the image more abstract.
Each representation in my product is a vital aspect to attracting my target audience, and to selling my media product to a wider audience.

Slide Seven:
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The third question for my media product evaluation asks ‘What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?’. The first institution I found during my research is ‘Bauer’, which is a famous media institution to distribute many different media products to do with music. Examples of music magazines distributed by Bauer are ‘Q’, ‘Mojo’ and ‘Kerrang!’, each of them relating to the style of music my magazine is based on. I have linked the Bauer website to the slideshow via the blue heading (click ‘Bauer’) so you can take a look at the institution yourself. Going onto the next institution though (click off ‘Bauer’ website, and back onto slideshow), I have chosen ‘IPC’ media, another well-known media distributor that may also distribute my media product as again, like Bauer, it is another media to distribute music magazines my product could relate too. For example, ‘NME’ is a famous independent music magazine. I have also linked the ‘IPC’ website to the blue ‘IPC’ heading (clicks ‘IPC’) so you again can look at the institution and what it has to offer (clicks off ‘IPC’ website, and back onto slideshow).
If I had to choose one media institution, it would be IPC media. This is because this institution does not seem to produce as many Indie magazines as Bauer does, and therefore would mean a healthier competition to become bigger-selling than Bauer products.
The main distribution of selling my product would come from shops and advertising. Selling my product in local news agents, shopping centres and advertising them on posters and billboards and even my own website, would be a more crucial way to get my media product to a wider audience. I would be using other forms of media to sell my media product, which would be a jumpstart into really sinking my teeth into the dog-eat-dog world of the media.

Slide Eight:
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‘Who would be the target audience for your media product?’ is the fourth question I needed to answer for my evaluation slides. My target audience for my music magazine is teenagers and young adults aged 16-25. Any other audiences could be anybody interested in independent music, or even any fans of one of the bands included in the contents articles, doubtless of whether they like the other bands of Indie music or not.

Slide Nine:
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The fifth evaluation question asks how I have manipulated my media product to attract/address my audience. First of all, my use of images will help my product sell as the young adults I have used in my main image and other images will address my audience through their ages, and attract my audience through their style and expressions. Direct address also comes to mind, as mentioned before, through posture and direct eye-line.
Second of all, my colour scheme again, causes a great influence on my target audience. My choice in colour is based on my results from my questionnaires filled out by a selection of my targeted audience for my media product. The fact that Purple was one of the more popular colours and I have used it, will ensure a larger population of my audience to be interested in my music magazine.
Next there is my article for my double page spread. I have tried to make my article appeal to my target audience by using modern language, and including the modern slang quoted by the band. This is so as to appeal to a younger audience. Also, I have written my article in a certain style as to let the reader feel more involved in the interview.
My use of typography counts in to attracting and addressing my audience because it is quite plain and simplistic, instead of being too fancy and unattractive, as it is more relative to the genre of music. It also makes my magazine easier to read, which is very important if I want my product to be sold at all.

Slide Ten:
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The sixth evaluation point is about what I have learnt about techniques from the process of constructing the product. I have learnt a great deal about producing media products whilst creating my own. For instance, how easy image manipulation really is, and how simple it is to cover up the truth of an image. For example, airbrushing a person’s skin in a photo to make it look flawless. I did not use this though. I did however use other techniques of image manipulation, such as solarizing the ‘abstract music’ image in my contents, to create a more abstract image than what it was.
I used Desk Top Publishing to create my product, and explored Adobe Photoshop and Quark Xpress to develop my designs (e.g. cropping images, a large selection of typography, frames, etc.).
I have developed a skill in photography, by using a digital camera to produce my images. I have done this by choosing the location, and positioning the band members on my own terms. Also, learning the ability to use objects to signify something else, (such as the fret of a guitar with the shiny side to a CD entwined in the strings to connote ‘abstract’ parts of music), was new to me and a very helpful technique to learn.
Each of these techniques are ones which I have managed to develop in the process of constructing my very own media product, and they have opened my mind to the many creative possibilities that can be used to produce such a product.


Slide Eleven:
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The final evaluation question asked me to look back at my preliminary task, and describe what I feel I have learnt in the progression from it to the full product. I feel I have massively progressed since my preliminary task, especially with organisation, but also through using better sources of information and images relative to my product. This is an important change as it makes more of a difference to the value of my magazine. I have improved my imagery within use of lighting and use of flash. The photos I have taken for my music product illustrate how my imagination has developed since the creation of my preliminary task.
My interest has also increased throughout this production, and is clearly shown through the drastic improvement in creative organisation. Looking back at my preliminary task, my coverlines were a mess and my positioning of images in my contents were no better. My newer, finished product has been immensely developed since these mistakes, and completely taken into account of my new design. Again, using objects to represent something else is definitely something I have learnt throughout my production of my music magazine. It has taught me the larger impact that can be made by using objects, as well as people, to signify something more. To completely conclude, I have learnt a lot throughout the year, developing and challenging my own creative knowledge. My expanded understanding of the media has taught me that nothing just happens in the world of media, you’ve got to make it happen. Thank you.