ASMediaStudiesEvalua/onAnnaBenne3

Inwhatwaydoesyourmediaproductuse,developorchallengeformsandconven/onsofrealmediaproducts?

Ourdocumentary,en/tlediDownload,focusedonthevariousissuessurroundingillegaldownloadingintoday’ssocietyandtheeffectsithasonthemusicindustry.Wedecidedthatthetargetaudienceforourdocumentarywouldbe16‐24yearoldswhohaveaninterestinmusic,andthema3erofillegaldownloadingmaybeatopicthatconcernsthem.ALersomeresearch,wedecidedthatthebestchanneltoairourdocumentarywouldbeChannel4,sincethe

documentarieshaveasimilartargetaudience.TherearemanyChannel4documentariesthatdealwithissuesinthemediaregardingtechnologyandmusic,sincethesearetopicsthatinterestthetargetaudience.ExamplesofthesedocumentariesshownonChannel4canbefoundon

h3p://www.channel4.com/programmes/tags/documentariesandincludethefollowing/tles;

SteveJobs:iChangedtheWorld HowHipHopChangedtheWorldLove,Virtually

Beingonthesamechannelwiththesametargetaudience,ourdocumentaryisconven/onalinthesensethatitfollowsthesametheme–regardingbothmusicandtechnologyinthesubjectma3erofillegaldownloading.WehaveevenfollowedApple’sconven/onofusing‘i’infrontofitsproducts,sincetheiPodisbyfarthemostcommonmp3playerandisusedbymanytoplayillegallydownloadedmusicon.

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Inwhatwaydoesyourmediaproductuse,developorchallengeformsandconven/onsofrealmediaproducts?

Forinspira/on,wefounddocumentariesaboutthesamesubject.Astudentdocumentaryen/tled‘Downloaded:AShortDocumentaryonMediaPiracy’andPanorama’s‘AretheNetPoliceComingforYou?’whichairedonBBC1.(Bothofthesecanbewatchedviatheplaybu3onsonthepreviewsonthispage.)Because‘Downloaded’wasastudentdocumentary,itwouldgaveusafewideasforoutownstudentdocumentary.SincePanoramaisaseriesofpopulardocumentariesthatfollowmanyofthecodesandconven/onsoftypicaldocumentariesandwasaimedatanaudienceofyoungadults,weuseditinordertogetanideaofwhatarealdocumentaryshouldlooklike.

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Panorama:AretheNetPoliceComingforYou?OnWatchDocumentary.com

The/tlesequenceofPanorama’sdocumentarywasverydrama/c,withaflurryofcutawaysandaneffec/vevoiceoverwhichwasamplifiedbyafastpacedmusictrack.Theseconven/onsareverycommonacrossTVdocumentaries,andsincewewantedtofollowtheseconven/ons,wedecidedtogiveourdocumentarythatsimilareffec/veedgebyusingasmuchfastshotsofbackgroundfootageaspossibleintheopening30seconds,whilethenarratoronthevoiceovergaveinforma/onaboutthedocumentary.Wedecidedtouseafast,catchy,electronictrackasourbackgroundmusicinordertogetthea3en/onoftheaudienceandalsotokeepthepaceofthedocumentary.

Downloaded:AShortDocumentaryonMediaPiracyOnYouTube

Inwhatwaydoesyourmediaproductuse,developorchallengeformsandconven/onsofrealmediaproducts?

Theprofessionalinterviewsareoneofthemostcrucialpartsofadocumentary.TheyoLenuseafixedcameramedium‐close‐upofthesubjectwhoissatinanappropriateenvironmentfortheirfieldofwork.Weusedatripodtostandthecameraatasufficientdistancetogetamedium‐close‐upshotandthoughtcarefullyaboutthemise‐en‐sceneintheframe.Typically,aworking,office‐typeenvironmentisused,withcomputersanddesksinthebackground.Thiswasanappropriatesetupforthreeofourfourinterviews,sowedidthis.

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NameandProfession

ArKcleaboutillegaldownloadingonscreen–relatestotopicofdocumentary

MediumClose‐Upofsubject

Workingenvironmentcreatedwithmise‐en‐scene.Computers,desksetc

Whendisplayingthe/tleofthedocumentary,itneedstobeeffec/veandmemorable.Manydocumentarieschoosetodisplaytheir/tlesbysimplytypingthem.Wedecidedthatthiswasabe3erop/onthatwri/ngit,becausethedocumentaryisabouttechnologyandwewantedtokeeptothatsleek,moderntheme.Wetookinspira/onfromApple’ssimplis/cdesignbyjustusingwhitetextonblack(whichisverystriking,andusedinPanorama),aswedecidedthislookedmuchmoreprofessionalthanusinganycoloursorshapes.

BlackBackground

WhiteText

BlackBackground

WhiteText

Inwhatwaydoesyourmediaproductuse,developorchallengeformsandconven/onsofrealmediaproducts?

InalloftheTVdocumentariesthatwewatchedforresearch,alargeamountofbackgroundfootagewasused,breakingupfootageandillustra/ngwhatpeopleweresaying,keepingthea3en/onoftheaudience.Followingthisconven/on,wefilmedalotofourownbackgroundfootageonanythingtodowithmusicdownloading.WefilmedthingssuchasCDs,musicmagazines,mp3playersandwebsites/soLwarefordownloadingmusic.Wegotsomeshotsthatweresimilartothoseinotherdocumentaries.

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Extremeclose‐upshotofguitar

Inordertointroducetheinterviewee,theirnameandprofessionislabelledon‐screenforashortperiodof/mewhentheyfirstappear.Weusedwhitefontsinceitkeptconsistentwiththe/tle,andmostimportantlyshowedupontheposi/onon‐screen.Itisveryimportantthattheaudienceisabletoreadthetext,asitisimportantinforma/on.Beforetheinterview,itisacommonconven/oninTVdocumentariestogiveanintroductoryshot.Anextremeclose‐upofamusicianplayingaguitarwasusedto

introduceaninterviewinPanorama whichwasverysimilarto

oneweused tointroducetheguitaristfromthe studentbandweinterviewed. Introductoryshotsare

relevanttothe interviewee’sprofession,soaguitarist playingaguitarseemedappropriate.

Inwhatwaydoesyourmediaproductuse,developorchallengeformsandconven/onsofrealmediaproducts?

Oneofthewaysthatourdocumentarydevelopedconven/onsofrealdocumentarieswasinthewaythatitwaspresented.DocumentariesoLenhaveanon‐screenpresenter,presen/ngthedocumentaryandinterviewingpeople.However,wedecidedthatitwouldbemuchmoreeffec/vetocreateourdocumentaryaroundelementsoftheexpositorymode,witha

hiddennarrator.Thismakesitmorepersonal,sincetheviewerisaddressed directly.Insteadofapersonaskingques/onson‐screenforourvox‐pops, wedecideditwouldlookmuchbe3erifwetypedtheques/onsoutonan iPodTouch,apopularmp3playerthatmanyoftheillegaldownloaders

use tolistentotheirmusicon.Wefeltthatthiswasappropriatesinceitfitsin withthetopicandtheaudiencemaybeabletorelatetoit.Wefilmedin darknesssothatthecontrastbetweentheblacktextonthewhitebacklight wouldbebothreadableanddrama/c.

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ExtremeClose‐UpofiPod

Textisclearandreadable

Asacutaway,wedecidedtobecrea/veandincludesomethingthatwehadn’tseeninanydocumentariesthatwehadstudied.Wecreatedabasicstop‐mo/onanima/onofCDspilingupinaspiral,bytakingphotosofeachframe,thenplayingtheminquicksuccession.Webelievethatthiswouldgrabthea3en/onoftheaudience.

Inwhatwaydoesyourmediaproductuse,developorchallengeformsandconven/onsofrealmediaproducts?

Asourdocumentarywasquiteconven/onal,wewantedtokeepconsistentandmakeourradiotrailerconven/onalaswell.Firstofall,welistenedtosomestudentradiotrailerstoseewhatworkedwellandwhatwasn’taseffec/ve.Welistenedoutforthingslikecontent(narra/on/quotes),length,musicandpace.WesearchedonYouTubeandfoundaprofessionalradiotrailerbytheBBCpromo/ngthenewseriesofDoctorWho.Eventhoughweweremakingadocumentary,notasci‐fidrama,anditwastobeairedonchannel4,wes/llfoundthisaneffec/veexampleofapromo/onalradiotrailer.

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DoctorWhoS6RadioTrailerOnYouTube

Welikedhowtheradiotrailerstartedoffwithdrama/cmusic,whichbuiltuptension,andthenusedquotesfromtheprogram,sowedidthisinourownradiotrailer.Thepurposeoftheradiotraileristoadver/sethedocumentary,grabbingthea3en/onofthetargetaudience,leengthemknowwhatit’saboutandmostimportantlyinformingthemofthe/meanddatethatthedocumentarywillbeaired.Wemadesurethatwehadalloftheseconven/ons.

LiketheDoctorWhoradiotrailer,thenarratorwasprofessionalandspokeclearly.Themusicinthebackgroundcouldbeheardbutthesoundlevelswereadjustedsothatitdidnotdistractfromthescript.Wetriedourhardesttodoallofthisinourown.

Inwhatwaydoesyourmediaproductuse,developorchallengeformsandconven/onsofrealmediaproducts?

Magazinear/clestypicallyfeaturesomecommonconven/ons,whicharelabelledabove.Weresearchedvariousdifferentmagazinear/clestomakesurethatweincludedalltheessen/alcodesandconven/ons.Thear/cletotheleLisanar/clepublishedinRadioTimes,adver/singtheseriesCasualty 1907.Thisisusefulsincewedecidedtopublishourownmagazinear/cleinthesamemagazine.Ourlayoutisveryconven/onal,usingcolumnsbrokenupbysec/onsforquotes(whichwegaveadifferentcolourtostandoutandbreakupthepage)andimagesfromthedocumentaryitself.However,themajorityofthear/clesthatwelookedatseemedtofollowablack‐on‐whitethemewhereaswewentfortheopposite.Wefeltthatwhite‐on‐blacklookedstrikingandfollowedthedrama/cthemeweweregoingfor.Weusedaccentsofbluetakenfromtheimagetogivesomecolour.Wemadesurethatalloftheinforma/onwasavailableandeasilyaccessible–thedate,/meandchannelareseparatedbylinestostandout,andthe/tleisboldandconsiderablylargerthantherestofthetext.

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RadioTimesArKcleforCasualty 1907 

Quotes

Imagesfromdocumentary

Pagenumber

Date,Time&Channel

IntroducKon

Sub‐heading

Title

Mainimage

Howeffec/veisthecombina/onofyourmainproductandancillarytexts?

WechosetoairourdocumentaryonChannel4inordertoreachourtargetaudienceof16‐24yearolds,sinceChannel4hostsarangeofsimilardocumentariesthatappealtothesametargetaudience.Thisiswhywefeltitappropriatetochoosethischannel.

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UnliketheBBC,Channel4donothavetheirownradiosta/on,sowecouldnotkeepconsistentinthisdecision.Alterna/vely,wefoundthatCapitalFM,oneofBritain’slargestradiosta/ons,appealedtoourtargetaudience.Withalargeaudienceoflisteners,weweresuretopromoteandadver/seourdocumentarywell.

Wepromotedourdocumentaryinamagazinear/cleforRadioTimes.ThisisbecauseRadioTimesisverywellknowninBritainforpublishingar/clesaboutdocumentaries,andcouldencourageawideaudiencetowatchit.

Whathaveyoulearnedfromyouraudiencefeedback?

Weproducedsomeques/onnairesforourdocumentary,radiotrailerandmagazinear/cletogetanideaofwhattheaudiencewantedfromthem.Weaskedques/onsaboutthekindofthingsthatweshouldincludeinthemediaproductsinordertoappealtothetargetaudience,forexamplewhatkindsoftopicsshouldbeusedinthedocumentary,whatkindofmusicshouldbeusedintheradiotrailerandwhatkindoflayoutandcoloursshouldbeusedforthemagazinear/cle.BelowaretheQues/onnaireswehandedout.

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Whathaveyoulearnedfromyouraudiencefeedback?

Wecreatedmoreques/onnaires,this/metogivepeopleaLertheyhadseenourmediaproductsinordertogaintheirfeedback.Weshowed18peopleourdocumentary,radiotrailerandmagazinear/cle,thengavethemtheques/onnairestofillin.Belowistheques/onnaireweprinted;Firstofallweaskedsomegeneralques/onsaboutageandgendertogetanideaoftheaudience,whowefoundallfi3edourtargetaudience.Wethenaskedabouttheirthoughtsonthedocumentary,radiotrailerandmagazinear/cle‐whatthestrongestpartswereandthepartsthatneededimprovement.Wealsoaskedmorespecificques/ons,forexampleabouttheeffec/venessofthesoundlevels.

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Howdidyouusemediatechnologiesintheconstruc/onandresearchplanning,andevalua/onstages?

M

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Howdidyouusemediatechnologiesintheconstruc/onandresearchplanning,andevalua/onstages?

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