At the beginning of the year, we were given a brief specifying the tasks we were required to complete. These were a five minute introduction to a documentary on any topic along with two ancillary tasks; a listings magazine spread and a radio trailer to support/advertise the documentary. To ensure that these products were of the best quality, we had to conduct extensive research into the codes and conventions of such things, which we did by looking at existing products in detail.

The first piece of research we conducted was into the typical conventions of documentaries such as vox pops, interviews with experts, voiceover, actuality, exposition, archival footage and expositions. These gave us an idea of what our film had to include in order to successfully conform to the documentary genre. Now we have completed the documentary, we can see which conventions we have used, how successful they were and can evaluate the effect that they have had.

Our documentary explores the topic of body modification in an expository way; presenting facts and various opinions and personal accounts regarding the topic, which are reinforced by the voiceover explaining both sides of the argument at hand. The voiceover in expository mode can also serve a rhetorical purpose, which our documentary could be said to have done as it leans in favour of those who have been discriminated against.

We used both vox pops and expert interviews to ensure we had a well-rounded set of views from both the general public and reputable sources such as teachers to authenticate the views presented. Another angle was presented by the inclusion of archival footage from other sources such as Youtube videos on the topic which reinforce the views presented. The voice-over we used is similar to those used in exemplar documentaries we watched and follows typical conventions of a standard piece of narration. It delivers some rhetoric along with facts and figures as well as contextual information which economises the information presented in the documentary.

As we only created the first five minutes of the documentary, it is difficult to determine a specific narrative structure to reflect the whole documentary, however it would likely have an open narrative structure. This is because the issues discussed in the documentary, on discrimination against those with body modification, are ongoing and do not come to a resolution as would be necessary if it were a closed narrative.

To gain a better understanding of the codes and conventions of the documentary genre, we watched several documentaries such as SuperSize Me, as well as several on our chosen topic such as My Tattoo Addiction and Bodyshockers, the conventions of which we then considered and decided which we would use/reject for our documentary.

One of these conventions is establishing shots, which we used several times throughout the documentary to set the scene, usually for vox pops.

One of these conventions is establishing shots, which we used several times throughout the documentary to set the scene, usually for vox pops. We also followed the

conventions used in the documentaries’ vox pops, such as positioning the camera so the interviewee is slightly to the left, and with minimal space above their heads.

In Super Size Me, close-up shots of fast food, the subject of the documentary, are used frequently throughout and usually at a fast pace as a stylistic device and also to reinforce the subject of the documentary. We also chose to use this in our documentary, using close up shots of tattoos frequently in the opening of the documentary. Like Super Size Me, we would use this feature throughout, although this is not evident as we only made the first five minutes of a documentary.

We also followed the conventions shown in the documentaries for expert interviews. We set up the mise-en-scene to reflect the expertise of the interviewees and the topic being discussed.

In our expert interviews, we used props like computers to display images of tattoos to indicate the topic at hand, and conducted the interviews in classrooms (for teachers) to show their profession, as is done in Super Size Me, for example, when a PhD is shown in a library.