2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms
and conventions of real media products?
The ways my documentary uses, develops and challenges forms of real media
products is by using a variety of camera angles. For my clips and interviews I
have experimented with different camera angles such as long shots, close ups
and two shots. I had 3 interviews in my extract using the over the shoulder
shot (180 degree rule) which most documentaries use. I've also used two
shots as well for my interviews which you see a lot in documentaries. I've used
different editing through my extract, I have used fading transitions when the
clips change. I used and establishing shot showing Coventry and archbishop
ilsley. This goes with normal codes and conventions of documentary's as they
often establish the location of the area.
My documentary has a title sequence like any documentary does. Also many
documentaries have some form of achieve footage and mine uses a piece of
achieve footage that’s 20 seconds long. I've challenged the forms and
conventions of real media products by using facts and statistics and the
beginning of my documentary and before the title.

3. I've also used the ‘voice of god’ where I'm talking over some of my clips to
explain what is going on and where I am filming, Many documentaries use the
voice of God and that’s what I have done with mine. My factual insert uses
the channel 4 style guide and matches the font and the layout. It is has
picture and a heading that matches the message of the picture. I have a huge
title that stands out and the logo is placed on the right hand side just as it is
on channel 4 documentary factual inserts.

4. How effective is the combination of your main product and
ancillary texts?
My documentary is effective as all my ancillary texts are linked. My
radio advert I used is directly explaining my documentary, I've also
taken a 25 second audio extract from my documentary to use in my
radio advert to give a short preview for my documentary and for my
audience to get a glimpse of it on the radio. My radio advert uses a
professional voice for the description of my documentary clearly
stating what the documentary is going to be all about. The channel 4
music is playing in the background, so anyone listening even if they
aren't my target audience will know just by the music that it’s a
documentary for channel 4.
My factual insert has a main image which links to my topic, it raises
questions in the head of my audience. The piece of paper uses
figures of the cost of tuition fees which is directly showing what my
documentary is all about. It matches the channel 4 style guide with
the logo and channel 4 font and headers, this will let my audience
know it’s a channel 4 documentary. I stick to two main colours in my
factual insert, these colours where taken out of my image so it sticks
to a main colour scheme just like the channel 4 style guide states.

5. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
For feedback off my target audience I printed out a review sheet for them to
fill in. A number of people in my target audience have watched my
documentary and have gave me feedback of what I did well and what could
be improved. I also asked what they found interesting about the
documentary.
I have learned that I used a good tone of voice and my speaking was very
clear in my clips and asked good questions. The graphics of my clips were
very good and the camera angles I used were in the right place and were
well positioned. The use of transitions I used in my footage was good as it
showed clear editing. My target liked the interviews in my footage as they
were very useful and insightful and that they learned from it. One comment
stated ‘ the documentary served its purpose and was very informative’. The
achieve footage was very appropriate for the topic.
I've also learned from my target audience that I could improve my
documentary in some areas. My target audience thought that some
background noise could be reduced in my clips. In interviews I sometimes
look at the camera a bit to often and that some camera work could have
been a bit better. Also ask a few more questions so my audience get a better
insight. Also perhaps talk to someone who's behind the rising tuition fees
who has power. I could of spent a bit less time interviewing people and spent
more time interviewing a different variety of people.

6. I wanted to know what my audience found interesting about the topic. My
audience found it interesting that there was many different opinions on rising
tuition fees. As they were affected themselves they found it really helpful that
they got a different students perspective. The statistics were very interesting
about the rise in fees.
My documentary was originally called ‘ Cost of living: Rising Tuition Fees’
but I decided to change it to ‘Cost Of Living’ as it made more sense to my
target audience and so it wasn’t to long. The feedback I had received
resulting in me changing the title, its more suitable for the topic of my
documentary. My audience will engage with the new title better as its more
clear to them.

7. How did you use new media technologies in the construction
and research, planning and evaluation stages ?
I used new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and
evaluation stages by using a Canon HD camera to record all my footage. I did this
using a variety of different camera angles using a tripod. The tripod enabled me to
film at the right angles and height. I used iMovie to construct my footage all
together for my final extract. For my factual insert I used fireworks to produce it.
For my radio advert I used garage band to take a sound clip from my extract. I've
used the website blogger to blog all my progress in making my documentary and
I’ve posted all my work onto the website.
For my research I used new media technologies by using the internet to watch a
variety of different documentary types to analyse. I used websites such as
YouTube, BBC iplayer, 4od and demand 5. I watch documentaries on these
websites. I analysed these by using Microsoft word. Other media technologies I
used for my research are audacity, I used this to record myself speaking out 2 of
my 6 documentary analysis. In my research I also used Microsoft excel to put in
my data from my questionnaires and produce them into graphs. I analysed these
graphs in Microsoft PowerPoint.
I used new media technologies for planning my documentary by using iMovie on a
Mac book. I also used the internet to watch other documentaries to get an insight
of what I could use for my footage. I also used the internet by using search
engines such as Google to find out information about tuition fees.