Production genre conventions

1. GENRE
CONVENTIONS
PRODUCTION

2. We have followed the traditional conventions of a documentary due to the fact
that our media product, Backstage, is informative.
Our documentary is informative through the words of the industry
professionals, making our documentary subjective. This is as what is
being stated isn't fact . Our documentary is informative as oppose to
factual, a convention of many documentaries, however, due to the fact
that we didn’t adhere to the convention of a documentary using statistics.
As our documentary is both informative and entertaining, we have
followed Sir John Reith’s reithian ideology to an extent. We have also
conformed to this ideology by ensuring that the content that we produced
wasn’t influenced by the aim of gaining mass market appeal.

3. By ensuring that our production was
entertaining through the cut aways
and inspirational and upbeat music,
we have adhered to the convention
of modern documentaries not being
entirely educational and being
entertaining.
We also feel that, as we expected,
our short documentary is
entertaining as most of our
interviewees were enthusiastic due
to the careers that they have, having
been in the past, or currently being,
involved with acting and theatre.

4. The modern convention of short
documentaries being entertaining
is usually due to institutions
aiming to gain mass market
appeal, this is typically
conglomerates aiming to profit.
We however as an independent
institution, like previously stated,
weren’t creating an entertaining
product to gain mass market
appeal, this is especially as our
content is niche anyway. Through
having an entertainment value in
our documentary however, we
have created opportunity to
possibly widen our audience.

5. I also feel that we have adhered to the convention of having an
entertainment value within our product in order for it to appeal
to a young target audience. This is as the entertainment provided
within our short documentary will make it appeal more to our
audience, who, unconventionally of the usual target audience for
documentaries, are 18-25 year olds. This is because it will
present an insight to the industry in a more engaging way to
them, this is particularly through the cut aways as due to our
audience having an interest in the creative arts it is highly likely
for them to be visual people.

6. One of the devices stereotypically used
within documentaries in order for the
audience to have an emotional
connection with the product is close
ups, we haven't however, conformed to
this stereotype in our production. This
is as, although we have close ups in the
cut aways, for example of Isobel
Knights ballet shoes, of hands playing
the piano and of makeup, I feel none of
these shots would create an emotional
connection for audience with our
product and we don’t have any close
ups of the interviewees. These close ups
do however make our production more
cinematic.

7. As I feel that the shots we used worked effectively, if
close ups of the interviewees didn’t work, I feel that
close up, out of focus cutaways of our interviewees may
work, in order to create an emotional connection for
the audience, to our product, due to a sense of intimacy
they would subconsciously feel. I feel that this would be
due to the fact that the audience would be made aware
of smaller individual aspects of the interviewees, for
example we could have a shot of Johns glasses and
eyes. Overall, I feel this would result in our audience
feeling more intimate with our interviewees as they
have been drawn to specific, individual characteristics
and aspects of them.
I therefore feel that despite the fact that the inspirational aspect of our documentary
will help to create an emotional connection for the audience, as well as the fact that
our subject matter provokes passion in the words of the interviewees, I feel that we
should have incorporated more close ups of our interviewees.
I also feel that close ups of the people used in the middle section of our
production, for our cutaways, for example Isobel as she dances, could
enable the audience to be more emotionally attached to our product.

8. We didn’t adhere to the convention of
arranging to meet up with our interviewees
before we met to actually interview them. For
Genesis Lynea and John Hewer this is due to
the distance, with them living in London and
with Ian Smith and Sarah Ingram, this is due
to the difficulty we had in arranging to meet
for the interview alone, due to them being so
busy.
I feel that due to filming relatively long
interviews, on average being 20
minutes each, we had enough content
to be selective and to create a short
documentary which had consistently
good quality content throughout.

9. I also feel that not following this convention
wasn’t an issue as all our interviewees appeared to
be relaxed, as we talked to them and ensured they
were comfortable whilst setting up, I also feel that
due to them having all being involved with
theatre, they were very confident and therefore
had no issues or reservations because of the fact
that they hadn’t met us before.
I feel that part of the reason for the
interviewees being so conformable was due to
us following the convention of having our
interviewer, Caitlin, on the same level as them
so that she therefore seemed low status and
not intimidating. Once again, however, due to
them being confident, and as we are younger
than them, I believe this would have only
subconsciously aided them.

10. Due to the fact that within the creative industry we have
focused on theatre, including musical theatre, our audience are
also likely to engage well will the inspiring music, composed by
James Waymont.

11. I feel that we made the right decision
in making our documentary
informative yet entertaining as the
entertainment value will appeal to our
young primary audience yet the
informative aspect will appeal to the
fact that they are sophisticated and
will fulfil the intellectual pleasures of
our secondary audience. I feel that we
conveyed enough entertainment
through our chosen methods of using
cutaways, inspirational music and
time lapses.

12. The fact that we are an independent institution is conventional of
producers of short documentaries, as is our low budget.
It is also typical for short documentaries to have a powerful message and
although our topic isn’t hard-hitting, we feel that to an extent we have
adhered to this convention through our subject matter of the hardships
and rewards of the creative industry. This is as we feel there are various
areas where the passion of the interviewees is evident and the inspiring
music composed by James Waymont also reinforces our message, which is
a positive view on the industry showing that the rewards are worth the
perseverance. Another convention that we have followed is that I
myself,and all the members of our group, as producers, have a strong
interest in our subject matter.

13. We decided that we would use the expository mode in
group A of documentary modes. We have adhered to the
conventions of this mode due to the fact that we have
created a realistic documentary but we have also
portrayed a specific interpretation of reality, our opinion,
as producers that the creative industry is worth the
perseverance of the hardships in order to get the
rewards.
The mise-en-scene in several areas of our production reinstates the subject matter
which is conventional of the expository mode. This is evident for example with the
chairs around John indicating he is in a theatre and the fact that Ian is in the theatre
workshop although isn’t evident ,as the setting looks relatively worn, connoting
work, it looks like he’s backstage. The audience are also likely to presume this due
to his description on screen being producer/director and due to the obvious fact
that he is talking about the industry

14. We have also reinstated the subject matter through the cutaways, for
example of Isobel Knight dancing and of the Act One drama group. Through
using the words of the interviews alone, we have adhered to the convention
of expository documentaries having a ‘voice of God’ voiceover, this is as the
words of the interviews speak directly to the audience. This is often used to
connote power and we feel that, although our subject matter isn’t hard
hitting or serious, this has enabled us to convey inspiration through our
documentary further.

15. On revaluation I now realise the importance of
ensuring that we provided our audience with a
conclusion for our documentary to a further
extent than I did in the planning and research
stages.
This is due to the fact that our primary
audience are at the young ages of 18-25 and are
in further education based on the creative
arts and also because they are looking for a
media product which will confirm that their
ambition of working in the creative industry
will be a rewarding profession.
This shows that a key aspect in our media
product appealing to them is it having a
conclusive ending.

16. The fact that our primary audience are also looking for safety in
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs through media products, shows that they
will be inspired by the documentary . This is due to the nature of
jobs in creative fields and had we not had been conclusive with the
ending then we may not have been able to be as inspirational. This is as we
would’ve had to have stayed neutral through the way in which we
constructed our representation through editing. This would have been so
that the audience could therefore conclude our documentary themselves,
based on their own interpretation.
I feel that due to our primary audience seeking safety in the
hierarchy, by using the expository mode and having the ‘voice of
god’ voiceover we have also minimised the uncertainty of the
future, therefore helping them to feel security from the product. This is
due to the fact that they will be more trusting in the information that
they are receiving as they are hearing it first hand from the
industry professionals as oppose to through a narrator voiceover.

17. I feel that one of the main ways in which we have created an effective
conclusive ending is through having a piece composed specifically for our
production by James Waymont. Through doing this we were enabled to
have music which was upbeat, major and inspiring. We were also able to
have music that incorporated the aspects, from several copyright songs we
had looked at, which we felt conveyed the motivation message of our
documentary very well. An example of this is us using the strings from
Secrets by One Republic as inspiration for our ending composition. Having
the ending music so that it gradually builds up from the inspirational words
of the interviewees, for example Sarah saying ‘embrace it’ and John saying
‘you will overcome the rest’ , I feel also ensures we have a very clear and
effective conclusive ending. This shows the importance of editing to ensure
that the ending is positive and clearly portrays to the audience the
representation that we want them to take away, that it is worth persevering
through the hardships of the industry in order to experience the rewards

18. I feel that we have also created a effective conclusive ending
through the three time lapses at the beginning, middle and end
of our ending montage, with each one showing the theatre
getting fuller. This is because in between each time-lapse there is
shots in warm lighting, indicating the last minute preparation for
a show, for example the medium long shot of the two technicians
setting up. I feel that, due to it being evident a show/
performance is about to take place, this creates a very clear
conclusive ending. This is as this is the rewarding part of the
industry that the hardships of rehearsing amounts to. This
therefore once again, very obviously and inspirationally,
reinstates to our audience that it is worth persevering through
the hardships in order to gain the rewards of the industry.

19. I feel that choosing to create an expository documentary was the right
decision for us as it has enabled us to ensure that the audience feel guided
and satisfied that that ending has a conclusion. This will therefore enable
our primary audience to feel safety from Maslow's hierarchy of needs, as
they desire, as they will feel confident in perusing a creative career. The
positive message of the industry was conveyed in our documentary mainly
due to the way in which we edited our production to ensure we started
with the hardships and finished with the rewards and the way in which we
ended our documentary with inspirational and upbeat music and an
inspirational montage. I feel that we did this effectively although I feel we
should have explored more options to create a stronger enigma in our
production, for example a different narrative structure to Todorov’s
equilibrium which is what we used.