1. I have created a short film which fits the documentary
genre, as it explores a factual topic by using the
established conventions of documentary. The
documentary, ‘The Big Body Problem’, focuses on
body image and teenage girls. I have used some
typical documentary conventions to construct my film.
Evaluation Question 1:
In what ways do your media products use, develop or
challenge the forms and conventions of real media
products
2. In my research, I came across vox-pops, which are a
very common way to get a public opinion, especially
on news programmes like ‘Look North’ or ‘BBC News’;
I chose to utilise this convention in my documentary to
interview my target audience of teenage girls on their
feelings on the topic.
Real example:
BBC Newsline
Example from my
product
3. As part of my research, I analysed documentaries
about body image such as ‘Super Size Vs. Super
Skinny’ by Dr Christian Jessen. In this documentary,
there is a section dedicated to the dangers of eating
disorders. Before viewing this, I didn’t consider
including information but after this, I chose to include
a similar section in my own documentary and develop
it further by linking my narrative to it, and displaying
the idea through the use of voiceover, archive footage
and images.
Super Size Vs. Super
Skinny
Examples from my film
4. In documentaries, music is often chosen for its
relevance to the topic; for example, in my research, I
came across ‘Super Size Me’ which uses ‘Fast Food
Rockers’ to suggest its fast food focus. I then used
this in my documentary by researching music with a
body image theme and found ‘Body Love’ by Mary
Lambert, which has lyrics which reference the
message I am trying to suggest in my documentary.
‘Fast Food Rockers’
in Super Size Me
‘Body Love’, the
example from my
product
5. During my research, I analysed several
documentaries; I found that documentaries
stereotypically have a male presenter or voiceover
artist, such as Morgan Spurlock in ‘Super Size Me’ or
David Attenborough in ‘March of the Penguins’. I
chose to challenge this convention by making my film
female-led, with female voiceover and presentation.
This not only removes a stereotype, it fits with the
theme of my documentary as it focuses solely on
women.Real examples: Morgan
Spurlock, David
Attenborough, Louis
Theroux and Reggie Yates
Example from my
product of a female
presenter
6. Representation is very important in media products – I
chose to represent only teenage girls in my
documentary as I felt the issue of body image most
closely affected them. During my research, all the
documentaries I analysed represented both males
and females; this makes my representation of gender
non-mainstream and it challenges the norm.
Real examples: Jesus Camp, Super
Size Me, Super Size Vs. Super
Skinny and Freakonomics
Examples from my product
7. My film poster is impersonal and does not explicitly
depict a certain person which allows the audience to
identify with the featured body. In my research, I came
across two different posters, for Freakonomics and
Amy, one which is impersonal and one which is
personal. I used these two together in my poster by
depicting a person impersonally.
Real examples of
Freakonomics and
Amy
Example of my
poster
8. During my research, I analysed other magazine
reviews to understand the conventions of a typical
magazine review. In my review, I used conventional
features such as columns, pull-quotes and a star
rating system, all of which inform the audience that
this a magazine review. Reviews often utilise a large
image from the documentary as a hook to grab a
reader’s attention; I made sure to use this in my
review, as it is a useful feature.
Real examples:
Empire magazine
Example of my
film review
