1. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
When researching into documentaries I found out that there was a pattern when it comes to codes and conventions in which I found:
• Voiceovers
• Interviews
• Music overly
• Footage from other places i.e. a news report
• Institution names
• Institution logos
• Transitions
• Close up shots
Throughout my documentary I wanted to include as many codes and conventions I could to fit in with my genre- Human Behaviour, by
doing this, it allowed me to be creative and professional within my work. I will be analysing the way I have followed these codes and
conventions within my documentary and ancillary tasks. When researching and creating my documentary I chose the mode of interactive
as my documentary followed the codes and conventions of having many interviews throughout. In my documentary I followed the
conventions within an interactive documentary to make mine look as professional as possible; I used a lot of interviews with teachers and
students asking them about school life and questions associated with that.
2. Documentary Analysis
• I used music overlays to show the transition between scenes, I also used these over the
interviews ever so slightly because I found when watching Educating Essex that they use
soft music overlays when transitioning between locations and over the interviews.
• I also used narration/voiceover to allow the audience to follow the structure or narrative
of the documentary with the voice telling us about school life, this is a basic code and
convention that is found in ‘Educating Essex’ type documentaries.
• I also tried to follow closely the transitions between each clip this, I found was particularly
difficult to identify within a documentary.
3. As I watched Educating Essex, I found that there a
variety of interviews throughout with students and
teachers set in different locations around school. From
that I followed the codes and conventions and filmed a
lot of interviews which then I could include in my
interactive documentary. I used different locations just
like they do in the documentary itself. Also I found when
watching Educating Essex that they have their
name/role and year across the bottom of the clip,
providing some understanding and information for the
audience. I followed that code and convention, keeping it
consistent throughout. These are screenshots from my
documentary to show my development from the actual
documentary.
4. • With my poster I followed codes and conventions from the human behaviour
show “Educating Essex” in which the layout was of students in a hallway, I
liked this style as I found it to be eye-catching due to the colour palette. I also
identified straight away what genre of documentary it was as it makes it clear
through the image of the teacher and students. I liked this style of poster for
the documentary as I was able to identify what genre of documentary it was
as well it being interesting to view.
• By having it set within a school it followed the codes and conventions of the
documentary genre, I copied this documentary poster by using the codes
they used, for example, I copied the layout of the poster having students
within the school setting as I thought it was effective for the demographic
audience and it was appealing to the eye.
• I think this poster was clear about who they are and what the product is that
is being sold. I followed the codes and conventions of the Educating Essex
by copying the medium long shot of the headteacher being in the middle
reinforcing the important role in the documentary. I also copied the masthead
on Educating Yorkshire by having a black background with white writing on
saying 'Educating Coventry' however one convention. I challenged mine by
using brighter colours overall this was due to the setting partly.
• When looking at this Educating Essex poster, one thing that stood out to me
was the head teacher placed in the middle, he gives out a positive look
which I think the demographic audience would want to see when watching a
human behaviour/reality Tv documentary. I think this is most effective as it
shows how he is the main part in the documentary and all gives away what
type of person he is to the audience.
5. • With my DPS I followed codes and conventions from an actual magazine listing to enable my work to look a publishable piece
of professional work.
• By having a number of photos across this DPS with the main character on the right who is also on the poster and in the
documentary it gives the audience more information about that characters, and with the smaller photo on the left page is just to
show the students in school. I think this DPS is clear what it is telling us about with the title ‘the life in sixth form’ alongside the
images. It looks very niche and professional with the layout and the interview format context.
6. My Products and the success.
• My products regarding my ancillary tasks are successful because they promote and
advertise my documentary with the consistency of characters that show throughout
each piece alongside in the documentary.
• They are successful as I followed the codes and conventions of real products which
ultimately made them look more professional and publishable to audience.
