2. Documentary-
Johns Not Mad
Johns not mad is a BBC documentary that focuses on a 16 year old lad called john who lives in Scotland
with his family. John suffers from a mental disability called Tourette's and shows Johns daily struggles with
Tourette’s .The documentary was filmed during 1989 when people did not understand the disability due to
Tourette's being less well known.
The documentary 'Johns not mad' uses several codes and conventions of documentary film making.The
codes and conventions used are:
-Observational footage of Johns daily life and how he lives.
-Voice over of a female who narrates the Documentary
-Interviews with experts and witnesses about theTourette's condition
3. Observational Footage
The documentary uses mainly observational footage of John to show how he copes with
everyday life and how he copes withTourette’s,This is used to go into more depth about
Johns life and give the audience a better understanding of Tourette’s and what it is.
Documentaries use observational footage to also make the documentary more interesting
and entertaining instead of being a constant video of interviews and information. During
the documentary you can see shots of John doing shopping and other daily activities.
4. Voice Over
Voice overs are used to narrate the footage and situations that johns facing and his struggles
in his daily life.The voice over is female due to the voice being more sympathetic towards
Johns situation .The voice over also gives the audience a better understanding of what is
happening during a particular scene.
5. Interviews
Interviews are used through out the documentary.The interviews used are witness interviews
with John, and Johns mum, and an expert interviews with a doctor the interviews with John
give the audience an insight to how John feels to such as howTourette’s affects his daily life
and how he has to cope with it,The interview with his mum is on how she has to cope with
coming to terms with johns condition.The Experts interview gives the audience more
information on theTourette's condition, Experts interviews act as the voice of god and give
more information and facts onTourette’s.
Expert
Witness
6. BBC News At 10
The BBC News at 10 is an evening News programme broadcasting to the British public that inform
people on situations around the world that will effect them or of interest to them.The news uses
several codes and conventions such as:
-News reporters are used through out the news.
-Interviews are used also during the news such interviews with experts and witnesses to give
information of the subject being reported.
-Voice overs are used over cutaways and observational footage
-The news have a mixture of hard and soft news.
-Facts and figures are shown through graphics
7. Reporters
News reporters are used through out the news such as the use of a reporter who is
situated in a studio in which he gives the headlines and information about the news that
is occurring and relevant. Another reporter that is used is a field reporter who elaborates
on the news that is happening.
Main studio Reporter
Field reporter
8. Interviews
Interviews are used also during the news such interviews with experts and witnesses to
give information of the subject being reported. Interviews with experts are with people
who have knowledge on what is being reported on such as doctors, whereas witnesses
are people who are the general public who do not have a wide understanding of the
subject but who have happened to see and witness it and have some form of
knowledge on the situation.
Expert Interview
Witness Interviews
9. Hard and soft News
The news have a mixture of hard and soft news. Hard news which is reported is things
such as big news that is important and is life affecting news, whereas soft news is news
which is not as important and is more for entertainment purposes. Soft news are reports
on things such as sports which Is a lot more light hearted than news on a flood which
would be considered hard news.
Hard News
Soft News
10. Graphics: Facts and figures
Facts and figures are shown through graphics to give the audience a better understanding
of the news and to make it more entertaining and visually appealing so that they do not
become disinterestedThe facts and figures being shown are quantitative and qualitative
research. Graphics are also used in the studio behind the reporter which relate to the news.
