2. Codes and Conventions of Documentaries:
• Voiceover: Usually a documentary will include a voiceover and they are sort of used as an
authoritative voice for the audience. They are kind of the creators mouthpiece for sharing
opinions and facts.
• Real Footage/Archive Footage/Stills: Documentaries commonly include footage of 'real' life
events or something that has been staged to look real. But even when the footage is staged the
creator will go to great lengths to persuade the audience it is real.
• Interviews: Interviews in documentaries are used to show perspective on something or to
possibly authenticate views expressed in the documentary.
• Use of titles/texts: Titles are used to pretty much introduce what will be spoken about next in
the documentary and text can be used to express facts, dates, labels and names to the viewer.
• Sound: Sound is used in many ways in documentaries such as adding music to the background
of something or possibly sound effects that could be used to accentuate a point.
• Set ups (Scenes like classrooms): Set ups are used to kind of just give the documentary a more
realistic feel to it.
• Visual Coding: Things such as mise ene scene are good to use when putting a scene together
such as if there were a doctor you should put them in a white coat in a hospital looking scene.
3. How I followed Codes and Conventions:
• Voiceover: I feel I definitely followed this code and convention as my documentary includes a
voiceover for more than half of it. This was because I wanted to have someone give facts to the
audience as my documentary was made to entertain but also to educate.
• Real Footage/Stills: I didn't really use any stills however my documentary includes many
different pieces of real-life footage that have been included alongside my voiceover.
• Interviews: My documentary includes two different interviews, one video interview and
another interview which was purely audio based due to the fact that the person who was being
interviewed was not comfortable in front of a camera.
• Use of titles/text: I have used text on many occasions throughout my documentary for things
such as subtitles which I put up alongside the interviews. I have also used title cards when
introducing a new topic in my documentary as it is visually appealing to the audience's eyes.
• Sound: There is a small bit of music that has been included and it is being different clips that
have been included in my documentary however the only other sound would be the voiceover
or the interviews which is all purely dialogue.
• Set ups: To ensure the interview I had done with my peer Jennifer Finnigan looked professional
enough I had used the photography studio on campus so that I had many resources at hand to
ensure the sound quality and the lighting looked the way I had planned for them to look.
4. Deconstruction and Analysis of my product.
The documentary produced by myself begins with the introduction of the company I have
made the documentary for (The BBC Three logo fades in an out of screen) as well as the fact I
have introduced my own production company at the beginning of my documentary by
adding a title screen with the words "A Six Production Original." This is then followed by a
quote that is relevant to the subject of my documentary itself. This then fades into a shot
where the camera is pointed to a chair, and we hear someone walking into frame before we
see her. Once she is sat down, we see the interviewee that is sitting in a warmly lit room, and
she is looking away from the camera, so we assume the interviewer is sat in her line of view.
The person behind the camera has framed the camera on the interviewee so there is a
constant tight mid shot. You could also say the rule of thirds has been used here due to the
placement of the interviewee in her shots on camera. The interviewees continue to answer
questions given by the interviewer for around fifty seconds with subtitles at the
middle/bottom of the screen as they speak and once, they are done the title of the
documentary fades in and out of the black screen and it does this due to transition chosen in
the editing process. From there clips begin to fade in and then fade into a different clip and
for each clip that Is included a decade shows fades in alongside it so we can see that the clips
each coincide with a different time period and issue.
5. Deconstruction and Analysis of my product.
These clips are an example of Diegetic Sound being used in the documentary as the sounds we can
hear as we watch the documentary coincide with each other. From here the screen fades to black
and a title card labelled #MeToo appears on the screen before the screen fades back into the
interviews in the same style we saw earlier however this time the two interviewees are being asked
questions about the #MeToo movement. Similarly, to the clips we saw earlier, clips fade in and out
however this time the clips focus on the topic of #MeToo. Once the clips stop, we then begin to hear
the first example of Non-Diegetic sound in the documentary through the form of a voiceover that
talks about the movement as well. The same structure continues when the documentary moves onto
its second topic which is apparently a movement called #HeForShe and this time the maker of this
documentary catches the audience's attention by including a clip of celebrity Emma Watson talking
about the movement introduced moments before. This is then followed by a voiceover which had
been edited on top of different clips that all align with what is being spoken about. The structure of
title-voiceover-clips that align continue for the next two topics spoken about in the documentary and
I would continue to talk about it however it would end up with me just repeating myself. However,
the structure changes at the end of the documentary as the topic changes to the narrator talking
about the pros and cons of online activism and as the narrator talks about the pros and the cons,
they also appear on screen through the use of text atop of a black screen. This however is the end of
the documentary as after this the screen fades to black, the audio fades out and the video ends.
6. Reflection:
I would say that many things helped me on my journey throughout this project however
the thing that helped me most was the relief of knowing that I had my lecturers there to
aid me if I needed any help with software or hardware, it was a huge relief when I ran
into issues such as exporting issues or sound issues to know my lecturers were to help me
fix the issues at hand. As well as this though I would say that the feedback I received was
actually a huge help to me as it helped me ensure my product was of the highest quality
that it could be.
It was immensely useful for me to consider existing work at the beginning of the project
as it helped me get a feel for the basics of documentary making however it also aided me
when it came to coming up with an idea of my own. Specifically, The Social Dilemma
really helped me think of my idea for my documentary. Planning everything thoroughly
was also something that really helped me when it came to the production stage as
knowing exactly how I wanted my documentary to go (Thanks to my storyboard and my
writeup of my ideas) made the whole editing process easier on me. Knowing exactly what
I wanted to say thanks to the script also helped as it meant recording my voiceover was a
lot easier on me. I wouldn't say the experimentation I did during the duration of this
product helped me when it came to the production process however it did help me
widen my knowledge on what I could use to record footage at one point or another so It
helped me nonetheless.
7. Evaluating my performance during this project:
AC1: Informing Ideas – I feel like I have improved this since the last project as my research this time (Specifically the documentary trailer analysis and
client research) were a lot more detailed than they had been in previous projects. As well as this I had put a lot more effort into the research for this
product as unlike the last two projects I actually used my research for my final product (specifically the voiceover/script.)
AC2: Problem Solving – I had faced a lot of issues during this product such as work being deleted and me not having a backup however, I made sure
after it had happened once (My documentary draft had deleted itself as well as the trailer analysis.) that I made backups of each piece of work on both
my USB stick that I carried around with me but as well as this I made sure to put my word one OneDrive to ensure it would not be lost. The fact that I
also carried out forms to get feedback on more than one occasion throughout this project demonstrates problem solving as I was helping myself
eliminate/correct anything my peers felt was not good enough in my documentary
AC3: Technical Skill – I feel because of the way I had improved my technical skill in the last product it meant that this time I didn’t have as much to
improve on however my technical skill improved nonetheless as I ended up using new pieces of hardware (360-degree camera and igloo) as well as
new pieces of software (the insta 360 app, the software for the 360-degree camera, more in depth knowledge of Premier Pro.) I also feel like my
shooting and frame has improved immensely compared to the last project. The fact that I confidently was able to edit between two different pieces of
software is also something I feel helps make the point I met this criteria well.
AC4: Professional Practice – I feel like my experiences with problem solving link in with this skill. As well as this though I feel I also acted professionally
during the making of my documentary through the way I was able to act independently to get my work finished in time to meet deadlines. As well as
this, the way I approached my interviewees by planning exact times to record with them is something I felt was fairly professional on my part of this.
The way that I respected Amy Kilbride's request to not be featured on camera was something I feel I also did well.
AC5: Communication – I cleared showed that I am able to communicate well throughout the duration of this project which I showed on many
occasions, such as the way that I presented myself when approaching and working with those I would go on to record interviews with. As well as this
the way that I presented my pitch shows clear proof that I communicated well during this project as I feel I clearly communicated how my ideas were
to be carried out into my documentary as well as explaining how my ideas were, in fact, right for the consumer and the client. The series of drafts also
show my communication skill well as it shows many different versions and stages of my documentary. The way I reflected on my feedback could also
help when it comes to proving I met this criteria well as I clearly communicated how I took the feedback on board and how it helped me with
correcting my work.
8. Other Comments:
How close is your final product to your original idea? -
I feel that my idea and my actual product are extremely close as one I had finalized my
idea, I was passionate about the fact that no matter how hard it seemed I would follow
this idea through. It was the first project I had found myself this dedicated to so once I
found and idea, I enjoyed it didn't matter to me how difficult it would be which explains
why my idea had been the same from beginning to end.
What would I continue to do and what would I do again if I had a second chance? -
I wish I could truthfully say I would try the project again with a less niche idea, but I
would be lying. Being able to research into this subject for my work was a
great experience and I would do it all over in more depth if I could. If I were to change
anything at all I would have tried to get another person to replace Jasmine after she had
been unable to record the interview for me however apart from that the only thing I
would try and improve would probably be that I would have done more subject area
research as it was enjoyable for me to look into as I am a fan of documentaries.
