How did you_use_media_technologies_in_the_construction_and_research

In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Throughout creating our media products; we used a vast range of media
programmes and techniques to contribute in creating our final product. As well
as constructing our media project; beforehand, we had to carry out various
research tasks which we split equally in order to broaden our knowledge and
understanding of what we needed to do. Our aim was to produce a five
minute opening extract of a documentary on a subject matter of our choice;
our particular documentary was about the Birmingham Riots of 2011. It was
very important to follow the correct codes and conventions of a real media
product in order for ours to represent professionalism.

Our first task was the research stage. We had to research into our topic,
research into the target audience and institutions and also watch and take
notes on examples of relevant documentaries. One of the documentaries we
analysed in great depth was ‘Supersize me’ by Morgan Spurlock which made
us aware of techniques such as fast pace music and voice over to grab the
audience’s attention.

One of our first tasks during the creation of the documentary was to decide
what order the clips should be in and whether we should use some at all;
therefore we made a decision list as shown below:

Once we knew what clips we wanted to use, we made a planning action sheet
to work out what time we needed to dedicate to which particular task to make
sure we got everything done:

We used Final Cut to produce our media product which allowed us to log and
transfer recordings, edit them and then finally process the film. The opening
clip of the real documentary was attention grabbing due to its opening music
and eye catching footage. This made
us aware that in order to keep the
audience interested to watch the
remainder of the clip. Therefore, we
chose a montage of found footage as it
was completely relevant to the overall
reason for the documentary; therefore
it also gave the audience an insight as
to what our documentary was going to
be based on.

There were many different documentary modes we could have used including
poetic, schema, expository, observational, participatory, reflexive and
performance mode. Our documentary including elements of expositional
mode as information is passed on from the narrator to the audience and it
also thrives on out subjective visual interpretation of our chosen subject (the
Birmingham riots) as a way of passing information. We also used cutaways
during interviews with the public and experts which reflect expositional mode.

We used vox pops of the general public to find out what their opinions were of
the Birmingham riots and therefore explore a wide range of opinions similar to
“supersize me” where the general public were also interviewed:

Our documentary:

Not looking
directly at
the camera Looking
across dead
Supersize me: space

Assigned
to one
side of
the frame

Also things such as the composition were important as we were made aware
throughout watching ‘Supersize me’: there was a bookcase in the background

while a top doctor was being interviewed which made us question the mise en
scene when it came to creating our own documentary as the mise en scene
has to be appropriate to the particular situation and interviewee. As show
below, we developed the mise en scene of a professional documentary
through the mise en scene. The interviewee is shown at a desk with various
paperwork scattered on the desk which reflects their professionalism and high
status in comparison to the general public who were just interviewed in the
street.

Also, when the professionals were being interviewed, we captioned at the
bottom of the screen showing who they were and what their job title was;
therefore the audience can get a sense of what knowledge they have. This
also keeps the audience interested as they are being shown different opinions
from different professions which can therefore be compared and contrasted.
We thought that staying on the same clip while
the interviewee was venting their opinion might
be quite boring for the audience. Therefore, we
used cutaways so that the interviewee could
carry on talking as a voice over while we
showed other various clips in order to keep the
audience interested.

However, our documentary differed
slightly in comparison to real
professional documentaries. For
example, in ‘Supersize Me’, when the
narrator is talking about statistics;
they show them on the screen as a
diagram. Whereas, in our
documentary, the voice-over vented the
information but while a clip was
playing e.g. a view from Birmingham City centre. Still from
‘Supersize
me’

Also, effects such as using slow motion when showing certain clips were used
in our documentary. This was particularly effective when the voice over was
taking about the facts and figures from the riots as it created a serious tone
and the use of the slow motion was intended to keep the audience
concentrated. Also, it is suggested that slow motion affects the negative

emotions of the viewers which is particularly relevant to our subject matter:
the riots.

We also used establishing shots of places such as Birmingham city centre,
the Bullring, outside a court and outside the solicitor’s office. By doing so, the
shots established the environment of which was relevant to what was about to
be shown. For example, before the clip interviewing the lawyer; we showed an
establishing shot of the outside of a court.

As well as creating the documentary, we also had to take into consideration
the forms and conventions of real media products when it came to producing
the ancillary tasks. The ancillary tasks consisted of a radio trailer advertising
our documentary and a double page magazine article which also aimed to
advertise our documentary.

Shown below; our final version of the magazine article:

We decided that our article was best suited in the ‘Radio Times’. We followed
most of the basic conventions of a real magazine article such as the article
title, grab quote, subheading and stand first. We also used images taken from
the documentary. However, we challenged most real magazine articles
through the use of the colour scheme. We took a very black and white
approach towards our colour scheme and it could be argued that it was quite
bland. However, we thought that this would make our article look bold and
stand out if it was to feature in a magazine.

We decided that our radio trailer was best suited to classic fm as it was to
feature on channel 4 and our target audience was aimed at genders, middle
aged and social group B-C2. We used GarageBand to produce our radio
trailer as shown below:

The trailer lasted for approximately 30 seconds. We made sure the
background music was fast pace and upbeat which we felt reflected the
subject matter as the riots is a quite exciting topic. The voice-over was clear
and consistent which made sure the listener was able to take notice on what
was being advertised. We also included extracts from the opening montage of
the documentary and various vox pops and interviews to give an insight to the
listener as to what the documentary was going to consist of.

How effective is the combination of your main product and
ancillary texts?

Overall, we felt that we did well when it came to combining our main product
and ancillary text although there were a few minor flaws of which we could
have improved on if we were given the chance. We used quotes from the
interviews from our documentary in our magazine article and also used them
as sound bites in the radio trailer:

Also, although not exactly the same, both the radio trailer and the
documentary feature similar music. However, the voice over in the radio trailer
is different to the one featured in the documentary which could be seen as an

error and not very consistent; therefore this would be an element I would
personally change if given the chance as the same voice over would
familiarise the audience more with the documentary.

The radio trailer is brief yet effective as the voice over consists of short
sentences yet airs all the information needed which we feel would leave the
listener curious about the documentary and therefore interested in watching it
to find out what it is about. The radio trailer informs the listener as to what
television channel the documentary is going to be aired on. However, another
mistake was not mentioning it in the magazine article.

We felt that the main image on the magazine article captures the readers’
attention straight away and immediately reflects the subject matter quite
dramatically. It could be argued that it is also appealing to a younger audience
because the person in the photograph is younger; however, I still believe that
it would appeal to our set target audience which is middle aged.

In conclusion, I think that all three of our media products combine together
rather well as they all convey the subject matter even though they differ
slightly. They all portray what the documentary is about through very similar
styles and techniques. However, I personally think that the radio trailer was
our weakest contribution to the overall product as it has various elements I
would change if given the time to do so.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

In order to collect feedback from our audience, we asked our classmates to fill
out a questionnaire in order to gain
their honest opinion of all three of
our media products. We received a
very large mix of opinions which
helped us gain an understanding of
different perspectives. The pie
chart to the left shows the gender
of people who completed the
questionnaire. Although the
majority were girls, the divide was
relatively equal which was needed
as our documentary was aimed at
both genders and therefore we needed feedback from both. To start off the
questionnaire, we asked to
rate the documentary overall
out of a score of 10 (10 being
the highest). As illustrated on
the left, the majority of people
scored it 7 or above.
Therefore, it is suggested that
our documentary was overall
rather successful.
Furthermore, we asked what
our classmates like the most
in the documentary. As shown
in the graph; the majority of people liked the interviews the most, which
suggests that we succeeded in asking relevant and interesting questions
throughout the interviews and
perhaps the mise en scene was
notably well structured and thought
out. However, we also questioned
the students on what elements they
disliked during the documentary.
The feedback was very consistent
as the majority said they didn’t like
the sound levels. It was suggested
that the sound levels of the voice
over and the background music
were not very efficient and were
too loud/quite in various parts. If we
were able to repeat the
documentary; I personally think that the sound levels would be a major
element of which would need working on and change would definitely have to
be made. Also, lack of transitions were mentioned which was a liable point as
we didn’t put in as many as we could or should have. Therefore, this would
also be an element that would need changing if we were given the chance to
repeat the project. As shown below, there are also several other factors that

mentioned that were disliked by the students:

However, there were many elements picked up upon of which reflected similar
media conventions to those of a professional documentary. As illustrated in
the pie chart; a major element of which was simliar to a real media project
was the statistics. We included may statistics referring to the Birmingham riots
and used interesting factors that people might not have known about.
Therefore, the feekback shows that this worked in our favour as many people
found the information
professional and therefore
potentially more engaging
with the documentary.
In contrast, we also asked
if there were any missing
conventions within our
documentary. Although
many people declared
there were none missing,
the major issue as
mentioned before was the
sound levels. As this
element has been mentioned several times; I personally think this is the
biggest element that would definitely need tweeking if we were given the
chance. Another element mentioned was the lack of establishing shots.
Although we did take many
establsihing shots, we did not
use them all and perhaps we
should have made use of more
than we did.
In our opinion; we thought that
our documentary ‘RIOT.’ Was
best suited to be advertised on
Classic FM as it was aimed at
middled aged people of a social

group range of B-C2. However, it was greatly suggested by more than half of
the students that it should be aired on Capital FM with Classic FM receiving
only a tiny minority of the vote. However, regardless of the great opposition
towards Capital FM, I still personally believe that it is the most fitting to be
advertised on.
A main point was to make sure our magazine looked consistent with our
documentary. 18 out of
27 agreed that the
magazine looked
consistent with the
documentary. Although
everyone did not
agree, the majority did
and this might just be a
perception of their
personal taste. The
diagram below
illustrates the divide of
how many people
thought the magazine looked consistent in oppose to those who didn’t:

We also asked if the radio trailer made the students want to watch the
documentary. The majority answered ‘Yes’ which shows the consistency of
the radio trailer and the documentary. The feedback from this question is
shown below:

In conclusion, we asked “Did your knowledge of the Birmingham Riots
increase after watching the documentary. 14 out of 27 people admitted that
their knowledge did infact increased. However, the remaining 13 people
claimed that their knowledge did not increase. This suggests that we either
did not include as much information as we should, or the students were
already aware of the information of which was aired. The results below show
the split among those whos knowledge increased in comparison to those who
did not:

If we were to repeat the project, I would greatly take into consideration the
feedback we have received. As mentioned, the main element I would want to
improve/change would be the sound levels. This is not only the most
mentioned negative ferature but also one of the most important elements in
any documentary as the sound levels are needed throughout the whole of the
documentary. Also, if we had more time I think a minor element to tweek
would be adding in more transitions during the interviews.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and
research, planning and evaluation stages?

Throughout the research, planning and evaluation stages; mant media
tecnologies were needed in order to undertake the tasks successfully. We
used both technologies we already had knowledge
on how to use but also technologies that were
completely new to us. This helped us in order to
adapt our current skills with creating new ones
which helped us to undertake all of the tasks set
effectively and efficiently. Throughout the research
stages, when planning the stages of our HP scanjet 5370c
documentary, a scanner device of which we ewre
all familiar with was practical to use to transfer our
notes onto the computer to then record on the blog. Also during our research,
tasks such as researching current documentaries on riots required access to
video streamers such as YouTube, BBC iPlayer, 4oD and general television
access for current documentaries being aired. In particular, YouTube was a
very good source to watch documentaries on as it consisted of many student
documentaries similar to what we had to create. Therefore, it allowed us to
annotate and criticise elements of their documentaries which increased our
knowledge of what we needed to include in order to create a good
documentary and to avoid mistakes we had noticed in other documentaries.

We used blogger as a service to
record our research and also record what stages we were at during the
production stage. Blogger is a blogging service which allows private or multi-
user blogs which records the date and time of which the blog was published.
These factors were all very useful because as it was a multi-user blog service,
all members of the group could log on when they wanted to and could have
several of us working on the blog at the same time. Also, the fact that it recors
the date and time of when the blog was published, helped to keep on track
and up to date of what stages we were at and when we met them.

During the production stage, the technologies got slightly more complex as we
were using technologies of which we were not yet familiar with. We were
given Canon HG 20 Cameras to record all of the footage onto an internal
60GB hard drive:

Zoom control and
Lense photo button

Power On/Off

Flip out LCD screen

USB Connection

There were also ports for headphones to be inserted which allowed us to
monitor the audio to make sure it was working properly and sounded efficient.
In order to capture a steady shot, we used a tripod which increased the
professionalism of our
documentary. Tutorials on how
to se the tripods correctly were
provided which made it less
time consuming to set up. To
record during interviews, we
used a directional microphone
similar to the one shown above Tripod tutorial

Apple iMac

which connected directly to the video
recorder which was very practical.

In order to produce all three elements of the project, most of it was
undertaken on an Apple iMac. Personally, I feel that they are the most fast
and reliable to use as it provides great software which is really easy to use
once you know what you’re doing. It was also compatible when it came to
transferring footage from the video recorder which saved time as they
uploaded extremely fast. The powerful graphics of a Mac complimented the
documentary as we could watch and tweak it through high quality definition.
Once all of the video footage was uploaded onto the
Mac, the programme we used to edit the footage was
Final Cut express. This particular programme allowed
us to log and transfer the footage where it was then
edited and processed into the final of our
documentary. Although Final Cut express is a less
expensive version of Final Cut Pro, I personally feel
that this suited us best as this was our first
experience of creating a documentary and therefore
Final Cu Express was easy to adapt to and perhaps
not as complex and complicated as Final Cut Pro.

The Viewer
The Browser

The

Clip toolbar

Timeline

Sound level
monitor

To create the double page spread magazine article, we decided to use Adobe
Photoshop as we were all familiar with the programme and it is very easy and
straightforward to use on a Mac computer. Photoshop is an image changing
piece of software was key when it came to editing the main image of the
article because it dominated the page and we were reliant on the image to
draw the attention of the reader. Photoshop has many features that are very
similar to other more professional versions but simpler versions which made it
easier for us to create a magazine article as similar as possible to a
professional one.

Toolbar

Palette well

Workspace

Furthermore, when creating our radio trailer; we used ‘GarageBand’
because it was easy to use and was the most practical one available.

We found it extremely easy to transfer the audio clips onto GarageBand
and to edit them in order to create our radio trailer. This process of the project
was by far the easiest to do and definitely the quickest out of all three tasks of
which we had to undertake. Also, GarageBand comes with pre-recorded
sound files called “Apple Loops” which were extremely convenient to use as
background music. There were many apple loops to choose from which
helped us have a great variety to choose from which best suited our radio
trailer. When we found a sound we thought was best suited, we simply had to
drag it into the “tracks” window and it was straight away added in with the rest
of our audio clips.

How did you_use_media_technologies_in_the_construction_and_research

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