Our media product uses documentary filmmaking conventions to compare public and private school education in the UK. We conducted research on existing documentaries and documentary makers to inform our expository style. Interviews with students and teachers from both school types along with footage of the school facilities were filmed and edited together with voiceovers and music to expose perspectives on the differences. Ancillary materials like a magazine article and advertisement were also created to promote the documentary.

2. In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
Given the topic of documentary came across as a challenge, however once
we began researching, planning, practicing and actually making the product
we got more familiar with what a documentary is and how we could make a
successful one ourselves. We researched many existing documentaries
involving certain issues and celebrities and we also did a lot of research on
Louis Theroux, Michael Moore and Nick Broomfield – existing and very
famous documentary makers.

3. Inspiration 
Early on we decided to do an expository type of documentary, Michael
Moore is famous for his expository documentaries and after
researching him we were set on using his style.
We wanted to expose but compare something and all we needed to do
now is choose a certain topic to perform a documentary on so this lead
to many discussions and mind maps.

4. Planning
After writing down a number of
possibilities using a mind map we
narrowed it down to a few topics
including:
-Education
- Fast food
- Medical
- Antisocial behaviour
We decided on Education as our topic of interest
because there is a variety of topics branching from that
such as: exams, behaviour, uniform, areas, bullying,
racism, subjects, teaching and the quality or learning.

5. Developing 
After deciding an idea I created a Slide share to document our decisions and plan for the
documentary

6. Reeds Locations
Private school located in
Cobham, we filmed
interviews with students
and teachers and also
looked at the outstanding
facilities.
Heathside
Public school located in
Weybridge (we are
students here), we filmed
the journey, teachers,
students and the facilities
and compared them to
Reeds.

7. Filming
Firstly we filmed around Heathside getting all the footage we
needed. Once we had done this we knew what to film for
Reeds meaning we could compare and use the same shots
and techniques. The most important thing for us was the
interviews because they explain a lot and are very opinionated,
it exposes student and teacher thoughts matching our
expository documentary form. We used the Sony video
cameras supplied to us by the Media department at Heathside.

8. Filming
In this section we filmed meg discussing the exam percentages
between Reeds and Heathside school, as she walks and announces
the results the computers to the right hand side of the screen flash on
to show the result percentages. It took us a while to plan and a number
of takes to get it right, but now it works it looks successful.

9. Interviews
One Shot – Mr Haining (sports and
conditioning coach at reeds school)
He explains what his job is and his
opinion of private school education.
Two Shot – Mrs Cooper (our
current media teacher) used to
teach at a private school so
discusses her personal view.
One Shot- Student at Heathside
school giving his opinions of being
at a state school. We also
interviewed students at Reeds.

10. Archive Footage
We were incredibly lucky to find archive footage quite late on during the
project. Not only does it completely comprehend our documentary as a whole
it also involves Barack Obama the president of the United States which is an
extremely powerful opinion and makes our documentary much stronger. We
have put this footage as the opening section for our documentary as it
immediately gains interest as people recognise this face.

11. Editing We put all of the footage on
each time we did a bit of
We used the program iMovie to edit all of our filming and cut the
footage. Due to last years use of the program the unnecessary bits out, we
whole group already knew the ins and outs of what
then put all of this in order
it does and how to use it to our advantage.
and began adding things in
Voice Over’s. we wrote mini scripts such as: archive footage,
that meg then recorded of herself voice over’s, music and
speaking, this went straight onto the transitions.
clip.
Music. Transitions.
We decided We used
to add music ‘Cross
that had no Dissolve’
lyrics and ‘Cross
because it Blur’ these
would most two merge
likely be clips
irrelevant to together in a
our topic so smooth way
we kept it to create
simple but fluidity in the
upbeat to documentar
keep it y.
interesting.

12. Shots and Camera Angles
The most used camera angles and shots we used were point of
view, framing, two shot, one shot, long shot and wide angle.

13. How effective is the combination of your main
product and ancillary texts?
I feel that both of the ancillary tasks combine
extremely well with the main task. The poster is
simple yet eye catching and contains all relevant
information to advertise the actual documentary
and the magazine spread is all about the
documentary itself containing an image, bold and
relevant title, interview and information about the
actual documentary.

14. Individual Ancillary Research
I thought I would research and plan what I was going to do before I began
creating a double page magazine spread. This benefitted me and gave me
knowledge and understanding of what makes a successful magazine article.

15. Double Page Magazine Spread
I am really happy with my final outcome of the magazine double page spread, I have used
typical conventions but made it different to most other existing magazine articles. I have
included all of the main things and the layout works well containing a bold title and
channel 4 logo.

16. Group Ancillary Newspaper Advert/Poster
We weren’t sure whether to do a
poster or a newspaper advert so
we therefore made a multi
functional piece that can work both
ways. I searched for different
images and came across this one
and decided to use it as the
background. The group decided
the title and where to put the
channel 4 logo. I knew we needed
a quote somewhere and it would
have looked out of place if I had
but it at the top or bottom so I
made it fit in the centre of the
apple, this is going to draw
peoples attention to the quote
which will then inspire them to
watch it. I think the title structure is
clever and the photo and wording
is completely relevant to the
documentary.

17. Target Audience
We couldn’t pin point a certain
age group because our
documentary is not only aimed
at all age groups it will also be
interesting to the ages of 13 –
80 years old. Students,
Teachers, Parents and
Grandparents will all be able to
watch, enjoy and relate to our
documentary and it may help
many people make the decision
of whether to spend loads of
money on a private education.
The documentary covers both
public and private schools and
looks inside at facilities and
results

18. Media Students Feedback
We allowed our classmates to watch our documentary
and asked them for feedback, we also returned the
favour. We filmed their views so we could keep them and
refer back to it when necessary. They said they liked the
topic as it hasn’t been done before in this style and they
thought it was relevant and interesting to recent and local
society. They did however comment on the target
audience being aimed more at adults including teachers
and parents but this didn’t matter too much to us.

19. What I Have Learnt From the Feedback
I think getting feedback was very important, it let us know
what we were doing wrong and it boosted our confidence
when we got complimented. It taught us how to take
constructive criticism and without regular feedback from
Mrs Cooper we would have been stuck.

20. How did you use media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and evaluation
stages?
We used a variety of technologies from equipment like tripods to search
engines such as Google. Without using these technologies we would not
have been able to create a documentary. We used the internet to do our
research and blogging and we used Microsoft office programmes for
example: Microsoft Word to display the information and create the ancillary
tasks. The more frequently I used these technologies the more I picked up
on how to use them to my advantage. This will benefit me in the future and
hopefully it means our group used technologies well to create a successful
documentary with two side tasks.

21. Computer
Programs

22. Equipment

23. General Opinion on the Finished
Documentary
The fact that we have only been given a tiny audience to get
feedback off is to our disadvantage, but in general people have
commented on the clever topic choice and originality of the idea.
Some of the filming is unsteady which has resulted from needing
footage to fill in the gaps and the relevant footage had to go in these
gaps otherwise it wouldn’t flow. People have also said they like the
way we ended it with ‘End of part 1’ because it makes them know
there is more to come. We covered a wide area of the documentary in
a speedy 5 minute boundary however we did push it over by a few
seconds, this doesn’t matter too much to us but people did pick up
on it. One of the interviews is a bit too long but it has so much
relevant information it would be a shame to cut it out, it would also
ruin the flow of the documentary so unless we went back to Reeds
and re-interviewed Mr Haining this would not have been possible.

24. Personal Opinion
Although my opinion could be biased I do think the documentary has worked out
really well. The footage is average but the editing made it all go together nicely
and made it much more interesting. The part with the exam results flashing on the
computer screen looks good and the timing was very accurate. I also think the
archive footage is a very strong part of the opening and the fact that Barack
Obama is in the documentary without any intention is even better. I think some of
the filming could have been a lot steadier and in a few clips people tend to
stumble on their words but recover quickly, it wasn’t acted out and the answers
we got built up a really good argument that would be concluded if the
documentary was longer. Another section I think works well is the car journey up
the lane to Heathside school, it is fast and to the point and although it isn’t steady
it is still effective, especially with the music over the top.

25. What Went Well

26. Ways we Could Improve

27. Group Rolls 
Meg, Nick & Adam
We decided as a group to all take part in every activity but
throughout the project our roles became more clear due to what
we were best at. I put a lot of ideas and research into the
documentary and also did a lot of filming and editing for the
final piece, Meg found herself interviewing and doing voice
over's while Nick edited footage as we went along and Adam did
a lot of filming. We worked well as a group and all put in an
equal amount of effort at the end.

28. Time Keeping and Organisation 
To begin with our organisation wasn’t too great but we got
together as a group and made a plan for the term. Once we had
all of our ideas and it was time to start filming we began to gain
organisation skills and stayed on task. We could have
performed better if we had better organisation throughout the
whole project from start to finish but this was a mistake we have
learnt from and would definitely make sure we had better time
keeping skills if we were given the chance to do this again.

29. Personal Input and Skill Development
Overall throughout the second year of Media A-Level I have
developed a number of skills, some being basic and others
being more complex.
• I have learnt how to use a video camera and upload footage
onto the computer.
• I have also got more and more familiar with the Apple Mac
computers and the iMovie program that we use to edit all of our
footage
• I have learnt about conventions and camera shots/angles
• Blogging has become easier and more skilful
• Working as a team has allowed me to develop teamwork and
communication skills
• I know how to research, plan, film, edit and produce succesful
media products
• Lastly I have developed an understanding of creating
magazine articles and advertising schemes to collaborate with
the media product.

30. Blog
Keeping a blog was important for this project as it documented every step in an
organised and public way meaning people can look and give me feedback. When I
get page views I know people have been looking and it would also be a great way of
getting useful feedback from people across the country that don’t know me. Here is
the link to my blog…
http://annadocumentary.blogspot.co.uk/