The document discusses the process of creating a 5-minute documentary introduction on the topic of university tuition fees. It describes the research done into documentary conventions like voiceovers, interviews, and archival footage. It explains how these elements were incorporated, such as using interviews, statistics, and a neutral voiceover to take an expository approach and inform viewers on the topic factually. Overall it provides a behind-the-scenes look at the considerations that went into crafting the 5-minute documentary introduction.

1. By Thomas Hartwell

2. We were given a specific brief at the start of the A2 coursework task. This
was to create a five minute introduction to a documentary based on a
topic of our choice. We also had two ancillary tasks to complete, both to
advertise and support the documentary. The first being to create a radio
trail with the aim to encourage people to watch the documentary, the
second to create an informative TV listings article for a specific magazine
of our choice. To ensure that our documentary was effective and
professional, we had to do a lot of research and planning into the
documentary genre as a whole, specific similar documentaries, our target
audience, other similar radio trails, magazine articles and much more.
Initially, we researched into the documentary genre by looking into the
typical conventions. We knew that the film had to present information on
a factual topic for a number of different reasons such as to record important
events and ideas, convey opinions, inform viewers and create public
interest. By looking into conventions of the genre like actuality, exposition,
voiceover, interviews, interviews with ‘experts’, archival footage and
reconstructions, it highlighted what we had to do in order to make our
documentary effective overall and achieve its purpose. Having completed
the documentary we have been able to asses what conventions we have
used and why. We felt that actuality was an important factor to include
within the documentary in order to give the viewer a true insight and a
realistic portrayal.

3. Our documentary portrays information in an expository way, presenting
facts, figures and various different opinions on the topic from interviews we
carried out. This expository mode of the documentary is reinforced by the
narration which explains the content and portrays both sides of the
argument in some places serving rhetorical purposes. We felt that by
making the start of the film dramatic and fast paced it not only attracts the
viewers attention but also relates to the topic effectively. The voice-over
presents lots of facts to ensure that it is informative and contributes
positively to the film. We added the pre-recorded voice-over to the
soundtrack so that we could marry both visual and audio together
effectively.
Clips
Audio file
We included both vox pops and interviews to give both general opinions
from the public and informed opinions from professionals and relevant
individuals to authenticate views presented. We prompted our
interviewees with questions in order to get balanced, appropriate responses
but unique and individual ones also. We tried to give a true representation
of the interviewees opinions, this meant providing both sides of the
argument to a certain extent. We have also incorporated some
archival/stock footage recorded from YouTube, we did this to add variety
to the documentary, give a more well-rounded insight and ultimately
improve the viewers experience.

4. We didn’t use reconstructions within the documentary. We felt that they
wouldn't benefit our film in any way and wasn’t appropriate given the topic.
We decided that it would benefit the film if we concentrated on the other
conventions we have used and making those areas as good as possible.
In order to clarify the options available to us at the start of the process and
highlight the different directions that we could take the documentary, we
researched into Bill Nichol’s theory of Documentary Modes (2001):
poetic, expository, observational, participatory, reflexive and
performative. Having completed the documentary it is clear that our film
contains a mixture of different modes but the expository mode seems the
most suitable for our style of documentary addressing university tuition
fees. The ‘voice-of-God’ style of the voice-over addresses the viewer
directly and presents facts mainly for rhetorical purposes. For example
‘fifty thousand less students applied to university in two thousand and
twelve’. This provides clear evidence that the rising fees are having a
negative impact but by providing positives like ‘maybe they can improve
their facilities’ the film remains balanced to an extent.
The poetic mode puts more emphasis on mood and tone as opposed to
knowledge or persuasion. This is something that we wanted to avoid and
remain relatively emotionally detached to give a professional, informative
experience, it also tends to be more subjective. This contrasts with the
expository mode as this tends to be more objective and provides a well
supported argument. The poetic mode also forsakes traditional narrative

5. which is something that we felt was important to our documentary. Our
visual representation is generally used to support the engagement of
rhetoric rather than being the main focus of the film.
The observational mode allows the viewer to reach any desired
conclusion by simply observing. This is what's known as the ‘fly-on-the-wall’
approach and elements are reflected slightly within our documentary when
observing students working and going about their daily business with
minimum intervention. The observational mode is evident in ‘Welcome to
India’. This is a documentary that we watched and analysed within the
research stages of our project.
The film maker is visible to the viewer in the participatory mode and
openly discusses their perspectives and personal opinions relating to the
film. A clear message is asserted in a rhetorical fashion and the film can
become a channel for the film makers agenda. We could have adapted this
mode to fit our documentary but we opted for a different approach.

6. Similar to the participatory mode, the performative mode also engages the
film maker in the story, but in contrast it is in an autobiographical description
of the subjects truths that are significant to the film maker NOT evident to
everyone. An excellent example of this that I have watched and we used as
a group was ‘Super Size Me’. In this case Morgan Spurlock portrays his
views clearly and the autobiographical style personalises the film and, by
taking the viewer through the experience with him, it makes it more
effective.
Finally, the reflexive mode draws attention to the constructed nature of the
documentary, and sometimes shows the film makers wrestling with the
content of their findings.
Taking all of the modes into consideration the expository mode is the one
that is most suited to our documentary which is not surprising given the
topic and the way that we presented our information. Our documentary
could also fall under the serious and pessimistic categories with an
emotionally detached voice-over and a relatively formal, authoritative tenor
throughout. It was important to us to do this as it is a very serious topic and
something that impacts many people in various different ways. The opening
five minutes of this documentary needed to reinforce these elements,
aiming to fully engage the viewer but also be very informative right from the
beginning.

7. The narrative structure of a documentary is always important, whether it is
linear, open, closed or circular. Being the first five minutes of the
documentary there cannot be any definite narrative structure to reflect the
whole documentary, but given the style I feel that the closed structure would
be a suitable option. This would give a definite ending and consequently
give the audience a clear conclusion to ensure all questions are answered,
all areas considered and all information presented.
Within the first five minutes the narrative contained various rhetorical
devices used like rhetorical questions, pre-modified noun phrases like ‘so-
called positives’ and shocking factual numbers like ‘50,000 less student
applied for university in two thousand and twelve’ and ‘a maximum of
£9,000 a year’. These features coincide with the majority opinion within the
documentary which was that the increase in fees was a bad thing. Expert
interviews that also take this stance strengthen the rhetorical elements
within the narrative further.
In order to gain a better understanding of the documentary genre, we
watched a few documentaries, such as ‘Super Size Me’, ‘Welcome to
India’, a ‘Panorama’ episode and ‘Inside Death Row with Trevor McDonald’.
By doing this differences were emphasised but also certain conventions
and techniques stood out to me that featured in most of the documentaries
that I watched. I felt that these conventions, ideas and techniques worked
well, contributed positively to the overall documentary and allowed us to
incorporate some of these into our documentary.

8. The use of the camera within these documentaries was very interesting
and in all cases improved the aesthetical impact of the film.
There were a variety of shots on display in all of the documentaries, for
example close ups of food were used within ‘Super Size Me’ to good
effect, similarly close ups in ‘Welcome to India’ worked well in putting
emphasis on certain things, in this case gold and money. We liked the idea
of using close ups to place emphasis on certain things so we used them on
university folders, students work and other significant, symbolic elements in
order to clarify the intentions of the documentary.
Long shots of school signs and the low angled long shot of the corridor
from the floor within ‘Super Size Me’ all combined to make it aesthetically
interesting. We felt that the low angled long shot worked extremely well and
consequently decided to incorporate this shot into our documentary. By
using a low angled long shot of a corridor in the Sixth Form College Solihull
it added an element of intellect, related directly to education and increased
the validity and therefore the impact of our documentary. Birdseye high
angle shots in run down areas within ‘Welcome to India’ and the use of
hand-held camera reflects the busy, brutal lifestyle of these people. We
used an over-the-shoulder handheld shot following a student
Into the internet cafe, this gave a personal element from the students

9. perspective and emphasised how daunting this period can be.
We also used establishing shots, similar to the other documentaries. This
helped us to reinforce the topic of the documentary, particularly when
panning across The Sixth Form College Solihull and the main High Street in
Solihull, synchronise the visual with the voice-over and imply a change in
location.

10. Much like these documentaries, we also made good use of the tripod. This
helped us throughout the filming process for various reasons, one of which
is ensuring that our shots were stable normally and whilst panning or tilting
but also the use of the tripod within interviews allowed us to position the
frame exactly how we wanted it (most of the time medium close up),
maintain looking room, rule of thirds and include significant and relevant
objects (books, phones, computers etc.) within the frame that contribute
positively to the mise-en-scene.
This is also reflected within the expert interviews in ‘Super Size Me’.

11. Another typical feature incorporated within the interviews throughout these
documentaries was the use of graphics, particularly throughout
professional interviews. By using graphical labels or tags, it helps to inform
the viewer as to who the interviewees were and their occupation. We
decided to use this convention throughout our professional interviews and
also use the conventional white serif font so that they are easily read. The
background strips opacity was also customized to avoid it being too harsh
and imposing on the interview but also being clearly visible.

12. We also made good use of various other elements within mise-en-scene in
order to make our documentary effective and present information to the
viewer efficiently. For example the locations that we filmed were
appropriate to both topic and voice-over. This is particularly reflected within
general shots like when we panned across one of the main buildings at The
Sixth Form College Solihull and filming students in the library but also within
interviews which we organised to take place in offices and classrooms to
relate directly to education and the topic of university tuition fees.
The lighting throughout the majority of the documentary is natural lighting,
similar to all of the documentaries that I have watched. This seemed the
most obvious choice given the serious topic and the informative purposes
of the documentary.
Props were used within the documentary to contribute positively to the
mise-en-scene and give a professional element. For example the telephone
in shot throughout the Emma Hurst interview, the computer within the Karen
interview and the books within the Owen interview. Also pens and paper in
the shots were useful when observing students studying and again referred
back to the topic well. Also the close up of the ‘Good university guide’ book
reinforces the topic and the close up of the penny spinning shows how the
financial aspect is at the forefront of student’s minds at the moment and the
spinning symbolises the uncertainty of their futures.

13. To follow conventions and add variety to our visual representation, we
made our own track out of chairs and wheels, this enabled us to capture a
tracking shot across some university folders. We also used the cameras
provided to zoom, and manually change the focus using the focus ring to
create a focus rack. This worked particularly well within our documentary
and improved the experience for the viewer making it more interesting.
We also noticed that these documentaries used sound to their advantage
in various different ways. All of the documentaries that we watched
contained relevant background music. This was reflected particularly
within ‘Welcome to India’ as the music contained Indian instrumentation
which correlated with the location of the documentary and provided a slight
insight into the culture of the country. ‘Super Size Me’ also used
background music effectively for example the use of the flute right at the
start adds an element of humour and light-heartedness. We wanted to
make the music relevant but the main objective for us was to create a piece
of background music with variety and interest that would not distract
attention away from the main focus, the documentary and the voice-over.
We created two different simple, original, ostinatos in Garageband to give
variety to the background music. Here is the final exported background
music in Final Cut Express:

14. We feel that we created an effective piece of background music that wasn’t
too dissimilar to that of professional, conventional documentaries, it added
interest without distraction and therefore achieved our desired purposes.
Diagetic and non- diagetic sound are conventions that also played a big
part in our documentary. It was appropriate to include some non-diagetic
sounds to reinforce that insightful and well-rounded element and it is quite
hard to avoid it during vox pops and interviews. Diagetic sound such as
telephones ringing in offices in the background during professional
interviews, people walking past and talking during vox pops and students
talking in the canteen. Although this contributed positively to our
documentary, we had to manage these levels and make sure they were
audible but not overpowering.
Audio
levels
(dB)
The non-diagetic sound that we used within our documentary, mainly from
the voice-over, worked well in our opinion and combined with the diagetic
sound to create a relatively easy watching documentary.

15. The voice-over within our documentary is quite similar to that of other
documentaries that we have watched and follows typical conventions of a
standard piece of narration. It is delivered in Standard English which relates
to the topic and academic semantics of the film, facts and figures are
presented as well as some rhetoric. We also tried to mould the voice-over
around the clips that we had, one particular part of the voice-over where I
feel this worked well was ‘... and highlight any academic anxieties that
they may possess, whether it be ...’. Here alliteration is a feature that has
been used to add interest to the voice-over and ultimately increase the
impact on the viewer. This piece of narrative fits with the visual clips and
allowed us to move the documentary on, in this case to vox pops. A big
factor regarding the voice-over that we had to consider when creating it was
making sure that we included some enthusiasm. This was a big part of the
voice-over in ‘Super Size Me’ and when Morgan Spurlock was presenting.
The enthusiasm in his voice and physical actions made me as a viewer
more interested and he appeared more genuine and sincere. This is
something that we wanted to replicate through our voice-over.
We also used the conventional shotgun microphone throughout
interviews and vox pops, this proved to be easily manoeuvrable, good
quality and easy to use. We did have some issues when using this, we
positioned the frame how we wanted it and how it appeared on the camera
screen, but when preparing to edit we realised that the shotgun microphone
was sticking into the frame slightly. This was easily solved though, we used
the wireframe to drag/zoom the frame in.

16. Research played a big part in the creation of the documentary, both
primary and secondary research were vitally important if we were to
make a well-rounded, informative documentary. Or primary research was
gained directly from people, mainly our target audience. Our documentary
portrayed lot of primary research, a form of this was through interviews and
vox pops where we were relating to people directly and gaining useful
information from this. This is similar to the way that ‘Super Size Me’ used
primary research, with vox pops on the street of New York for example. In
contrast, our secondary research from factual resources proved to be very
useful in informing the viewer and integrating the content we found into the
voice-over. This was also evident at the start of ‘Super Size Me’ with facts
like ‘nearly 100,0000 Americans are today either overweight or obese’
which is also a feature we used at the start of our documentary.
From watching ‘Super Size Me’ it became apparent how special effects
and graphics particularly computer generated imagery have been used
to good effect. These sort of things require quite sophisticated equipment
and it is something that I would have like to incorporate into our
documentary if we had the possibility. Effects like multiplying the frame:

17. graphics like the cartoons:
and population representations:
add interest to the documentary and reinforce the professional element.
Also given the opportunity to produce our documentary again, I would
definitely include still images as I felt these worked really well in ‘Super
Size Me’.

18. It also became apparent whilst watching these documentaries that the
straight-cut is a big feature. We did use lots of straight cuts within our
documentary to ensure that we did comply with the convention.
But we also used transitions like cross dissolve. We felt that it was
important to add an element of variety and add interest to the documentary.
So we did use conventions in this area but also added extra elements.
Cross dissolve in progress

19. This is our final TV listings magazine article:
We had to produce it for a
specific magazine, our
chosen magazine was
‘TV and Satellite week’.
We looked through lots of
different magazines like
‘Radio Times’ and ‘What’s
on TV’. Most of the
magazine articles that I
looked into had similar
conventions and styles, I
then looked into the actual
articles and picked the
magazine that contained the most articles that were based around a similar
topic to ours. This confirmed the choice of ‘TV and Satellite week’ and the
general conventions used within this magazine like columns, stand first, the
use of integrated images and the general simple layout allowed us to adapt
this style relatively easily.
Although, in many ways, we abided by the conventions used within this
magazine, one way in which we defied it was the use of the main header
or title of the article. We decided to integrate this into the main image and I
feel that it worked well in doing so.

20. The use of columns within our article highlighted specific similarities as to
those used by ‘TV and Satellite’. But we like the way that they integrated
images into their columns and decided that it was appropriate to do so
within our article and also to reinforce the elements belonging to that
magazine.
In contrast to this particular article we have not filled the whole of the
background with our main image, we felt that the actual article would be
quite lost within our main image if we did this and in this particular instance
it wasn't appropriate in our opinion to do so. If I created the article again
and created a different main image this may have not been the case.
We also used the exact design that ‘TV and Satellite Week’ have created to
display the show title and the date and time. This again reinforced our
intended magazine and is also a typical convention of any TV listing
magazine.

21. Another convention that we used in the creation of the article was the
captions used to illustrate pictures. This helps to inform the reader further
on the person in the picture, gives contextual information and adds an
element of professionalism. Also, in relation to the example article from ‘TV
and Satellite Week’ magazine, we integrated a circular image which we
made using the circular frame tool in In Design.
We also used a By-line which is a common convention used in real media
products.
Page numbers were also an essential within our magazine article,
although these are features used all of the time it is still a generic
convention that we have used.
Also, we have used a cross-head which clarifies what the next section of
text is based around and also helps to break up the main body of the text in
order to make it slightly more interesting.

22. A pull quote was used to break the main body of the text up slightly, also
the bold capital font with a drop shadow adds interest and variety to the
aesthetic. This quote was directly from the voice-over in the documentary
which connects the two very clearly. This helps the article support the
documentary effectively.
In contrast to many articles, we decided not to use a drop capital at the
start of the text. We felt that it wasn't needed as we had the stand first, so
in one respect we were using a convention but on the other we were
challenging one. But overall I feel that it worked out reasonably well.

23. During the research and planning stages for the radio trail, I listened to a
few professional trails like ‘Piano season’, ‘British grand prix’ and
‘Glastonbury giveaway trail’. Having listened to these, it was clear that there
were a few conventions that all three used. For example they were all
around 30-45 seconds long. We opted to go for around 45 seconds as we
felt that this was suitable time to keep listeners interested but also provide
all of the relevant information relating to the documentary.
It was important to keep the listeners interest as our main priority when
making the trail. One way in which I feel we did this was the use of
background music. We used the same music as the documentary, which
we created on Garageband. This adds an element of continuity and
emphasises how the main role of the trail is to support the documentary.
Again, much like the documentary, we wanted something that was
interesting and relevant but did not distract attention away from the
information being presented, this confirmed the choice of the same music
for us as we felt that the documentary music worked well.

24. Also, whilst still incorporating relevant bits of the voice-over from the
documentary like ‘Fees rise to a maximum ...’ we changed the main
voice-over for the radio trail. We made sure that our speaker was confident
and matched the enthusiasm portrayed in the documentary. We also
included audio snippets from two vox pops and one expert interview
within the documentary to reinforce the main product and hopefully
encourage the audience to watch the documentary.
Finally, as well as incorporating facts from the documentary, we also
incorporated the date, time and channel that the documentary would be
broadcast on. This is vital information for the consumer and was definitely
an important part of the voice-over.
Overall I feel that we used the majority of the conventions within the
documentary genre, TV listings magazine article and radio trail in order to
create our final products and I feel that we had well justified reasons as to
why we didn't use some conventions. We used current media products to
our advantage to see how they had used and adapted conventions and the
result of these adaptations. I feel that by researching into similar,
professional media products, we had a solid foundation of knowledge of
which we built upon and formed our finished products.