Our documentary product uses several conventions of real media documents but also develops and challenges some conventions to fit our social networking theme. We use lower third titles to identify interview subjects, placing them in a Twitter 'tweet box' graphic. We conform to the rule of thirds by placing subjects in the left or right third of frames. For mise-en-scene, we feature computers and social media items in interviews to emphasize our theme, varying from documentaries using only green screens. We also use a solo 'voice of God' narrator but make the narrator younger to appeal to our target audience. However, we challenge the use of Chromakey in interviews, instead using screen captures for a more realistic feel.

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

2. Lower Third Titles
Lower third titles are one of the most important conventions of
a documentary and are used to identify who is being
interviewed and what their relevance is to the documentary.
Because of the importance of these titles, we made sure to use
them in our own product to ensure that the audience knows
who is being interviewed and why. However, we developed this
convention slightly to fit our theme of social networking.
Channel 4’s popular documentary ‘Educating Yorkshire’ is a
good example of the use of lower third titles. A simple white
font is used presenting the subject’s name and what year or
profession they were in. These titles are always on the
opposite side of the subject’s head which means that the text
can be read clearly.
We followed this rule in our own documentary by
keeping the lower third title on the opposite side of
the subject. However, we have developed the
convention slightly by placing our title in a Twitter
‘Tweet Box’ graphic to reflect the social networking
theme. By developing this convention, we have
created an inventive and eye catching way of
displaying the necessary information.

3. Rule of Thirds
We didn’t develop or challenge the rule of thirds
convention and kept the interview subject to the left or
right of the frame because we didn’t want to push the
boundaries of documentary conventions. Another
documentary ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Exposed’ conformed to the
rule of thirds and placed the subject to the left of the
frame in a medium shot.
In our documentary we also conformed to the rule
of thirds by placing our subjects in either the left or
right third. Occasionally, we switched around the
shots so that some were shot in a medium close up
and other were just medium in order to break up the
footage and add interest.

4. Mise en Scene
Mise en Scene is a key convention which expresses
the topic of the documentary at every angle and is
particularly important during interviews so that the
documentary flows. Within Channel 4’s ‘Educating
Yorkshire’, a green screen has been used to make it
look like the subject is in front of a whiteboard in
every interview. This is effective as it links to the
theme of education.
Within our documentary, we ensured that we made our
theme of social networking apparent. In comparision to
‘Educating Yorkshire’, we used a range of mise en scene for
each interview. We made sure to feature a computer or an
item relating to social networking in the background to
emphasise our theme. Within our product, we also used a
bedroom atmosphere as the subject was talking about how
social networking can effect family life. We included a
laptop with a YouTube video playing so again emphasise our
theme.

5. Narrator
Within mixed documentaries, it is common for a narrator to be used to
connect all the A and B roll footage together to give the audience a better
understanding. It is most common for a documentary to only use one
narrator who is omniscient and never seen but only heard, which is called
a ‘voice of God’ narration. Lots of professional documentaries contain a
‘Voice of God’ narrator such as 24 Hours in A&E, Educating Yorkshire and
One Born Every Minute. Channel 4 is not the only channel to conform to
this typical convention, other documentaries on other terrestrial channels
such as ITV also use a ‘Voice of God’ narrator. In our documentary, we
conformed to this convention as our narrator is omniscient but never
seen and only heard. This keeps the documentary within the ‘mixed’
genre and sticking to this convention gives our documentary more of a
professional effect. However, our narrator is younger than what you
would typically find in a professional documentary as our documentary is
aimed at teens and young adults so we wanted a narrator that the
audience would be able to relate to.

6. Chromakey
Chromakey is not the most important convention of a
documentary but it is often used to add interest to an
interview. The interviews in documentaries such as ‘24
Hours in A&E’ would be shot in front of a green screen
and then edited using Chromakey during production.
Within this documentary, every interview has been
edited using Chromakey. This is effective as the producers
are able to place an image behind the subject which
relates to the documentary, in this case a hospital cubical
has been used which emphasises the fact that the
documentary is about an emergency department.
However, we decided to go against this convention as we
felt that the use of screen caps instead of Chromakey
would be more effective. Challenging this typical
convention gave the documentary a more realistic feel
which draws more attention to the interview rather than
the graphics in the background which would distract the
audience from what the subject is saying.