Simran hussain

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR
MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP
OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL LIFE
MEDIA PRODUCTS?
EVALUATION ACTIVITY 1
Simran Hussain

2. CODES AND
CONVENTIONS

3.  Purposes
 Filming real events
 Narrative voice over
 Focused on one topic
 Exaggerated stereotypes
 Linear narrative
 A preferred meaning, constructs opinions through selective editing
 Parallel editing
 Shorter running time than non-fiction films
 Reconstructions and set-up
 Interviews with experts/witnesses/participants
 Archive footage to support film scenes
 Text and titles
 Mainly niche audiences but sometimes mass audience
 Lighting: - low key: social realism/mood/tone/artistic tones
- High key: moral, idealistic realism,

4. THE PURPOSE
Documentaries are media products that usually have a particular purpose, such as the aim:
 To shock their audience with what they present
 To use documentaries for propaganda purposes
 To show political and general satire
 To satisfy and entertain people
 And lastly, to educate people on a specific topic
Our product focuses on the purpose to educate and inform our audience on the topic of online
dating. It particularly looks at whether online dating should be feared or embraced. The purpose
allows our audience to decide upon an opinion for themselves and choose which side of the
argument they most agreed with after watching the documentary. Essentially, we provide the
audience with information both for and against online dating, giving them the chance to hear from
people that ’supposedly’ had good and bad experiences. We were able to address this code and
convention of online dating by providing information on how online dating is a good way to meet
people and also outlining the dangers of online dating, which would essentially be the negatives
that would turn people away from online dating. It also could be said that we used an expository
tone that shocked the audience with the information that we provided, exposing what kind of
people really exist.

5. FILMING REAL EVENTS
 Actuality footage is footage that was recorded of real event and did not include
any actors. We used this within our documentary for majority of the cutaways
that were included. They were not acted and were taken of people being natural
as they would with out a camera facing towards them.
 Most of the time, the individuals filmed for the cutaways were unaware they
were being filmed, this promoted realism and showed our audience that use of
technology was indeed growing as almost everyone filmed had a smartphone,
on which they were able to access online sites – and more relevantly, online
dating sites.
 However, we found that when people did realise they were being filmed, they
acted a certain way for the camera rather than being natural as they would.
 Real or actuality footage is extremely relevant in documentaries as it allows the
audience to connect and relate.

6. A NARRATIVE VOICEOVER
 Generally, in documentaries and films, narrativisation is used in order to tell the audience what is happening in the
media product and provide them with further information on the topic being discussed – in our case; online dating.
 The voiceover in our production was a convention that we took into great consideration. This is because it formed
the basis of our whole production. We had carried out research on articles, news reports and other documentaries
about online dating in order to gather the information that we were going to include in our documentary. Once that
was done, we decided on the final content of our voiceover. According to that, we planned and carried out the
filming of interviews and cutaways that were needed.
 Our voiceover was used to communicate relevant information to our audience and to introduce the interviews as
they explained their experience and opinions on online dating.
 Usually the use of an authoritative voice is necessary in documentaries in order to attract the viewers attention and
make the information being given more trustworthy. Hence, many documentaries use a male voice as they seem to
convey a more dominant tone. However, we challenged this convention as we felt as though despite targeting our
production at both male and female audiences, we felt as though a female authoritative voice would better match the
topic of online dating. This was because normally, people associate love to females, and since the topic we chose
covered love and marriage we felt it was best to use Mrs Richardson to read our voiceover out for us.
 As for ages groups, we also found that most people between the ages of 15-18 are more likely to listen to
authoritative figures, as they would in schools, therefore our younger audiences would not be left out, but instead
take the advice given: to be aware of the dangers online, and perhaps find it more insightful.

7. TOPIC AND STEREOTYPES
The topic
 Within documentaries, there is usually only a single area that is discussed, this is explored fully, so that one
may watch the documentary and take away all the necessary information they need in relation to it. Providing
audiences with more than one or two topics may confuse them and cause the documentary to get lost and
lose meaning.
 Therefore, Documentaries decide on one of the following to base their story around:
- An event
- A person
- A theme
- A topic etc.
 Our product looked at the specific topic of online dating. In addition, since ‘online’ dating depends upon the
internet and growth of technology, we were able to incorporate the theme of technology within it too.
Stereotypes
 Stereotypes within documentaries are sometimes exaggerated in order to convey the right message to the
audience.
 For example, in our production we had to provide some of the interviewees with exaggerated descriptions of
experiences in order to inform the audiences about the positives and negatives of online dating, i.e. Numaa
and Uzma Khan and Michael Douglas.

8. LINEAR NARRATIVE AND
PREFERRED MEANING
Linear narrative
 Another convention of documentaries that we applied to our production was the idea that a linear narrative had to
be constructed. The most important factor that would contribute to developing a linear narrative would be editing.
 Traditionally the concept of narrative in a documentary follows a chronological order where the most compelling
elements come through the middle of the documentary.
 In our production, we found that beginning with a short introduction to online dating, we would be able to draw in
the audience and therefore, they would be able to proceed to the middle where the interviews would reveal more
compelling information.
Preferred meaning
 It is common that within a documentary, there is always a preferred or dominant meaning, Stuart Hall’s reception
theory links here, where our documentary has a specific aim for the perception we wanted our product to portray.
We hoped to enlighten our audience by making them more aware of the dangers of online dating., as well as showing
them positive out-comes too, therefore promoting online dating while also considering the danger. This convention
was used within our documentary, which essentially helped us reach out to our audience better.
 In order to create a preferred meaning, editors of documentaries use selective editing in order to achieve a particular
meaning. Our editor (Mehak Hussain) used this method in order to show the right amount of good and bad traits for
online dating. This was because as we were filming there were many times during the interviews that the dominant
topic was the bad that comes with online dating, a lot of this had to be cut out however, it was used to construct the
dangers mentioned in our last interview with Constable Skibbs who informed our audience about them.

9. PARALLEL EDITING, RUNNING
TIME AND RECONSTRUCTION
Parallel Editing
 Parallel editing is used in documentaries to create more excitement and entertainment for the audience. In our
production we used parallel editing between cutaways where we found that it was more effective to show, for example, a
couple taking pictures together, where Numaan Khan says “I do think they are going pretty far with it because now they
are convincing people that it is okay for you to cheat if your wife doesn’t know or your husband doesn’t know”, to
connote a happy couple that could potentially cheat on each other, after society condones it.
Running time
 Conventionally, the average running time of a documentary is shorter than that of a regular film. The average running
time for a documentary is usually thought to be 50 minutes, however it is highly dependent up on the content of the
documentary. The average running time if thought to be 100 minutes. Our production is split into three parts and while
the first part is only a running time of 5 minutes, we determined that our documentary would have a very short overall
running time.
Reconstruction and set-up
 Reconstruction within our documentary was used only when filming cutaways, it was difficult to film creative cutaways
because we had aimed to do it while people were being natural, in order to follow the ‘filming of real events’ convention
for documentaries. However, to avoid having a boring production we asked a number of people to ‘act’ for the camera.
 In the introduction for example, we made use of young pupils who were to hold up boards that supposedly, meant
something to them in relation to online dating, however, the people we used were unexperienced in the matter of online
dating, and so we chose to give them words/phrases/sentences that were chosen by me and the director (Namrah
Siddique).
 Also, we reconstructed reality in cutaways for example: the close-up shot that showed a couple holding hands stepping
towards the camera, also, in Michael Douglas’s interview we had a cutaway that was filmed in a different location with
different people, but we used it to give the illusion that it was Michael out on a date with the woman, rather than
random individuals. This was achieved through the angle at which the camera was placed and the position they were
sitting in which ultimately did not reveal the identity of the real male character.

11. INTERVIEWS
 Normally, in documentaries it is important to provide your audience with people who are well-informed or
experienced in the topic you are studying. In my case it was online dating. Therefore, me and my group
decided that would be necessary to carry out interviews only with people that are experienced in the
matter.
 Hence we chose Numaan and Uzma Khan who are a married couple that met online and had success in
their marriage and for this reason had a good experience with online dating.
 Mona S Siddiqui who is a woman whom also had success with online dating and not only found her
partner, who has been married to her for seven years, but also gained friends along the way. This informed
the audience about further benefits of online dating rather than just finding happiness in a relationship.
 Mr N Pattison had used online dating and was able to provide the audience with well-grounded opinions
on online dating and how technology has changed and killed ‘traditional’ romance “to a certain extent”.
 We interviewed Micheal Douglas who’s good and bad experiences were relevant and led to our final
interview because he provided erudite knowledge on both good and bad experiences that he had when
online dating.
 Constable was Skibbs was our final interviewee, he was able to provide expert advice and opinions on
online dating safety as he was a part of the police force and had an authoritative position in the matter of
safety, especially online.

12. ARCHIVE FOOTAGE
 Usually, this type of footage is used in historical documentaries
where events of the past are described and conveyed further
through them.
 We did not incorporate this convention in our documentary purely
for the reason that, it was one that was based on modern day
technology, experiences and dangers, therefore archived footage
would not have been applicable here.

13. TEXT AND TITLES
 Text and titles in documentaries are used to incorporate understanding amongst the
audience as it would compliment the narrative. With our documentary the text
included in the production was very limited as we had only developed the first part of
the three sections in our documentary.
 For the introduction we had a titlecard that read our documentary name: Love @
First Click. We thought carefully about the text fonts that were to be used in order to
present the a connote the real meaning of the words. For example, Love was written
in an italic font conveying the idea of love itself.
 After the title-card's, we introduced the main body of our production by having
individuals hold up boards that read a word, phrase or sentence that meant something
to people who had experienced online dating. – this was the dominant reading,
however, it was a reconstruction of reality, as the people holding the boards were not
actually people that used online dating.
 We used on-screen titles to introduce the different interviewees as they spoke their
part in the documentary. These showed up in the lower thirds of the screen.
 And lastly, we added a caption at the end – in a similar format to the title card that
informed the audience it was end of the first part of our documentary.

15. MISE-EN-SCENE
 When filming we had to think carefully about the mise-en-scene when taking each shot, this
was to ensure relevance, so that the shots we were taking were useful to the production.
 With our documentary I found that whilst filming cutaway’s, we looked out for specific
details and features that would link to our theme this was:
• People using mobile devices
• Couples communicating
• And shots of places and people that would specifically match a part of the voiceover
 When filming interviews we had to make certain that the right message was being conveyed.
For example Constable Skibbs's interview required him to wear a badge and remain in
uniform to help the audience understand his authority. We also had to consider the location
at which it was to filmed, therefore, we chose his office as it seem professional and simple.
 When carrying out the interview with Mona S Siddiqui, I ensured that the location matched
her relationship status. Hence, I chose a domesticated environment to express her seven
years of a married life.
 The rest of the interviews were more basic and the focus was more on lighting. The location
we chose for each of the other interviews was no specific, rather it was simple and easy. We
decided it would be best to film against a white blank wall. The costume required was casual,
as this would suggest 'ordinary people’ allowing the audience to relate to the characters more
easily.

16. LIGHTING AND SOUND
Lighting
 The typical convention of lighting influencing the mood conveyed to the audience, was
highly considered as we wanted to ensure that we had a fun and entertaining tone to our
documentary. We chose to use bright lighting , making use of both natural day light and an
external light which assisted us in obtaining the perfect lighting for every interview. We also
ensured that when we filmed cutaway’s, it was day light outside and not after sunset which
might have affected the tone. Therefore, with lighting it was essential that high key lighting
was always used as this gave our documentary a sense of idealistic realism, where the
positives of online dating were exemplified.
Sound
 In relation to sound, we developed this convention and made use of non-diegetic score
music which we found on Bensound.com – this provided us with a variety of music to
choose from – we selected and downloaded ‘memories’ and ‘tenderness’, which framed the
basis of our score sound. It was slow, yet upbeat and this helped to develop a light hearted
manner for the overall production. Conventionally, we would make use of the ambient
sound in the cutaways, however, we decided not to as this would take away from the
sophisticated outlook that we hoped to achieve.