1. “ I N W H A T W A Y S D O E S Y O U R M E D I A
P R O D U C T U S E , D E V E L O P , O R C H A L L E N G E
M E D I A C O N V E N T I O N S ? ”
Evaluation, Question 1
(DOCUMENTARY)
2. TITLE SCREEN
We opted for a title screen
which was handwritten on a
whiteboard as opposed to text
put in place post-production
because I personally thought it
would set our documentary
apart from other products more
if some conventions were
challenged. Also this fits in
which the general mood of the
documentary, which has a
subconscious focus on school
life – this title screen in
particular reflects that, and so it
is best that our audience sees
that as soon as possible in the
documentary.
3. OPENING SEQUENCE
Our opening sequence is full of
images of people using their phones,
as well as a stopmotion sequence in
which a pile of mobile phones apear
one by one. We thought this was an
interesting idea for a shot, and our
opening sequence features narration
over all of this onscreen action to
guide the audience on where the
documentary will go and what they
will perhaps learn during the film.
This is a crucial convention we chose
to stick to for the reasoning that the
audience will know whether they
want to watch it at this point in the
documentary.
4. CAPTIONS
At various stages of the documentary, we
used captions to notify the audience of
who was speaking, most noticeably during
expert interviews with Nick Waring and
Matt Clarke, as well as Siobhan’s video
diaries. This was an important
documentary convention to feature in our
documentary because it is important for
the audience to know that the facts and
opinions they are getting from the experts
are from a valid and informed place –
their occupation was put on a
accompanying caption underneath to
notify the audience of what they were
talking about was relevant to them, in
Siobhan’s case that her phone was a
crucial part of her day-to-day life as a
student for communication.
5. MISE-EN-SCENE
For The expert interviews
mostparticularly we felt it was
necessary for there to be a
subconscious air of understanding of
the area they are talking about in
their shots, just like Morgan
Spurlock does in “Supersize Me”. As
a result, we took this convention and
placed our expert interviewees in
locations which they might be seen in
day-to-day, or with things in the
background relevant to the topic they
are discussing, just as market leader
Matt Clarke does when he sits with a
Mac computer behind. This was
crucial for the audience to know the
expert was inform, as stated before.
6. BACKGROUND FOOTAGE
Our background footage was
mainly of students on their
phone, as this was highly relevant
to our topic area and our target
audience.This was the best option
for our background footage as a
result. This is a strong convention
to follow as it gives something
else for the audience to watch
and keeps their focus on the
documentary, and can often
reinforce the point a filmmaker is
trying to drive home if used
correctly.
7. CUTAWAYS
Similarly, we often used
cutaways during the expert
interviews particularly, to
drive home the point we were
trying to make in our
documentary. This is a
convention which many
filmmakers employ in order
to subtly give the audience a
certain impression of a social
issue and as a result may
influence their opinion of the
documentary, causing them
to agree with it often.
8. ZOOM USAGE
With background footage
in most documentaries
such as “Most Evil”, a still
camera is often used. We
decided to forgo this
particular media
convention and added
some zooms and pans into
our background footage to
spice up the action a bit
and again reinforce our
points we are conveying in
the documentary.
9. ARCHIVE FOOTAGE
Archival footage is very
useful to use as a
documentarymaker, and
many do so – it is a
convention often used to
drive home a point with
historical evidence, or as a
drawing point for a
comparison to be made
through a voiceover. We
followed this convention,
particularly in our opening
sequence to describe “just
how far” mobile phones have
developed over time.
10. SOUND
Our voiceover guides the whole documentary and was a
crucial aspect of the production process. It is important
therefore that we tried to follow the conventions of
voiceovers, being seen as a knowledgeable presence to guide
the audience through the documentary.
The music we used in the documentary, we tried to make a
conscious attempt to have it fit in with the theme and tone of
the documentary, but we feel we could have used better
music upon reflection, especially seeing as the convention is
to do this. We realised why this is a convention, as the music
is mean to subtly create meaning, whereas in our
documentary it sticks out like a sore thumb almost, as
explained in our audience feedback. This was a convention
we should have used and followed more closely.
11. TO CONCLUDE
There were various media conventions we decided to
both develop and use as well as others which we
decided to challenge in order for our documentary to
feel as if it were set out apart from other similar
documentaries which could be compared to it.
