Generic research: A Phone Call

A Phone Call from Penny Brown on Vimeo.


Evaluation:
1. The sound wasn't great quality due to the wind outside. The sound quality would have improved if we had filmed our product inside.
2. The camera we used was not new and had worse quality than the shots we filmed on an iPhone, therefore our product would have been better if we had used a new and up to date piece of equipment.
3. The conversation on character 1's part couldn't be heard partly due to the wind but also because he was mumbling and turned away from the camera. To improve this, we need to film inside but also make sure the character can be seen and heard in all of the shots.
4. Something we learnt from this product was that it is handy to have two cameras filming the scene at the same time, partly for cutaways but partly in case one camera did not catch the action or sound and the other camera may have picked it up.

Generic research: types of documentary and examples of styles

http://filmeducation.org/resources/secondary/topics/documentary/documentary_style/

This website suggests that there are 4 types of documentary style, which are:
Expository- traditional style with narration, usually documentaries based on nature or history.
Observational- people involved seem as though they are unaware of being filmed. 'Fly-on-the-wall' type.
Interactive- questions from the interviewer may be edited out, so audiences can make their own opinions, usually on whether the information is trustworthy or untrustworthy.
Reflective- The filmmakers are interested in the process of making a film, showing the construction of the film.

Channel 4 documentary styles are quite interesting, with narration leading the sequence of scenes and storylines, and location shots help illustrate the narration. This is particularly evident in the documentary 18 kids and counting . Another example is Educating Essex .

Generic research: documentary theorists

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8660672/The-British-Documentary-Movement.html

• "The documentary was a portal to a unfamiliar world." - This is essentially the basis for documentaries, showing audiences parts of the world they had never seen before due to lack of development in aspects such as travel and communication. 'Nanook of the North' by Robert Flaherty is one of the first examples of this.
• John Grierson was an important figure is terms of the start of documentary, viewing cinema as a "pulpit", which he used to show how differently the social classes lived during this time. His views and methods that he used within his own documentaries helped steer the genre towards the conventions that documentaries use in the 21st century.

Steve Barnett: theory of Disneyfication
I searched the term 'Disneyfication', and this website describes this term clearly, and distinguishes between closely linked terms with Disneyfication.
Barnett believed that documentaries have been simplified for people to understand them.

Another theory has been created by documentary maker John Corner, who believed there are 5 central elements to documentaries, which are:
1. Observation
2. Interview
3. Dramatization
4. Mise-en-scene
5. Exposition

Planning: proposal

This was my initial proposal, which was on the topic of youtube as described on my initial ideas. However, my teacher recommended that I add more detail, and that she could not approve my proposal just yet. As the result of this, I will add more detail and develop my idea further so that my proposal will be approved.

Generic research: inital ideas for product

I thought it might be a good idea to a documentary on the speed at which YouTube has grown, and how people have made careers out of it.
I had the idea that I could interview people who have not only made money out of YouTube but also people whose lives have been impacted by youtubers, such as following trends or overcoming problems due to their idol's advice, as young people tend to idolise these easily relatable people that share their lives online.
I still need a few more ideas on this topic such as a question to pose or the title but I have a few content ideas alongside this topic, such as filming over someone's shoulder showing them watching YouTube videos online.

Generic research: The Night Mail analysis

Today we looked at The Night Mail, one of the documentaries considered to be a masterpiece of the British Documentary Film Movement. The British Documentary Film Movement was a group of filmmakers led by John Grierson (who

coined the term documentary after seeing 'Moana' by Robert Flaherty), and the group were influential in film during the 1930's and 40's.

I analysed camera shots, editing, sound and mise-en-scene in The Night Mail. The above picture is my analysis of this early documentary. I found that the main message/purpose of the documentary is to inform the audience of how the postage system worked during that time.

What similarities/differences does it have with contemporary documentaries?

Similarities:

• There was narration throughout the program, just as documentaries that are broadcasted now have.
• There are many cutaways to illustrate the person or narrator's point, to help the audience understand visually what is happening.
• There was quite a few landscape shots, usually to set the scene for the next part of the documentary, which is quite common in cotemporary documentaries.
• Facts and figures are a convention of documentary programs even from seventy years ago, as it helps give evidence for the person/narrators points and helps give the audience perspective.
• In terms of editing, The Night Mail used mainly fades and dissolves which most contemporary documentaries use in transitioning between scenes.

Differences:

• There was no interviews, in terms of vox pops or expert opinion, which most contemporary documentaries feature in them, usually to confirm what the person or narrator is saying.
• It used noticeable foley diegetic sound, which can be used in contemporary documentaries but it is usually hidden better.

Overall, The Night Mail is very similar to contemporary documentaries, but modern documentaries have developed since The Night Mail was created, so there are some differences. However, there are recurring conventions in both The Night Mail and contemporary documentaries, which are evident to be traits of this type of program.

Generic research: Evaluating previous products

Good points about previous products:
1. The advertisements for the documentaries had branding on them, such as logos for the channel the show would have been broadcasted on.
2. There was a strong sense of branding and marketing, for example one product advertised a hashtag with the poster to connect the hashtag with the poster. This then allowed the creators to add in social media posts with that hashtag like tweets to appeal to younger audiences that use social media, but that also links to the product's advertisement.
3. One of the past documentaries that had been made had conformed to conventions of a typical documentary, using voiceovers to narrate and music to cover the non-narrated parts. There was also different shot types and cutaways to link the scenes together. Another convention that this candidate had conformed to was seeking opinions of people linked with the topic, and including facts and figures to inform the audience.
4. The candidates had evidently put in effort with their research, with their advertisements in TV magazines looking like a typical TV magazine, including actual shows that are screened on that channel.
5. Another good part about these products was that the style of narration and editing was similar to shows that would have been screened on certain channels, for example one documentary looked like it should have belonged to Channel 4 because that channel's products have a distinct style.


Bad points about previous products:
1. Some products, such as one of the music videos, showed elements that are not allowed to be in these products,  which therefore I know to avoid those topics.
2. Some of the footage didn't fit with the original content, which meant that the candidate had filmed the footage at a later date than most of the other footage. This removed a sense of continuity in the product, and so I will avoid refilming footage, and getting most of it in one go.
3.  Some of the footage was very low quality, which made the product look much less professional than it should do.
4. One of the documentaries had music playing at the same time as the narration, so the narration couldn't really be heard. Therefore, I'm going to edit the product so this doesn't happen.
5. One of the music videos featured people that were not fully comfortable being filmed, therefore the product looked less professional. I'm going to try and get people who are comfortable being filmed in my product.