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MaxQayyum

MediaEvalua+on

Ques+on1-Inwhatwaysdoesyourmediaproductuse,developorchallengeformsand

conven+onsofrealmediaproducts?

Documentary

ForourA2mediacourseworkweweretoldtocreateafiveminuteintroduc+ontoanhourlong

documentary.Westartedwithamindmapoftopicideasandeventuallyse@ledonuniversity

tui+onfees.Asweareinourfinalyearofsixthform,weallhaveknowledgeonthetopicasit

directlyaffectsus.Alongsidethedocumentary,theauxiliarytasksarea30-45secondradiotrailand

adoublepagespreadforamagazine.

AccordingtoBillNichollstheoryofDocumentaryModes(2001),themostsimilarmodetoour

documentarywouldbetheexposi+onalmode.Ourdocumentary,likethoseoftheexpositorymode,

speaksdirectlytotheviewer,throughthevoiceover,andproposesstrongargumentsfromboth

sides.

Thenarra+vestructureisrhetoricalasitpresentsareasonedargumentandaddressestheviewer

directlythroughthevoiceover.Italsofollowsargumenta+onschemes.Authoritywasvery

importantinourdocumentary,showninthefrequentuseofprofessionalinterviews.Italsouses

numbers,beingaveryfactualdocumentaryandproblem-solvingbygivingtheviewersalterna+ves

iftheycantdocertainthings.Comparisonandillustra+onarealsoused,asexamplesofsitua+ons

areusedthroughoutthedocumentary.

OurdocumentarycouldalsobedescribedasapublicaffairsdocumentaryaswedecidedBBC1(a

publicservicebroadcas+ngchannel)wouldbethebestfitforit.Itcouldbedescribedaspolemicalas

itfeaturespeoplepubliclyspeakingoutagainstthegovernmentsdecisiontoincreaseuniversity

tui+onfees.

CameraandEdi+ng

Thedocumentaryusesinterviews.Thereisamixtureofvoxpopsandinterviewswithprofessionals.

Thevoxpopsgivethegeneralpublicsopinionsontherisingtui+onfeesastheywererecordedin

Solihulltowncentre.Arandomselec+onofpeoplewereaskedfortheiropinions.

Wesetthecameraupcarefullyforourprofessionalinterviews,makingsurethatthemise-en-scene

fi@edthestyle.

Intheshottotheright,

whichisaninterviewwith

anacademiccoach,a

computercanbeclearly

seen,aswellasapileof

papersandacalendarin

thebackgroundonthe

wall.Theseareexpected

tobefoundintheofficeof

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anacademiccoach.Thecameraanglealsoprovideslookingroom,acommonconven+onofthe

documentarygenre,wheretheintervieweedoesnotlookintothecamera,butratherattheperson

interviewingthem.Themediumcloseupshottypeiscommonwithinthedocumentarygenre

(documentariessuchasSuperSizeMeandAirlinebothfrequentlyuseit)andwereplicateditin

allofourinterviews.Atripodwasusedforalloftheinterviewstomaintainasteadyshot.

Asimilarmedium

close-upshotfrom

MorganSpurlocks

SuperSizeMe

showingthe

conceptoflooking

room,andalso

showsalawyer

withapileof

booksonhisdeskaswellasa

computer,showing

thecarefuluseof

mise-en-scene.

TheuseoftripodallowedustorecordasteadypanofSolihullasanestablishingshotforthelater

voxpops,aswellasapanofSolihullSixthFormwhichiswheretheprofessionalinterviewsare

filmed.Wealsoperformedfocusracksoncertainshots,oneofwhichbeingashotoftwogirls

studyingbehindasetofbars.Thisshouldimplythelackofclarityandthefeelingofbeinganxious,or

trapped,duetoconfusionoverthetui+onfeesrising.

WheninterviewingOwenFurnival,werecordedashotofhimwalkingdownayellowcorridor,

graduallybecomingmorefocused.Straighta[erthisthereisafadeoutandafadeintohimsi\ngin

asimilarlycolouredroom,whichwasnicelysetupbythepreviousshot.

Straightcutsareprimarilyusedthroughoutthe

documentarywhichisacommonconven+onofthe

genre,withfeweffectsbeingused.However,wedid

occasionallyusecrossdissolveswhenwefeltthe

Duringprofessionalinterviews,wealwaysdisplayedtheir

nameandprofessiononscreen,acommonconven8onof

documentaries.

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straightcutwasnteffec+ve,whichcouldbeseenaschallengingconven+ons,andwealsospedupa

coupleofclipstomakethemmoreinteres+ng.Anotherconven+onfrequentlyusedin

documentariesistheuseofarchivefootage.InourdocumentarywefilmedaYoutubevideoofthe

studentprotestsinLondonabouttheriseofthetui+onfees.

Sound

Thedocumentaryfeaturesavoiceoverwhichisacommonconven+oninrealdocumentaries.

SimilarlytoAirline,thevoiceoverspeaksdirectlytotheviewer.However,Airlinedoesntuseany

secondaryresearch,itisallprimaryresearch.Ourdocumentaryfeaturesamixofboth,anexample

ofsecondaryresearchwouldbe5000fewerstudentsappliedtouniversityin2012,whichwe

researchedduringtheresearchandplanningpartsofthecoursework.Aswellasthis,thevoiceover

introducesinterviewsfromprofessionalsandalsovoxpopswhicho[enprovideprimaryresearch,

withinforma+onbeinggivenbytheinterviewees.

Non-diage+cbackgroundmusicispresentthroughoutthedocumentaryandwasmadein

Garagebandbyourgroup.Thebackgroundmusicspurposewastocarrythedocumentaryalong,

withoutbeingoverpowering;acommonconven+onofrealdocumentaries(anexamplewouldbe

MorganSpurlocksSuperSizeMe).Itiskeptatalowvolumelevel,mutedduringsomesec+ons

whenitisnotappropriate,andfadeddownsoitdoesnotabruptlycutoff.Ifitdidabruptlycutoff,

orwastooloud,itwoulddrawa@en+onawayfromthedocumentaryitself,andthevoiceover.

RadioTrail

Wecarriedoutresearchintootherradiotrailswhichshowedthatmostusevoiceoversanda

commonfeatureisthattheyo[enuseclipsoftheshowstheyareadver+sing.Weusedclipsfrom

ourowninterview,specificallythefirstlinewhichwethoughtwasa@en+on-grabbing,feesrisetoa

maximumof9000ayearinEnglishuniversi+es.

Themusicusedinourradiotrailisthesamemusicusedinthebackgroundofourdocumentary.Asit

playsasimilarroleintherailtrailerasthedocumentary,tocarrythetrailalongwithoutbeing

overpowering,itseemedlikethebestchoice.Italsoaddstotheprofessionalfeelandlistenerswill

watchthedocumentary.

Forthevoiceover,wehadanenthusias+cnarratortoexcitelisteners.Byusinglanguagesuchaswe

aimtoanswertheques+on,degreeornotdegreeonceandforallwewerehopingtoexcite

poten+alviewers,andbyrepea+ngthe+tlewehopeditwoulds+ckinlistenersminds.Important

informa+onthatweneededconveyedwasabriefoutlineonthedocumentary(DegreeorNot

Degreeaimstofindouttheviewofthegeneralpublicaswellasge\ngprofessionalopinionsonthe

increasinguniversityfees)tofindandthedate,+meandTVchannel(onFridaythe18that8on

BBC1).Thesearebothcommonconven+onsofrealradiotrails.

Theradiotrailsthatweresearchedwereall20-45secondslong.Wefeltthatalongertrail(45

seconds)wasbe@erasitallowedustofillitwithinforma+onaboutthedocumentarywithout

becomingrepe++ve.

MagazineAr+cle

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Alloftheimagesusedforthemagazinear+clecontaintheDegreeorNot

Degreelogowhichwasusedwithinthedocumentaryitself,aswellas

projec+ngthelogoontoascreenforthemainimage.

Bydoingthis,wewerehopingtocreateaclearhousestyleandetchthe

logoclearlyintotheheadofthereadersoitwillbecomefamiliar.Alongwiththis,weusedthesameblack,whiteandgreycolourscheme

throughoutthroughout,aswellasusingthesamefontasthelogoforthe

headings.Theseareallcommonconven+onsofrealmediaproducts.

Ourmagazinear+clewasbasedonTV&Satelliteweek.

Werecreatedtheboxwhichdisplayswhen

andwheretheshowwillbeshownin

InDesign

WerecreatedthisboxinInDesignasitgives

asmallbitofinforma+ononthear+cle.

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Dropshadowscanalsobeseenin

theexamplestothele[andonthe

imagesabove.Dropshadowisa

commonconven+onofmagazinear+clesandweuseditthroughouttocreateaprofessionalfeel.

Weusedimageswhichbothhavecap+onstogivemore

informa+on,relatedtothetopic,sothattheydontseem

randomlyplaced.Thebelowimageisalsobasedonthe

formatoftheimageinthetextonthele[handpage

above.

Theuseofacross-headherebreaksupthear+cleandsetsa

kindofheadingforthenextsec+on.

Weusedaquotehere,butonefromthe

documentaryhere,ratherthanapull-quote

whichcouldbesaidaschallenging

conven+ons.

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Themagazinear+clecouldbesaidtochallengeconven+onsofrealmediaproductsastheimage

itselfservesasakindofmastheadforthear+cle.

Wefeltasthoughthelogoitselfsaidenoughandanother+tlewasntrequired,soinsteadweused

unifeestoohigh...Applicantstoolowasasub-heading,withthean+thesisusedinthephrasing

hopefullygrabbingthea@en+onofreaders.

InconclusionIfeelasthoughthedocumentaryandradiotrailcloselyfollowtheconven+onsofreal

mediaproducts,whilethemagazinear+clechallengessome.