Unit 6 Media Communication Three

8/6/2019 Unit 6 Media Communication Three

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Unit 6 Media Communication & Production Evaluation

In this section I will be analysing my documentary, with two other texts. And then I will be

comparing the two texts to my own documentary. I will be analysing the texts under five

categories:

Content

Mode of Address

Conventions

Style and Form

Technology

The two texts I will be looking at are:

Alex Cowings Irish Dance Vs. Tap Dance Documentary (2001)

From Mambo to Hip Hop (2006)

Introduction

My Feature

My documentary feature is about the growth of dance that is influenced me the media.

What I mean by the word media is that I looked Dance Reality Shows on TV in particular.

My feature was mostly shot in Central London, as all the famous dance academies and

school are situated there, such as the Pineapple Dance Studios and Bollywood Dance

London, where I had shot three of the interviews that were in the documentary. This

documentary that was produced, directed and edited by me, had mostly focused on how is

television as a media medium, affected the growth of dance, and how it has influenced

people in the UK and all over the world to join this activity as a career or as a hobby. This

topic and angle was the most unique out of the other ideas I had come up with, so thats

why I had chosen to take this idea forward to production.

Click on the following link to view my documentary - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjKiYVmtD0g

Old Text Alex Cowings Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance Documentary (2001)

This documentary was made in 2001, situated in New York. The narration of this

documentary is in a different language (Irish), so this is why there are subtitles in the

documentary. This documentarys focal point is the street tap dancer Alex Cowings. The

presenter looks at comparison between Irish dancing and Tap dancing in New York. The

Irish presenter looks at how Irish dancing and Tap dancing is similar, the impact of the

two similar dancing forms, and the history of the Irish dancing and Tap dancing. This

documentary also shows many clips of people dancing on the street or on the rooftops ofbuildings. The Irish presenter also interviews many contributors such as, Alex Cowings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjKiYVmtD0ghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjKiYVmtD0ghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjKiYVmtD0ghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjKiYVmtD0g


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parents, John Diamond (famous Irish American dancer). I think that the target audience

for this documentary may be people aged 20 years and above, and to those people who

understand English as well as Irish.

Click on the following link to view my documentary

Part 1 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L28FKztRAn8

Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqaY89VhL-8

Part 3 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNsRDl5Ro_E&feature=relatedNew Text From Mambo to Hip Hop (2006)

This documentary is simply about the history of different dance forms that were created

by people of South Bronx, which was the birth place of Salsa and Hip Hop. This

documentary not only looks at dance forms, it also looks at the music styling. This

documentary doesnt have a presenter or a narrator, it just has a flow of interviews and

clips of people dancing the Mambo and playing musical instruments related to the dance

form. From Mambo to Hip Hops main focal point is how these dance forms and musical

forms were created and especially where and what was the area like when it was created.

This documentary text, had included many people related to Mambo, Hip Hop and Salsa

dancing around the 1970s, and especially looks at people who were famous at that time.

Click on the following link to view my documentary - http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=L28FKztRAn8

Content

My Feature

When looking at the content of my documentary, I would say that my documentary

contains quite a lot of information about the topic. For example this documentary has

interviews that focus on the opinions of dance professionals and what they think about the

media having an impact of the growth of dance, and where its a good thing in there

professional lives. This documentary also has a segment that focuses on dance forms being

race and age specific. I have also involved a segment people taking part in dance classes

in London. The reason why I had used this segment in the documentary is so that the

documentary has an entertainment factor. Underneath are some images that back up mystatement:

Old

Text Alex Cowings Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance Documentary (2001)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L28FKztRAn8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqaY89VhL-8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNsRDl5Ro_E&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L28FKztRAn8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L28FKztRAn8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L28FKztRAn8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqaY89VhL-8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNsRDl5Ro_E&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L28FKztRAn8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L28FKztRAn8


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When looking at the content of this documentary, I would have to say that this

documentary also has a lot of information about its topic. The person who had made the

documentary had involved a lot of segments where the presenter had gone out to find out

certain information about e.g. famous Irish-American dancer (John Diamond). When

looking at the content of this documentary I would have to day that it is similar to my

documentary by many points. For example, my documentary talks about the impact of

media influence on dance. And this documentary talks about the impact of Irish dancing

and American Tap dancing. Another similarity this documentary has with mine is that my

documentary is sort of like a journey. What I mean by like a journey is that in my

documentary the presenter travels to different locations in London, to find out something

about the topic. And this feature is similar to the old text documentary. The presenter of

this documentary also does something similar; they also travel around New York to find

out different facts and information about Irish dancing and American Tap dancing.

Underneath are some images that back up my statement:

New

Text

From Mambo to Hip Hop (2006)

In terms of content, this documentary also involves a lot of information about the history

of music and dance that was created in South Bronx. For example; in this documentary

there are various interviews with people who are involved in Mambo music or Salsa music.

When looking at the content of this documentary I would have to day that it moderately

similar. The similarity I think I see in the two documentaries is that this documentary looks

at different dance forms and so does my documentary. Other than this similarity I cannot

see any other similarity according to content. Underneath are some images that back up

my statement:


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Mode of Address

My Feature

When looking at the mode of address of my feature, I would have to say that the over all

mode of address was informal and direct towards the audience. The reason why I had

made sure that the language of the documentary was informal is so that the presenter

would relate to the audience, and seem like an ordinary teenager, who is in the same

position as the audience. What I mean by in the same position, is that the audience

would be novice, which means they might not know anything and dance, so I had madesure that the presenter seemed like a novice person, by the dialogue and language used in

the documentary. As well as the tone being indirect, I think I would admit that the

language of this documentary was also sort of fun and upbeat, so that the audience would

not feel bored while watching the documentary. The outfit that the presenter had worn

throughout the whole of the documentary was informal, which shows the mode of address.

Another aspect that shows the mode of address is the location of interviews and vox pops.


This is the young presenter that

would relate to the audience, and

seem like an ordinary teenager.

As you can see that the outfit that

the presenter is wearing is casual

and informal which shows the

mode of address.


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Old Text

Alex Cowings Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance Documentary (2001)

In terms of the mode of address in the old documentary text, I think the first thing I would

have to say because the narration is in different language, I would have to take a guess of

what the mode of address would be of this documentary. So, my guess would be that this

documentarys mode of address is in between formal and informal. According to thesubtitles, my guess is that the language and word used in the documentary seems formal

as well as informal. And the tone of the documentary is indirect from the audience. When

looking at the mode of address comparison between my documentary and this

documentary, I would have to say that the mode of addresses are completely different.

The reason why I am saying that the mode of addresses are different is because firstly the

narration or voice overs used in the Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance Documentary, is in a

different language and is informal/formal and indirect. And the mode of address in my

documentary is very much different as it is informal and direct so it relates to the target

audience. The Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance Documentary, doesnt really relate to the target

audience I had in my documentary. The outfit that the presenter had worn throughout thewhole of the documentary was also informal, which shows the mode of address. Another

aspect that shows the mode of address is the location of interviews and vox pops.


These are the subtitles that are

used in this documentary, as this

documentary narration is in Irish.

As you can see that the outfit that

the presenter is wearing is casual

and informal which shows the

mode of address.


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New Text From Mambo to Hip Hop (2006)

When looking at the mode of address in the new text documentary, I would have to say

that the mode of address is quite informal and indirect. The only reason why this

documentarys mode of address is informal and indirect is specifically like this because of

the people used in this documentary. The contributors that were involved in this

documentary were mostly Black Africans, Puerto Ricans or Cuban, so there language

dialect is quite informal, in the way the talk. When looking at the mode of address

comparison between my documentary and this documentary, I would have to say that the

mode of addresses are moderately similar. The reason why I think that the mode of

addresses are moderately similar is because the From Mambo to Hip Hop documentarys

mode of address is informal, which is similar to the documentary I had made, but this

documentarys tone is also indirect, which is different to the tone I had used in my

documentary. The aspect that shows the mode of address is the location of interviews and

vox pops. Underneath are some images that back up my statement:

Conventions

As you can see that the outfit that the

presenter of this documentary is wearing is also

causal and informal, which suits its target

audience (20 years and over).

As you can see that the location background for

these interviews are quite formal, either at

home or at the park. This shows the mode of

address of the documentary.


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My Feature

When looking at the conventions used in my documentary think that I had used every

conventions there is in a documentary. In my documentary I had used, a sign on/off,

establishing shots, a young presenter that relates to the target audience, relevant

interviews, relevant music, cutaways, titles introducing the presenter or interviewee,graphics and voice overs. All the conventions had an individual role and purpose in this

documentary. For example, cutaways in between interviews or segments, gives the

documentary an easy flow between each segment. Relevant music connotes that the

interview or segment is about a particular e.g. dance form. And a voice over narrates

sections of the documentary where the presenter is not on screen. Underneath are some

images that back up my statement:


When looking at conventions used in the Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance Documentary, I think I

would have to admit that there were many conventions used in this documentary.

However, there were one or two conventions that were not seen in the Irish Dance vs. Tap

Dance Documentary. In terms of the conventions comparison between my documentary

and this documentary, I would say that the conventions I had used in my documentary

were used in this documentary except one or two conventions. The conventions that were

or were not used in this documentary are listed in the following table:

CONVENTIONS WERE THE CONVENTION USED IN THE IrishDance vs. Tap Dance DOCUMENTARY?

Establishing Shots The documentary did have establishing shotsbefore every location change.

Sign On The documentary did have an effective andinformative sign on to the documentary.

Sign Off The documentary also did have an effective andinformative sign off to the documentary,summarising his trip to New York the presenterends the documentary by having a dance off inTimes Square New York.

Presenter that relates to the target As the documentary is aimed towards people aged

As you can see that the presenter is

interviewing a person, and asking them what

reality show they watch. You can also see that

there is a title to show the answer they have

given.


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audience roughly 20 years and above and who understandEnglish as well as Irish, the documentary containsa presenter who is around that age and who speaksEnglish and Irish.

Relevant Interviews I think that this documentary did have a lot of

interviews and contributors that were relevant tothe topic of the documentary. The contributorsincluded people such as, a granddaughter of afamous Irish-American dancer from the 1800s.

Relevant Music The documentary also included music that wasrelevant to the topic, for example, music thatwould be played whilst people would do the Irishdance or American Tap Dance.

Cutaways The documentary also included many cutaways,whether it was in between interviews or segments.

Titles This documentary did not contain any titles tointroduce the presenter or contributors.

Graphics The only graphic that was used in thisdocumentary, was at the beginning of thedocumentary. The text in this graphic was in againa different language.

Voice Overs All the voice overs that were used in thedocumentary were in Irish, so they wereimpossible to understand, without subtitles.

So as you can see that the table above shows that the Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance

documentary has many conventions that my documentary has, but the only convention

that does not exist in the Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance documentary is the titles convention,

that allows the reader to understand who the person on screen is.:

New Text From Mambo to Hip Hop (2006)

When looking at the conventions used in the From Mambo to Hip Hop documentary I would

have to say that this documentary uses all the conventions that were used in my

documentary. This documentary uses the following conventions:

Establishing Shots

Sign On

Sign Off

Presenter that relates to the target audience

Relevant Interviews

Cutaways

Titles

Graphics


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Voice Overs

I think that when comparing the conventions of my documentary and the From Mambo to

Hip Hop documentary, there are not any differences at all in terms of conventions.

However, there is only one simple convention that was misleading in the From Mambo to

Hip Hop documentary. This convention was the presenter that relates to the targetaudience. The documentary did not have a presenter to host the documentary.

Nevertheless, even though this documentary lacks one simple convention, this

documentary still flowed very well. Underneath are some images that back up my

statement:

Style & Form

My Feature

Style & Form

My Feature

When looking at the style and form of my documentary, I would have say that, the style I

was going for was supposed to be fun and enticing towards the audience, and I think I hadachieved this goal. I think that the choice of style I had used in my documentary was

meant to reach out the target audience (16-24). If I had gone with a documentary style

that was completely the opposite of the current style, I think that my documentary would

not have appealed to people in the target audience, and I also think that it wouldnt have

been a success as it would have bore the audience. Also as I had mentioned before that I

think my documentary is like a journey, what I mean by like a journey is that in my

documentary the presenter travels to different locations in London, to find out something

about the topic. So I think that this is also part of the style of the documentary.




As you can see that this shot has introduced the

person they are filming.


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When looking at the style of this documentary. I would have to say that the style is quite

similar to the one I had used in my documentary. The style that I had used in my

documentary was the journey like style, similar to the one I had used. This documentary

style was similar to the one I used, for a purpose. I think that the purpose for using this

style in this sort of documentary is because the presenter in this documentary travels to

different locations to find out information related to the topic, similarly to what the

presenter did in my documentary. Underneath are some images that back up my

statement:

New Text From Mambo to Hip Hop

(2006)

In terms of style and form in the From Mambo to Hip Hop documentary, I think that there

wasnt a specific style in this documentary. The reason why I am saying this is because this

documentary is a simple documentary that explores the history of particular and forms

and music forms, so this documentary doesnt really have a specific style or form.

However, if I had to choose a style for this documentary, I think that the style that wouldprobably suit this documentary is again similar to mine, fun and enticing. However, the

documentary doesnt seem too fun or enticing. The only entertainment factor that was in

this documentary was the music and the clips of people dancing and playing musical

instruments. Underneath are some images that back up my statement:


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Technology

My Feature

In terms of technology that was available for me, I think that I did

not use any advance technology, I think that I had used standard

technology. The technologies I had used were:

Internet for research

YouTube, Scribd and Blogger for uploading work

Camera

Tripod

Tape

Rode Microphone

Built in Microphone

Recorder to record voice overs

Fireworks to create graphics

iMovie to edit the documentary

I think that the amount of technology items I had used, were good enough to produce a

good documentary, and this is exactly what I had done. I think if I had used advanced

technology for a simple documentary I think that I would have found it hard to cope with,

as it would have become confusing, to what technology to use.

When using some of these technologies, I think I had done an exceptional job. I think I

used every technology to its best. However, I do think that there was one piece of

equipment that I had difficulty with. The piece of technology I had difficulty using was the

Rode/Built in Microphone. When filming an interview and two sets of vox pops in London, I

had difficulty making sure that the sound works from the microphone. Because in onesituation, the sound levels were very bad, I had to go back and film the shots again.

Also when using the camera and tripod I think that I had made sure that the camera shots

and angles were framed correctly. Underneath are some images that back up my

statement:


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As you can see that this shot is framed very well

in a low angle.

Documents

Unit 6 Media Communication Three