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 F O R M S A N D C O N V E N T I O N S O F R E A L M E D I A P R O D U C T S ?

EVALUATION Q.1

For our A2 Media coursework we had to create a 5 minute opening to a documentary. We chose the topic of technology as we knew already quite a bit about this topic and we knew that students could relate to this subject. We also created a 30 –60 second radio advert and a magazine double page spread. To compare my documentary I will used use “super size me” which was a major influence on out documentary

The main influence for our documentary I would say would be super size me. The reason for this is because this program was very conventional of a typical educational and informative documentary. For example, we liked that the voice over matched with what was shown on the screen. We followed this convention in our documentary. For example when the narrator listed the technology devices we had pictures of them come up when he said them.

In super size me when presenting facts and statistics the screen would show relevant stuff appropriate to what was said. For example when the narrator was presenting facts about the use of smart phones, which showed a clip of someone on their phone. By following this convention is made out documentary look professional and overall it made it flow better.

We were also influenced by how the narrator in the super size me did a test where he had McDonald's for 30 days. We wanted to do something like this in our documentary as it enables the narrator to engage into the topic, and will be interesting for the audience to see. Therefore in out documentary we did a challenge where it was 30 days without technology at all, which included video diary's similar to the ones in super size me.

We were also influence by super size me to include a quote in

the beginning of the documentary. It is often quite conventional for a documentary to use a quote. We thought this would be a

good idea to include in ours as technology is quite a broad topic

which loads to talk about so it would be easy to find a quote

relevant to this topic.

Statistics and facts are one of the main conventions of documentaries. In Super size

me there were many statistics, some which were supported by diagrams, for

example when showing how much calories are in some of the food items. This

shocks the audience and makes them likely to agree with the narrator. In our

documentary we decided follow this convention and use facts and statistics as well

to make the audience side with our opinion on the use of technology. One

example of a statistic we used is 90% of people have a smart phone. Another

convention of documentaries is the over the shoulder shot. This shot is used in our

expert interviews. The over the shoulder shot is conventional of documentaries and

makes It look professional and enables both the narrator and interviewee to be in

the shot. However we didn't’t use this shot throughout all our interviews. For

example in some of our vox pops we used a two shot or just a medium shot. Other

conventions of documentary include

In super size me when interviewing experts the main shot used was an over the

shoulder shot. Here is an example of this shot used in our documentary. We also

used a two shot which included both the interviewer and interviewee.

The radio advert we created is around about 30 seconds. It

included a brief introduction to the topic which is technology

and used a fact about technology. We used a similar backing

track used in our documentary. We also said about the 30 day

without technology challenge as this could be a unique selling

point so it would be important to include this. The purpose of our

radio advert was to get people to watch our documentary so

our aim was to address the audience directly. We did this by

using rhetorical questions. The script wasn’t very long or had too much information as we didn’t want to make it boring for

viewers, so we kept it concise. Compared to other radio advert

scripts, ours is quite similar and conventional. For example most

radio adverts are similar length to ours such as “Dr Who”. Some of

the conventions of radio adverts are sfx, music and has an

interview, some of which we did.

Our double page spread was quite conventional and stereotypical. For example it was split 50/50 between

text and the image and the article was arranged in columns. We were influenced by multiple other real

double page spreads. By analysing other double page spread helped us make ours. For example this one.

Here are some of the conventions this one has

Heading: The big block front style is quite masculine and

suggests the main target audience is male. The Black

and white colors contrast very well which makes the text

stand out even more. Hurtling Headline is also a very

effective title because its easy to remember as its

alliteration. The word “Headlong” in particular is the

biggest text on the page and bold. This emphasizes the

word and the word “headlong” is relevant to skiing.

Main image: The main image shows a long shot of a male posing with his ski bored

and helmet while dressed in ski clothes. This tells the reader straight away what sport

the article is about. The image is a mixture of purple and red which stand out from the

black background a lot which makes it eye catching to the audience. This image

also links to the headline as "Hurtling Headline” is appropriate to this sport. Also the

fact that the great Britain flag is on the ski bored tells the reader what country he

represents straight away. The image is

surrounded by short

brief paragraphs

that explain the

different features of

the ski and highlights

what the athlete

does to keep fit. This

suggests that the

article target

audience are

people who know

very little about this

sport or who want to

get into it and its also

educating the

audience. These

short paragraphs

breaks up the article

and helps the user

navigate though the

page.

Under the headline it

informs the reader its

about the winter

Olympics. The athletes

name is bold which

makes it stand out and

gives it emphasis. It also

tells the reader who

the athlete is. The font

is a little larger than the

main text but smaller

than the heading.

Article: The article text is white which contrasts with

the black background which makes it easy to read.

The font style is simple which suits the title and

makes it look more professional. The article also

uses a drop cap at the beginning; this is

conventional for articles to do this.

Included within the

article are links

which may be

helpful to the

audience. The

word links has a red

fill which makes it

stand out from the

rest of the article.

The mode of

address is quite

formal and

addresses the

audience

indirectly,

The whole double page spread is split equally between 50-50 of

text and the main image. This shows that neither is more significant

than the other. This use of space makes the double page spread

look more appealing and professional. The double page spread

doesn’t use many colors and the three main ones are black, white

and purple. The font styles are very similar though out. This simple

look makes it more professional and it clearly shows the design of

this spread was made to attract the male audience.

The previous spread and our one have many things similar and

some things that are different. Here are some conventions we

found in both and others that are only present on our double

page spread:

• Big heading, usually biggest text on the double page spread

• A big main image

• Addresses audience directly

• Contrasting colors

• A quote

• Multiple images and smaller images that break up article

• Text size is small, usually 10 or 11

• Drop cap to show reader where to start reading

• Article laid out in columns, usually two

• Text fill on some text to make it stand out

• Bold, italics and various fonts used

• Main image is usually a long shot

• The language is informal and relaxed

• Image and text usually split 50/50 on the double page

spread

• By line – who wrote article and picture creditsBy comparing these, you can see that the layout is a little different however there are

some similar things such as text being arranged in columns. Also just like the previous

spread, we kept the amount od colors used to a minimum, as we thought it looks

more professional and suited the topic much more. Unlike the other one we have

multiple images and not just one main one. As you can see there are many similarities

and differences, but these are the main ones.