Assignment 17

Assignment 17: Similar Products & Conventions

Topic: ‘Have video games evolved for the better or the worse’

Pamela YounesJodie Foster-PiliaAbigail Menzies

Laura Cuk

Similar Products (docs I watched)

Similar Products (Docs I watched)Name of documentary

TV or Film

Genre & Mode

How much watched

Where watched

Date What I learnt from this documentary that I can apply to my own

Last days of Left Eye

Film Expository mode

All of it YouTube August Use of handheld cameras inside of tripods to maintain realism

Marley Film Observational mode

All of it DVD August Volume control is used so the background music is faintly heard during a interview

My tattoo addiction

TV Observational mode

All of it 4oD September Zooming in on archival photos (ken burns) so the audience focuses on something in particular

Abigail Menzies

Similar Products (Docs I watched)One mile way

Film Performative mode

All of it

YouTube July Use of titles are to introduce the interviewee’s name and role/job

Food Matter Film Observational mode

30mins

Netflix August Natural lighting is used instead of artificial lighting to maintain a sense of realism

Addicted to pleasure-Sugar

TV Participatory mode

15 mins

BBC iplayer

September The presenter takes part in experiments and interacts with his subjects

Wal-Mart: the high cost of a low price

Film Observational Mode

All of it

Netflix September Statistics are presented in bold text alongside a voiceover that reads what is on the screen

Good Hair Film Perfomative Mode

All of it

Online movie website

August The presenter interviews a variety of people from different ages and ethnicities so he has a range of opinions

Abigail Menzies

Fastest man who ever lived: Usain Bolt

Film Participatory Mode

All of it

YouTube August In the beginning there is a montage of interviews from different people answering the same question

Too Poor for posh school


30 mins

Netflix August Expert interviews are con ducted in a professional setting e.g. their office

Human Swarm

TV Participatory Mode

All of it

4oD July Variety of visuals are used with cutaways

Biggie & Tupac


All of it

Netflix July Use of establishing shots to show the different locations

My big fat gypsy wedding


All of it

Netflix October Use of cutaways during interviews so the interviewee aren't on the screen for long

Catfish TV Reflexive Mode

All of it

TV and online movie website

August Extreme close up shots are used so audience can read emails, text messages et.

Similar Products (Docs I watched)Abigail Menzies

Similar products (docs I've watched)Name of doc TV or

FilmGenre and mode

How much watched

Where/how watched?

Date What did I learn from watching documentary that I could apply to mine.

Branded a which TV Participatory mode

1 Television at home

August That public interviews are very important, as they are not planned and give a real insight to a situation

Britain's Fattest man

TV Expository mode

1 Television a home

May Many different shot such as close-ups/extreme close-ups should be us when someone is talking(doesn’t become boring)

Food unwrapped TV Participatory mode

2 school, and television at home

August Statistics are very useful for a documentary to become informative.

The man with the 10 stone testicles

TV Expository mode


September Extreme close-ups should be used to give audience more information

The Human swarm TV Participatory mode

1 School August Time lapsing should be used to show time passing, this is visually effective.

Name of doc TV or Film

Genre and mode

How much watched

Where/how watched?


Catfish TV Participatory mode

6 Television at home or on computer

Oct/Nov Handheld camera movement is important in order that it has that documentary feel, and seems realistic.

The boy who's skin fell off

TV Expository mode

1 Computer at home

May Incidental Music should be used to set mood.

Africa TV Expository mode


October If music is applied when there is a voiceover, the music should be significantly lower, so voiceover is clear.

koyaanisquatsi Film Poetic mode 1 School May Sometimes footage should be shown in silence so audience can interpret things for themselves, without being told.

Lady boys TV Participatory mode


September Expert interviews are most definitely needed as they are highly influential


Genre and mode

How much watched

Where/how watched?


The iceman TV Participatory mode


April Scientific evidence is always significant in a documentary, as it is greatly influential.

Supersize me Film Participatory mode


July Doing experiments as a presenter, helps to keep the documentary fun

Peter Andre My life TV Participatory mode

10 school, and television at home

Sept/Oct There are always establishing shots used to show were peter Andre is, this orientates audience.

Riots from wrong TV Participatory 1 school July Archival footage is good for use of evidence.

Turtle boy TV Expository 1 Television at home

January Expert interviews are more believable if they are filmed in there professional environment, i.e. surgeon in hospital


Genre and mode

How much watched

Where/how watched?


The boy who's face fell of

TV Expository mode


January Sound bridging to ensure audience aren't just looking at someone talk to camera for long

Similar Products Pamela Younes

NAME OF DOCUMENTARY

TV or FILM

GENRE & MODE HOW MUCH WATCHED

WHERE/HOW WATCHED

DATE What did you learn from this documentary that you could apply to your documentary

1. Sicko film Participatory 1 school May 13 Case studies

2. My big fat gypsy wedding

TV Performative & Expository

5+ Home 11/12 Theme

3. Catfish TV Reflexive 1 Home 2013 Realism


NAME OF DOCUMENTARY

TV or FILM


WHERE/HOW WATCHED


4. Riot from wrong

Film Participatory 1 iPad 2013 Footage

5. Catfish TV Participatory 6 Home 2013 Realism

6. The boy who's skin fell off

Film Participatory 1 Home 2013 Sub topics


NAME OF DOCUMENTARY

TV or FILM


WHERE/HOW WATCHED


7. Seven dwarves: the wedding

Film Participatory 1 Home 2013 Interviewing

8. Thelma's gypsy girls

TV Performative & Expository

5+ Home 2013 The message behind this documentary

9. 9/11 the lost tapes, 10th anniversary, falling man, children of 9/11

Film Participatory 1 Home 2013 Interviewing/case studies


NAME OF DOCUMENTARY

TV or FILM


WHERE/HOW WATCHED


10. 16 kids and counting

Film Participatory 1 Home 2013 Message behind this documentary

11. 15 kids and counting

TV Participatory 3 Home 2013 Footage

12. The Human Mannequin

Film Participatory & Expository

1 Home 2013 Sense of realism


NAME OF DOCUMENTARY

TV or FILM


WHERE/HOW WATCHED


13. 999 what's your emergency

TV Participatry & Performative

4 Home 2013 Case studies

14. Educating Essex

TV Participatory 3 Home 2013 Interviewing

15. The queens mother In law

Film Expository 1 Home 2013 Montage photography


NAME OF DOCUMENTARY

TV or FILM


WHERE/HOW WATCHED


16. The three day nanny

TV Performative 1 Home 2013 Case study

Similar products & conventionsLaura

Name of documentary TV or Film Genre & Mode How much you watched

Where/how watched

1. Attenborough's Ark Film Nature & Ecology

All of it Plane

2. Shelter Me Film Social & Cultural

30 minutes Netflix

3. Supersize Me Film 45 minutes Netflix

4. Food, Inc. Film Critically-acclaimed

30 minutes Netflix

5. The Blue Planet TV Series Nature & Ecology

48 minutes – episode 1

Netflix

6. Indie Game Film Social & Cultural

43 minutes Netflix

7. We Are Legion Film Political 20 minutes Netflix

8. X Games: The Movie Film Social & Cultural

50 minutes Netflix

Similar products & conventionsLaura

Name of documentary TV or Film Genre & Mode How much you watched

Where/how watched

9. Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey Film Social & Cultural

All of it Netflix

10. The Crimson Wing Film Nature & Ecology

30 minutes Netflix

11. Tom Dowd & the Language of Music

Film Critically acclaimed

30 minutes Netflix

12. Catfish Film 1 h 27 minutes School & Netflix

13. Bowling for Columbine Film Critically acclaimed

1 h 59 minutes Netflix

14. The Boy whose skin fell off TV Series LoveFilm

15. Life TV Series Nature & Ecology

All of it LoveFilm

16. Riot from Wrong Film All of it School

Inspiration from Similar Products

Inspiration from Similar Products(The Presenter)

Documentary: Good Hair

Abigail Menzies

The presenter is participative throughout this documentary and takes part in various experiment

The presenter interacts with his subjects and asks open questions so the expert can answer in depth

Conducts his interviews in a natural setting for e.g.. a lab

Inspiration from Similar Products(Titles and Credits)

Documentary: Catfish

Abigail Menzies

USE OF TITLES

Use of titles and credits to Introduce the presenters and filming crew

Titles boxes are similar to social networking chat boxes this relates to the topic of the documentary

Name of the person is in bold so it stands out

Documentary: Wal-Mart: High Cost Of Low Prices

Abigail Menzies

Inspiration from Similar Products(Statistics)

Statistics are presented in white, bold writing that is easy and clear to read

Statistics are supported by a voiceover

Background is slightly blurred so it doesn’t distract the audience from the text

Inspiration from Similar Products(Expert Interviews)

Documentary: Food Matter

Abigail Menzies

Done at a mid shot so the audience focuses on the expert rather than the background

Simple font and graphic background so the white writing stands out

Name of expert is set at slightly bigger font than his job title

Inspiration from similar products

Documentary: Catfish

Happy, Fun, bubby presenter keeps audience engaged

Presenter

Always breaks diegesis and looks at camera, ensuring audience feel involved

Camera Movement

Handheld camera movement portrays a feel of reality and also ensure it is more documentary-like

Inter titlesInter titles used to show who a person is.

Black text is placed on white background so its clear to read

Fairly small, not distracting

Inspiration From Similar Products Pamela Younes

Documentary: Catfish the TV show 2013

Recording their video chat to see if the Facebook account user account

They show that they are editing

He would solve the

relationship between the

Facebook user and the

person on the other side


Documentary: 999 What’s the emergency? 2013

Depends what the crime is and the police and the fighter fighter comes

There case study’s make the documentary more intriguing

The action that happened and the problem caused makes it more interesting to watch to see if it would be solved


Documentary: Big fat gypsy wedding 2011

The theme is continuous on all the episodes on this documentary

Around the title it has a crown and bit of material which represents the bride, s the dress is the most important thing

The font of the title makes it seem happy, exciting and girly, which gives an idea to the audience what the documentary would be about


• Attenborough’s Ark

Mode Theory:David Attenborough is both participatory and expository.

Mid shots:Mid shot is used to show the framing of the character.


• Crimson Wing

Titles:Titles/captions were white and then changed to the colour white then faded to black.


• Crimson Wing

Transitions:The transition used in this clip was fade to black

Conventions of Documentaries

Individual & group

Conventions of DocumentariesConventions Example from a documentary

Non- linear narrative structure

•‘Food Matters’ isn’t structured in order, instead the filmmaker edits this documentary so only certain parts of the experts interviews are shown when it relates to the subtopic

Modern topics •‘Food Unwrapped’ explores how the food we eat are processed and are unhealthy, this is relevant as in contemporary society people are concerned about what they eat

Background music •Non-diegetic background music is used in ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’ to set the appropriate mood

Archival photos and footage

•‘Good Hair’ uses archival photos and footage to support what is being said in the voiceover

Abigail Menzies

Archival photo

Archival footage of the presenter and his daughter

Conventions of documentaries

Conventions Example of Documentary

Montage Editing (editing)is used in intro to create suspense as audience want to find out what it’s about

Catfish

Time lapsing (editing) is used to show time passing The human swarm

Transitions (editing)used to distinguish when documentary is going on a break.

Britain's fattest man

Rule of thirds(CAMSAM),the boy is placed on left side of screen indicating that he feels quite distressed

The boy who’s skin fell of

Close-ups/extreme close-ups (CAMSAM) used to reveal greater detail to audience

The man with the 10 stone testicles

Establishing shots (CAMSAM) used to orientate the audience perhaps showing where an interview is.

Branded a witch

Expert interview is seen to be where they are most comfortable (location) Surgeon was shown in a hospital.

Turtle boy

Conventions of a Documentary Pamela Younes

Conventions Example from a documentary

Statistics Supersize me uses statistics where it explains the amount of people that eat the food. Also shows statistics through animations where they can make the statistics easier to remember

Narrator In my big fat gypsy wedding; cannot show a screen grab because I cannot show the narrator. Its when the narrator asks Thelma about her job and making the dresses. The narrator is unseen; behind the camera

Presenter Catfish uses a presenter where Nev presents the show by talking about the relationships, what they are about to do, and what happens after they met (if they go there separate ways)

Conventions of documentariesLaura

Conventions Example from documentary(bullet points or image)

Conventions of mode theory Attenborough’s Ark

Conventions of social actors Bowling for Columbine

Conventions of titles/captions Crimson Wing

Similar products & their conventions

Who is doing what documentaries?Name Documentaries

Pamela Younes • Catfish• 999 what’s the

emergency?• My big fat gypsy

wedding

Jodie Foster-Pilia • Branded a witch • Africa• Riot from wrong

Abigail Menzies • Good Hair• Human Swarm

Laura Cuk

Similar products & their conventionsConvention Use Develop Challenge Explanation

Public Interviews

X This convention is developed as some public interviews are done in the usual way in public natural settings e.g. a barbershop, however others are done in a professional studio

Statistics X This convention is challenged as statistics are not presented on screen so its viewable to the audience but it is said by the presenter

Documentary: Good Hair

Abigail Menzies

Done in conventional natural setting

Done in non-conventional staged setting

Similar products & their conventionsConvention Use Develop Challenge Explanation

Time lapse (editing)

X This convention is used in various ways to speed up the process of things as well as to slow it down

Experiments X This convention is used and is done by the presenter, who participants in different experiments to support his topic

Cutaways X This convention is usually used when an expert has a lengthy response, so the scene cuts to different visuals that relate to what is being said in the voiceover of the expert

Documentary: The Human Swarm

Abigail Menzies

Presenter takes part in range of experiments

Similar products and their conventions

Convention Use Develop challenge Explanation

Case studies Their is one main case study which is focussed on in this documentary. It is interesting to see how the case studies develop

Archival photographs

Archival photos are used to give audience insight into past

Inter titles These are used to introduce a particular person to audience.

Branded a witch


Voiceover A continuous voiceover is used to describe exactly what is happening in the documentary

Incidental music

Incidental music is used in this documentary to set mood, whether it is a calming (slow pace)or aggressive(fast pace)

Close-ups/extreme close-ups

Close-ups are used in this documentary to reveal more to audience as it shows footage in greater detail

Africa


Cutaways In this documentary, cutaways are used to refer back to archival footage.

Handheld camera movement

Handheld camera movements is used to give a sense of reality.

Expert interviews

Expert interviews are used to ensure documentary is more informative and perhaps influential

Riot from wrong

Similar Products & their conventions

Pamela Younes – Green Level

Conventions Use Develop Challenge Explanations Statistics Catfish challenges statistics, as there is nothing

to point a fact about as he is just solving the person who is at the other end of the facebook chat

Narrator Challenges it, as there is no need for a narrator as there is a presenter throughout the whole documentary

Presenter Always present, even when video chatting, recording or even editing

Documentary: Catfish the TV show 2013



Conventions Use Develop Challenge Explanations Statistics They do not use statistics in this episode

Narrator Narrator was present throughout the whole documentary where they would explain the situation in the background

Presenter There was no presenter used

Documentary: 999 What’s the emergency? 2013



Conventions Use Develop Challenge Explanations Statistics They develop this as they give a percentage

when compared with gypsys in different parts of England, such as as comparing them if they are still traditional

Narrator There's a narrator when they would ask Thelma questions about gypsys and her dresses she designs and the narrator asks the brides to be and husbands

Presenter They develop it has there is also a narrator but Thelma acts like a presenter as she talks to the camera and tells the audience where she is going and what she's doing

Documentary: Big fat gypsy wedding 2011

Similar products and their conventionsLaura - Green level

Conventions Use Develop Challenge Explanation

1. Social actors . . Use – we will be using the convention of public interviews.

Challenge – this convention will be challenged because we may not get an expert to interview.

2. Mode theory . Use – expository mode will be used at the beginning Use – participatory mode will be used when filming the presenter in certain locations or when doing interviews.

3. Titles/captions . Use – we will use this convention when we introduce the presenter etc. Also this convention will be used to introduce the interviewees.

Your product (documentary) & conventions

Conventions in our documentary

Conventions we want to apply

Where in documentary

Use /develop/challenge

Inspirational documentary

Voiceover When we are explaining our archival footage of people playing videogames

use Africa

cutaways To show supporting archival footage (i.e. super nannies experiment on video games)

use Riot from wrong

Handheld footage For public interviews, may have to be done quick.

use Catfish

Composition Expert interviews, think about the placement.

use The boy who's skin fell of

Close-ups When showing the covers of video games, or when someone is talking

use Britain's fattest man

Expert interviews When we want to ask a sociologist about the effect of video games

use Branded a witch

Entertainment & Humor

Assignment 17