Documentary ResearchDan Ackerman

Wonders of the Solar SystemTarget Audience: The audience that Wonders of the Solar System mainly tries to attract are, obviously, people that are interested in science and certainly people aged from about 15 and upwards. Anyone that takes a keen interest in the solar system and the universe will probably be attracted to watch this anyway, but the documentary may try to attract younger viewers by choosing Brian Cox to present the programme, as he is a younger and more contemporary Professor in which younger viewers may be inclined to listen to and acts as a star vehicle, to attract more viewers.

Market Research: Wonders of the Solar System was shown on BBC 2 at a time of 9PM, in which has been seen to be prime viewing time, as studies show that audiences tune into watch television between the times of 7 o’clock and 11 o’clock. The documentary was heavily advertised on all the BBC channels, and also through many social networking sites such as the Wonders of the Universe Facebook page.

Codes and Conventions: States many facts and statistics, the narrator of the documentary is an expert on the featured subject.

Spellbound

Target Audience: This documentary will mainly be aimed at people in the US, as the documentary is focused on Spelling bees which is quite a big event in America compared to anywhere else in the world, and may target parents of children, and children themselves, that may have taken part in these spelling bees. It may also be viewed by parents and children who may be interested in taking part, as they may want to see what the experience is like first, before actually taking it on first hand.

Market Research: Spellbound was first shown at the Toronto International Film Festival, in 2002, in which it gained a lot of recognition and reached out to a wide audience. It was broadcast on many different channels in the US and Canada and was also featured on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.

Codes and Conventions: Direct and Indirect mode of address, stock footage such as news clips, interviews with experts, diagetic and non diagetic sound.

Indie Game: The Movie

Target Audience: ‘Indie Game’ is targeted towards both teenagers and adults who have a keen interest in how ‘Indie’ video games are created and showcased to the world. I think that the documentary is targeted more so towards young adults rather than teenagers, because of the some strong language that is used, and also because all the subjects featured are all adults and may not be relatable to the younger generation. The documentary also focus’s on the retro styled video games, that perhaps the new era of teenagers may not relate to, as obviously they were created before their time period.

Market Research: The documentary was first showcased on January 20th at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The documentary gained extremely positive reviews and won the World Cinema Documentary Editing Award. The documentary was digitally released on DVD on June 12 , 2012, and has yet to be aired on national television. The documentary has been available to download from the official website and also the gaming community software ‘Steam’, in which is released directly to the gamers in which play and care about these small, indie games.

Codes and Conventions: Direct and Indirect mode of address, Interviews with game developers, experts narrate the documentary.

Night Mail

Target Audience: Night Mail is targeted towards adults who may be interested in the way in which the postal system works, and how all the different workers all band together to create an efficient and smooth running of the postal system.

Market Research: Night Mail was first released in 1936, and was created and produced by the GPO Film Unit.

Codes and Conventions: Voice of god narrator, poetic perspectives, addresses viewer directly.