Research and Planning – Main Task

By Danielle Calvert

Introduction

For my A level coursework I have decided to create a 5 minute extract of a documentary on Youth Crime.

The extract will be just after the opening titles, which will allow me to give more detail on the subject itself.

Conventions of a TV documentary

Voice over Visual coding (mise-en-scene) Real footage of events/reconstructions of

events Technicality of realism (natural sound and

lighting) Archive footage/stills Interviews Use of text Sound – sound bridges/non-diegetic sound Narration

Institutions

The two institutions that I am comparing are BBC and Channel 4.

OR

I have chosen these two because both institutions have produced a lot of documentaries and are suitable for my own documentary.

Channel 4 Documentaries

Chasing the Cumbrian Killer

The Rise and Fall of Tiger Woods

Being N-Dubz

Channel 4 – Monday 21st JuneOne off documentary/event documentaryPost watershed -9pm Covers the days of Derek Bird and leading up to the 12 killings, 11 injured and another 25 shootings of Cumbria.Had a lot of interviews from the family/friends, witnesses and some of the injured of the shootings.Gave a detailed reconstruction of the incident The narrator was only a voice over, with the interviews being shown on-screen Had a instrumental soundtrack that created the atmosphere for the audience during the reconstructions

Channel 4 - Thursday 17th JuneOne off Documentary Post Watershed – 10 pm Had mainly a voice over for the narration some times being shown on screen Interviews from people involvedGave a detailed description of tiger wood’s lifeHad an instrumental soundtrack that created a tense atmosphere for the audience

Channel 4/4music – Monday 21st June Documentary seriesPost watershed -11pm Camera used by N-Dubz and Channel 4 team. Mainly voice over by Narrator and N-Dubz interviewsFollows the past life and daily routines of N-Dubz then contrasts it with the recent their lives and daily routinesUses recent songs through out the documentary, most of these being N-Dubz songs.

Channel 4 ReviewsChasing the Cumbrian Killer

The Rise and Fall of Tiger Woods

Being N-Dubz

TV Pixie reviews the documentary as being a “simple explanation of Bird’s route, and a closing section in which he and his victims were remembered.” and stating that the audience wanted “sensational reconstructions, meaningless anecdotes from old school-friends and the most ghoulish of photos from Bird’s family album used out of context to demonstrate his otherness”. The reviews also hints that the documentary was shown too soon as “barley a fortnight has passed”. However are surprised with how the documentary concentrated on how the friends and family argued that “that the actions of the shooter weren’t the actions of the Derrick they knew”Overall the documentary did not please most of the audience, however I found it quite interesting as to how and why the killing spree happened.

The guardian review comments on how the documentary represented Tiger Woods father as a “unpleasant psychotic” and notice that it doesn’t show a lot about Tiger Wood’s life “as few people's lives have been picked over more closely than Tiger's over the last year” And summarising the review with “Jacques Peretti's Tiger Woods: The Rise and Fall offered a bleak vision of human nature in which almost no one emerged with any great credit.”I mostly agree with this review as I found that it did not concentrate on Tiger Wood’s life

Sky TV reviews argues that the documentary will be more for teens than people over 16 as they will not know who the band are. But summarising the TV show as “some shoddy documentary making.” but “Still, they remain vaguely interesting to watch – probably not enough to hold the attention of non-fans” Commenting on the camera shots “The band have cameras strapped to their heads, resulting in wobbly footage of them cleaning their teeth.” As well as the editing and sound “The narrator is unbearably smug. And the soundtrack features Royksopp and Florence + The Machine. This is supposed to be about the voice of today's yoof, not Cold Feet.” I believe that this review is correct in saying that it appeals most to the fans of N-Dubz, but disagree with the comment on camera work as I believe it was done to show the bands point of view.

BBC Documentaries

Autistic Superstars The Fox attack twins

Panorama – can I sack my teacher?

BBC 3 – 13th May to the 20th May Two part documentary Post watershed – 9pm Follows Reggie Yates organising a concert that will include singers with Autism. These singers are found by Reggie Yates throughout the first episode and are shown the difficulties in theirs and their families lives due to autism.Uses recent music to keep the audience interested, and changes to the different atmosphere portrayed. e.g. slow music for scenes showing difficulty Interviews with families about what it is like dealing with autismShows the journey from practise to stage.

BBC 1 – Thursday 1st July 2010One time documentaryPre-Watershed – 7pmTells the story of a wild fox that attacked a family and their twins. Interviews of the family about what happened with their daughters Interviews with the surgeons who did the surgery on the twins and how they would have long term effects because of the incident.Reconstruction of the event.Uses instrumental music to mirror the tension created by the effect of the incident on the family.

BBC1 – Monday 5th July 2010Documentary seriesPre-watershed – 8.30pmInterviews from head teachers, parents and school watchdogs.Investigates the slipping standards of teachers and what is happening to the education of children.Has instrumental music through out the documentary as well as the theme tune to let the audience recognise the programme by the music used.

BBC ReviewsAutistic Superstars The Fox attack

twins Panorama – can I sack my teacher?

The review on metro.co.uk stated that “there was something profoundly moving about watching 18-year-old Martin, who never uttered more than a single word when speaking, take to the stage to perform with the kind of committed intensity it’s impossible to fake.” and comparing it too X factor “People such as Martin and Carly aren’t playing games about really, really wanting it.” and ending the review of on a positive note with “They need it – the music – to provide a rock in lives that can feel like they’re rolling out of control” This will get the audience interested by the sheer fact that it shows the difficulties of a mental illness clashed with the talent of performing.

Many people do not believe the story and say it is a set-up to make fox hunting legal. “we are now making the fox public enemy no 1 (surprise surprise) time to get on our horse don our red jackets and more importantly end the fox hunting ban” another audience member stated “Poor foxes are dying because of these lying chavs”On Metro it stated that the documentary was the first official interview which they agreed “to make sure people knew the truth”. Unfortunately it looks like the documentary did not convince the public as they still believe it was a hoax.

An editorial stated that this panorama episode was about a vital issue but “this sensationalist claptrap got nowhere near”. Making it clear that “The country went to bed on Monday night perturbed” scared that their children education was being ruined The editoral ends the reviews with “Can I Sack Teacher? did for journalism what Spinal Tap did for music. It must rank as one of the most tendentious, misleading, threadbare and stupid documentaries ever made. ”

Censorship issues – Channel 4 Documentaries

Chasing the Cumbrian killer – Channel 4, 9 pm. The program documented disturbing events that would not be suitable for younger audiences. Watched by 1.5 million on Monday 21st June 2010

Censorship issues – Channel 4 Documentaries

The Rise and Fall of Tiger Woods – Channel 4, 10 pm. The documentary had

scenes with a mature nature that would not be

suitable for viewers younger that 15. However the target audience for this documentary from 15 to late 30’s.

Censorship issues – Channel 4 Documentaries

Being N-DubzChannel 4, 11pm. Post watershed due to

a stronguse of language. Being N-Dubz has a

target audience of 16 to late 20’s as the

documentary mostly targets the group’s fans.

Censorship issues – BBC Documentaries

Autistic superstarsBBC3, 9pm. Has a target audience of 16

to 30 yearolds as this is the normal target audience

of thechannel. Autistic Superstars had a rating

of 408,600 (1.8%)

Censorship issues – BBC Documentaries

The Fox Attacks TwinsBBC1, 7pm. Has a target audience of 20

to 40 yearolds as even though the documentary is pre-watershed it is based on a news

article thatwill not appeal to a younger audience.

Thedocumentary had 4.3 million viewers.

Censorship issues – BBC Documentaries

Panorama – Can I sack my teacher?BBC1, 8.30pm. Has a target audience of

20 to 50year olds for the documentary series.

Howeverthis particular episode may appeal to a

youngeraudience as it is based topic focused

aroundyouth. The series has an average of 2.7

millionratings.

My Target Audience

I have decided to focus my documentary on the topic of Youth Crime. As a result I am aiming the documentary at 15 to 30 year olds.

This is because it could interest the youth on how they are being represented as well as interesting the older generation.

I think the institution I would like my documentary to be showed on is BBC as they provide more factual and serious documentaries. Whereas Channel 4 are more lifestyle and light-hearted documentaries.

Title’s

These are the following titles that I have considered.› Youth Crime› The Struggles of Youths› Youth Crime Uncovered› Troubled Teens› Teens of Today

I have decided to go with “Teens of Today” as I will have more freedom and be able to explore the other problems of teens as well as youth crime

Locations

I have chosen to use locations that are stereotypically youth, this is because they will represent youth.

The following slide shows some picture I have taken of one possible location (school).

PH

OTO

S O

F PLA

CES The Sixth form common room – used for montage clips and

interviews

PH

OTO

S O

F PLA

CES The Pathway to the Sixth Form Common Room – used for

narrator scenes and some montage scenes

Feedback from presentation

Think more about the locations and how they would fit into your documentary.

Decide whether to show young teens getting more and more involved with underage drugs and drinking as well as teen pregnancy, or whether to show the more violent side of youths like gangs and drugs.

Questionnaire

To get a better understanding of my target audience I am handing out a questionnaire to the intended age of audience I plan to achieve.

This will help me shape my documentary around the target audience.

Results These are the results from my questionnaire. I asked 10 males and 10 females to complete my

questionnaire. Mostly between the age of 15 to 20.

70%

30%

Most Popular Channel

Channel 4BBC

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20Amount of people who watch

documentaries

YesNo

NoYes

Results A lot of the people asked said the biggest youth

problem is underage drinking or teenage pregnancy.

75%

25%

Interested in Youth

YesNo

6-7pm 7-8pm 8-9pm 9-10pm

10-11pm

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Times of documentaries

Series1

70%

30%

Negative representation vs positive representation

Yes

No

Audience Theory

The audience theory that I have chosen to is Todorov’s theory and Levi Strauss’ Binary oppositions.

Therefore I will put some negative stories of youth against positive stories. I will also you visual and audio oppositions. For example tense, fast music next in calm scene.

I also want to use the hypodermic syringe theory, as I want to inject the audience with my beliefs about youths.

Narrative

For my 5 minute extract I want to focus on the problems within youth and how they are affected by the media.

I will then bring in the consequences of these problems, which involves youth crime.

I also will use interviews to get some youth viewpoints, as well as some parent viewpoints, on the subject.

Another convention that I could use are voice-overs and montages that will focus on youths and add some stylistic features.

Production PowerPointDanielle Calvert

Filming locations

Keynsham Park – under the bridge (has lot of graffiti, which will show the youth theme) for montages

School – For positive stereotypes (shows the other side of youths) for interviews and montages

Home – For a parent perspective for interviews

Bristol Cabot Circus – (for montages and clips)

Sto

ryboard

s1 2 3

4 6

7

5

98

Sto

ryboard

s10

1413

1211

15

16

Scene Synopsis

Scene 2 – The Narrator will introduce the audience to what the documentary will show. I want the setting to be under the Keynsham bridge as it connotes the negative side of youths and then will help the documentary flow into the montage.

Scene 3 – The montage will show mainly the negative sides of youths, therefore will hold clips from Bristol, Keynsham park. There will be a voice over from the narrator explaining the negative stereotypes of youths.

Scene Synopsis

Scene 4 and 5 - Interviews with youths, to get their views of the negative stereotypes . Both set in the park, as it will be in the same place as the narrator.

Scene 6 – Back to the narrator explaining and introducing the other sides of youths both negative and positive, like teen pregnancy and high achieving students. Set in the park, to end the park setting.

Scene Synopsis

Scene 7 and 8 – Montages of negative and positive stereotypes, both with voice over and quiet soundtrack, this is to balance both stereotypes as well as ending the negative and starting the positive.

Scene 9 and 10 - interview with youth about the impact of media. Set at home or in Bristol, as both are connected with youths. Narrator introducing students, set in school as it will flow into the following interviews/montages.

Scene Synopsis

Scene 11 and 12 – Interview with parent, to show what they think of the youth and the media and school, set at home. The montage will be of school students, with the voice over from the interview.

Scene 13 – Narrator introducing a teen story, set in the school to carry on from the last narrator scene.

Scene Synopsis

Scene 14 and 15 – Teen story, two teens telling a real life story that is connected with the youth theme, like achievements they have done. Quiet soundtrack in the background

Scene 16 - Narrator ending the story and stereotype section of the documentary, set in school to carry on from where the last narration scene was.

Interview Questions

How do you feel about the representation of youths in media?

Are you like the Representations in the media?

Why do think youths behave the way they do with gangs and drink and drug abuse?

Do you sometimes feel pressured by your friends to do stuff you don’t want to do?

What is the worst thing you have done? Have you ever tried dugs?

Interview Questions

What do you think most impacts the audience and the youth?

Do you really think that your teenage kids behave like that?

When you were a youth were you similar to the stereotypical youths?

When you were younger did you try drugs?

Research and planning -Ancillary Tasks

Danielle Calvert

Newspaper advertisementThese two are adverts from a magazine that are promoting a Channel 4/BBC documentary.

The channel 4 advert is quite simple and doesn’t give much away. It shows the title of the documentary, the times and the day it is on as well as the institution logo in the corner. It also uses the idea that when you can’t sleep, you count sheep, which gives an idea of what the documentary is about.

The BBC advert has the name of the documentary, the times and date it is on as well as the logo of the institution. Also there is a picture of the main person the documentary is focused on. The picture does not give much away but the tagline shows that the documentary is partly about wakeboard .

The Uses and Gratifications theory relates to these adverts as they both attract the audience by giving small amounts of information. As they are only small amounts it creates enigma.

The theory also helps the audience relate to the man in the picture as he looks like an ordinary man.

A double page spread The picture used in the background has been darkened but the original colours are shown through the titles.

The two pictures used have been blended, as well as one of them being blended on the background.

There are two colours used for the text, both stand out on both background pictures, both define which are questions and which are answers.I could use some of the design from this article for my own double page spread as it attracts a younger target audience, as Jamelia is more popular with a younger audience than older, which is what I need to achieve.

Again the Uses and Gratifications theory is used. They use pictures of Jamelia to entertain and appeal to mostly men. However the article may entertain the women as well. The audience also gets some information about Jamelia herself which may appeal to them as they are learning about her more rather than her music.

My Logo The title of my documentary is “ Teens of Today” therefore

I have to produce a logo that reflects the theme of youth. These logos below all appeal to the audience as they each have a different representation of youth as well as being interesting. Most of the fonts look similar to graffiti, others look like handwriting, as well as one of them looking like mobile phone text.

Teens of Today

Teens of Today

Teens of Today

Teens of TodayTeens of Today

Teens of TodayTeens of Today

My Logo

These are the three fonts that I like the most, out of the previous ones on the slide before.

Out of these three I have decided to chose the last one, as I think this font will most appeal to my target audience. This is because the font sill represents youths, but also looks more professional and would appear on a newspaper advert.

Teens of Today

I like this one because it shows a youth theme, as it looks like graffiti. However I don’t think it promotes a serious documentary.

Teens of TodayI like this font because it looks like a youth has written the font, and as I am doing a documentary on youth I think it is appropriate.

Teens of TodayI like this font because, firstly, I have used it throughout my PowerPoint, and secondly, it is modern but still it is appropriate for a serious documentary.

Fonts

I plan to use ”Boopee” font on the Newspaper Advert for the tagline as well as the time, date and channel. This is because I think that this font represents youths the most as it looks like it is handwritten by a youth. I also plan to use this font for the quotes in the Double Page spread.

For the double page spread I plan to use “Candara” font, for the body text, as it more modern but still looks professional.

The heading and sub heading for the double page spread will be in “Ravie” as again I believe that this font represents youths well, also the font is quite different and will hopefully grab the audience’s attention and therefore using the Uses and Gratifications theory.

Colour Schemes For the first idea, I think that a white font on

black/grey background. These colours will also promote a serious documentary. This style, of white on black, has been used on many serious documentary title cards. For example The Rise and Fall of Tiger Woods. These colours, together, also connote crime and mystery, which will be good for my documentary as I am trying to create mystery for my audience and also show in some ways teen crime.

Teens of Today Teens of Today

Colour Schemes

The second idea is to use more youth orientated colours, For example white font on a purple/blue background. These colours keep a serious tone but with a youth theme. These colours connote different genders, the blue connotes the boy gender whereas the purple connotes the girl gender.

Teens of Today Teens of Today

NEW

SPA

PER

AD

VERT LA

YOU

T

Institutions logo

Title of documentary

Time, Date and channel of documentary

Background Pictures

Newspaper Advert Layout

For my newspaper advert I like the idea of using the second colour scheme, with a the Title like the one shown in the Jamelia double page spread, as in it being bold. The writing that explains which time and channel it is on will be a different font: “Boopee”, and different size to the title of the documentary.

Also with a simple pictures of teens, like maybe one with a hoodie on and the hood up, one maybe drinking alcohol and the other maybe smoking. I plan to put the pictures in black and white as to stand out from the background.

I will also include the institution’s logo, as it will show which channel the documentary is on. As well as making the audience familiar with the style of the documentary.

For this audience theory I plan to use uses and gratifications theory and maybe some binary oppositions with the pictures and the colours scheme of the text. This will hopefully gain the audience’s interest and make them wonder what the documentary will be like.

DO

UB

LE PA

GE S

PR

EA

D LA

YOU

T

Title of documentary

Magazine article

Background Pictures

Double Page Spread layout For my double page spread, I will use similar pictures with

the newspaper advert. As well as them being in black and white again.

I will also use the first colour scheme again (black and White), as I think the colour scheme will mirror a documentary style. This is because it is serious but still has a youth theme, which will be shown through the use of fonts.

The text will be black, with the Candara font, on a white background in front of the pictures on the background.

The title should be in the Ravie and should be spread of the double page.

The theory that I will use on this double page spread is for one the uses and gratifications theory. This is because it will allow the audience to engage with the text by finding it entertaining and hopefully due to them being able to relate to the text.