Unit 27 - Evaulation of parody news report

Links to studio 

Problems 

Our link to the studio was filmed badly as when the news first starts the anchor who will be talking about the news is already at the studio in the chair ready to start. However, in our parody we made Selim late as you can see from the picture nobody is there. The news needs to be on time and if it isn't on time then people will think of the news as not being trustworthy. 
Another bad thing was the way Selim made the camera cut to the correspondent. He didn't talk formally or even address his correspondent in the proper manner which would make him look bad as this shows the audience Salim isn't interested. 

What we should have done

Selim should've already been in his seat before we even started to filming and prepared what he was going to say so he would know rather than siting in the chair not have clue what he would be reporting. This would've made us look like we know what we are doing. 




Clothing

Problems 

As you can see in the picture Selim is not wearing the appropriate clothes for filming. He walks in with his hoodie and tracksuit which is not the suitable clothing for present the news. This is because if people were to watch this and saw Selim in these type of clothes they would't even watch the news or even believe what he is saying. 






Another problem we had with clothing is when our correspondent Shihab was wearing a hat. This is not allowed as the hat wasn't even appropriate when he is reporting the news. This would make him look unprofessional and make the situation seem causal. 





What we should have done

Selim should've been wearing the suitable news outfit, which is a suit and not a hoodie with a tracksuit. It is essential he is wearing the right clothes so he can look more presentable to the audience.




Actuality footage

Problems

We did not show any actuality footage as evidence of it being the queens birthday. We only spoke briefly about the topic of the queens birthday but Selim changed the subject and did not even mention anything else about it. 


What we should have done

Selim should've been able to read of the paper to know what he will be talking about so he has some idea. Also when it went to the correspondent Shihab who was being sarcastic we should've added some actuality footage.


Mode of address 

Problems

Our mode of address should have been formal and professional. However, rather than speaking proper english so other people can understand Selim was talking in slang which would be used around friends and casual places. If adults were to watch some may not even understand what Selim is talking about as not all of them understand slang words. This would have left them confused and annoyed at us for talking properly. This would also make us untrustworthy as it looked like we weren't taking anything seriously. Another problem there was when it went back to the studio Selim was sleeping and the green background could been seen. Even if some people laughed at this they would disapprove as this is not what is suppose to happen. We would be looked at us unorganised and not serious. Another problem which was faced that at certain times the person behind the camera had to talk to Selim and even Shihab to make them pay attention. 


What we should have done

Selim should always be prepared at all times so he wouldn't be caught by surpassed. However, he shouldn't of been sleeping on the job. We should also warn him so he can know when he will be on. Selim should've also spoke better when talking about the news and not in a way that makes him look bad.

Interviews and eye witnesses

Our correspondent Shihab was caught talking to a girl and trying to get her number. He is meant to be finding people to talk about the situation we are presenting. This is would make him look like a bad correspondent as he wouldn't be trusted to interview people if he cannot be serious and ask them appropriate questions. 



What we should have done

When interviewing a person we should make Shihab focus purely on the subject and get actual interviews and eye witnesses he will not try to get their number or even district him.

Unit 27 - Evaluation of news report

Unit 27 - 12 Documentary conventions

Docudramas 

Docudramas are usually full films or re-enactments /  reconstructions of true events. They will focus on what happened based on the creator's point of view. They will avoid commentary so the documentary is more factual and entertaining for audience. These documentary aren't always accurate as they make exaggerate to build up tension and anticipation for the audience so they can get into it more. For example, 'my week with Marilyn' is an example of an docudrama as it is an reconstruction of true events. It's about a production assistant called Colin who lands a job on the set of 'The Prince and the Showgirl' which stars Marilyn Monroe. The film focuses on the week during the shooting of the 1957 film when Marilyn was escorted around London by Colin after her husband had returned to the United States. 

The conventions which are used in the movie in the movie is realism. This is because of the movie they are filming as it is an actual movie which stars Marilyn Monroe. We also know because of the diary accounts which are shown which documents his time with Marilyn making us the audience believe its the truth. Another convention which is used a lot is natural lighting. It is used a lot in docudramas because it helps to give the movie a natural look so the audience feel like what they are watching isn't a re-enactment. Another convention which you would usually see in docudramas and is used in the film is voice overs narrativisation. This is when the main character will discuss what is happening in that scene as they retell the story. 


Docusoap 

Docusoaps are true representations of people's lives and in the real locations. This documentary will show people at their work or their lives as they go through certain situations.  The people being filmed are fully aware but don't acknowledge the camera most of the time. This would allow the audience to identify with individuals making them get more into the documentary as they can relate with what they watch. For example, one born every minute is an example of an docusoap as we follow what happens in the labour ward. 

The conventions which are used in this documentary are hand held cameras which add the to realism. This shows the audience watch they are watching is real as they know its actuality footage and not something that has been planned. This will make the show more entertaining for the audience as woman who have gone through that situation can relate. Another convention a docusoap will usually use is non - diegetic sound. This is will be used when something is about to go wrong making the situation looking bad and adding drama for the audience as they anticipate what is going to happen to the mother and the baby. Docusoaps will also use a lot of close-ups. This is so the audience can see clearly of the baby and the mother as she gives birth. 


Reality TV 

Reality TV programs are when ordinary people or celebrities are continuously filmed, designed to be entertaining rather than informative. This will either film the life's certain people or film people doing challenges on a show made for fun. This has become very popular as many celebrities or normal peoples lives are being filmed while more people going on the shows for fun. An example, of a popular reality TV show is big brother. This is a game show where celebrities or normal people are put into a house for 6 weeks and are filmed. 

The conventions which are used a lot in the reality TV shows and many others are dramatisation. This is what the draws the audience to carry on watching the show because there will conflicts, fights etc which will entertain the audience and even make them laugh at the events. A lot of artificial lighting will also be used in reality TV shows because this is to get a better look at the housemates. This is used to let us see the a persons expression better because they aren't being filmed from a cameraman as they are being filmed by cameras which are set up all over the house. They also use a lot of editing. This is because they have to try and fit all what happened in to that one show and they are seen to use a lot of transitions. 


Infotainment 

This is a combination of entertainment and information. There are different channels which will use Infotainment. For example, a channel called E is a channel decided to talking about celebrities and their life's and what rumours have been spoken about them. 

The conventions which are used a lot in this close- ups of the celebrities so they audience will be able to get a better look at the celebrity. This is because thy would want to show the celebrities face and who the person they are with. Another convention which is often used in infotainment is they use direct dialogue. It is like the person who is giving us the news is talking directly to the audience about the news, making them feel more involved with the situation. 




Educational 

This mainly focuses on educational topics which which will teach the audience about new topics, events skills and how to make/bake certain things. An example of a show that is educational for the audience is the great holiday baking show where it is a baking competition. But it will also show you how to make the food they are making. 


The conventions which are used in this show is close-ups. This is because it allows the audience to see get a close-up of how to do things so they can follow and so they can also so what the people are making and see what they are baking looks like. They also use a lot of facts in educational shows. This is because they are teaching the audience and what they say needs to be true so they cannot mess up but they can also trust the show. Another convention you will see in educational TV shows is direct dialogue. 



Wildlife 

This is all about animals in the wild and their lives and how they act in their natural habitat. The people filming will follow the animals but will keep a certain distance away from them so the animals aren't disturbed. An example, of a show that talks a lot about animals is frozen planet. 

The conventions that are used a lot in frozen planet and wildlife TV shows is voice overs. This when a person is talking about the animals and what we see them doing. The person speaking will tell us everything about the animal they are showing. This TV show also needs to be factual because they are talking about animals and people would find this entertaining and they would want to know what they are hearing is the truth. Another convention which is used a lot is natural lighting. We are able to see the animals without any other lighting making it look fake. 


Special interest 

This is a 'niche' audience that doesn't go for a wide range of people making the target audience small. It is involved in a specialised subject that only certain people will like as not everybody would find is entertaining like some others might. An example, of special interest is River monsters. It wouldn't be found on TV because not everyone would like this.

The conventions which are used in this are interviews with people so the audience watching can have some more information about what is happening in the documentary. It also allows people to make their own opinions based on the interviews which are being used. Another convention which are used in this are handheld cameras. 


Makeover shows 

Allows audiences to see drastic transformations to people's bodies,homes and cars. It offers a feel good factor for the audience as they can see people go through these changes. For example, pimp my ride was a popular makeover show which specialised on transforming peoples old cars into cars that look good. 

The conventions that are used in this show are artificial lighting because it lets the audience so the cars better when they are designing the new car. Another convention they use is sound in the background. Non-diegetic sound is used when the person sees the car the music goes upbeat because of how their car looks. 


Discussion 

This will have a host to act as an impartial referee by asking questions. They will remain neutral while two people from the opposite sides will talk about what they think about a specific question or topic. For example, the big question is a popular show that does this. 

The conventions used in the big question are facts. They will bring in people from both sides who know a lot about the topic and they will give some facts but will also give their own opinion. Another convention which is used in the big question is camera language. A lot of the time the camera will be in a long shot so we can see the two sides opposite each other and see their reactions to certain things which have been said. 

Chat show 

These are interviews with celebrity guests which will usually promote the celebrities product, movie or music video. It was also give us gossip as if they are going through a problem with someone the audience get to know the truth or their side of the story. An example, of this is the Ellen show where she has a lot of celebrity guest stars. 

The conventions which are used in the Ellen show are long shots of Ellen as we can watch Ellen sitting the chair with person she is talking about next to her. This will give us a better look and lets us see the reactions. Another convention which is used are interviews with the celebrities. It lets us know what it happening with them and what they got planned if they will be releasing something that people like will go and buy. 




Review show 

This is when experts in a certain field are debating about products or services. They will talk about it and this will let the audience form their own opinion on the product. An example of this is the book show where they will sit down and discuss books which will let the audience decide whether they want to buy that certain book. 


The conventions which are used are interviews with experts as they are able to give their own opinion for the audience. Another convention which are in this show is artificial lighting. It sets the calm scene for the show as it is a calm discussion about an authors book which will make the atmosphere relaxed for the audience. 



Magazine show 

This is a show that will appeal to a wide range of an audience by covering a wide range of topics, with interviews with members of the public and celebrities. An example of a show is the one show. They will interview members of the public who have done something and let them come onto the show and speak about what they done in more detail. 

The conventions which are used in the one show are close- up and long shots. These are used a lot because when the person is talking they would be zoomed into as they talk about something. However, when the hosts and the guest are both talking it will zoom out so we can see both the celebrity and the host and we can see their reactions to certain things that will happen in the show. Another convention which is used in the one show is archive footage. There will be times when they are talking about a topic and they will need to use archive footage to back them up. 

Unit 27 - Factual TV programmes issues

Accuracy

Accuracy programs should be precise, reliable and trustworthy sources. Factual programs have to be accurate as they need to provide correct information. Factual programs shouldn't mislead the audience as there would be a lot of complaints from the audience and the TV program would be known to mistreated. Before doing a factual program a lot of research must ensue to be getting the correct information. Factual programs should not have opinions because of this type of program is produced to give people real facts about a topic. When doing a factual program you should always be truthful because if not you will most likely lose your audience and people will think your untrustworthy. I have chosen the news as my example of accuracy because when watching the news as the audience we watch the news to get information bout what is happening and we expect the people giving us information should be honest. We know when the news are honest with us when there is actual footage to back them up. They will talk about something and show us a video so we know what they are saying is reliable.

Balance

 Getting both sides of the argument. When there is a balanced program the program shouldn't favour another a side. An argument should present both sides, so its fair. There are always two sides to an argument. Both sides of the argument must be acknowledged and the information given should be clear, correct and fair. It is important to keep balance on views and investigate to find both sides of the story's. If a factual TV program is siding with another side, then the TV program can lose audience as people would think the show is biased and unfair. The program should have the same information for both sides as if if your favour when one side because it viewers feel that you are bringing your judgement. The program must try to remain fair and neutral because the show isn't about your opinion, the show is about showing people both sides of the story and letting the come up with their own judgement.


Impartiality 

Remains neutral to their output, avoiding personal opinions or beliefs. It is important when doing a factual show that the present/filmmaker should be in between if there is a discussion. You cannot be biased neither prejudice, you have to show the best of both sides. It is important to be impartial as you could cause controversy among your audience. Many media services always maintain being neutral, this is to please their audience. Many people watch factual programmes just to gain the facts. For example, the Nick Campbell remains neutral during his discussions when its about a certain topic. He doesn't give his opinion as he lets both sides of the people talk and lets them talk about their opinions, he doesn't interfere or state what he thinks. This is good because people know his show isn't biased as he doesn't agree, he stays in the middle. 

Subjectivity 

Is when their opinions, beliefs and values affect their storyline. Subjectivity doesn't depend on facts or example footage. Subjectivity isn't really used on TV as it doesn't rely on facts but people's opinions which can make the program biased towards viewers. Usually, if this is presented on a factual program a person would mainly put bad views down about a specific subject they are talking about which is trying to persuade the audience to agree with them. However, not all the time is subjectivity bad as people can do documentaries on what they went through on a specific subject and see how others are going through what they did. An example of this Mona Chalabi on her documentary 'is Britain racist'. Her documentary is mostly focused on opinions, facts and her views and beliefs. 

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06g55y0

Opinion

Filmmaker/reporter's opinion is an effective way of engaging and influencing an audience. An opinion is a single persons view on a subject when it comes to factual film-making opinions are useful for when you are basing your factual on a subject as you could get peoples opinion of this specific subject. But what you want to make sure is you use these opinions in the right way without making the person look bad by editing the footage in a way to make them sound the person they are not because this would not just be using the footage in the way it shouldn't have been used but also not accurate because you are not giving people the correct information from the subject you received the opinion from.It allows the audience to have their own opinion on what they have seen. A good example, of a factual programmer which uses their opinion a lot is Stacey Dooley. Her documentaries are not balanced as she always looks at the bad side of things and we know its accurate because of all the footage of what we see as she also introduces us to real life people and their problems and even has interviews with them. 

Representation 

How people are represented. Representation means how something is constantly portrayed or the stereotype of a certain thing. You have to be careful not to stereotype anything during a factual programme as this can lead to some information being wrong. Representation is showing  someone or something being portrayed in a certain way. In a documentary if you wanted the audience to have a particular view on someone, you would have to represent that person in a particular way, either in a good way or bad. Sometimes you see positive representation, this can be done to cause the audience to have sympathy towards someone. However, sometimes you can also see negative representation, victimising individuals or groups.

Bias 

Being biased is when someone takes one side of a story or using one side of an argument and ignoring the other side of the argument this is pretty bad when it comes to factual film making as this can lead to loss of audience and complaints about your factual because you aren't giving the whole story they are wanting to receive, because lets to be honest every argument has two sides and its not right to take one side and not knowing the other side which could actually be a more reasonable side than the side which was used. An example, of this is was Michael Moore's documentary on 'bowling for columbine' was said to be biased as his documentary was not balanced on both arguments. He focused more on one subject and let the other subject look bad to the audience eyes, which made his documentary untrustworthy and something people wouldn't want to watch. 


Access

This is when a journalists will report on a certain topic in detail while being given permission from the person they are interviewing or the place they have filmed at. It is important that a journalist will get permission because they can get sued with if they aren't film without consent. A journalist must make sure also that what they are saying about the person is all true and they haven't changed the truth. 


Privacy 

When doing a documentary it is important that you think of a persons privacy. A person can also get in trouble if they aren't careful and invade a persons privacy without their permission. However, some people will allow the cameras into the personal lives and let us the audience watch they do day to day. An example of this is 'Keeping up with the Kardashians'. They allow cameras into their house and let people film what they do and the drama that arises.  


Contract with the viewer 

This is an unwritten rule between producer and audience where all content is deemed accurate, honest and engaging for the audience. This is important to have because when watching a documentary the audience want to watch something that has correct facts. 

Unit 27 - Analysing vice.com documentaries

Documentaries 

On vice.com there is a documentary about Pablo Escobar. This is a documentary which talks about him when he was alive and what he done. It shows two DEA agents who spent years on trail on him. Even if this documentary is very accurate it is not very balanced. The documentary is mostly the DEA agents and doesn't have peoples opinions from people Pablo knew. They favour the police's side on the documentary making it unbalanced. They didn't have other people talk about Pablo who knew him would've made the it have made the documentary better because we would've gotten more information and learnt more things. We only know about him from the police experience when they were working on his case. For example, they talk about how smart, cunning he was as they weren't able to catch him. They spoke about how he had a 'robin hood mystique' because he built churches and gave money to the poor. They also spoke about his bad side, how he tortured people and how he invented 'Narco terroism'. The documentary is also very impartial. This is because during the documentary the two DEA agents remain neutral. They don't put their own opinion and beliefs on what they thought about Pablo. This is what made the documentary good because they showed the best of both sides. 


When watching a documentary you want it to be accurate and factual. What the people are talking about needs to be true as you don't want to watch something that could give you false information. This Pablo Escobar documentary was accurate and doesn't have ant misleading facts. This is because they have experience as they were working on Pablo's case from when he was alive and also because they have videos and pictures to back them up. 

Link: https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/cocaine-narcos-sicarios-and-peru-part-1/56019b06b4e7abe15ebcc3f8



Another documentary I found on Vice.com was Maternity leave: How America's is failing its mothers. Its a documentary about America and papa new Guinea being the only countries in the world that does not have paid maternity leave. The documentary follows Tracie Morriessey who talks about the problems American's face when they do not have paid leave. The good things about this documentary is its very accurate and realible. Even at the start if the woman talks about her experience she doesn't stay on the subject for too long and already starts stating facts and goes onto an interview about a woman who did not have paid maternity leave and later found her son dead. However through the documentary Tracie is giving facts, showing charts and interviewing people. She even interviews people who work for the government and what they think which makes the documentary more reliable and trustworthy. Tracie is also speaking directly to the camera also which makes the audience feel involved and will engage them more. The documentary is also very balanced as she involves both opinions of what people think about the maternity leave. She doesn't stay on one side which will make it more interesting for the audience as they would want both opinions on this. What is also good about this documentary is that the woman is impartial. She states facts and doesn't give her opinion and the only opinions that are spoken are from the people who agree and disagree. 

Link: https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/ovary-action-maternity-leave/56afd1501f8f224341d4947a