The document summarizes the codes and conventions that were followed in creating the documentary. It discusses using a single line of exposition, a mix of observation, narration and cutaways, themes of tanning and media influence, proper composition and eye line in interviews, graphics with identifying information, relevant backgrounds in interviews, straight cuts between interviews and cutaways, creative camerawork and editing, adult male narration in standard English, and using relevant music beds.
2. We have followed the codes and conventions of professional documentaries after
we watched a series of documentaries then listing their codes and conventions.
We watched ‘The Music Biz’, ‘The Devil Made me Do it’ and ‘That Thing: Lara
Croft’. These are all single strand documentaries with one line of exposition
which is conventional for the documentary we have created.
3. Type of Documentary
As our documentary contains observation from
our cutaways and narration from our voiceover,
we can say that our documentary is mixed, as it
contains a variety of these different elements to
advance the exposition of the documentary.
Evidence of this is shown through the
combination of voiceover and cutaways, which is
contained within most if not all documentaries.
Furthermore observation can be made by
comments, as aural observation by narrators or
interviewees is just as important in the
documentary.
4. Themes
In our documentary, the theme is generally about
tanning, which is unique to every documentary.
However the power of the media is something
many documentaries share in common. This
convention can be seen in ‘The Devil Made me Do
it’, a real documentary we analysed. Theme of the
media is portrayed in how music and artists
influence teenagers. Similarly to this, ours reflects
on how celebrity culture affects young people tan.
5. We have followed the
Interviews codes and
conventions of
interviews after
making a list whilst
watching and
analysing
professional
interviews. For
example we have
followed the
convention of
shooting the
interview in medium
close up. They are on
the left or right hand
third of the screen,
following the
compositional rule of
thirds. Also the eye
line is a third of the
way down the screen.
This is conventional as the correct composition ensure that the
viewer is attracted to the interviewee whilst they talk, and makes
this interesting and eye catching.
6. To follow conventions of interviews we made sure that the interviewee was looking
diagonally across the frame to the interviewer. For example in this interview from
‘The Music Biz’, the interviewee is looking diagonally across to the interviewee who
would have been sitting on the far right hand side of the camera. In our
documentary, Mrs Battle the sociologist is doing the same, looking at the interview
diagonally across from her. We also made sure none of the interviewees look at the
camera, as this would be distracting for the viewer, and no one in professional
documentaries look at the camera.
7. The graphics on the interviews are conventionally a
white sans serif font, which is in the bottom of the
screen. As shown by the examples below, in the real
documentary, if the interviewee is on the right hand
side of the screen, the graphic is on the bottom left.
Similarly in our documentary, in the example shown
we have followed this convention by placing the
graphic in the bottom right, if the interviewee is on the
left. The graphic is superimposed onto the frame, and
conventionally shows the interviewees name and
profession/ important piece of information. This can
be seen in our documentary as well.
8. The mise en scene is extremely important in interviews
as it helps to anchor the themes and topics of the
documentary. For example in this interview from the
documentary ‘The Music Biz’ the fact that he is
managing direction of virgin records is emphasised by
the virgin logo superimposed into the frame. This is an
important convention as it keeps the audience
interested and is a key factor in the anchoring of the
documentary. I have shown how I have followed this by
giving the example of the Gym Instructor Joe Deer who
was filmed at his place of work. His managing status is
emphasised by the computer and his desk, and the
tanning advert in the background emphasises the
theme of tanning in our documentary.
9. Cutaways are also another
conventional way to anchor the
documentary. The also serve to
remove jump cuts from interviews
which make the interview seem
amateur and unprofessional. In
general it is conventional to use
straight cuts in the editing of these
documentaries. On the left are
cutaways from the professional
documentaries. They help reinforce
what the interviewee is talking about,
and can link into their next utterance.
I have followed this convention by
including cutaways such as those on
the right in our interviews.
The cutaways when properly edited
make sure that everything is linked
and continuity is kept which is
essential in real documentaries.
10. Editing
In terms of the editing, we followed the conventions of quick straight
cuts, as this helps keep the interest of the viewer and make sure they do
not get bored. The inclusion of cutaways and editing cuts ensures the
viewer is not watching the same sequence over and over again. For
example, this sequence from my own documentary is using straight
cuts, to break up an interview.
11. Like in real documentaries, the use of creative camerawork and editing
is essential in creating an interesting and eye catching documentary.
Below are examples from my own documentary indicating the creative
camerawork that we used.
Cutaway edited by speeding it up for a ‘whip shot’ like effect panning up the bottle
The sun bed turning on was put in fast motion to make it look like a flash, which is
an eye catching and interesting to show the sun bed.
12. Sound
Conventionally the voiceover is done by an adult male using
Standard English, to make the documentary appear serious
and to make people take notice. We followed this by using a
narrator who fits this, for both our documentary and radio
trailer. Also we used a relevant music bed in our
documentary, for example ‘Bring Me Sunshine’ was used in
our title sequence to connote sun and holidays. This can be
seen in real documentaries like ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’
when Marilyn Manson songs are played in between his
interviews. It is also conventional to make sure this does
not interfere with interviews or voiceovers, which we
ensured in our documentary by constantly checking the
sound levels of our documentary.
