FINAL PRODUCTION

Radio Trailer

Magazine Spread

Media Theories

Media Theories

In our production piece we chose a female character to act in our documentary because in this society women are seen as sympathetic and vulnerable which would make the piece more powerful than using a male character. In addition, having a female character will get the audience sympathise more with her than using a male character. The reason for this is that men are viewed as sturdy and powerful making the audience find it hard to empathize with them.

In the documentary, Naomi has got an illness which views women as weak and pathetic. However, Naomi is perceived in a positive light as she is representing women as strong minded and goes against the ideology of female stereotype. Although the production piece can satisfy the male gaze, it doesn’t relate to the female gaze.

In the documentary, a Marxist view is reflecting society not criticising it. So its reflecting how in society, illnesses occur and people have to fight them in order to overcome the pain and hurt. However, in a real media production, the illness can be a powerful disease which can override someone’s enjoyment of life.

Life journal slideshow

I used Life Journal for my media work, however, it was impossible to show my work in that format instead I had to transer it to my blog.


Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Life journal slideshow

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Time Management

What have you learnt from your audience's feedback?

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Feedback From The Documentary
Throughout our journey in finalising the finishing product, we got mixed opinions from everyone bringing attention to the main media conevntions, camera angles, framing and narration used to compose the final product.

In the documentary a non-diegetic instrumental piece by Adele 'someone like you' is because it was relevant to use as the tempo varies throughout the documentary. Sometimes it is a quick tempo especially at the end and other times the piece has a low tempo to conveny different emotions that David is feeling in the documentary. From our adience's feedback about the music, 65% loved the intruments used as they convenyed a story of sadness which made it easier to engage with the victim of schizophrenia whereas 35% thought that the music didnt intervine with the narration of the story.  Also the audience liked the use of linear editing to create a story as the transitions were smooth and not too abstract.

The style of editing was a montage. A montage is a series of shots used in a sequence. So relating to the documentary, images of David were used as David was addressing the issue of schizophrenia developing in childhood and how segragated he was from the rest of the world. From the audience's feedback, they thought that the montage was a thought out idea and it really worked with the documentary. Although we mastered the montage, lighting was an issue when it came to filming outside. the viewers thought that it was too dark. However, we didnt use any additional lights, we only used natural lighting. The audience thought that the typography at the beginning made the documentary very informative which is really helpful especially for someone who doesn't know anything about schizophrenia. In addition, the subjects's background is a personal perspective so the audience found it easily believable.

Feedback from the magazine

The audience disagreed with our distribution of ITV that we advertised at the left hand corner of the magazine. They felt that we should have broadcasted our documentary on channel five and channel four as they have a mass audience opposed to ITV which has a niche audience. Also, documentaries are normally featured and aired on channels four and five. However, my partner and I thought that channel four has documentaries such as Embarrsaing bodies and Cutting edge, and channle five has Extraordinary people. We felt that, our documentary will not sell that much on channel four and five because the series are similar to the our one which will affect our documentary tremendously.

The audience felt that images used in the magazine spread did not capture the main intentions of the documentary. Perhaps, if we were to recreate this, we could consider the composition of the images. This would include the camera shots and angles, mise en scene and lighting.

The typography of the magazine spread was Arial, size 12. From the audience's feedback, they thought that we could have added colour to the font of the main text  and perhaps to experiment with the use of color because it captures and attracts the audience's eye.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Research stages

In these stages, google and youtube were the main media technologies used to get an idea about documentaries in the film industry. Google is mainly used for any research, so in our documentary, google was used mainly to research about schizophrenia (diagnosis, symptoms and treatments), interviews (structured and unstructured) and conventions and codes of documentaries. Youtube was my main media tecchnology in researching about various types of documentaries. This media technology was used to look up other types of documentaries and to establish the type of style that is consistant throughout each documentary.

A youtube account was created to make it easier to upload videos of my documentary and radio trailer which enabled ,our documentary to get more views and also allow other viewers to comment on our products.

Planning Stages 



We used microsoft powerpoint to create a moodboard. Using microsoft was very easy because I was much more farmiliar with the technology however, it restricted me to make the moodboard more advanced as the technology only features basic tools. This was not the best technology to use because Microsoft powerpoint is mainly used for slideshows not for images.



 Paint was used to create the images in the storyboard. We wanted to use paint because it is fun and easy to use.



 



Evaluation Stages



The digital camera was really useful to take pictures of our magazine. The pictures were more professional than if we used our phones to take the pictures. The digital camera that we used is a compact digital camera, so this means it was much easier to carry and did not get misplaced very easily. We also used it to take still photographs like the ones on the magazines.

                                                                                                                                           

                                                

The blazkberry curve was mainly for ordinary pictures for example the ones on the blog. The reason why we chose the phone because we wanted them to be natural and not too professional. The phone is a really effective technology but sometimes we suffered with the lighting. The blackberry was a means of communication between my partner and I in terms of our production.                                                     

Facebook was to adverise the documentary and see the audience's feedback from what they gathered about the documentary. The reason why we chose facebook its because the documentary is towards teens and young adults and that is the age group that is dominating facebook at the moment.







The macs were used for editing our film, radio trailer and magazines. Last year from September to January, we did not have access to the macs because they were not installed yet so this had a downhill on our work as we did not have anywhere to edit. This year in February, the macs were set up and they were useful in post-production.

The macs had different technologies such as Final Pro Cut, Photoshop, Indesign and Photo booth. Learning how to use these new technologies was very challenging because it was really complicated compared to the technologies used in my AS production work. To resolve these challenges, I used youtube as a means of learning how to use Final Pro Cut. Tutorials on youtube enabled me to grasp the whole concept of Final pro cut and from there it was an easy step in editing my work. Photoshop and Indesign were not that hard to learn become I already came across them in AS, so in A2 it was not that of a challenge compared to Final Pro cut.  

Advantages of final Cut Pro is that it allows the user to work with several audios and mix them anyhow you prefer. So it gives the user the flexibility to do whatever they want and that was what we really found interesting. In addition, Final cut pro gives the user the advantage of laying several layers of video on the screen at once so youre able to edit them one by one.  

We used the camera for our main filming. This camera is a new edition so the filming was more professional as it was effective than using a video camera. This camera is has good lighting and sound which gives the film a higher level compared when using a video camera. We also used it for our radio trailer because its a much more powerful tool when it comes to sound compared to a normal digital camera

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I believe that the combination of my main product and ancillary products have been very effective and very successful because they all have a relationship that can be established.

In both my documentary and radio trailer I have used the same type of music which is melancholy and establishes a mood of sadness which is what the audience is supposed to feel. Furthermore, the music makes the audience sympathize more with the character and it reveals the breakdown of David through his journey of schizophrenia.

 I used "someone like you" by Adele. The instruments in this song are so powerful that they can have different interpretations. However, I believe that listening to this song is like climbing a hill slowly by slowly but then at the end, you start walking faster and faster because you have achieved somenthing. So refering back to the documentary, at the biginning, David is foretelling how he was first diagnoised with schizophrenia when he was young, the music reflects the storyline David is foretellling to the audience. The storyline itself, is engaging.

The colour scheme; black, red and white is consistant in the dodumentary and radio trailer. These colours were used to give both products a professional. Red as a color on the magazine connotes intensity of the subject - schizophrenia. Schizophrenia as a mental illness is viewed as a dangerous illness and red reflects the subject of the documentary. White is for purity and this is conveyed through David's language in both the documentary, radio trailer and the magazine. Black is for emptiness which refers to David who felt empty and alone, segragated from the scary world. All the colors we used represent something in all the products.

The documentary was my main product, with the advert and double page spread as the ancillary texts. I feel that the combination of my products was very successful. I think there is a consistent house style, which is important in keeping the image of the documentary easily recognisable. I chose to use images from my documentary in my other products to keep a consistent style. This also means it would be easy to tell that the three products stem from the same purpose.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Use of a narrator

Most documentaries usually feature a narrator in a documentary, so they inform, explain and provide opinions of what is going to occur in the documentary. They are usually speaking while the camera is filming to add an effect to the documentary to keep the audience interested.

For instance in the clip of extraordinary people, the narrator acts as a bridge in scenes where it might be confusing and baffling to the audience.

In our documentary, we used this convention by including a narrator at the begginning of the documentary in order to make sense to the audience especially the sequence when David is walking into the school building. Using a narrator at that sequence means that they will be introducing David and what they documentary is going to be all about. In addition, using equipments such as a flip cam will be very problematic as they do not have high quality sound which will make it challenging to have because a documentary must have a sense of realism and verisimilitude.

Although we also felt that the storyline speaks for itself especially the interviews between David and the psychiatrist however from the audiences feedback they thought that a narrator is needed to make easier for it easier to understand what is going on.


Use of reconstructions
Another convention of a documentary is the use of reconstructions to provide factual information and to give a sense of realism to the audience as if the actual event was live. Most reconstructions are acted out and they are based on information of the event. Relating it to my media product, for my first draft, we did not use any reconstruction because it did not really work with our documentary. Conversely, in our main documentary, the use of reconstruction was done when David was talking about the symptoms of schizophrenia he was experiencing during his manic stage.



Use of Silhoettes

Silhouettes are used in the main documentary to move the audience’s attention from the interview to a moving image that might be interesting to the viewers.

Technicality Of Realism

Another convention of a documentary is the technicality of realism. In most documentaries, the idea of realism must be natural so the audience can relate to it very easily creating a sense sympathy. In our documentary, the use of sound was used to relate to the storyline so the audience will be intrigued and would ask themselves questions such as "What is he doing now to overcome his illness". Such questions arising shows a sense of achievement in producing a documentary. 

Shot Composition

We used a verity of shots to anchor meaning to what people were saying in our documentary, as well as other visuals for the audience to link to the subject. The interviews we have provided in our documentary, give both fact and opinion from people on the street to professionals in the field. This is fantastic for the audience because it lets them make there own mind up to what information is being handed to them.

Mise en Scene

Finally the mise en scene in our documentary was conventional as it related to the subject and the person who was being interviewed. During Davids interview, the mise en scene was an image of sixth formers and this was represented through the use of shot composition.

Non-Diegetic Sound

Although in most documentaries they use non - diegetic sound however, they pause or stop the music at certain points. This is a contrast to our documentary as we use the sound all the way through the documentary to create similar feelings in the audience and this is portrayed through the actors body language and emotive language.

Use of a female expert

In the documentary, we take advantage of using a female expert to inform the audience about schizophrenia. This is portrayed through the use of facts, emotive language and statics. In most documentaries, a male expert is used to inform the viewers about an event, situation or illness. In our documentary we chose a female expert is because women are seen as nurturing, sympathetic and caring so using a female means that the audience would relate to her more.

Evaluation of magazine

Evaluation Of Magazine on Prezi

 

Most magazine spreads usually feature the main masthead on top of the magazine, an image of the main person with an inside exclusive interview about their lifestyle and the recent gossip buzzing around, a quote from the main person themselves in bold, interview, same colour scheme consistent throughout the magazine and underlying gossip, recent stories and competitions for interested readers.

For the magazine I created, uses these conventions: magazines masthead, an image of the person on the spread, other TV series that are happening. This proves that the magazine I created does use the form and conventions similar to a real media production.

 The quote from David Failler in the magazine “No one can get through it alone” shows how far he has come to be able to overcome his fears of schizophrenia.  His image is presented as powerful and this is represented through the use of camera work. The low angle shot/mid shot shows how much strength he has in terms of fighting this illness. His main aim is relating to peoples feelings and touching their hearts by this unbreakable story. I used this quote because alot of schizophrenics feel alone and abandoned however David tries to tell his audience that they can get through it with determination.

For my media product, this magazine spread is mainly aimed for both genders because both females and males can relate to David's story. The man posed on the spread cccentuates knowledge but also gives an idea of information in the spread.  This dominates the dominant ideology that most people featured in magazine spreads try to relate to what the interview is going to be about. This is what I was trying to accomplish with the pose and the movement of the body. 

The male featured on the spread is fully dressed; however  the shot composition shows the ideas and thoughts going through his minbd which reflects most schizophrenics. 

For my inside exclusive interview of the artist, emergent ideology is viewable on both the front cover and the double page interview.

 For magazine spread my main target audience was for ages 16-25. This is because I felt that the connotations used within the magazine would appeal more to this age range than for other ages. The vibrant colours used are intentionally used to mainly stereotype this type of target audience.

I believe that the connotations used within my magazine attracts a more serious audience with the colours and pictures used for the magazine. Connotation of the colour red presents a feeling of danger which can be refered to most schizophrenics but also a sparkling energetic vibe that will attract a lot of people. However combining black, white with red can relate to males and females. This in return creates a centre of attention to a wider audience for my magazine.

 The language used in the interview is formal but at the same informative. This shows that David really wants his audience to be able to learn something from the interview.

In addition my magazine is a low cost budget so its not too expensive to put the readers off.

Technologies from the process of constructing this product were:

•

• Photoshop
• •In design
• •Microsoft PowerPoint
• •Digital camera
• •Internet Explorer

I have learnt a great deal about these technologies and they have helped me a lot during the process of my magazine spread.

Digital Camera 

I used the digital camera to take the finest pictures for my magazine spread. It was really useful because it wasn’t like a traditional camera where the pictures turned up blurry and also the digital camera had a lot of options like the settings. The digital camera also conserves large amount of space which enabled me to take many pictures as I like and at the end I would be able to chose what kind of pictures stand out. This was useful because I was able to see how the pictures look on a wider screen and then I can alter the settings like camera angles or lightning and take more pictures.

 I tried to use different types of shots. In the feature page I used a low angle shot to connote power.

Photoshop

I used Adobe Photoshop to edit and manipulate my pictures so that they can look real and professional. If my pictures were left original like before  they wouldn’t look as professional for a global magazine.

Indesign

 

I used In design to make the actual look of the magazine. Most of my magazine was made by this technology because it includes all the appropriate tools.

Microsoft Powerpoint

 

Microsoft PowerPoint was really useful because it was used for my evaluation and my planning. I used this tool because its easier and its more interactive than using Microsoft Word. Its more enjoyable and engaging using Microsoft PowerPoint because on each slides, there isn’t a lot of information.

COMPARISON TO MY AS MAGAZINE SPREAD

Looking at both magazines, progression can be made straight away from the layout to the fonts and to the colours used. My skills have developed from my music magazine to my TV Guru magazine. I developed my in indesign however I had little knowledge on the advanced technologies like Photoshop or in design.

Straightaway, the editing of both images differs in numerous ways. The music magazine image clearly looks like it was just placed on the cover without no editing involved. However in TV Guru magazine, the image looks professional like it would be found on a normal music magazine. It also reflects on what the interview is going to be based on.

For my music magazine the layout is very consistent and looks appealing and engaging to the readers however, its just too plain which might be boring to the readers compared to the TV Guru magazine which is full of colour and very vibrant.

The colours used on the music magazine are pink, grey, black and white. These colours give a feeling of fun and enjoyment. However using this colours only attracts females and not males so this might put some readers off.

The language in the music magazine especially in the interview is formal but at the same has an amusing side to it. This shows that the artist puts a lot of effort in what she does also she enjoys her profession like performing in tours or award shows. In addition my magazine is a low cost budget so its not too expensive to put the readers off. In the TV Guru, the language is formal and informative because it is about a serious issue.

Overall I believe I have improved from my AS magazine to my A2 magazine.