Codes and Conventions of an Double Page Spread (Magazine Advert)

Codes and Conventions of an Double Page Spread

For the ancillary task, I will head of making the double page spread for the documentary that I will be making with Steven. I will be looking and the codes and conventions of the double page spread so that, I can see what I would have to put onto mine to make it look professional and what you would expect on it.

I have been looking at the double page spread where, they was looking at the new doctor who and giving the reader of the article an insight on what he is like. It has most of the codes and conventions of what you would normally have on an double page spread.

The audience demographic that I think that they are trying to target here is not really an specific age range but a group of people that like to watch doctor who a lot and would want to give them more of an insight about what is going to happen in the new episode and what the new doctor who is like. They would make the new doctor who seen in an positive light and they would like him.

The layout of the double page spread is that they have put the image right across one of the first page and half of the other page and this would instantly be the first thing that the reader would see and would make them think if they would want to read it or not.

The newspaper wants to make the new doctor who come across in an positive way and that he will be the new amazing doctor and get the fans of the TV show to like him and would still watch the TV program. Having the main image of them just about to film and showing the setting would make the viewer that like doctor who reading this article get excited.

The colours that are within the magazine article are bright and very eye catching. They would want this because they want to get the people drawn into this and want them to read this so that it will get more viewers for 'Doctor Who'.

The images on the double page spread overlay and they would want to do this on the double page spread is because they want to direct you to a certain point on the double page spread as it is the biggest thing on the page and it catches your eye first.

The colour of the double page spread which is black and white shows the binary opposite, representing the truth as, seeing things in black and white is a metaphor for the plain truth.

They are using cross promotion within the article to advertise the new series of doctor who so that people would watch it and give the big fans of doctor who and insight on what it is going to be like.

Summary
From doing this research, I can see what I would have to include into the double page spread to make it look professional by using the codes and conventions of an double page spread to help me. I will also see what Steven has got from his research on double page spreads which could help me when I make the actual one.

Genre Post

Genre Post

The background history of my documentary which is observational documentary (fly on the wall). This is where the filmmaker wants the audience to be an neutral observer and in some cases like the Channel 4 documentary 'Benefits Street' to make people think in an negative way when they hear or see someone that is living off of benefits and try to influence there decision and Channel 4 have been doing these sorts of documentaries for years and was really the first ones to do it. Other type of documentary uses observational documentaries is normally nature ones which David Attenbrough narrates through such as 'Blue Planet'. The defining features of my text would be that they do want to to get people to make an decision on certain things in an negative or positive way. This can be seen in most Channel 4 documentaries such as 'Benefits Street' as they us and government ideology to try and get people to think an certain way about them.

The first observational documentary was made in 1960 where the technological developments was no where near as good as the technology used today. They had to use mobile lightweight cameras and also had to use portable sound recording equipment. They often had to use voice over commentary like what some documentaries use now. Some examples of the first observational films/documentaries are; High School (1968), Chronicle Of A Summer (1960) and Michel Brault's Les Racquetteurs (1958).

Link to information: https://collaborativedocumentary.wordpress.com/6-types-of-documentary/

Within my documentary style (Observational documentary) there is sometimes in mostly Channel 4 documentaries also Reflexive documentary mixed in with it as well as, in 'Educating Yorkshire' they want to make the audience feel sympathy for the child that said he had an bad past and would make the audience wonder what he went through and feel sorry or him. I may want to use something like this in my documentary that I am doing with Steven about what school is like but we do not want anything or anyone seen in an negative way. Compared to the Observational documentary, the Reflexive documentary has an bit more history behind it as a lot of documentaries like to look back on the past and explore what happened. This is normal when some companies like to do documentaries 'Titanic' and would go in depth research about it and there have been these sort of documentaries for along time. 

When companies like Channel 4 are trying to put cultural expectations into an observational documentaries they are normally criticized a lot for being completely false or just that company being racist. Such as in 'Benefits Street', most people that lived on that road was not English that made the audience get an impression that they are bad and just want to take are money. Most people thought that what Channel 4 was doing was completely wrong and they tried to make us hate them more by getting the newspapers to take pictures of them on an amazing holiday that most people could not afford. The ideologies that are being established within this genre in political. This can be seen in most of the Channel 4 documentaries such as 'Benefits Street', where the government want us to think that people that live off of benefits are bad people and try to make us hate them and want them out the country.  

With the more technology that is coming into the industry, it has progressed very fast with new technology to film different documentaries in many ways. Such as, in the Channel 4 documentary 'Educating Yorkshire' they used an variety of different camera shots and new was so that they could have every angle of the school covered with cameras, so that they can caught everything on film and make their documentary even better. What the audience would expect from an Channel 4 documentary style like 'Educating Yorkshire' is that they would want to see what the school is like and what the staff and student are like. They would also want to see some entertaining footage from within the school or have an narrative that they could follow which could make them have an emotional response. The advantages of having these types of documentary for the institution is that they would allow the public so see what is going on and to make the public think whatever they want the public to think.

From looking into more detail about the genre and documentary style that I will be doing, I can see what I would have to include into my documentary about school to make it an really good documentary that people would want to watch. I would want to try and copy some of the styles that they use of 'Educating Yorkshire' because I believe that it is an really good example of an Channel 4 observational documentary.

Practice Magazine

Practice Magazine

Me and Steven have being discussing that we should practice are skills on making an magazine which is going to be our ancillary task. I have made an magazine about the documentary and from this when i make the actual one I can add in what I have missed on the practice one.

This is what I have made for my practice magazine and then I can see what I have to improve on when I have to make the actual double page spread for my practical task. I used canva for making this magazine about my documentary but for my practical I could use 'Adobe Fireworks' or 'Adobe InDesign' to make my double page spread. 

Initial Ideas

Initial Ideas

For the documentary that I will be making with Steven Denham and we have both agreed that will want to make an documentary about what secondary school is like. The documentary style that we are trying to recreate the style of Channel 4 documentaries like 'Educating Cardiff' which is an observational genre (fly on the wall style) as we are planning to record around an Southampton secondary school and what it is like.

Me and Steven Denham have assigned each other certain roles that we will have when we are making this documentary. Steven is going to be focusing on the camerawork and mise-en-scene which will be focusing on what is within the filming and I will be looking at sound and editing which is when Steven is happy with the shots and the mise-en-scene, I will be editing and making sure that the sound is ok and fits the documentary.

Ideas     

Me and Steven has discussed the ideas about the documentary and this what we have come up with so far.

• We want to film in one classroom and see what we get from it
• We would want to have interviews with some teachers that work at the school
• Establishing shots of the school to show where we are filming
• We aim to make it an Channel 4 documentary style but with out putting the school in an negative light
• We want to have interviews with school children, to see their positive views on school
• We want an variety of camera shots
• During the documentary we want calming music to show the calming environment.
• We would want an voice over during the documentary which is what they using in most Channel 4 documentaries
• We want to provide an USP to the audience of the documentary

From talking to Steven about are initial ideas, we have both decide what we believe we should have within our documentary such as, an voice over during some of the scenes, establishing shots of the school and we would like some sort of interview with some of the teachers or maybe some students from the school.

Representation in an Documentary

Representation in 'Educating Yorkshire'

I will be looking at another Channel 4 documentary 'Educating Yorkshire' and seeing how some of the people that are in the documentary are represented/ constructed to make the audience feel an certain way about them if it is positive or negative.

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NQGPVv1wDU

I will looking at the teacher's that work at 'Thornhill Community Academy' and how they have been represented during 'Educating Yorkshire'. I will believe that all the teachers have been represented is mostly a positive way during the documentary because they try their hardest to try and help the students do well in school and care about what they get. This can be show in the mid shot when the one of the teachers at the school 'Mr Steer' finds out a student has passed his exam and really happy that they passed, this would represent him in an positive light as he is an hard working teacher to get them to reach their targets and his work has paid off with them passing. The head teacher of the school 'Mr Mitchell' is also seen in an positive light because he likes to jokes about with the students but also has a set of rules that he wants every student to follow. This can be shown when he says in 'They have to dress appropriately' and 'They must turn up to school on time', this would represent him in an positive light because he will just wants the students to follow normal rules and work hard. Another reason why the teachers are seen as positively is because of the smart clothing that they wear and it shows how seriously they take there job and what to do their best for the children, also they passion of the teaching would show the audiences how much they care that their students get good grades and this is seen within one of the trailers when a teacher celebrates when he finds out that his students have passed their exams.

        The Head Teacher 'Mr Mitchell'

I think that the teachers at 'Thornhill Community Academy' are seen by the audience in an positive light and for some of the people that are watching completely not what they would expect from a school that is in decline and an new head teacher trying to change it. Most of the older demographic that are watching this documentary would think that they would need an strict head teacher to come and change the school whereas, the head teacher 'Mr Mitchell' is different as he supports the students and has a laugh with them which most of the older demographic would not expect it to work. There are some ideologies that are beaning represented like the director may want to show the audience this is what schools are like now and would try to get and preferred response from it as he would want them to think that it is better for schools to be like that. 

With this trailer for 'Educating Yorkshire' there are some media theories that I can link this to such as binary oppositions as most head teacher that the older demographic would know, would be very strict on the students and force them to do stuff. However, this is an binary opposition to what the older demographic think of a head teacher whereas, 'Mr Mitchell' is really different to them sort of head teachers as he is soft which is the binary opposite of strict, as he is always there for the students if they need him and believes that school should also be fun as well so that they would want to come into school.

Summary
I would like to focus on one teacher and try to make him be seen in an positive light rather than an negative light because in my documentary I don't want anyone to be seen in an negative light.

Codes and Conventions of Documentaries

Codes and Conventions of Documentaries

I will be looking at the codes and conventions of documentaries that are broadcast by Channel 4 like 'Benefits Street' but also documentaries that are not broadcast by Channel 4 like 'Billionaires Paradise' which is broadcast by the BBC. 

The codes and conventions that I have felt that are in all documentaries are;

• A clear narrative - provides a story line for the viewers
• A fitting setting but depends on the type of documentary
• Low/High key lighting but also depends on the type of documentary
• A voice over - to tell the audience what is happening 
• Wide range of camera shots/movements
• Interviews - to make the audience get to know the people on the documentary
• Establishing shot to establish the setting
• Some documentaries want the audience to see it in an negative light
• They want to get an mixed response from the audience
• Calming soundtrack in the background

But I also looked at just Channel 4 documentaries because that is the style that I would like to do it in. 

• A clear Narrative - so that the audience that would be watching the documentary would follow someones life and try and try to understand what they are going through
• Low/High key lighting - this would depends on what the situation would be during the documentary and if they use natural lighting it could make us as audiences think it's true, real so that we would buy into their ideology; however, it achieves the negative light by not using any filter of lighting or any kind of extra high-key light.
• A voice over - they have voice overs in most of the Channel 4 documentaries, so that the audience would know what is going on during the scene and which drives the narrative.
• Interviews - they have this in Channel 4 documentaries so that they can see what the person that is in the documentary and how they feel
• Establishing shots to establish the setting - they have this a lot in Channel 4 documentaries so that the audience that are watching would see the setting and understand what is it like for them
• Negative light - Channel 4 like to have there documentaries in an negative light like 'Benefits Street' because they want to get more publicity from it
• Mixed response from the audience - Channel 4 like to make people when they watch it feel different things (sympathy or anger) and would get an people talking about it to get more publicity
• Calming soundtrack in the background - to maybe contrast to what is on the the documentary and make it seem in a happier light

Summary

I would be using some of these styles within my documentary like an voice over, a clear narrative, calming soundtrack and maybe some interview with the teachers or students that go to the school so that we can make our documentary look professional.