Analysing 'Our School' BBC Documentary

'Our School' BBC Documentary

I have been looking at another school documentary like I did for 'Educating Cardiff' to see what other ideas me and Steven would be able to add into our documentary to see what makes it look more professional. This documentary just like 'Educating Cardiff' and 'Educating Yorkshire' as they both give us an insight about what school life is really like for the students and teachers that go to the school everyday. This is a 'fly on the wall' documentary like most school documentaries but is different to the style of a Channel 4 documentary.

I have been watching 'Our School' a BBC documentary based around the Year 7's and the teachers that have to look after them. This a very different type of school documentary style to Channel 4 because the person doing the voice over is actually a teacher at the school and an former pupil at the school. 'Our School ' is very different to 'Educating Yorkshire' because I believe that the demographic that they are trying to target is not only the older but younger demographic as, it has been released on CBBC which is TV channel for younger children. There will be no bad language that is involved within this documentary because they do not want younger viewers to copy anything that would happen within that sort of documentary. Compared to most Channel 4 documentaries, I believe that they are trying to target the (C2DE) as well because they are the families that would want to watch these types of things about schools. Parents would want to watch this because they would want to find out what secondary school would be like for  Year 7 and how enjoyable it is at that school. They may also want to target their audiences to inspiring teachers because they would wanna see how they could be able to handle a situation and get them prepared for what is going to happen.

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVjiEq-jOrY   

Camera work

During the first few seconds of 'Our School' you can see that this is a 'fly on the wall' documentary as, it looks like you are watching the children through a security camera. From the close up and long shots, the viewer would be able to see what a enjoyable school this is for the young children that come into it. Some of the audience may get an emotional response from seeing this because they would see how much fun all the students are having and they would relate the 'Uses and Gratifications Theory' (Personal Identity) remember the time that they went to school and how much has changed since they was at school. However, for the younger demographic this they would also relate to the 'Uses and Gratificaitons Theory' (Information and Learning) as, they would learn all about what secondary school is like and how much fun they are going to have when they get to it. 

Children having fun when at school

Another shot within the trailer is the extreme long shot of the teacher and his class having a fun lesson learning. This shot would make the audience have an emotional response of happiness because they can see how the teacher is making his lessons fun for the Year 7 students as, it would be a easier way for them to learn. The director would want us to feel this way because he wants to show how good the teachers our at this school for the students to learn. This is a different to Channel 4 school documentary because this one is focusing on one year group and wanting to show the audience how much fun you have when you are in Year 7 but also how much you would actually learn from it as well. The establishing shot of the name of the school which the students have designed would make the audience feel cheerful because the students at the school have designed that for the documentary and shows how much fun they have when they do it as well. The director wants the audience to see this because it shows how much fun the school is going to be during the documentary and the different range of activities that they would get up to in Year 7.

Teacher teaching his class

Mise-en-scene

In the BBC documentary 'Our School', there is a teacher trying to teach his students in the best way possible for them to learn by doing something fun. He is wearing a shirt with some smart trousers which is what most teachers would wear at school and shows how professional the teachers are that work at this school. the audience would see this and have an emotional response of satisfied because they can see that the teacher is dress appropriately and the students are as well which is what me and Steven would want to have within our documentary. The reason why the director wanted to add this into the documentary is because he wants to show how the students are following the school rules by wearing their uniform and making the school seen in a positive light.

  

Teacher dressing appropriately and teaching his class in a fun way 

The performance of the teachers at the school is very professional but also in a way that the students can find funny and enjoy to learn from them. They like to make their lessons fun so that it is the best way for the students to learn and remember it. The director wanted to add this into the documentary because they want to show how the teachers can have a bit of fun but also remain quite happy and want to make the children want to learn and enjoy coming to school.

Sound 

The sound track that is playing during the documentary 'Our School' is very happy and joyful which is because it is on a TV channel that is for children and it is used to make them see that secondary school is fun and that they will enjoy it. This is mainly for the younger demographic so that it keeps them interested in watching the documentary but also for the older demographic as, it shows how fun secondary school is and that their children are going to enjoy it. Just like in 'Educating Cardiff' there is an non-diegtic sound of the school bell ringing which means that the documentary is about to begin just like at school it was for a lesson is about to begin. This would make the older audience have an emotional response and brings back old memories of their school days and makes them feel happy and would make them want to watch more to see how different it is now compared to then.

Extreme long shot of the school corridor 

They have tried to make this documentary based for the younger demographic by adding in a lot of silly sound effects that will make them laugh and continue watching to see if there would be any more like it happen during the rest of the documentary. The director wanted to add this into the documentary because it would make the younger audiences want to stay and watch the rest of the documentary and see what it is like.

Editing

The editing within 'Our School' is very unique and different compared to the Channel 4 documentary 'Educating Yorkshire' because they want to make it more fun and for children so they have added different type of cuts to change within the scenes so it looks different and makes people want to stay and watch it. These sort of cuts make it look like you are looking through a security camera and shows that you are watching everything that they are doing. The director wanted to add this into the documentary because it makes this documentary different and unique compared to every other school documentary that is on the TV.

One of the unique cuts within 'Our School'

They also want to make the it easier for the younger audience to understand because they may not know what somethings mean and it would be easier for them to understand instead of just listen about his story. They have made a profile about what the new teacher at the school is like and that he used to be a former pupil at the school. The director wanted to add this in because it would be easier for the younger audience to understand who he is and so they know who he is when they are watching the whole of the documentary.

Summary

This is very different to the Channel 4 style of documentaries as, this is mainly based for the younger demographic and that they want to make it easier for them to understand. Me and Steven have would discuss whether we should us any of these ideas that they have used within 'Our School' or we should stick with the Channel 4 style.