Analysing Educating Yorkshire Trailer

Summer Transition work

I will be looking at another clip from my genre and analyzing it in detail like I did for 'Benefits Street'. I will be analysing the trailer for 'Educating Cardiff' which is another one of Channel 4's documentaries to show what life is like for students and for the teachers of 'Willows High School'. Channel 4 have done a 'fly on the wall' documentary were the audience can see everything without them knowing. I will be looking at; Mise-en-scene, Camera work, Editing and Sound.

I have been watching the trailer for 'Educating Cardiff' on Channel 4's official YouTube channel. The audience that they are trying to target is mixed genders and over the age of 16+, as during the documentary it does involve; bad language which some younger viewers may find disturbing and violence which young viewers may try to copy. Compared to the other Channel 4 documentary that I watched which was 'Benefits Street' they both target their audience at C2 because they show the bad side of life and things that could happen to the people that do it. Watching these sort of Channel 4 documentaries make the audience that are watching it, have an emotional response to what the would see on the TV show. Another reason why they target C2 audiences is that probably went to that kind of comprehensive school themselves, and might be interested in watching it. They would try and target the lower social and economic groups (C2DE) because they are people that normal just watch TV a lot, so they would try and target it to them and hope that they would watch it. However, they may also want the ABC1 audience as well which is, teachers that are interested in other schools or parents wanting an insight within schools. They would also target them because the teachers would wanna compare their school to theirs and parents would want to see what experience that their children would encounter or what they are going to encounter when they go to high school. 

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IDFzaC-eAc

Camera work 

At the beginning of the trailer for 'Educating Cardiff', there is a wide shot of the schools sign saying who the main teachers within the school are and the schools slogan 'Belong, Believe, Achieve'. This shot would instantly tell the audience what the school are trying to do and who are the main teachers that are trying to make this school succeed. Some of the audience may get an emotional response from seeing the slogan that is not the sign and feel sorry for the teachers that are working at the school as they are trying to make these children have a better future and some of the children are not making it easy for the teachers. A reason why the director may have but this shot in is because it would show what the school is trying to be like but then shows what the school is really like compared to what they said. 

Wide Shot of 'Willows High School' slogan

Another shot within the trailer is when a young girls slams the door against the wall destroying a bit of school property when the teacher is trying to talk to her. This shot would get an emotional response out of the audience as they would feel really upset for the teacher that it try to sort things out but the student is just making things even worst and also make them know how hard a job the teachers of that school have to do. The director has also put this in not just to feel sorry for the teacher but also as an educational response as, the teenagers that may be watching the documentary what they should not be doing during school and see what causes of doing that sort of stuff could be, and could end up making them stop doing it. The shot of when the headteacher of the school 'Joy Ballard' is hugging one of the students to try and make them feel better when they are upset. This would get an big emotional response from the audience as, it would show that no matter what the teachers are always there for the student if they are upset and would try and make them feel better and this may make the audience cry because they see the teachers trying to help the students when they need it and not just leave them alone. This shows an ideology that teachers are positive when, normally in the press they are seen in an negative light. The director has add that into the trailer because he is try to take us on a emotional roller-coaster as he it shows us the bad side of the school but also the good side as he wants the audience to keep on watching.  

Link to BBC news article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30648480 

Mise-en-scene
In the trailer for the Channel 4 documentary 'Educating Cardiff'', there is a teacher talking to a student who is sitting on the chair not wearing the school uniform and just clothes that she wants to wear. The audience would see this and have an emotional response because the student is not following the school rules by not having the correct uniform and would make them angry but also quiet upset for the teacher, as the school has set up some rules that they expect every single children that attend their school to follow and they are not doing it. The reason why the director may have put this is in, is because he wants wants to show what the teachers of 'Willows High School' have to deal with everyday and would just want to show how hard they work to keep it running.

Mid-long shot of teacher talking to student

Another shot were I analysed the mise-en-scene is when an student throws a book across the table at another student right in front of the teacher. This would get an emotional response of angry but also confusion as, they would not know why the student would do that to another pupil right in front of the teacher as well, as they should know that they are going to get in trouble and it may make people think that they want to get into trouble? A reason why the director may have put this into the trailer is because people may see it and think it looks interesting and would keep doing it to make the audience keep coming back to watch every episode that they release. The performance of the teachers when he wants the students to go inside as this would get an emotional but also very educational response from the audience as, the audience would feel happy for the teacher that the students are listening to him and do what they are told. However, it is also an educational response from the younger audience because they would see that they would have to do what the teacher says otherwise there would be trouble.


Sound
The sound that is going on during the trailer for 'Educating Cardiff' is very loud and dramatic sounds but are mainly dialogue coming from the teachers that work at the school or the pupils that go to the school. At the beginning of the trailer you here an non-diegetic sound of a school bell ringing which would make the audience that would be watching the documentary that is about to begin and it may be the beginning of a journey that the director of the documentary would like the audience to embark on, to see what it is like for some of the students and teachers that work at 'Willows High School'. The director would also want the older viewer, when they hear the non-diegtic sound of the school bell to remember all the old memories that they had when they was at school and would try an compare it to the modern day schools. This is an emotional response that the director would be trying to get from his audience if it is in a good way with good memories or a bad day with bad memories.

The Headteacher 'Joy Ballard'

Another bit of sound that was mainly in the documentary was dialogue. I will be looking at the dialogue when the teacher says to the class "I will be your teacher all the way till GCSE'S" and the students responses with "Oh, kill me now". This would get an emotional response from the audience that are watching the documentary, as they would feel sympathy for the teacher because of the students not wanting to have her as an teacher all the way to GCSE and do not want to work or do any of the work the teacher asks. This would also be an educational response because it could be teaching the younger viewers that are watching the documentary what they should not be doing and to do what the teacher says all the time. The voice-over from the schools head teacher 'Joy Ballard' saying "I don't think that is it fare that, your postcode can determine your life chances". This would get an big emotional response form the audience of sympathy again because at 'Willows High School' they have a head teacher that believes in every single on of the student that go there and that she don't think it is right that people can't get certain jobs because of their postcode. The director would of wanted to put this into the trailer because it is the beginning of the journey that she wants her pupils to make and don't want a postcode to affect where they should work.


Editing
The editing for the Channel 4 documentary 'Educating Cardiff' starts off very slow paced with the teacher talking to the pupil in the room but then turns into fast paced editing with short and fast straight cuts to give the audience that would be interested in watching the series a chance to see what the school is like and what the teachers have to deal with everyday. The reason why the director would want to put this into the trailer for the documentary is because he would want to get the audience to come back and watch it every week to find out what is going on every week and see what kind of an emotional response that they would get from it.

Documentaries like 'Educating Cardiff' and 'Benefits Street' are what Channel 4 are really good at making as, they know how to get an emotional response out of the audience and would want them to come back every week to watch the next episode.

    
















Summary
From looking and analyzing at 'Educating Cardiff'' which is like what the type of documentary that I would like to make. I can see what would be really good to include within my documentary like the camera shots and make my documentary look professional.

Narrative Theory In Documentaries

I am going to be looking at the narrative theory in documentaries such as benefits street.
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkKJQF1xSJU

Propp's Theory

Propp's theory was published in 1928 about his ideas on character types, after studying folk tales and legends. His theory has 8 different characters which are;

• The Hero - a character that seeks something
• The Villain - who opposes or actively blocks the hero quest
• The Donor - who provides an object that helps the hero
• The Dispatcher - who sends the hero on the quest
• The False Hero - who disrupts the hero's success by making false claims
• The Helper - who helps the hero with him journey 
• The Princess - acts as the reward for the hero
• The Father - who acts to reward the hero for his effort

What character types are in the narrative of the video you have studied?
In the Documentary that I am studying about Benefits Street, there are some of the characters from Propp's theory within the documentary. The Hero has been shown within the documentary as one of the main people within the documentary 'White Dee' goes around benefits street helping the people that live there and they call her an hero. However, you could also say that 'White Dee' is also seen as an father figure around benefits street as, she keeps everyone in place but she is also motherly as well because she takes care of the children and the people that live on 'James Turner Street'. White Dee is seen to challenge the gender roles as, she is motherly and fatherly art the same time throughout the documentary, but she is also seen as strong, whereas traditional roles for females have been more subordinate and lower status in the past. However, to the audience that are watching it, she maybe seen as an villain because they want to show people that live off of benefits in an negative way and to the audience she could be seen as lazy as,  she in living off of benefits and does nothing to get it whereas, compared to people that have an job and work for their money. To some of the audience she would be seen as 'the best of a bad bunch' and this is an political ideology to make us feel that people that are living off of benefits are lazy.

How useful is applying Propp's character types to your video, and why?
I believe that applying Propp's character types to my video is not that useful because there is only 2 characters from Propp's theory of character types that is seen within my documentary whereas, other documentary's may have more than 2 of Propp's character types

Can you think of any reasons it might be limiting and narrowing to read your text like this? 
A reason why it might be limiting or narrowing when I read my text is because the characters from Propp's theory does not really link to my type of documentary that I am studying.

White Dee from Benefits Street

Levi-Strauss Theory

Claude Levi-Strauss theory was about binary opposition and they used these in stories, plays and some films as well. Some examples of his theory are; 

• Good/Bad
• Day/Night
• Light/Dark

What binary opposition types are in the narrative of the video you have studied?

Within my documentary about Benefits Street you can see some of Levi-Strauss theory about binary opposition. One of the binary oppositions that has been used within the documentary is Good/Bad. This can be seen when they are showing you around benefits street from the children running around playing to the people throwing the rubbish into the middle of the road. You can also see Light/Dark as, White Dee see's the lighter side of what is happening to them and trying to make people enjoy it whereas, other people are not only see it in an bad and dark way. Within 'Benefits Street' there are binary opposites of dirty houses / lazy people and to the audience viewing this, they would see this a bad thing and see everyone who lives off of benefits in the same way and stereotype them. 

What binary oppositions are useful theory to apply to your video's narrative/character types? 

The binary oppositions of Good/Bad and Light/Dark are very useful when it comes to applying it to my video narrative as, most of the binary oppositions that are in his theory I can link to my documentary. There is proof of these within 'Benefits Street' as dirty house/lazy people and this is the main narrative that is within this documentary.

Is there any reason that picking out binary opposites might limit you in understanding the meanings in your production?

A reason that picking out the binary oppositions might limit my understanding is that using some of these binary oppositions it may not make me get the full understanding about what could also be going on within the scene.

Roland Barthes Theory

Roland Barthes Theory is about the negotiated meaning between institution and audience throughout an storyline. Roland Barthes was also known for 'Barthes Codes which is the enigma code.

What meanings are produced by your narrative (storyline)?

The meaning of the storyline within my documentary which is Benefits Street is about what it is like for people that live off of benefits and how they live there life. The meanings of negotiated is used a lot throughout the whole of 'Benefits Street' as the director would want us to feel an certain way about the people that live off of benefits if it was in a good or bad way.

What cultural meanings/experiences could a viewer bring,that may influence them to read your text differently?

For the viewer they would be able to get all new understandings about cultural meanings and experiences as, there is a lot of different people from different countries living there and they would see an new way that other people would live. One of the main cultural meanings that is within 'Benefits Street' that they are trying to make us feel that people that live off of benefits are bad people that do nothing and are getting money from it with is an political ideologies.  

Todorov's Theory 

Tzvetan Todorov's theory had 5 stages to an narrative which are;

• Equilibrium 
• A disruption of this equilibrium by an event
• A realisation that a disruption has happened 
• An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
• A restoration of equilibrium - which may be a new equilibrium

How does it apply to your narrative? How useful is it to understand your text?

In my documentary which is Benefits Street, they have used some of these 5 stages within the making of it. They normally have it as an calm state of mind everyone is happy and just chilling out but then it changes like there is an fight or something happens but then it does back to be calm again. This is kind of useful to my text as it sometimes happens but not all of the time.

Why could putting your storylines into Todorov categories be quite limiting?

I thinking that this would be quite limiting because you would have to do it all the time in the same structure and it may get very boring for the viewer to watch.

Final Questions

Which theory from Barthes/Hall, Levi-Strauss and Todorov was most useful to analyse your narrative and why?

I think that Levi-Strauss theory is the most useful theory for me to use for my narrative because I can link a lot of the theory to my narrative within my documentary.

Which theory was least useful to analyse your narrative and why?

I thinking that Propp's theory was the least useful for my documentary because I can hardly link any of the characters to the people from benefits street. 

Summary
With Propp's theory, I may want to add into my some of his theories like having a main person (Hero) but I do not want to add all of these theories in because it would turn into more of an story than an documentary. However, with Todorov's theory I would like to have this is my documentary because it would take the audience on an emotional roller coaster about the person that is in the documentary. 

Genre Theory: Rick Altman

Rick Altman Theory (1999)

In Rick Altman's theory which he discussed in 1999, he argues that the genre offers audiences 'a set of pleasure' that we can see when watching an documentary like in Benefits street. Rick Altman talked about these three theories also called 'genre pleasures' that the audience would get from watching an documentary. 

1. Emotional pleasures (Audiences emotional response) 

2. Visceral pleasures (The audiences deep feeling and emotional reactions)

3. Intellectual puzzle (Gives an audience an thrill and offers pleasure of the unexpected)

What genre is your media text?

With my genre to do for my coursework which is observational but also could be an educational documentary as, benefits street we are observing the people that are a part of the benefits street documentary and try to get the audience to judge them. However, it is also has an educational aspect as, you can also look at what happens to people when they are living of benefits and could teach the younger demographic that may be watching the documentary to stay in education and get good grades so that they do not end up living off of benefits like the people in the documentary.

'White Dee from Benefits Street'

  

How does the genre make you feel?

My emotional response to my media text which is benefits street was that I fell sympathy for the people that live there as, they can not do that much to change it but I also feel a bit shocked that what has happened to the people that live there and how they have ruined there life by not staying in education and staying away from drugs and alcohol. The genre of reflexive, educational and expository makes me feel terrible that the audience that are watching the documentary are judging the people because of how they live even though it may not be their fault for them being in that situation but watching these people and how they live also has an educational factor as it can teach the younger generations that may be watching the documentary how to stay away from what has happened to these people and have an brighter future.

I have learn't a lot from watching the documentary benefits streets as the genre of observational and educational values made me want to stay away and not be like what the people are on the show as, they have ruined their lives by not staying in education or taking drugs and alcohol. However, some of the younger demographic may want to be like them because the people off of benefits street are becoming celebrities and people would want to be like them as the news article about an star from the show went on an 5 star break which the younger demographic may want.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3095304/Fame-Benefits-Street-star-Little-Dot-toasts-new-celebrity-status-lager-hot-tub-five-star-break.html 

What are the main codes and conventions of the genre?      

One main code and conventions that has been used during the trailer of 'Benefits Street' is an voice over. This is an Participatory mode as, it is like someone is acting as god and is talking about what it going on during the scene and would try and make the audience feel an certain way towards the people that would live off of benefits if it was positive or negative. This would link to Stuart Hall's theory of 'audience positioning theory' and  negotiated reading as, the director would want us to feel an certain way but we may also disagree with it as well. Another main code and conventions that has been used during the trailer is interview. This is Expository mode as, they ask the people that are in the documentary questions about their life and makes the audience gets an better understanding about what he people that live off of benefits is like.

Another main code and conventions that has been used in the trailer for 'Benefits Street' is sound. This is an Poetic mode as, they use the music that is playing during the trailer to make the people start to feel an certain way about the people that live on benefits street. This can also like to Stuart Hall's theory and they use negotiated theory as some of the audience that would watch this documentary would feel sorry fro the people that live off of benefits street but, some of the audience would hate this because they believe that they should not be on benefits and that they would just make money of of this which some of the stars of the show have such as White Dee who was the star of the documentary from series 1.

What demographics/sub-culture is your media text targeting? How?

The media text that I am covering which is 'Benefits Street' an Channel 4 documentary, they would target this documentary to the younger demographic but also at C2 (working class people)or above because the audience that would be watching this show would always judge the people that are on TV like in my media text we would have the people that would live on benefits as, most people that would watch it would judge them as stupid or disgusting compared to the way that the audience would live. The producer of the documentary would use this such as; Mise-en-scene, camera work, sound and editing to try and make the people that live off of benefits look bad.   

They use costume to portray them as bad

Use the theories of Rick Altman to go into detail about the pleasures of watching your media text.

When watching my media text (Benefits Street) the pleasures that I have felt when I was watching it was, the emotional pleasures. When I was watching the people sitting on an sofa in the road smoking makes me feel sympathy for them as, they have nothing to live for so they sit on an sofa in the road. But I also feel angry because they have ruined their life's but just sit around all day and do nothing and this would also be most of the audiences reaction when the would of first seen this as well.

Another pleasure from Rick Altman's theory is that the audience would have Visceral pleasures. When the audience would see the scene when the people that live on benefits street and they are throwing the rubbish into the middle of the road, this would make the audience feel shocked about what they are doing but also make them wonder why they are doing it as it will just make their neighbor hood look even worse on TV.

What are the most popular genres in the brief you have picked.
I think that the most popular genre that is used in documentaries is normally about animals or nature which is mainly shown on channels like BBC or the natural geographic channel. These are always narrated by the same the who is 'David Attenborough ' and that is why these documentaries are so well know. For example, the BBC made an documentary about the greater barrier reef with David Attenborough narrating about what is going on. BBC are known for their animal documentaries like; The ocean of giants and journey into the amazon.

Summary Looking at Rick Altmans theory, I would like to get my audience to have an emotional response (emotional pleasures) with my documentary that I am going to make as, it seems to make the audience get attached to the people that star within the documentary.

Institution Research 2

Institution Research 2

I will be watching a part from the Channel 4 documentary 'Benefits Street'. I am watching this because it shows what some people in England are like and how they feel about it, this is what I would want to do for my documentary about what school is really like. I will be looking at the Mise-en-scene, Camera work, Editing and Sound.

I am watching the 'Benefits Street' trailer for series 1 and episode 1 on the Channel 4 official YouTube channel. The audience that have been targeted for this is an mixed gender but over the age of 17+ as, it does have some bad language, bad violence and does show the bad side off life. Channel 4 would of targeted their audience for above C2 because D/E are the ones that they are doing the documentary about so they would want to target above it (C2) to the people that work and show them the other side of life.   

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkKJQF1xSJU

Camera work
At the beginning of the scene, there is an establishing and high angle shot to show the area that they would be filming around which is on 'James Turner Street' in Birmingham and to show that to the people that are watching this documentary feel like they are looking down on the people that live off of benefits. Another shot within the trailer is the two shot when you see the two people sitting on the sofa outside someone's house with rubbish in the road as well. This would show that what it is like for these people to live on benefits and could also show that they may be throwing their life away as the rubbish could symbolizes their life and what has happened to them. The Bird Eye View shot that has been used in the documentary where, it looks down on 'James Turner Street' (Benefits Street) has been put in by the director because it could represent how most of the audience that are watching it are think about the people that live on benefits street as, most people would look down at them and make them feel weak because they do not have an job and have ruined their lives..

Birds Eye View Shot On Benefits Street

Another shot that is also in the trailer for 'Benefits Street' is the long shot of the man talk about the rubbish in the road and this shows that they do not want to live like this but they have to as they live off of benefits and the meaning for them doing this is because to show the impact of what happen's to your life if you do not have an job. The reason why they have filmed it in that is way is because that we get to see what is like on 'James Turner Street' and the 13 different nationalities that live there. The extreme long shot at the end of the trailer, where you see the three people walking past the sign saying 'James Turner Street' has been used to show what the people that live on benefits street are like and how they feel about it. This shot makes me feel sympathy for the people that live on benefits street as, they live in an bad area and that the younger generation that is growing up their would not have an bright future. The director has filmed it in that way because it shows what type of people live on benefits street and what the entrance of benefits street looks like.

Mise-en-scene
In the trailer for 'Benefits Street' is when you see the three people outside of their house smoking. The clothes (costume) that they are wearing shows that they are in an isolated and broken down environment which impacts them because they can not get that much money and live off of benefits but also the children that are in this trailer are mainly wearing brightly coloured clothing and this could show that they do not care where they live as long as the have a family and friends that care and this creates an meaning to the audience of the shock of people that live off of benefits and how they live. The performance of the people that are throwing some rubbish onto the road shows that they are do not care about their life as they live off of benefits and that is their only income so they do not really care what is going to happen. This creates an meaning of disbelief as the audience would not of know how it would feel to be living off of benefits and live in an area like that.

The rubbish thrown on to the streets

The lighting on the people when they are putting the rubbish into the road is natural lighting but this could also show that even though that they live off of benefits, they can still have fun even the way that they live. The Performance that has been used at the beginning of the trailer when, you see the woman walking down the road talking about the people being unemployed. The reason why the producer wants to use this in the Channel 4 documentary is because he wants the audience that are going to watch it to see what it how many people on 'James Turner Street' (Benefits Street) do not have a job and how it affects their life's.

Sound 
The Sound that is going on during the trailer for 'Benefits Street' is mainly an depressing and very dramatic sound that is made by an piano and shows how the people that live on 'James Turner Street' feel all the time and also shows that they are in a economic crisis. The Voice over that is going on throughout most of the trailer makes everything sound really bad and depressing and because of this, it makes us as the audience to watch more and find out what it is like for them and makes us feel upset for them because of what has happened to them. This creates an summary of what the place is like and makes it very dramatic so that people would still want to watch it.

People sitting on an sofa in the street

The music (non-diegetic) that is playing during the trailer for 'James Turner Street' (Benefit Street) starts of really down and depressing and this to make the audience feel what the people that live on benefits feel but, then it turns into slightly happier music to show that they will still try and have fun and stay happy even though what is happening to them. This creates an meaning towards the audience of that this place is an corrupt place to live, as the rubbish is all over the roads and the people that live their do not care and that they all live off of benefits. The Dialogue that has been used in the when they had an quick interview saying "It's like a jail here" shows what the people that live on 'James Turner Street' (Benefits Street) think about it as they are linking it to an jail. The reason why the producer wanted to have an view from someone that lives on benefits street and to show the audience that are watching it can see what they think about it and make the audience feel sympathy for the people that live on benefits street.

Editing
The Editing in the trailer for 'Benefits Street' which is filmed on 'James Turner Street' starts off really slow throughout most of the trailer as they want to introduce you to the new Channel 4 documentary for the first episode and would want people to find it interesting and watch it every week to see what the people are like living off of benefits. The reason why they have started off slow but then it speeds up is because they would want to show how the people that live on benefits are at time really sad and depressed which would make the audience feel sorry for them but then also try to stay upbeat and happy every though the way and place that they live. Some of the editing that is going on during the trailer does fall onto the beat of the music which adds the affect of excitement but also some confusion for the audience as they do not know what is going on so they would watch the documentary and find out more about and this is what Channel 4 wanted to do.

This is what Channel 4 are really good at making these sort of documentaries about people with real life major problems like they have also done before then they have made 'Immigration Street' and this gets the audience really interested in the people that is on the documentary and get them emotional attached to them and would want the audience to watch this every week.

Summary
After doing some in depth research about the Channel 4 documentary 'Benefits Street' and seeing what they do to make their documentaries so entertain, I would like to add in some of the stuff they use like having some a wide range of camera shots and following certain people about so that the audience can get emotional attached to the people that live there, which would therefore lead to the audience coming back every week to watch the next episode.