Evaluation

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge the codes and conventions of real media products?
For my media production I chose to compose a documentary typical of what audiences would expect to see on network television. This would involve using and developing the codes and conventions of real media products in order to comply with the documentary genre. Through the use of research and planning I was able to this as this required research into existing media products in order to know what to include in my own. Through technical analyses of a variety of documentaries (included on my blog) I looked for key features that were often incorporated throughout, these included for example: voiceovers, archive footage, etc. A convention I often became aware of was a voiceover spoken by a sole narrator. A question I included in my audience research of what kind of voiceover or narrator they expected to see. However what became noticeably unusual to me was the fact that the narrator was most likely to be female and this was also what the audience expected to see within documentary. In existing real media products the narrator sometimes appeared male depending on the topic of the documentary, given the nature of the tone or mood that the director of the documentary was trying to convey. I included this feature in my own product, with a singular female narrator featured throughout the documentary, I in my own right conformed to the codes and conventions of a documentation product or order to make my production more authentic. My prospective audience also helped me to compose codes and conventions typical for this genre. This was done through the use of my questionnaire for audience research. The audience research initially helped to determine my potential audiences from questions such as: What kind if components do you expect to see in a documentary; the use of opened and closed questions of this type gave me a broad insight in what to include for my production. Some of the answers given were components such as: a voiceover, interviews, narrator, etc. These components went without saying as I previously knew they had to be included. However music appeared as a component, this didn't neccessarily upheld the codes and conventions of a documentary but to give my own production a contemporary twist I decided to include it throughout the documentary. Music often appears in the background of my product along with a variety of camera shots. This helped the audience to understand the topic of the documentary and thus related to the subject matter at hand. This was done by the genre of music I decided to include. As my documentary focused on the contemporary issue of Gang Activity in Birmingham I intentionally used a genre of music that is heavily associated with inner cities in the UK, such as grime. The particular song chosen also incuded the title "Birmingham" within the lyrics. Here the audience were able to understand the subject matter of the documentary. Music included in the opening sequence, (where establishing shots of Birmingham were included) was an instrumental purposely chosen as for the lyrics of the song itself didn't distract from the voiceover or interrupt the narration's course or the camera shots themselves. Aside from the music I also included real life sound effects of city life such as busy streets, people conversing, etc. This added to the ambience in camera shots wherever relevant and made the documentary more realistic. This in a sense developed the codes and conventions of this genre as it is not a feature often used in documentaries per se but more for films and shorts films. Camera shots are a main feature for use in media products whether existing or not and are always featured throughout. However the type of camera shots become significant as different camera shots are used differently depending on the type of genre. Documentaries tend to feature a range of establishing shots throughout the whole production to help the audience identify the topic matter. These type of shots are usually only included in the opening of films to set the scene and are scarcely used in music videos. my documentary uphelds these codes by using a wide range of establishing shots to define the topic. I understood that information about the subject matter was significant and so during the research and planning stages I gathered statistics, facts about gang activity and any other useful information that was needed in order to get the topic across successfully. All these components combined as well as vox pop (to the public) and expert interviews were also significant in upholding the codes and conventions of a real media product for a documentary. 2) How effective is the combination of your main artefact and your anciliary products combined?
For my print artefacts I composed a double page magazine spread giving audiences an insight as to what the main documentary entailed, as well as a review of my documentary, with both artefacts convincing potential audiences to view. The combination of both artefacts coincide as both products highlight the subject matter effectively through the common use of colour scheme that is bold, eye-catching and a font layout used which makes both clearly visible and easy to read. This was essential as the inclusion of the title, date and time of the broadcast is shown in a creative yet apparent fashion. The use of imagery in both products convey the subject matter and audiences immediately understand what the documentary's main themes are. The imagery featured on both was accessible from search engines and easily recognisable to help tie in the main themes. This required the use of media technologies in the construction of the research and planning stages. The imagery used can also be seen in various camera shots in my main production which helps tie in all three products together successfully as there is a common theme that runs throughout. Taking into consideration my audience feedback, the main production and both artefacts are convincing enough as a complete enclosure, I have thus managed to achieve what I was aiming for. 3) What did you learn from the audience feedback regarding your product?
My main products upheld the codes and conventions of real media products and therefore as a whole received adequate feedback. My print artefacts didn't previously highlight the subject matter as well as they could have and suggestions prompting me to change the colour scheme were made. Once I had adopted this change my products immediately became a lot more bolder and more vivid and my audience were happier for the change. The level of skill required to make changes wasn't a lot and thus I was happy to consider this critique and take it on board. A criticism that also became quite apparent was that the voiceover for the documentary was unclear and quiet in contrast to the music used. As it would have been impractical and time consuming to record my voiceover again or amend my music, instead I adjusted the sound levels of my voiceover and my music and by increasing the volume of my voiceover the problem had been amended. In doing so I gained knowledge about the Final Cut pro program, this required using media technology and developing a skill that I didn't previously have in the foundation stages of the project but now I do possess. My project received very minimal criticism as a whole and this thus confirmed my own previous convictions that I was happy with the work I had completed and very willing to submit it as my final project. By adopting the changes my documentary and print artefacts look a lot more authentic and professional and ultimately give it a better appeal to the audience. I feel I took all the suggestions for improvement very well and saw them as an opportunity to amend and make changes to components of my productions that were not working as well as I thought they were. 4) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Media technologies immediatetly become crucial in the construction stages of the project. This included a variety of different methods in order attain the what was needed for the project. At the beginning of the project during the planning stages we were required to purchase a mini DV tape that would be used to capture all our footage for our productions and that also was compatible for a mini DV camera.