Advanced Portfolio- 5075, Aicha Mehdaoui

From AS to A2...

Last year, AS Media Studies was all about Local News Bulletins in our groups' chosen area (Camden). Therefore, the main focus was within the medium of audio alone.
This year brings the production of a 5 minute documentary/short film, radio advert and either a double paged spread from a listings magazine or a newspaper advert.

The main focus will be on the medium of film which must use real people and places. From my previous However, before I can begin fulfilling the brief, I must conduct some research, not only to influence my creativity when thinking of plot ideas, but to gain knowledge on how to actually make a documentary.

Initial Ideas - Planning
Before we embarked on our Documentary Production journey, we got together and filmed each of our initial, basic ideas on the topic of our documentary. However, we did not actually end up using any of these ideas as we had further production meetings and came up with new ideas that we found more appealing to us. Yet, I still accredit these ideas as it shows our creative growth as producers and our progress as a group. 

Mixed Research Method 3 (Primary and Secondary)  Visiting Film & TV Festivals. 

I am describing visiting film festivals as a mixture of primary and secondary research methods because, although most of my time was entailed in watching existing films (secondary research method), it also gives me the opportunity to talk to film makers (primary research method) and observe audiences (another primary research method). We attended this festival because this is where the beginnings of a TV Documentary occur and we could actually speak to and observe the audience. 

 Primary Research: The East End Film Festival & TV - 29/06/16

As part of my research, our class went to the East End Film Festival to view eight short films at the Genesis Cinema in Whitechapel. Not only did we have to observe the actual films, but we also had to pay attention to the audience demographics. At the end we got to vote for our favourite short. I voted for "Patriot" because the idea was original and the ending incorporated a plot twist which shocked the audience and caused a reaction. 

Outside the theatre

A moment in Patriot

Research 

Research Toolbox: 

Research doesn't only include using the Internet and search engines. Although these methods are probably the easiest and fastest route to take, the outcome may not be as rich as you would want it to be. Therefore, alternatives or add-ons to this research method would include watching documentaries, reading books, taking MOOCs, talking to experts or the general public, etc. 

Last year, I used Google for my online research. However, I found that Google uses mathematical formulae, called algorithms, to collate my searches according to my previous searches. Google uses an algorithm called PageRank, which is used to measure the importance of web pages. PageRank was the first algorithm used by Google and it is their most well-known. This puts me at a disadvantage because this means that I cant see every resource that the World Wide Web has to offer as Google makes assumptions over my preferred viewings. 

This year, not only will I use an alternative search engine called DuckDuckGo because it avoids the filter bubble. This will be useful because I will get to see the different results that come up from a different search engine. Furthermore, I will receive unbiased results as DuckDuckGo doesn't use algorithms as Google does.

Google vs. DuckDuckGo

In order to test this theory, I researched the same topic on both Google and DuckDuckGo to see what would come up on each search engine. I decided to look up the phrase 'Filming Documentaries' as it is quite relevant to my course. My findings were quite interesting:

Above are screen shots of the results from both search engines. I found that Google prioritises advertising over delivering information. DuckDuckGo takes a more informative approach as they offer a definition and useful resources such as documentary making guides. DuckDuckGo also provides a section that informs the public of any related searches they may be interested in. Google doesn't need to do this because they use algorithms that already put together some related searches within the results that are provided.

Superior Research Techniques 

I used a more advanced search engine called Google Scholar, which is a more specialised search engine that looks up academic sources such as journals and books. I used Google Scholar to research the theory behind the concept of creativity. This research will not only be beneficial for my blog and practical work, but also my A2 exam.

The type of results that appear with Google Scholar.

The definition of creativity has many interpretations and as a class, we discussed the meaning of creativity. Collectively, we agreed that creativity is formulating ingenious ideas. However, academics like Kaufman and Sternberg suggested that there is a "three point definition of creativity" (2010). These points are: 

• Creative ideas must represent something that is different, new and innovative.
• These creative ideas must be of high quality.
• Creative ideas must be relevant and appropriate to the task at hand.
• The creative ideas have to be useful in some way. 

These points can be applied to my A2 practical work as I need to be creative when brainstorming content ideas, editing and creating the ancillary tasks . Therefore, I need to ensure that all aspects of my production are new, interesting, relevant, useful and of high quality. 

Another application that will be extremely significant this year is YouTube. This application will allow me to access documentaries and draw inspiration from pre-existing projects. YouTube is one of the most prestigious platforms which allows people from all over the world to share their content. I also will use this platform to obtain archives of existing footage for our documentary as this is one of the conventions of existing documentaries. 

PremierPro is an editing application that is provided by Adobe and it was first introduced in 2003. PremierPro will be the application that my production team and I will use to edit and export our documentary. This application can also be used to add special effects to the footage or photographs that we may use in our documentary, adding titles/credits and editing sound.

Blogger has been the most used application throughout my AS and A2 journey as it is what I use to record my progress. Blogger is the best application for recording my progress because it allows me to embed a multitude of things. For example, images, audio (through SoundCloud), videos, flowcharts, etc.




Future Learn is a UK-based MOOC learning website where people can take free courses of their choice. The good thing about this platform is the fact that there are a large variety of courses that are provided by prestigious universities and taught by lecturers. Therefore, these types of courses are highly useful. I will be using this platform to take a film-making course which will help me to put my documentary together.

The course I will be taking once it commences.

The BBC and ITV are immensely useful tools where I could watch
a variety of documentaries on demand. I needed these platform to find inspiration for my own production and to find out about the codes and conventions of existing TV Documentaries and                                       grasp an idea of what I must include in my own production.

 

Audacity is a free audio software that I will use to construct the Radio Advert. This software is extremely useful because it captures high quality audio, allows precise editing and adopts a level of professionalism through what is available to use on the software. Furthermore, I can import and export many different sound effects and audio with different data types.

After Effects is an application that is used for motion graphics and visual effects. It has similar tools to PremierPro because they are both a part of Adobe, but they each specialise in different things. This software will be useful when it comes to creating lively graphics in a unique and creative way.









Important Media Theorists - Secondary Research 

1. Stuart Hall --> Audience

Hall came up with a theory about encoding and decoding. The audience are both the receivers and senders of the message. Encoding messages are the production of the actual message, which is usually done by a producer. For example, the way in which the main person in the documentary is presented. Decoding is how the audience interpret and understand the message that has been provided. For example, the audience could either have a passive or an active reaction to what they view.

Passive/Active Audiences

Stuart Hall teaches us that the way that the audience responds to the media is not like that of a hypodermic needle. For instance, if two people were to be anaesthetised the result would be that both of them become unconscious. However, the consumption of media does not work in this way. If these same two people were presented with an extract from my documentary, they would react differently as one may accept and the other may challenge it. This theory suggests that media is received through the audience's consciousness unmediated. This means that the experience, intelligence and opinions aren't relevant to the reception. This is called the Hypodermic Needle Theory.

The Cultivation Theory

The cultivation theory states that the more time spent "living"in the world of the mass media or TV, the more likely we are to believe the social reality that is portrayed. The theory is "cultivated" because it takes place over a long period of time and it aims to identify and track the effects of TV on viewers. For example, if a person witnesses a large quantity of violence, they become desensitised to it.  

When we consume the media, there are two ways that we can react to the content: 

The Passive Approach: these types of people consume the news for what it is and just accept it. They do not challenge the news that is given to them. They also accept and go along with dominant ideologies that the media present.

The Active Approach: these types of people do not accept the news as it comes. They tend to challenge the content as they are resistant to it. Active consumers tend to engage their brain at some level in order to consume the news. 

Hall suggested three different ways that the audience can decode the message that they are receiving. These are: 

1. The Oppositional Reading: the audience understand the dominant meaning, but because of their own personal backgrounds, they decode it differently. They end up rejecting the dominant meaning, although they understand the intended code, due to their social situations


2. The Negotiated Reading: the audience show a mixture of accepting and challenging the news when they decode it. They acknowledge the dominant reading, however, they don't completely accept it in the way that it has been encoded. They tend to modify the meaning in a way that reflects their own personal interests. 


3. The Dominant Reading: the audience decode the message in the same way that it has been encoded by the producer. the message is received as it has been presented and there is no misunderstanding between the sender and the receiver.

2. Stephen Neale --> Genre

Stephen Neale

Stephen Neale is a British expert within the realm of the philosophy of language. He studied at Stanford University and written many books on the interpretations and communications of language. His most relevant theory is in relation to genre as it is useful for the production of my documentary. 

In his genre theory, Neale states that "genre are instances of repetition and difference" and "difference is essential to the economy of genre." This means that genre can be explained through how much something, such as a TV documentary, complies with existing codes and conventions. He also suggests that films should overthrow genre conventions in order to hold some level of individuality. 

3. Rick Altman --> Genre

Rick Altman

Rick Altman, a professor of Cinema and Comparative Literature, coined the semantic and syntactic approach within the genre of film. He suggests that genre can be distinguished in two ways: semantically or syntactically. 

• The Semantic Approach - how characters and conventions of a particular genre are presented in films. This can be through the person's clothes, speech, diegetic or non-diegetic sound, etc. These features contribute to the overall storyline. 
• The Syntactic Approach - description of the relationship between the setting and the characters. Furthermore, it focuses on the structure of the narrative in genres. These are all things that aren't always so obvious to the audience. 

Altman also explores institutions within genre and states that some institutions specialise in specific genres. Furthermore, he believes that genre provides audiences with a 'set of pleasures', which he called Genre Pleasures. These pleasures can be split into three sub-pleasures: 

• Visceral Pleasure - how the audience react emotionally to what they watch.
• Emotional Pleasure - the emotional response to the footage they view. 
• Intellectual Puzzle - provides the audience with both pleasure and thrill through viewing unexpected scenes. 

4. Tzvetan Todorov --> Narrative

Tzvetan Todorov

Todorov states that the majority of stories follow similar narratives which he proceeded to create a list of: 

1. Equilibrium - all characters are happily living their lives and there appear to be no issues. 
2. Disruption - an issue arises which disrupts the general happiness. 
3. Realisation - the characters realise that there is an issue. 
4. Realise - following the realisation of the issue, the characters must realise a solution. 
5. Restoration of Equilibrium - the characters work to solve the issue and eventually achieve this goal, leading to the return of their happiness. 

It is also argued that this formation of of narrative creates a change because each character is progressing through the storyline. By fixing the disruption, characters can also individually develop. Todorov's theory is deemed useful to my production because it allows my team and I to analyse genre and follow some general guidelines within the genre of TV Documentaries. 

5. Roland Barthes --> Narrative 

Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes was a French literary theorist who came up with a narrative theory where he came up with a set of narrative codes and distinguished between open and closed meanings. Furthermore, he states that in order for the audience to draw a tangible interpretation, they must refer to their personal experiences. 

1. Open Meaning - open interpretations that could hold several meanings depending on how each member of the audience decode the media. 

2. Closed Meaning - singular meaning that leaves no room for any other interpretations as they are deemed incorrect. 
Regarding his narrative codes, Barthes states that all media contains at least one - if not all - of these codes: 

1. Hermeneutic/Enigma Code - mystery that must be solved by the audience as the full truth is often avoided. The ambiguous enigma code creates curiosity, which draws the attention of the audience. However, unanswered enigma codes frustrate the audience, which is still a narrative response elicited by the audience. 
2. Proairetic/Action Code - builds tension through action that leads the audience to believe that something is going to happen. Traditionally, this is used as a form of escapism and in turn to entertain the audience.
3. Semantic Code - parts of the media text which hold connotations. These parts are called Semes and suggest additional meanings in addition to the general denotations. 
4. Symbolic Code - although this code is similar to the Semantic Code, the Symbolic code organises semes on a deeper level. These symbolic codes are referred to as signifiers and arise from conflicting themes and meanings. 
5. Referential Code- references within the media texts that cannot be argued with which typically come from science or religion. 

Secondary Research – Camera Shot Types

1. Extreme Long Shot - also known as establishing shot which is usually shown at the beginning of a scene to get a sense of the location. A large amount of landscape is shown. 

2. Long Shot - landscape is visible, but the audience get a clearer sense of setting. 

3. Full Shot - audience get a full view of the characters involved and they can decode the characteristics of each person. 

4. Mid-Shot - audience can see the character from the waist up and can clearly see their facial features and interactions. This shot can also be called a social shot.

5. Close Up - shows just one character's face so the audience can view the character's emotions and empathise with them. This shot type is also referred to as a personal shot. 

6. Extreme Close Up - the audience see a section of the character's face or object. This shot type creates intensity and allows the audience to closely interact with the characters.  

Camera Angles

7. Birds Eye Angle - an angle which looks directly down on a scene and is often used to establish the setting. 

8. High Angle - an angle that looks down on a character to make them look small or vulnerable. Furthermore, it can also show a situation to the audience from the perspective of the character.

9. Eye Level Angle - the audience are on an equal ground with the characters so they can feel comfortable. 

10. Low Angle – looks up to the character, making them appear to have authority or be intimidating. Therefore, the audience can feel intimidated because of the power that the character receives from this angle type. 

11. Dutch Angle - demonstrates confusion within the plot or character and can disorientate the audience. 

Lighting 

12. Lighting Example 1 -  lighting is a crucial aspect of cinematography as it can help to set the mood or emphasise a scene. In this example, the lighting is used to create large shadows to mirror the mysterious and horrific nature of the footage. 

13. Lighting Example 2- In this example, the lighting is quite dimmed and centred to emphasise the intimate nature of the scene between this couple. It can also be suggested that it is mimicking a candle-light. 

14. Lighting Example 3 - This example shows a normal scene with quite a neutral theme so it is best to use natural lighting to emphasise this. 

Camera Movements

Camera movements are used by film makers to shape meaning of their production and can include: 

Crane Shot Example

15. Crane Shot - typically signifies end of a scene or production and is achieved by using a crane that raises whilst the camera is running. 

Tracking Shot Example

16. Tracking/Dolly Shot - both shots are on a moving trolly (a dolly shot is mounted on a trolley rather than moving on a track) and  it allows the audience to explore a setting in detail. 

Panning Example

17. Panning - gives the audience a panoramic view of the setting or situation and is typically used in an establishing shot. This movement is achieved by slowly tilting the camera to capture the whole scene. 

Secondary/Potential Primary Research 

The Orange Tree Theatre - Richmond

The Orange Tree Theatre booking and information page

The Orange Tree Theatre is running a production of a play called Low Level Panic, which is about the effects of the objectification of women. This play would be extremely interesting to see as we can see how different situations can affect anxiety. I also got to observe the target audience for this type of topic. Furthermore, the fact that this is about women mainly, links to the main person who is getting documented on in our production. As a group, we will be viewing this play on Thursday 2nd March, which is a form of                                                                                                   primary research. 

Calling The Orange Tree Box Office - Creating a confident persona

Creating a script and taking notes. 

Calling The Box Office.

We decided to call the Box Office to see if we could get contact details for the production team of Low Level Panic so that we could potentially interview them. We decided to use a female as it would be less intimidating and I had to adopt a certain level of confidence to speak to the employee and show that I knew what I was talking about. This part of research is considered as primary research because I gained an email that allowed me to progress with my research through a phone call.

Before making the official call, Ali and I had a practise call to make sure that the recorder was picking up both the employee and my own voice. This call was less serious and more laid back, however, I knew that the real call had to be professional and serious.

This is the conversation that took place between myself and the employee at Orange Tree Theatre. She was able to provide me with an email that would go straight to the production team, which leads me onto the next step of this part of research.

Emailing the Production Team 

Now I must wait for a response, which will hopefully allow us to film some rich footage. 

Unfortunately, we were denied permission to interview a production member. 

Low Level Panic at the Orange Tree Theatre

Practising in front of the camera

Although we were denied an interview and VIP access to the set, we were still going to attend the performance. So, before we went, we filmed a draft of what we would be filming on the day of the trip. This included the speech that would introduce the performance (which will be shot on the train) and my reaction straight after the performance (shot outside the theatre). Practising beforehand gave me an opportunity to get a grasp of what I would say on the train and to ensure that there would be no technical difficulties.

Our group outside the theatre

The 2nd March had arrived, and my production team and I headed for the Orange Tree Theatre to watch Low Level Panic. We filmed myself walking out of the theatre and my reaction to the show. I enjoyed their take on anxiety and the comedic approach to what actually causes anxiety for young women. This visit was considered as a piece of secondary research that was useful to our own production. 

The one-room set

The actual set-up of the stage was intriguing because it was all performed in a bathroom, yet the general flow of the performance made sense and worked well. Furthermore, the stage was located in the middle of the theatre, which isn't typical of a theatre. However, this theatre was quite small and seemed to show performances for more niche audiences. 

Research Methods into Documentary Films.

Secondary Research Method 1: Reading High Status Books.  

The Peregrine, J.A Baker - this book is about a man who observed birds in Great Britain with a huge amount of passion. It is for this reason that Werner Herzog - a notorious documentary film maker - says that this book is all you need to become a documentary producer. Baker pays great attention to detail, which I must be able to do to plan, film, edit and produce a high quality TV Documentary. Baker speaks on being observant in such a way that you almost become the object or one with your subject. For example, when he observes a falcon flying away and then says "we swoop down" because he has become one with his subject. Within film making, I need to be able to "let my shape grow in size but do not alter its outline" when observing my subject, footage and production as a whole.

Secondary Research Method 2: Analysing Documentary Films for their characteristic codes and conventions (Genre Research)

Four examples: Grizzly Man, The Trouble With My Dad,  

Genre feature (codes and conventions) and how does Steve Neale's theory help to understand GENRE 

Convention No. 1: In Louis Theroux's documentaries the convention is for Louis to appear on screen engaging with the documentary's subjects. This happens much more rarely in Grizzly Man.

Convention No. 2: The events are real BUT it is acceptable to stage or re-enact 'events' which happened though not when a camera was originally set up. 

Convention No. 3: The use of non-diegetic sound (music) to create atmosphere or mood music to add to the 'message of the film'

Convention No. 4: Use of graphics to communicate information efficiently and vividly.

Convention No. 5: Use of archive footage. (footage that's already there before the film maker arrives)

Convention No. 6: Use of voice over whilst archive/live footage is running. 

The Trouble With My Dad

'The Trouble With My Dad' is a documentary about a 21-year-old called Kyle, who is on a journey to find out more about his father and his side of the family. It runs for around 48 minutes and it sees Kyle travel through Derby, Manchester and Miami to meet his family. The show is produced by a multitude of people but the head of production was Lianne Hickey.





Convention No. 1: The Producer is Visible



In documentaries, producers can either be visible on the screen and therefore more involved with their show, or more active behind the scenes- through voice over. For example, in Louis Theroux's documentaries the convention is for Louis to appear on screen engaging with the documentary's subjects. This happens much more rarely in Werner Herzog' work. Similar to Theroux' approach, Kyle is seen in the documentary for the vast majority of the show. This is not only because he is the subject, but because he needs to engage with the other subjects involved on a personal level. Therefore, the raw emotions that are present in the documentary are transferable to the audience. This makes the documentary more effective as the audience are more connected and engaged with Kyle and his journey.

Convention No. 2: The events are real

In this snippet, Kyle is having a heart-felt conversation with his aunt because he is going back home. These events are real and the camera just happens to capture a moment of verisimilitude. This makes the audience more interested and hooked to the documentary because they can relate to these real events.  

Convention No. 3: The use of non-diegetic sound



Non-diegetic sound is when the source of the sound is not visible to the audience or the screen. This can range from mood music to sound effects to add a dramatic feel. In this example, background music is running over the footage to create a feeling of sadness. Furthermore, the sad mood music allows the audience to empathise with the people and situation. As Kyle's aunt is crying whilst describing how she "didn't know he existed", Grey Reverend's Fate is quietly playing in the background. This song has a slow pace and uses instruments that create a sad, sombre mood that is nicely paired with the footage that the audience are witnessing.


Convention No. 4: Use of graphics

Graphics are generally useful to make verbal information easier to understand and to illustrate complex ideas. In this documentary, graphics have been used to show Kyle's family tree or small segments of it. In this particular clip, the number of children that Dennis (Kyle's father) has 'with various babymothers' are illustrated. The graphics, along with the clever camera shot allow a clear representation of the information that is put across. The way in which the graphics appear on the screen, attracts the audience and maintains their attention so that they aren't bored by listening to Kyle's voice alone.

Convention No. 5: Archive Footage




Although archive footage is not always used in TV documentaries, Kyle uses a form of it to try to find out more about his father's parents. Even though the footage doesn't actually include anyone who he knows, the footage was still produced before his time and before he came around to producing his documentary.

Convention No. 6: Use of a voice over




A voice over is usually provided by the producer of the documentary or the main person that the documentary is based on. In this documentary, Kyle is providing the voice over as it creates a more personal connection between him and the audience because he is discussing his personal life. Voice overs offer additional opinions and points over pre-recorded and edited footage.

The Truth About Ecstasy                 

I decided to analyse a shorter documentary sourced from VICE and YouTube, which is obviously a different platform. Therefore, the target audience is going to differ. VICE release many different documentaries that are usually about more shunned topics such as drugs and raves.

Convention No. 1: The Producer is Visible

Having a visible producer is important because the audience can have a sense of direction as they feel that they are with the producer as they explore their topic of choice. The presenter is visible in this particular documentary because he gets to meet a variety of people that will contribute to his exploration. In addition, he hears about some personal stories that he needs to be in the shot.

Convention No. 2: The events are real

In this clip, the producer – Matt- meets with UK Border Force employees who handle drugs on a daily basis. These events are real because they occur everyday and their meeting seemed quite conversational rather than rehearsed. He was even shown special technology that they use to identify drugs. Including real events is especially important in this documentary because it is based on a serious topic that must be taken seriously. Furthermore, the audience are more likely to fully digest the contents of the documentary if there are authoritative figures such as the ones seen above.

Convention No. 3: The use of non-diegetic sound

As this documentary is about the consumption, effects and trade of ecstasy, it is understandable why the majority of the non-diegetic sound originates from raves. This is because these drugs are taken at raves mostly and the documentary even showcases some footage from raves in the UK. Therefore, the sound is complementary to the topic, which subconsciously keeps the audience engaged and entertained. 

Convention No. 4: Use of graphics

In this documentary, graphics are used within the title to make it more interesting and unique. The rapid flashing and distorted subject are added for a specific effect for the audience. This effect is the fact that the title is mirroring what an individual who consumes these drugs may see. Furthermore, it could also be representing rave culture - which is where most of the consumption of ecstasy occurs.

Convention No. 5: Archive Footage

In this scene, a recorded emergency call is playing and it is clear that it occurred before the production of the documentary began. This phone call was about a death through the consumption of ecstasy and it is this call which highlights the severity of drug abuse - especially in the young.

Convention No. 6: Use of a voice over

The person who provides the voice over in this documentary is the producer and this is important because he is the one who is exploring drug culture, therefore the audience get to know and associate his voice the topic of the documentary. Furthermore, his voice can act as a symbolic and indexical signifier of the opinions and happenings of the topic of his documentary.

 Planning- Production Meeting 1

Once all of our research was complete, we had to gather as a production group and discuss ideas for our own documentary. We decided that we were going to base our documentary around anxiety. This is because we believe that anxiety is something that everyone experiences at least once in their lives at different ages- some more severely than others. Our aim is to not only raise some awareness of anxiety but to explore the different forms of anxiety that exist as everyone is different. Therefore, the general public can relate to our production.

Our mind-map of ideas around anxiety

We presented our ideas through a mind-map as it is an easy way to clearly map out our ideas. Furthermore, we grouped our ideas into each minute of our production. This was useful because we can now easily film our footage based on the content that we want to include, ensuring that we have a narrative structure.

Learning how to use Premiere Pro: 

PremierePro is a more advanced, and therefore, better quality program for video editing. It offers a lot more professional and in-depth editing tools compared to iMovie. There is a larger focus on audio and visual effects on PremierPro as it is more lenient with the editing possibilities. For example, PremierPro allows me to colour correct and isolate images if I need to, whereas iMovie is just a more simplistic way of grouping media together into a sequence. However, I had never encountered how to use PremierPro so I used platforms such as YouTube and Lynda to learn the basics for video editing.

The Main Video Tutorial I used from YouTube

The Video I used from Lynda.com

The Layout

Step 1: Saving your project

Step 2: Tweaking the settings.

Methods Of Editing

Secondary Research - Researching our topic

My results page on YouTube

As we chose this topic for our documentary, we had to make sure that we have lots of knowledge about it.This is because we wont be limited creatively because of what we are limited to knowing. We did not have to conduct as much research as usual because I -the protagonist- suffer from anxiety. The production team decided that we wanted to show our audience as many aspects of the spectrum of anxiety - especially how to deal with it. So I used YouTubbe to see what I could find on dealing with panic attacks.

Some Useful Videos I found:

                                   

                                   

                                   

These videos were useful because I watched Zoella - an extremely successful British YouTuber - speak on her experiences and use her platform in a positive way. Furthermore, seeing a doctor explain how to cope added authority to the topic because he is clearly qualified so what he says is informed. Lastly, this last video provided different scenarios where anxiety may manifest, whilst suggesting how to calm down in each situation.

News Articles: 

I also looked into news articles that have been published about anxiety so that I could grasp how society and the media industry portray anxiety. This article thoroughly explains the different symptoms that can arise. These can range from subtle things such as the feeling of butterflies to more severe symptoms like the feeling of fainting or death. These symptoms occur naturally as a flight response to uncomfortable stimuli.

I found this article very informative because it appealed to me. My anxiety does seem to be at its worst around exam season and the symptoms that were discussed, I had either heard of or experienced. It stresses how biology plays a role in anxiety around exams and it even provided tips on how to remove anxiety around exams, which I found useful.

Planning Document - Health & Safety Table 

Hazard	Who is at risk	Controls	Severity of risk (0-10)	Chance of injury	Additional control measures
Panic Attack 1	Aicha	- Filming from a distance. - Moving dangerous furniture away from Aicha.	7	Mild	- Having several people present to assist Aicha if necessary.
Filming on the train	Camera Man (Ali) General Public	- Ensured that we were not on a packed carriage. - Only filmed when both Aicha (subject) and Ali (Camera Man) were seated.	2	Low	N/A
Getting off the train	Camera Man (Ali) General Public	-Richmond was the last stop on the train so we waited until everybody got off the train before we started filming.	3	Low	- Making sure the door stayed open by keeping one of the production team members on the train to keep pressing the button to keep the door open.
Walking out of the theatre	Camera Man (Ali)	-Rehearsed walking down the steps several times.	6	Mild	-Through rehearsing, we counted the steps so that the Camera Man could count how many steps there are.
Walking back into the office	Aicha	-Rehearsing the walk several times before filming -Counting how many steps to take and looking back at the chair to ensure that she sat down without injury.	2	Low	-Moving dangerous objects/furniture out of the office.
Panic Attack 2	Aicha	-Setting GoPro up from a distance -Having two other people present who assisted Aicha when the situation escalated	9	High	-Aicha creating a signal to let team members know when she couldn’t keep her panic attack under control.

First Draft - The Anxiety Behind Anxiety 

  

                           Formative Audience Feedback: 

Due to confidentiality issues, I have decided to blank out our audience's names. 

Audience Feedback

After posting our first draft, we received some feedback from our audience. This helped us to improve our documentary as we considered what our audience wanted. The most useful comments were suggestions about including an expert to validate our documentary and having a clearer end-point. Some comments, however, were not as useful such as the comment about the music because we decided that the type of music we used wasn't parallel to the footage.

Second Draft - The Anxiety Behind Anxiety 

                                   

Audience Feedback

Formative Audience Feedback: 

After posting this second draft, it was clear to see that the audience did not particularly enjoy the segment with the social worker because it didn't seem relevant. Furthermore, they began to lose interest because the footage ran for too long, especially the main graphics segment where the archived photographs were being presented.

 Planning- Production Meeting 2

A brainstorm of our question

Upon our second production meeting, we discussed potential questions that we would ask a professional contributor. We came up with seven questions that offered both open and closed responses. As our subject of interest is sensitive and serious, we needed to include input from someone like a doctor as it would validate our points. However, through our media teacher, we were introduced to a doctor                                            who would be able to effectively answer our quires.

Third Draft - The Anxiety Behind Anxiety 

                                   

Formative Audience Feedback

Some of the Audience Feedback we received

In this draft, we removed the segment including the social worker and included a more authoritative figure - a doctor. However, some found that asking the doctor 7 in-depth questions was a drag that became more boring than informative. Therefore, my production team and I must decide on which questions were worth including in our final cut. Another issue was the volume of the music which seemed to be overpowering the speech, which is an issue we can rectify by adjusting the volume of the music so that it is quieter when someone speaks.

 The Anxiety Of Anxiety - Final TV Documentary

                                      

Summative Audience Feedback: 

Audience Feedback

In our final cut, we made our ending less abrupt - which was an issue beforehand. Now, the ending is what would be a segue to another part of the documentary, had we finished it. Even after completing our extract, we still received audience feedback. Summative feedback can be collected once your production is complete and can be used to improve later productions. It was nice to see that the majority of our target audience really enjoyed our documentary extract as they found it very informative and well presented, It was even more humbling to see that they were engaged enough to want to see what the rest of our documentary had to offer.  Even though we had finished our documentary, we still received constructive criticism about our editing, which we acknowledged and took note of for our                                                                                                future productions.

Constructing Our TV Documentary Using PremierPro

Using Shortcut C

Creating a J Cut

Time Remapping

Rendering

After Effects Edit

Adding Simple Text

Colour Correction

Layering Images

Key Frames

Analysing Our TV Documentary For Narrative Codes

After we had completed our TV Documentary extract, I thought it would be interesting to analyse it for the narrative codes it may include. Here is what I picked out and concluded:

1. The first narrative element shows the protagonist's shoes (Figure 1) - which don't reveal much as they are unisex, therefore the audience are already intrigued. As the camera pans upwards, we see the female protagonist in distress as she is experiencing a panic attack (Figure 2), which provides the audience with some idea about what the documentary is about.

Figure 3

2. The second narrative element is a black screen (Figure 3) which is used to separate each section of the documentary to avoid confusion.

3. The short introductory interview featuring the protagonist (Figure 4) informs the audience on who the documentary is about. Furthermore, this scene lets the audience know that the protagonist is okay as she was just seen in a distressed state (shown by the same clothes being worn) and that she will get better. This is emphasised by a cut-away to the panic attack (Figure 5).

Figure 6

4. The next scene features archived images which fall onto one another whilst the protagonist's mother tells stories of her childhood up until present day (Figure 6). This creates a connection between the audience and the protagonist because they are getting to know her on a more personal level, which is emphasised by the fact that a family member is talking to the audience about the protagonist. Therefore, the audience feel more connected to the subject's life and have a better understanding of her life and situation.

Figure 7

5. This narrative code involves the protagonist travelling to The Orange Tree Theatre to watch a play called 'Low Level Panic'. This shows that the protagonist is openly seeking for answers and the fact that she is showing them the journey suggests that she wants to take the audience on this journey.(Figure 7) Furthermore, the moving train emphasises the concept of a journey. We merge a combination of still images and moving camera shots.


6. Once the play was over, the protagonist shares her opinion of the play as soon as she comes out of the theatre (Figure 8), rather than another day. This is effective because the audience can feel like they are actually with the protagonist and they even get to view a small clip from the play so that they are not left behind by the protagonist. (Figure 9)


7. The seventh narrative element is a black screen which is used to separate each section of the documentary to avoid confusion.

Figure 10

8. The protagonist is seen calling Hillingdon Hospital to set up an interview with the authoritative figure, showing that she is still actively and confidently searching for answers. (Figure 10)




9.  This narrative element is a black screen which is used to separate each section of the documentary to avoid confusion.

Figure 11

10. At this point in the documentary, the interview with the doctor is taking place (Figure 11) and this scene is important because the protagonist's role of being the subject shifts to an active investigator - just like the audience as she is trying to find some informed answers.

Figure 12

11. Whilst the interview with the doctor is taking place, archived footage of the protagonist having a real panic attack is embedded into the doctor's description of the severity (Figure 12). This hits a chord with the audience as they get to now the protagonist at the beginning of the documentary before seeing her in such levels of stress. Therefore, they are more likely to empathise and care about the protagonist and her condition.

Figure 13

12. When the doctor provides useful advice about coping mechanisms, textual graphics appear on the side (Figure 13). This is because we wanted the audience to benefit from this segment in the documentary and by having textual information, the coping mechanisms are stressed as important. This results in the audience being more likely to remember the information - which would help to decrease the severity of anxiety.

Figure 14

13. The last narrative code is the return to the establishing shot and scene of distress. This is used to remind the audience of the severity of the protagonist's anxiety - which is still an ongoing issue that she must learn to deal with. The scene's purpose is to act as a segue to the next segment, but its unpredictability mirrors that of her anxiety and her panic attacks can randomly happen. (Figure 14)

Newspaper Listings Production

Secondary Research - Codes and Conventions

Before thinking about creating our own Print Advertisement, we had to conduct some research into the codes and conventions of existing ones for documentaries. This would help us to gather inspiration and ideas for our own production. We looked at both film and TV documentary examples. 

Documentary Film Newspaper Listing

TV Documentary Newspaper Listing

TV Documentary Newspaper Listing

             Newspaper Listings Planning 

Planning for newspaper listings. 

After conducting some research into the codes and conventions of existing newspaper listings, we got together as a group to come up with some ideas for our own listing. We decided that we wanted our main character to be in the centre as seen in existing listings. We used this plan as a initial and general guideline for our listing. 

Pose 1

Pose 2

With our initial plan created, we got hold of the camera and practised a few different shot ideas around school. This would help us to know which angles, lighting and positions would be most effective for the real photo shoot. 

The pictures I showed my audience. 

The Audience Feedback: 

The Chosen Photo 

Based off of my audience feedback, the photo that was chosen was Photo 2 (displayed on the right). The majority of the audience thought that it best represented anxiety because the subject is showing a lot more distress, which would be more effective in giving the audience an idea of what the documentary would be about. Furthermore, the fact that there is a harsh contrast between the light and the dark gives way to more creative opportunities. 

Positioning the words around the subject and adding a shadow to them

We had selected our image and, however we could not leave it as a raw image. Therefore, we decided to include four buzz words that shot out from the central subject and into the darkness. These words were: trapped, death, fear and alone as they best described what went through my heads when I am in a panicked state.

Website used for selecting a dark font

As our poster was taking quite a pessimistic approach, we didn't want to settle for a basic, default fond that can be found on PhotoShop. So, we used websites like www.dafont.com to find fonts that suited our approach.

Shadowed subject

We also added a shadowed version of me that was slightly faded in colour to show the more painful side to anxiety over the scared side. It further symbolises how I perceive my surroundings under those stressful conditions.

Newspaper Listing Advertisement - First Draft 

For our final we added the fact that our production was a special segment for Mental Health Awareness Week because our topic linked in greatly. We also distressed the Channel 4 logo to emphasis the level of distress that the subject feels. Lastly, we added the most important information which was the time, date and channel that our documentary would air.

Research Into Mental Health Awareness Week

Our way of getting involved is through our production.

The Anxiety Of Anxiety - Final

Our Final Newspaper Listing

Ancillary Text 2 - Radio Advertisement

Secondary Research - Codes and Conventions

Before beginning to construct our radio advert, I had to conduct some secondary research into existing radio adverts. Although last years main task was an audio piece, the target audience and purpose of each is different. Therefore, the codes and conventions of a radio advert would differ from a local news bulletin. This research deepened my understanding of what I needed to include in my own radio advertisement. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any examples of TV Documentaries being advertised on the radio, which suggests that my brief requires me to challenge the typical conventions of a radio advert. 

Currys/PC World Advertisement: 

Harvey Nichols Advertisement: 

Codes and Conventions I found: 

1. A Voice Over - in both examples, a suitable voice over is used to state the important information such as the name of the product. The voice over is usually carried out by an individual who has an audiogenic and clear voice so that this important information can effectively be presented to the audience. In my production, the voice over must be done by a person with an appealing voice and they will inform the audience on the date, time, name and location of my TV Documentary.

2. Sound Effects - these examples of adverts use sound effects to support the scenario. As radio is a ''blind'' medium, it must create an image that the audience can imagine - almost as if what they are hearing is visual. In the Currys example, a subtle yet crucial sound effect of the wind blowing and birds chirping is used in the background. This is linked to the advert because Currys have used the idea of the army so in order to really engage the audience, they have included these sound effects to set the scene and support it.

3. Emotion - after listening to several examples similar to the above, I noticed that every advert uses emotion to pique the interest of the audience. This can be achieved through the tone of voice used, the sound effects, musical arrangement or what is actually said. For example, the Harvey Nichols advert plays on confusion (through making the protagonist sound confused about his surroundings whilst speaking to the emergency helpline) which also makes the audience empathise with him. As they are both in a state of perceived confusion, the audience are more likely to look into the contents of the advert.

4. Simplicity - another convention I noticed was how short these adverts actually were. Unlike TV adverts, radio adverts run for approximately 30-50 seconds. This is because it must maintain the interest of the audience as there is not anything for them to view. Therefore, a radio advert cannot afford to be longer than the suggested time because nobody would pay any attention to it. Furthermore, the key information needs to be delivered rapidly and clearly to avoid boredom and confusion.

Radio Advert Planning 

For this ancillary text, our planning was very much conducted digitally. As creativity has no temporal bounds, I had a thought and immediately contacted a member of my production team for a second opinion and we collectively went on to list a few ideas. After listing these ideas, I went on to brainstorm a few tools that I would try out to create different effects in the advert. 

A conversation I had with a member of the production team.

Planning notes

Radio Advert Script Draft

Script Draft

This is our first draft of our script, that included the basic ideas that we originally came up with. However, the layout was incorrect and we changed a lot of the speech to make our advert more engaging and interesting. 

Radio Advert Construction 

The full advert on Audacity.

The concepts that we ended up working with was a journey - as I was on the train in the documentary extract. Therefore, this created a link between the productions. There are multiple tracks to illustrate the different voices and sounds that have been used in the advert. Furthermore, naming each track was crucial because it reduces confusion and maintains neatness throughout the advert. 

Audacity Tools 

The Echo Effect process

1. The Echo Effect - this effect was useful because I was aiming for quite a dark and scary voice to mirror the idea of hearing voices in your head. This tool made the audio sound more like a hollow thought, which reflects how some victims may hear voices in their head, just like I do. I found that the perfect delay time and decay factor was 0.2 as it produced a great echo. 

2. The Envelope Tool - This tool was extremely useful when there were specific parts of the audio file that were either too loud or too quiet. This tool is a great alternative to the Amplify Tool because I don't have to amplify the whole file. Instead, through zooming in, I can achieve detailed volume control of my audio to ensure that it sounds professional. 

Audience Feedback - Scary Voices

Upon recording the scary voices, the individual created two different voices. In order to decide which one to use, I turned to our audience to ask them about which voice they believed portrayed a more scary nature. However, before showing them, I applied an echo effect to them. 

After asking the target audience about which voice was better, they decided upon the first voice as it sounded more scary. They believed that the second voice was more whimsical and therefore lost is fear aspect. 

Radio Advert Script

When creating our script, we had to consider which individual had the best vocals and was the most audibly appealing. The script is neatly split to three columns to present how long each audio file will be, what will be said and sound effects that will accompany the speech - if there are any. In addition, we had to ensure that the wording of our advert flowed nicely and provided enough information to attract our target audience. 

For example, we changed our production name from 'The Anxiety Behind Anxiety' to 'The Anxiety Of Anxiety' because it sounded more rhythmic and left the audience perplexed. This is a symbolic and indexical signifier of anxiety and the emotions attached to it. 

In order to remain within the constraints of our brief, we had to make sure that our radio advert lasted between 30 - 40 seconds and within these seconds we had to ensure that we attracted our target audience. 

Final - The Anxiety Of Anxiety Radio Advert 

Evaluation 

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

When answering Question 1, it seemed that Camtasia was the most convenient application to use because it allowed us to record existing examples of each of the media texts we had to produce. Furthermore, we could annotate each clip or image appropriately to answer the question. Camtasia effectively let us present our answer professionally and in such a way that the codes and conventions can be easily seen and explained.

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

I decided to use PowToon, which is a free video presentation software, because it allowed me to embed sound, images and cool animations that were linked to my answer. In addition, I could easily export my answer into my blog. PowToon works on a timeline basis and allows you to manipulate the transitions, images, text, etc to suit the time that you need the information to appear on the screen. Lastly, when watching the final answer, it is quite convenient that it runs as a video rather than having to constantly click to move from slide to slide. 

3. What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

In order to answer this evaluation question we used Prezi because it allows you to present your work in a unique and interesting way that keeps the audience watching. Furthermore, it easily allowed us to import other mediums where necessary. Prezi is also a great alternative to the traditional PowerPoint software. 

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

Before we completed our answer to this evaluation question, we created a plan with the different sub-topics that we would include. This would make answering the question a lot easier because we had already discussed and planned it. 

For our answer to Question 4, we used PowerPoint because it was easy to present and organise our answer in an effective way. Furthermore, it is an extremely popular software that everyone has access to. However, in order to view it in a blog, we had to upload it through SlideShare, which allowed us to embed it into our blog.  

Evaluation Question 4 from Niamh Fitzgerald