1. In what ways does the media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Due to our film being a documentary we were able to film everything ‘as and when’ it happened, so there was no continuity slip ups. On each day of filming there was a different training activity for us to get involved in and shoot for example: day 1 we shot the fire fighters testing the hoses; day 2 we shot the RTC engine in action with the mechanical cage located on the back; and day 3 we shot them dismantling a car to release a trapped casualty along with the interviews with Matthew Barrell and Phil O’Colloell. Shooting what we needed on each day, we avoided continuity errors. While editing we used a few establishing shots to distinguish that the film was ‘moving on’, obeyed the 180 rule and used a range on different shots during the sequence. We also used a lot of match on action, especially when either the narrator or the ‘characters’ talk about the equipment and when they are on the job.
A documentary it there to entertain and educate: our film follows the conventions of a documentary. It informs the audience about the fire service: how they feel about their jobs, the cots they have had to make in their departments. Like any documentary we asked questions that allowed the fire fighters to tell us their story. It follows the regular conventions and structure of documentaries. It could be compared to the recent documentary Coppers shown on Channel 4.
Our film does not display any parody or abnormality from the genre we worked with. It fulfils the nature of the documentary. However while filming we acquired footage that was unsuitable for the film due to the levels of laughter within them. At the beginning of our film you see an engine come into the ‘yard’, returning from a call out: in this shot you see one of the fire fighters waving at the camera from within the engine. We deliberately placed this shot in our film to give it an upbeat feel. We felt that it was unnecessary to challenge the conventions of genre as it would not reflect our aims and confuse the audience into what we were trying to portray to them. I believe that our film outlines the stereotypes the occupation as it mainly features male characters. Due to the tasks the job entails: lifting heavy equipment, patience and physical endurance of the occupation, I believe that the job is aimed at the gender it is intended for.
The use of graphic convention in which we have used was to try and create pleasure for the audience: although that within this we created an underlining convention of educating the audience in the subject in question. We did this thoroughly throughout the film using the voice over to describe the fire fighters actions and equipment they were using, where it’s stored in the engine and how it is used: how the equipment has changed over time, how it has been developed to suit the jobs that are attending, how the adaptations have increased their jobs easier and the more beneficial they are for releasing the casualty from the danger they are in. We have also provide the audience pleasure with a sense of personal identity: how the audience can relate to the characters on screen; if they are in the same occupation, know someone who is, whether they are looking in to going into the occupation or if their job is similar e.g. other emergency services, lifeguards etc. Even if the audience are unable to identify themselves with the fire fighters, I believe that they can be used as a role model for the audience: going out every day and risking their lives for another. Their behaviour would provide a good canvas for others to follow, or the ‘copycat’ theory, promoting a good work ethic and in the most serious circumstances: injecting something positive into the media and therefore into the audience (hypodermic theory).
Due to the bad press about the fire service over recent months: the cuts, protests etc, we wanted to distract the audience for the negative connotations that people may have of them and show the audience about what really happens and what they actually do instead of ‘sitting about’ and ‘chilling’, showing them that they are constantly training and are doing plenty of community service: going into schools and explaining about fires, what happens and what to do in the event of a fire etc. In the image of my poster (see poster), is simple: an engine and the words ‘find out more’. I did it like this because not many people know that much about the fire service and what they actually do within their community, therefore by portraying my poster like that, the audience may be intrigued into what it is about, what it includes and what may happen if they watch.
Showing posts with label Katie Girdlestone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Katie Girdlestone. Show all posts
Monday, 9 May 2011
Evaluation: Question 2
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and the ancillary texts?
In our main production we wanted to create an in depth understanding of the ‘true colours’/ reality of the dangers that come with working within the fire service industry. In recent months prior to our film, there was a lot of negative media towards the fire service due to the pays cuts, which resulted in the famous fire strikes. This then negative press lead to the general public have harsh and negative feelings/ emotions toward their local fire service. If our film were to be shown on Channel 4 as it was intended, it would raise the awareness of the job role of the fire fighter and the expectations of not only their seniors, but of themselves and their public. It would’ve also explained to the public the reasons as to why they initiated the strike, we found out in depth detail about the fire service while filming and wanted to express this to the public. The role of a fire fighter is not what the media anticipate it as (sitting around ‘wasting’ taxpayers money), but consists of high risks, danger and high levels of training, all on a day to day basis. I feel that our aims are reflected in both my own and the group’s media products: posters and radio trailer.
My poster reflects this as it is a simple shot of the fire engines lined up with a dark tint to reflect the dark side to the job role; towards the right hand of the page, there are 3 simple words ‘Find out more’, this indicated to the public that they don’t know much, if not anything at all about their local fire service and what they actually do for them and their community. I believe that the poster would be an effect advertising technique for our film as it highlights to the public that they actually don’t know much about their fire service; all they know is that they are there in case of a fire or the occasional car crash, and they are unaware of the lengths (constant training, community service, school tours ect) they, the fire fighters, go through to ensure that the public they are protecting are as safe as can be and that they are aware of the dangers and risks within their home.
The radio trailer we produced is also a sample of our creativity and would also be an effective selling point towards the advertising and intrigue of our film. By contrasting different sounds beneath the voices of the narrator and the fire fighters we were able to create a sense of tension within the radio trailer, to excite and intrigue the audience. This would then create curiosity within the audience and intrigue them into watching it as they would get the impression from the radio trailer that they need to find out. We also added a quote in from an interview with Nigel Bailey (Crew Manager), when he started in the force, on the job, a few week into it and he had to and his crew had to rescue dead bodies from a collapsed building, how he felt ect, this would help the audience empathise and connect with characters, realising that their job is difficult, especially when dealing with death and destruction like they do on a day to day basis.
In comparison to real advertising products, such as radio advertisement for the 5th series of Doctor Who on BBC channels, which also use a variety of sound that intrigue and excite the audience. From the beginning of the trailer, it engages the audience and captures their attention with the backing track of the trailer, while playing extracts from the included episodes to offer the audience a ‘taster’ of what is to come, if they were to tune into the programme. It is effective as it gives a snippet of the series and leaves the rest up to the audiences imagination for them to ‘fill in the blanks’ and conjure up some wild and whacky stories, making them tune in to see if their predictions are correct, this is evidence and backs up Richard Dyers theory of entertainment and the hypodermic theory by injecting an idea into the audience. The use of the different sounds within the trailer effects the audience due to the tension created from collaborating certain sounds and tones, create an uneasy atmosphere as well as empathy with the characters involved in the sequence/ trailer that the audience can relate to in one way or another. We tried to recreate this effect in our trailer: we tried allow the audience to empathise with the characters while at the same time a feeling of uneasiness due to their lack of knowledge and understanding of the subject in question, in this case the fire service.
Although, unlike the Doctor Who trailer, we have not included background music in our radio trailer. It would have been applicable or beneficial for our production/ radio trailer as it would have over ridden the sound of the characters voices within the trailer, therefore completely defacing the point as to which we were trying to get across to our listening audience.
The documentary poster about Michael Jackson’s last tour is quite truly, in my opinion, iconic. I believe this because in the centre of it is Michael in one of his iconic, signature poses, bursting with colour and light. This reflects Michael and his life within the music business. Like my poster, this also is very simple with 3 large words, in the complete focus of the poster ‘This is it’, referring to his death and the enjoyment he got out of everything he involved during his life. This relates to our film because, on some level they are both about death: the death of Michael, and the death of the victims the fire fighters attempt to rescue, although they are neither centred on the subject. They are both upbeat and enlightening but with an undercut of a dark side within.
In our main production we wanted to create an in depth understanding of the ‘true colours’/ reality of the dangers that come with working within the fire service industry. In recent months prior to our film, there was a lot of negative media towards the fire service due to the pays cuts, which resulted in the famous fire strikes. This then negative press lead to the general public have harsh and negative feelings/ emotions toward their local fire service. If our film were to be shown on Channel 4 as it was intended, it would raise the awareness of the job role of the fire fighter and the expectations of not only their seniors, but of themselves and their public. It would’ve also explained to the public the reasons as to why they initiated the strike, we found out in depth detail about the fire service while filming and wanted to express this to the public. The role of a fire fighter is not what the media anticipate it as (sitting around ‘wasting’ taxpayers money), but consists of high risks, danger and high levels of training, all on a day to day basis. I feel that our aims are reflected in both my own and the group’s media products: posters and radio trailer.
My poster reflects this as it is a simple shot of the fire engines lined up with a dark tint to reflect the dark side to the job role; towards the right hand of the page, there are 3 simple words ‘Find out more’, this indicated to the public that they don’t know much, if not anything at all about their local fire service and what they actually do for them and their community. I believe that the poster would be an effect advertising technique for our film as it highlights to the public that they actually don’t know much about their fire service; all they know is that they are there in case of a fire or the occasional car crash, and they are unaware of the lengths (constant training, community service, school tours ect) they, the fire fighters, go through to ensure that the public they are protecting are as safe as can be and that they are aware of the dangers and risks within their home.
The radio trailer we produced is also a sample of our creativity and would also be an effective selling point towards the advertising and intrigue of our film. By contrasting different sounds beneath the voices of the narrator and the fire fighters we were able to create a sense of tension within the radio trailer, to excite and intrigue the audience. This would then create curiosity within the audience and intrigue them into watching it as they would get the impression from the radio trailer that they need to find out. We also added a quote in from an interview with Nigel Bailey (Crew Manager), when he started in the force, on the job, a few week into it and he had to and his crew had to rescue dead bodies from a collapsed building, how he felt ect, this would help the audience empathise and connect with characters, realising that their job is difficult, especially when dealing with death and destruction like they do on a day to day basis.
In comparison to real advertising products, such as radio advertisement for the 5th series of Doctor Who on BBC channels, which also use a variety of sound that intrigue and excite the audience. From the beginning of the trailer, it engages the audience and captures their attention with the backing track of the trailer, while playing extracts from the included episodes to offer the audience a ‘taster’ of what is to come, if they were to tune into the programme. It is effective as it gives a snippet of the series and leaves the rest up to the audiences imagination for them to ‘fill in the blanks’ and conjure up some wild and whacky stories, making them tune in to see if their predictions are correct, this is evidence and backs up Richard Dyers theory of entertainment and the hypodermic theory by injecting an idea into the audience. The use of the different sounds within the trailer effects the audience due to the tension created from collaborating certain sounds and tones, create an uneasy atmosphere as well as empathy with the characters involved in the sequence/ trailer that the audience can relate to in one way or another. We tried to recreate this effect in our trailer: we tried allow the audience to empathise with the characters while at the same time a feeling of uneasiness due to their lack of knowledge and understanding of the subject in question, in this case the fire service.
Although, unlike the Doctor Who trailer, we have not included background music in our radio trailer. It would have been applicable or beneficial for our production/ radio trailer as it would have over ridden the sound of the characters voices within the trailer, therefore completely defacing the point as to which we were trying to get across to our listening audience.
The documentary poster about Michael Jackson’s last tour is quite truly, in my opinion, iconic. I believe this because in the centre of it is Michael in one of his iconic, signature poses, bursting with colour and light. This reflects Michael and his life within the music business. Like my poster, this also is very simple with 3 large words, in the complete focus of the poster ‘This is it’, referring to his death and the enjoyment he got out of everything he involved during his life. This relates to our film because, on some level they are both about death: the death of Michael, and the death of the victims the fire fighters attempt to rescue, although they are neither centred on the subject. They are both upbeat and enlightening but with an undercut of a dark side within.
Evaluation: Question 3
3. What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
Once we had got a rough cut production, we set out on gaining audience feedback on what they thought of our production and if they had any suggestions for improvements to our film, ready for the final film. By doing this before completing our film, we were able to add the improvements to our final cut of our film. The feedback was very helpful to us when it came to adapting our rough cut to the final production as we were able to take the audiences suggestions and make it an acceptable standard for our target audience. However, we had some technical difficulties with the tape that we used to film our audience feedback; therefore we had to take a different approach on gaining the audiences opinions on our rough cut. I did this by using the popular social networking site Facebook. By doing this I was able to send out over 20 questionnaires (using our original survey/audience feedback questions) via email to a variety of different people: male and female within our target audience. This was very useful as I was able to send out a large quantity of people and gain more detailed feedback, therefore we were able to take a more detailed look at our film and pick up on the things that the audience suggested we improve upon. If I were to do it again I would use a larger variety of different feedback techniques as I found both the surveys and the filming approach very useful in gaining the feedback we required. If I were to film again I would gather around 10-15 people in a room and allow them to all watch our film at the same time, and after the film was finished, give them the questions and film them all together as I believe a group approach is better than an individual approach due to the length of time it took for us to gain each individual persons opinion. I would also use the survey technique over social networking sites: if would do this due to the variety of people they attract and that we are able to gain a wider variety of opinions that are not necessarily based where we need them to be for the filming (for example one of the questionnaires I sent out was to Scotland).
During the filming and editing process of our main production we were able to establish the meaning of our film and make it apparent to the audience due to the content we included. Due to our target audience being of mainly the working class we included characters of the working class, this way our target audience were able to associate and ‘connect’ with the characters and feel that they do belong and are at ease with their own status. Because of this we included mostly action shots of the fire fighters working/ training their courtyard: basically what they actually do for a living instead of what the media are portraying, allowing a real/ true incite as to what they do. We felt that these action shots were an important feature to our production and so we continued them throughout.
When we were planning our film, we intended the structure of our film to cut from one section e.g. outside with the hoses to an interview in the office. However when we arrived at the fire station the fire fighters were very keen to get involved with our production, this resulted them allowing us to film everything they did e.g. the cleaning of the hoses, inside the fire engine, ladder training and them going up 120ft in the cage on the back of a fire engine (RTC). They also invited us along to film them using the steel equipment that assists them when they attend car accidents etc. Due to their eager behaviour and interest in our film were able to gain a lot of action, hands-on footage. We used this footage to our advantage and included the appropriate action shots in our film, which made our film a much higher quality than we could have ever anticipated.
Overall, I believe that our film can connect to almost any one and is not culturally bound. Due to our production being about the Barnsley Fire Service, we are able to connect with not only the Barnsley population but with people throughout the country and possible the world due to the subject: the Fire Service, everybody is able to connect as they all have a local fire station that do the same job throughout the globe as everywhere, whether large or small village, town, city county, everywhere has local fire service protecting them.
Once we had got a rough cut production, we set out on gaining audience feedback on what they thought of our production and if they had any suggestions for improvements to our film, ready for the final film. By doing this before completing our film, we were able to add the improvements to our final cut of our film. The feedback was very helpful to us when it came to adapting our rough cut to the final production as we were able to take the audiences suggestions and make it an acceptable standard for our target audience. However, we had some technical difficulties with the tape that we used to film our audience feedback; therefore we had to take a different approach on gaining the audiences opinions on our rough cut. I did this by using the popular social networking site Facebook. By doing this I was able to send out over 20 questionnaires (using our original survey/audience feedback questions) via email to a variety of different people: male and female within our target audience. This was very useful as I was able to send out a large quantity of people and gain more detailed feedback, therefore we were able to take a more detailed look at our film and pick up on the things that the audience suggested we improve upon. If I were to do it again I would use a larger variety of different feedback techniques as I found both the surveys and the filming approach very useful in gaining the feedback we required. If I were to film again I would gather around 10-15 people in a room and allow them to all watch our film at the same time, and after the film was finished, give them the questions and film them all together as I believe a group approach is better than an individual approach due to the length of time it took for us to gain each individual persons opinion. I would also use the survey technique over social networking sites: if would do this due to the variety of people they attract and that we are able to gain a wider variety of opinions that are not necessarily based where we need them to be for the filming (for example one of the questionnaires I sent out was to Scotland).
During the filming and editing process of our main production we were able to establish the meaning of our film and make it apparent to the audience due to the content we included. Due to our target audience being of mainly the working class we included characters of the working class, this way our target audience were able to associate and ‘connect’ with the characters and feel that they do belong and are at ease with their own status. Because of this we included mostly action shots of the fire fighters working/ training their courtyard: basically what they actually do for a living instead of what the media are portraying, allowing a real/ true incite as to what they do. We felt that these action shots were an important feature to our production and so we continued them throughout.
When we were planning our film, we intended the structure of our film to cut from one section e.g. outside with the hoses to an interview in the office. However when we arrived at the fire station the fire fighters were very keen to get involved with our production, this resulted them allowing us to film everything they did e.g. the cleaning of the hoses, inside the fire engine, ladder training and them going up 120ft in the cage on the back of a fire engine (RTC). They also invited us along to film them using the steel equipment that assists them when they attend car accidents etc. Due to their eager behaviour and interest in our film were able to gain a lot of action, hands-on footage. We used this footage to our advantage and included the appropriate action shots in our film, which made our film a much higher quality than we could have ever anticipated.
Overall, I believe that our film can connect to almost any one and is not culturally bound. Due to our production being about the Barnsley Fire Service, we are able to connect with not only the Barnsley population but with people throughout the country and possible the world due to the subject: the Fire Service, everybody is able to connect as they all have a local fire station that do the same job throughout the globe as everywhere, whether large or small village, town, city county, everywhere has local fire service protecting them.
Evaluation: Question 4
4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stage?
Before we started to film for our production, we used the internet to research our chosen topic: we did gathered some in depth detail about the work within the job role of a fire fighter, including the training and the service they provide for the service e.g. car washes and going round schools and explaining to children about the dangers of fire and prank calls. We used this information to give us an agenda and structure as to what we wished to find out from the fire service, to help structure our questions and to help develop our already existing ideas. We gained this information by using the South Yorkshire Fire Service website (http://www.syfire.gov.uk). The fire service website was a very useful tool in our documentary: it has the different locations and contact numbers of the local fire stations; this allowed us to contact our chosen fire station. We explained to the fire fighters our aims and activities of our filming and asked to see if it was possible for us to film them. It made it easy for us to choose a fire station due to their location for example travel issues etc. The website is regularly updated so changes to the station could be assessed easily.
The internet also allowed us to broaden our knowledge and understanding into our chosen genre: documentary. By doing this research, along with attending Sheffield’s documentary festival we were able to produce an effect documentary, working within the expectations of our genre. We analysis similar documentaries available on Channel 4 OD (Coppers) and www.youtube.com compared them to our documentary: how was it effective how did it get their point across ect. This enabled us to model our documentary on these similar attributes.
By using this blog we have been able to post on our findings, monitor our progression and recall all past work to develop our production to our aims that we set. We were able to monitor our contributions to our blog and add all necessary data: scripts, treatment, risk assessments, questions ect. The blog also enabled us to develop our creativity: by having a coloured background we were able to choose a background/image that resembled our blog and create the positive atmosphere we were trying to achieve (the fire picture for the background of our blog).
The camera equipment that was available to us helped us to develop our creativity of our work: we were able to take our location shots on a small, handheld Sony camera. Because the Sony handheld was used for the location shots it was easy for us to move around and take quick snap shots of where we would be filming, which is ideal when we were not wanting to set it down and film for a longer period of time. We used a Sony HDV camera to record our footage. This was due to the higher quality of the camera, memory and sound/microphone located on/in the camera. The HDV camera gave us a clear sound and a very detailed image when we were filming. Although when using the Sony HDV camera, we experienced a few problems due to the settings being a bit difficult to understand but was overcome when we took a detailed look at the camera and it’s settings as we wanted to understand the mechanics of the camera. Since we were able to understand the camera fully we were able to use the camera a lot more efficiently and effectively: using the clearer settings gaining us a much clearer picture and sound than we were able to before.
During the construction of our production we used a programme on an Apple Mac computer called Final Cut. Final cut was used to view our footage and to construct our sequence. The programme was very useful, easy to understand and highly organised: we were able to arrange our footage into separate files into the days we filmed. Before we began putting together a sequence I renamed the shots to label what the shot contained e.g. hoses unrolling. When it came to filming we found it highly useful when locating a shot and its relevance, we were able to easily choose and replay shots that we needed as they were easily identifiable.
When producing my poster, I used a programme called Photoshop to get the desired effect. The programme was highly useful and developed my creativity to such an extent that I never believed possible. It did this by the amount of options and effects it has to ‘play with’ and use at the individuals disposal. It was highly useful and very fun to use. By using Photoshop I was able to expand my knowledge, understanding and skills in the area usually associated with photography. It was enjoyable delving into a new area of the media and experiencing how their technologies work.
Our second media product, our radio trailer, was created, we used a programme on the Apple Macs we were using called garage band. This programme was also enjoyable to use and very easy to understand. We have fun when making our radio trailer as we were able to change many things about the characters voices: tone, pitch, volume ect. This progressed our creativity as we were able to enjoy the individuals voices, applying the different options to the voices including a certain programme that made the individual sound as if they were on helium, but we did not apply this as it would seem unprofessional and was the opposite effect as to what we were trying to project to the audience.
Before we started to film for our production, we used the internet to research our chosen topic: we did gathered some in depth detail about the work within the job role of a fire fighter, including the training and the service they provide for the service e.g. car washes and going round schools and explaining to children about the dangers of fire and prank calls. We used this information to give us an agenda and structure as to what we wished to find out from the fire service, to help structure our questions and to help develop our already existing ideas. We gained this information by using the South Yorkshire Fire Service website (http://www.syfire.gov.uk). The fire service website was a very useful tool in our documentary: it has the different locations and contact numbers of the local fire stations; this allowed us to contact our chosen fire station. We explained to the fire fighters our aims and activities of our filming and asked to see if it was possible for us to film them. It made it easy for us to choose a fire station due to their location for example travel issues etc. The website is regularly updated so changes to the station could be assessed easily.
The internet also allowed us to broaden our knowledge and understanding into our chosen genre: documentary. By doing this research, along with attending Sheffield’s documentary festival we were able to produce an effect documentary, working within the expectations of our genre. We analysis similar documentaries available on Channel 4 OD (Coppers) and www.youtube.com compared them to our documentary: how was it effective how did it get their point across ect. This enabled us to model our documentary on these similar attributes.
By using this blog we have been able to post on our findings, monitor our progression and recall all past work to develop our production to our aims that we set. We were able to monitor our contributions to our blog and add all necessary data: scripts, treatment, risk assessments, questions ect. The blog also enabled us to develop our creativity: by having a coloured background we were able to choose a background/image that resembled our blog and create the positive atmosphere we were trying to achieve (the fire picture for the background of our blog).
The camera equipment that was available to us helped us to develop our creativity of our work: we were able to take our location shots on a small, handheld Sony camera. Because the Sony handheld was used for the location shots it was easy for us to move around and take quick snap shots of where we would be filming, which is ideal when we were not wanting to set it down and film for a longer period of time. We used a Sony HDV camera to record our footage. This was due to the higher quality of the camera, memory and sound/microphone located on/in the camera. The HDV camera gave us a clear sound and a very detailed image when we were filming. Although when using the Sony HDV camera, we experienced a few problems due to the settings being a bit difficult to understand but was overcome when we took a detailed look at the camera and it’s settings as we wanted to understand the mechanics of the camera. Since we were able to understand the camera fully we were able to use the camera a lot more efficiently and effectively: using the clearer settings gaining us a much clearer picture and sound than we were able to before.
During the construction of our production we used a programme on an Apple Mac computer called Final Cut. Final cut was used to view our footage and to construct our sequence. The programme was very useful, easy to understand and highly organised: we were able to arrange our footage into separate files into the days we filmed. Before we began putting together a sequence I renamed the shots to label what the shot contained e.g. hoses unrolling. When it came to filming we found it highly useful when locating a shot and its relevance, we were able to easily choose and replay shots that we needed as they were easily identifiable.
When producing my poster, I used a programme called Photoshop to get the desired effect. The programme was highly useful and developed my creativity to such an extent that I never believed possible. It did this by the amount of options and effects it has to ‘play with’ and use at the individuals disposal. It was highly useful and very fun to use. By using Photoshop I was able to expand my knowledge, understanding and skills in the area usually associated with photography. It was enjoyable delving into a new area of the media and experiencing how their technologies work.
Our second media product, our radio trailer, was created, we used a programme on the Apple Macs we were using called garage band. This programme was also enjoyable to use and very easy to understand. We have fun when making our radio trailer as we were able to change many things about the characters voices: tone, pitch, volume ect. This progressed our creativity as we were able to enjoy the individuals voices, applying the different options to the voices including a certain programme that made the individual sound as if they were on helium, but we did not apply this as it would seem unprofessional and was the opposite effect as to what we were trying to project to the audience.
Pictures to accompany my Evaluation
Due to previous technical difficulties, I have decided to illustrate my evaluation separate from each other. This way I am still able to illustrate my evaluation and I am able to add a more detail description as to what the images represent and what we used each programme for with an image.
The Facebook logo represents our audience feedback. Due to technical difficulities with the tape I ended up gaining a large quantity of audience feedback off of the social networking site. This method deemed succesful and popular.
The blogger logo is for our blog (in use), where we were able to document our research, ideas and results on our film. this useful site enabled us to keep track of previous work and we were able to re look over previous if we were unsure what else we needed to gther for our film. We were also able to track our progress.
Below are the programmes we used on the Apple Mac computers we had aviable: photoshop, garageband and Final Cut Express. They were all easy to understand and easy to use. This made the prodcution/ process of our meda products quick to produce and it made it easy for us to see what was approprate and what wasn't.
The poster (see left), is an advertisment of the documentary of Michael Jacksons last tour. The behind the scenes documentary is revealing in many way. It relates to our film due to our film being a behind the scenes documentary, filming a world that people may not know or realise is there.
The picture (see right), is a shot of the cameras we used to film our footage of the fire fighters. At first the cameras were a bit tricky to use and understand the technology of but once we took the time to sit down and analyis the workings of the camera we found it relitivy easy to use and made our footage all that better due to the fact that we were able to use it correctly and get everything that we needed out of it over what it had to offer towards the contribution of our footage.
The Facebook logo represents our audience feedback. Due to technical difficulities with the tape I ended up gaining a large quantity of audience feedback off of the social networking site. This method deemed succesful and popular.The blogger logo is for our blog (in use), where we were able to document our research, ideas and results on our film. this useful site enabled us to keep track of previous work and we were able to re look over previous if we were unsure what else we needed to gther for our film. We were also able to track our progress.Below are the programmes we used on the Apple Mac computers we had aviable: photoshop, garageband and Final Cut Express. They were all easy to understand and easy to use. This made the prodcution/ process of our meda products quick to produce and it made it easy for us to see what was approprate and what wasn't.
The poster (see left), is an advertisment of the documentary of Michael Jacksons last tour. The behind the scenes documentary is revealing in many way. It relates to our film due to our film being a behind the scenes documentary, filming a world that people may not know or realise is there.
The picture (see right), is a shot of the cameras we used to film our footage of the fire fighters. At first the cameras were a bit tricky to use and understand the technology of but once we took the time to sit down and analyis the workings of the camera we found it relitivy easy to use and made our footage all that better due to the fact that we were able to use it correctly and get everything that we needed out of it over what it had to offer towards the contribution of our footage.
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Audidence feedback: Rough cut
For our audience feedback I sent out the questions below to a range of different people over the social networking sight facebook to see what they thought of our film (rough cut) and to see what they would improve. After I received this information we adapted our film as to what the audience suggested we should improve. Due to the access I gained over facebook I was able to send out a lot of questionnaires/surveys to a variety of different people. The answers below are some of the answer I received as I could not publish the entire data/ feedback I collected due to the vast number I sent out/ got back.
These are the questions we sent out to gain our audience feedback:
1. What do you think about the documentary?
2. Would you suggest any improvements?
3. Were there any aspects of the documentary that you didn't like and why?
4. Would you improve anything to the editing techniques?
5. Would you watch this if it appeared on Channel 4?
And these are just an example of the answers I received:
1. I think the documentary is really informative and gives a good insight into the fire service!!!
2. On one of the parts when the equipment was laid outside the voice over was really quiet and I couldn’t hear it so make sure that its able to be heard!
3. The first part of the documentary when you were filming the fire engine was a little bit too long but apart from that it was very good!
4. The only thing I would improve would be the voice over thing that I mentioned earlier
5. Yes I would watch it on channel 4 if I wanted to know about the fire service because it’s very informative and all the different aspects to it make it interesting to watch
1.The purpose of a documentary is to learn something new that you wouldn’t be able to find out quickly. I feel that this has been achieved in this project, by using a combination of interviews, voice over’s, location and close-ups. The speed of the documentary is well balanced with a good break in-between interviews, this aids viewers interest.
2.Personally, I would look to white balance the camera again before and after shot’s. As the colours seemed to vary, especially the prominent red. The sound needs equalising, so that volume doesn’t increase and decrease randomly. Some of the shots were slightly jerky in motion, especially the opening panning shot, and Finally not to include the questions being asked, this makes it more a Q+A session record the answer and not the question.
3.I would have liked to have heard more about the equipment being used, especially as the fireman seemed to be very open, and obviously very helpful with the project. If I wanted to be a fireman I would have liked to have seen a focus on either recruitment and what it takes to be a fireman.
4. Personally, I would involve sharper cuts, Longer opening and closing sequences, and Larger, Bolder titles. As well as ensuring that shot construction from one to the next had certain symmetry, using light, composition and character position. The angle of the camera seemed to be slightly cantered in places; I would just have it level.
5. Certainly, I would be interested to see the goings on behind the scene’s in a Fire Station, Classic example of a documentary, got me interested and keen in the subject matter.
1. I enjoyed the documentary it gave a good insight into the day to day life of a firefighter as often they can be accused of spending a lot of time sitting around, I also thought it was useful from a careers point of view as they set out the basic requirements to become a firefighter
2. When the first firefighter was being interviewed there was a lot of background noise that would be better if there wasn't any
3. No
4. I would maybe put some background music in at the beginning on the film
5. Yes
1. Was really interesting, kept me intrigued.
2. Improvements I'd say is just the volume and noise control but that’s it.
3. Nothing I didn’t like about it.
4. Again just volume and noise control, everything was fine.
5. Yes I would watch it, I like stuff like this
These are the questions we sent out to gain our audience feedback:
1. What do you think about the documentary?
2. Would you suggest any improvements?
3. Were there any aspects of the documentary that you didn't like and why?
4. Would you improve anything to the editing techniques?
5. Would you watch this if it appeared on Channel 4?
And these are just an example of the answers I received:
1. I think the documentary is really informative and gives a good insight into the fire service!!!
2. On one of the parts when the equipment was laid outside the voice over was really quiet and I couldn’t hear it so make sure that its able to be heard!
3. The first part of the documentary when you were filming the fire engine was a little bit too long but apart from that it was very good!
4. The only thing I would improve would be the voice over thing that I mentioned earlier
5. Yes I would watch it on channel 4 if I wanted to know about the fire service because it’s very informative and all the different aspects to it make it interesting to watch
1.The purpose of a documentary is to learn something new that you wouldn’t be able to find out quickly. I feel that this has been achieved in this project, by using a combination of interviews, voice over’s, location and close-ups. The speed of the documentary is well balanced with a good break in-between interviews, this aids viewers interest.
2.Personally, I would look to white balance the camera again before and after shot’s. As the colours seemed to vary, especially the prominent red. The sound needs equalising, so that volume doesn’t increase and decrease randomly. Some of the shots were slightly jerky in motion, especially the opening panning shot, and Finally not to include the questions being asked, this makes it more a Q+A session record the answer and not the question.
3.I would have liked to have heard more about the equipment being used, especially as the fireman seemed to be very open, and obviously very helpful with the project. If I wanted to be a fireman I would have liked to have seen a focus on either recruitment and what it takes to be a fireman.
4. Personally, I would involve sharper cuts, Longer opening and closing sequences, and Larger, Bolder titles. As well as ensuring that shot construction from one to the next had certain symmetry, using light, composition and character position. The angle of the camera seemed to be slightly cantered in places; I would just have it level.
5. Certainly, I would be interested to see the goings on behind the scene’s in a Fire Station, Classic example of a documentary, got me interested and keen in the subject matter.
1. I enjoyed the documentary it gave a good insight into the day to day life of a firefighter as often they can be accused of spending a lot of time sitting around, I also thought it was useful from a careers point of view as they set out the basic requirements to become a firefighter
2. When the first firefighter was being interviewed there was a lot of background noise that would be better if there wasn't any
3. No
4. I would maybe put some background music in at the beginning on the film
5. Yes
1. Was really interesting, kept me intrigued.
2. Improvements I'd say is just the volume and noise control but that’s it.
3. Nothing I didn’t like about it.
4. Again just volume and noise control, everything was fine.
5. Yes I would watch it, I like stuff like this
Monday, 11 April 2011
The final film poster
The final film poster was decided after making both mine and Katie's posters. We used the image from mine and the rest of the details which were included on Katie's poster to make the final product for advertising our production.
Questions for our audience feed back: Rough cut
1.What do you think about the documentary?
2.Would you suggest any improvements?
3.Were there any aspects of the documentary that you didn't like and why?
4 Would you improve anything to the editing techniques?
5.Would you watch this if it appeared on Channel4?
2.Would you suggest any improvements?
3.Were there any aspects of the documentary that you didn't like and why?
4 Would you improve anything to the editing techniques?
5.Would you watch this if it appeared on Channel4?
Friday, 8 April 2011
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Radio trailer Example Script
Radio trailer
An example of a radio trailer script for our Documentary:
Fade in *Siren* Fades out
Narrator: ‘Do you know about your local fire service?’
Matthew Barrel: ‘It’s a great job working within the community’
Narrator: ‘Why they do what they do?’
Matthew Barrel: ‘I just wanted to help people’
Nigel Bailey: *Extract from dead bodies interview*
Narrator: ‘Find out what your fire service do for you’
‘The fire service today’
‘Tonight’
‘At 9’
‘On 4’
An example of a radio trailer script for our Documentary:
Fade in *Siren* Fades out
Narrator: ‘Do you know about your local fire service?’
Matthew Barrel: ‘It’s a great job working within the community’
Narrator: ‘Why they do what they do?’
Matthew Barrel: ‘I just wanted to help people’
Nigel Bailey: *Extract from dead bodies interview*
Narrator: ‘Find out what your fire service do for you’
‘The fire service today’
‘Tonight’
‘At 9’
‘On 4’
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Christmas safety booklet
Friday, 10 December 2010
Edit list
We re-named all our shots to give us an edit log/ decision list. This described all the shots and it indicated which shots we were likely to use. This helped us speed up our editing process since we knew which shots to use on our time line. It was very time consuming but worth it in the long run.
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
Character Profiles
Thursday, 25 November 2010
'Uncover' details about our documentary
Below is a more detailed approach to our documentary. I was able to sit down and take an in depth look at our documentary and make a strategic plan for our plan towards the filming and set up of our documentary. Between 3rd and 7th of November, Sheffield Showroom theatre was host to Sheffield documentary festival. Between the hours of 9 and 4 there was a variety of speeches from people working in different areas of the media sector. There was also a workshop where the participants had to create a documentary idea that had a theme of Africa. There were 9 groups all together. Our group (Barnsley College) won the ‘competition’ with our idea of ‘Nigerian beauty’. Our idea was to interview a Nigerian model and the women around her (mother, sisters, aunties) and ask them questions about her, her career and their views on beauty. Then to take bring her to Britain an compare British models and their idea of beauty to the Nigerian aspects.
Why channel 4?
We have chosen Channel 4 to be the host of our documentary. We chose them because of their history with filming and broadcasting documentaries, they have an online archive of 596 documentaries and there specifications are matched to our goals. They also support an OD programme (on demand). This is where we are able to access programmes that we have missed on television, allowing us to catch up whenever we wish, no matter date or time as it is uploaded onto the internet and ready to watch. Therefore, if some of our audience miss our documentary, or wish to look upon it again, they are able to recall upon it as it will be available on Channel 4 OD.
Interview
Before the interviews are to take place, we plan to meet the fire fighters that will be appearing in our documentary, it will not be filmed or documented as it is an ’exercise’ that will allow us to get to know one another, find out about each other’s interests and become comfortable around each other before filming is to occur. In effect this will reflect in the documentary with natural conversation, rather than a structured ‘cold’ interview where it would be just be a simple question and answer.
Questions will be asked to gain information on the fire fighters as we do not expect them just to reel off random information. The questions are well thought out and well structured.
By preparing and researching our questions, we were able to make the questions open that allow a variation of answers that will/ could reveal detail and depth. However another technique is to provide statements that the fire figthers are able to build upon . This gives the subject chance to lead us through their story from their point of view and share their experiences with us, the audience. This level of preparation will provide a relaxed, conversational interview.
Plan
It is crucial to a films finished product that plenty of planning is done well before any filming is done. The purpose of planning is to ‘map out’ or structure the filming and editing process. It allows the film makers to ask themselves questions: what do i want to say? Has my story been done before? Do i have access? How am i going to tell the story? What resources do i have? By planning our documentary this way, it has allowed us know and easily direct what shots are needed, what questions we need to ask to gain the information we need to fit it in to our story etc. Like most documentaries, the aim of ours is to educate and entertain our audience. We plan to document the everyday life of our local fire fighters and find out what goes on behind closed doors and their whirring sirens. Our ‘fly on the wall’ (observational) documentary filming style has the added effect of voice over narration. During the editing process, the shots used can subtly indicate progress within the film.
Why channel 4?
We have chosen Channel 4 to be the host of our documentary. We chose them because of their history with filming and broadcasting documentaries, they have an online archive of 596 documentaries and there specifications are matched to our goals. They also support an OD programme (on demand). This is where we are able to access programmes that we have missed on television, allowing us to catch up whenever we wish, no matter date or time as it is uploaded onto the internet and ready to watch. Therefore, if some of our audience miss our documentary, or wish to look upon it again, they are able to recall upon it as it will be available on Channel 4 OD.
Interview
Before the interviews are to take place, we plan to meet the fire fighters that will be appearing in our documentary, it will not be filmed or documented as it is an ’exercise’ that will allow us to get to know one another, find out about each other’s interests and become comfortable around each other before filming is to occur. In effect this will reflect in the documentary with natural conversation, rather than a structured ‘cold’ interview where it would be just be a simple question and answer.
Questions will be asked to gain information on the fire fighters as we do not expect them just to reel off random information. The questions are well thought out and well structured.
By preparing and researching our questions, we were able to make the questions open that allow a variation of answers that will/ could reveal detail and depth. However another technique is to provide statements that the fire figthers are able to build upon . This gives the subject chance to lead us through their story from their point of view and share their experiences with us, the audience. This level of preparation will provide a relaxed, conversational interview.
Plan
It is crucial to a films finished product that plenty of planning is done well before any filming is done. The purpose of planning is to ‘map out’ or structure the filming and editing process. It allows the film makers to ask themselves questions: what do i want to say? Has my story been done before? Do i have access? How am i going to tell the story? What resources do i have? By planning our documentary this way, it has allowed us know and easily direct what shots are needed, what questions we need to ask to gain the information we need to fit it in to our story etc. Like most documentaries, the aim of ours is to educate and entertain our audience. We plan to document the everyday life of our local fire fighters and find out what goes on behind closed doors and their whirring sirens. Our ‘fly on the wall’ (observational) documentary filming style has the added effect of voice over narration. During the editing process, the shots used can subtly indicate progress within the film.
Friday, 19 November 2010
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Thursday, 14 October 2010
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