Todd Lillis coursework

1. Evaluation
TODD LILLIS

2. In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?

For our A2 coursework we were given a brief to create the first five
minutes of a documentary, alongside this we were to create a
double page spread and a radio trailer.

For research we began by watching documentaries such as
‘Supersize Me’, ‘A Good Smack’ and ‘The Great Offices of State’. In
order to follow the conventions of a TV documentary we analysed
them to see what they all had in common and also to see whether
they challenged the conventions. We found that in ‘Supersize Me’
there was a lot of piece to camera, which we took inspiration from.
We also followed the way ‘The Great Offices of State’ set out
they’re interviews so that they would look professional.

3. 
In order for our documentary to look professional and be effective,
we had to research onto our chosen topic, cyber-bullying. This
consisted of researching into the genre of documentaries, the
narrative structure, similar documentaries, the codes and
conventions, radio trailers, double page spreads, interviews and TV
listings.
We also had to research into the channel in which we wanted the
documentary to be featured on, the target audience and the
background of the actual topic of cyber-bullying.

4. Comparison screenshots of
documentaries…
We took inspiration from how ‘Supersize Me’ set out they’re
piece to camera and we used a mid shot with appropriate mise
en scene. The college sign in the background helps introduce
our target audience of 16-24.
This is an example of how our product follows conventions of real
media products as we use Expository Mode as the basis of the
entire 5 minutes.

5. 
We also used the Observational Mode which allows the viewer to
reach a conclusion of their own whilst watching the documentary.
We only used this during the reconstruction when we see Laura
isolate herself from the cyber-bullies.
Another mode used in the reconstruction was the Poetic Mode, it is
used to put more emphasis on the mood and tone of this specific
section of the documentary.

6. 
Our documentary focuses on the expository mode which is shown
through the vox pops and interviews, alongside facts and figures
presented via a voiceover. The documentary is based on a very
touching and saddening topic so constructing it meant we had to
take into account how (for example), the voiceover should sound
and how shots would be taken to portray certain things.

The main shot type we did use was a MCU (Medium Close Up),
which we used to frame the vox pops and the interviews. The reason
we chose MCUs was because of how they looked in ‘The Great
Offices of State’ and in ‘Supersize Me’, both of which used this shot
for effective framing during interviews.
Long shots were also used in our documentary, for example when I
walked towards the camera at the beginning it is an example of
both an establishing shot and a long shot.

7. Whilst watching other documentaries we found that a typical
convention is that all documentaries contain at least 2/3 interviews.
When looking into the interviews the interviewee is usually within the
field of the topic, whether it be an expert or even just working within it.
It also became clear that during the professional interviews the editors
show the names and entitlement of the interviewee. This is another
convention of real media products that we took and placed into our
own documentary.

8. 
The Mise en Scene is a key part of every documentary, the
background, the props, what people are wearing, everything has to
match the topic otherwise it is pointless using it. Our interviews
needed to do this, so we sat our professionals down next to
computers to portray an official looking setting.

Another key aspect of any documentary is the use of sound, non
diegetic, diegetic and ambient. We used garage band to create
our backing track which we played throughout the whole
documentary to emphasise the emotion.

9. How we followed the codes and conventions
for our double page spread
We chose to produce our double page spread for the magazine ‘Radio Times’ as we felt it was
suitable for our target audience and also has many documentaries advertised in there. We looked
at a range of TV listing magazines such as ’TV & Satellite’ and ‘TV magazine’ to get an idea of the
typical codes and conventions that we were going to following order to make our product look as
professional as possible.

10. Summary - Documentary

Overall, I feel that we followed most of the code sand conventions
of a documentary and the challenges were suitable. We used a
variety of shot types and of location to keep the documentary
looking both professional and interesting.

The use of the non-diegetic background music was created in
Garage Band towards the end of the editing process and gave the
documentary a slow pace which gave heightened emotion to the
topic.

The changes that I would make to the documentary would be to
have re done the final interview as the effects placed onto it made
it look almost like a shadow, unfortunately we ran out of time so this
was not possible to do again.

11. The title is a typical
convention and informs the
reader what the spread is
about.
The use of a secondary
smaller image shows the
reader what is involved
within the documentary.
The main image
establishes the article,
grabs the readers
attention quickly.
The rule of thirds has
been applied to keep
the article looking
professional.
We have used a subtitle
which summarises the
content of the article.
We followed the house
style of a Radio Times
magazine by adding the
date, time and channel
below the main image.
Pull quotes were added to follow the
conventions of magazines and the
house style of Radio Times.
Page numbers
conventionally placed in
the bottom corners to
make it easier for readers
to navigate through the
magazine.

12. The title is a typical
convention and informs the
reader what the spread is
about.
The house style of a Radio
Times magazine is clear
by adding the date, time
and channel.
A subtitle is used which
summarises the content
of the article.
The rule of thirds has
been keeps the
article looking
professional.
Page numbers
conventionally placed in
the bottom corners to
make it easier for readers
to navigate through the
magazine.
The use of a secondary
smaller image shows the
reader what is involved
within the documentary.
Pull quotes follow the conventions of
magazines and the house style of Radio
Times.
The main image
establishes the article,
grabs the readers
attention quickly.

13. Summary – Double Page Spread

I feel that our double page spread stuck to the codes and
conventions of a professional media product as we used; a title,
subtitle, pull quotes, page number, main image, minor image, date
and time, captions, columns and stuck to the rule of thirds. The
double page spread looks professional and follows the house style
of our chosen magazine.

However some small changes I would make would be to make sure
that the copy isn't interrupted with hyphens as I feel that takes away
the professionalism.

14. How we followed the codes and
conventions of a radio trailer
Typical radio trailer conventions:
• Documentary extracts
• Facts
• Music
• Voiceover
• Time and date
• Channel
To get an idea of some radio
trailer conventions we listened to a
range of trailers from a range of
channels. We chose to create a
trailer for BBC radio 1 due to the
station being aimed at young
adults and students.

15. Summary – Radio Trailer

Overall I feel that our radio trailer sounded very professional and it
followed the list of conventions. It contained an appropriate length
of documentary extracts which gave a suitable amount of relevant
information to advertise our documentary.

I wouldn’t change the radio trailer as I feel that it followed all of the
codes and conventions, was relevant to the topic and sounded
professional.