Editing: Update on progress

In this lesson, I added and edited more footage onto the video which takes it up to just over one minute. I placed more of the footage together, it still needs more editing to ensure the pace is set right however placing them together has got the narrative coming together. I have also detached audio from certain shots and added voiceovers over the top.

 

Editing: Documentary Progress

I have edited the first 30 seconds together by detaching the audio of the individual visuals and attaching a voiceover over the top of them. I also added a time lapse of London Bridge after the voiceover scene for the titles.

Production: Beginning to edit

I have begun looking through my footage and selecting the videos which videos will be suitable for the documentary. I uploaded the footage to the iMAC and then once I choose the videos I imported them to iMovie to begin piecing them together.

Generic Research: Fourth Textual Analysis

Production: Contact Sheet

Here are the screenshots of the footage filmed for my documentary to form contact sheets. Here you can see a variety of shots and lots of footage which takes up more time than required. I also shot certain shots many times and some from different angles to make sure the sound and background is what I need from the shot.

Generic Research: Third Textual Analysis

Here is another textual analysis on a documentary called 'Reggie Yates in a Refugee Camp' click here for a link to watch the documentary. By completing a third textual analysis, I have become accustomed to the codes and conventions to apply to my own documentary and also been inspired by the differences in each documentary.

Planning: Test shots

I took test shots of the places I intend to film in so I can determine if they look effective for my documentary and the idea is clear in my mind when it comes to the days filming. Below are the images from both London and Leigh and show the landscape wide shots I filmed, these will hopefully be filmed to use as my establishing shot, title shot and cutaways.

 

 

 

Planning: Risk assessment

I have conducted a risk assessment for when I begin to film the footage for my documentary to ensure everybody is safe and injuries can be avoided.

Generic Research: Theorists

Here is research into two theorists and how both of their theories are related to my documentary.

Stuart Hall argues that language is decoded by audiences depending on their cultural competencies and background/interests/socio economic influences. As a result of this their reading to media texts can be preferred, negotiated or oppositional. This can be applied to my documentary because high class people who lie in the A socio economic group, middle aged and potentially current homeowners in London or landlords will have a preferred reading as they are already succeeding in this area. On the other hand middle to lower class young people, who are in the C to E socio economic and in the aspirer or struggler psychographic will have an oppositional reading to the documentary. This is because it will be hard for them to buy property if they are newly starting out and it may be difficult to face the fact they may have to live on the outskirts rather than in London at the time being. Furthermore, people who live far away from London and settled elsewhere may have a negotiated reading as the documentary topic may not directly affect them and they may just find it interesting to expand their knowledge on current issues.

Steve Neale’s theory is about genre and he argues that this is derived from ‘repetition and genre’. Recognition through features of genre is necessary in order to follow a plot. He also states that ‘difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre’ as mere repetition would not attract an audience. In order for my documentary to fit within the documentary genre I will use many features as the repetition, for example the use of interviews and statistics. I will also maintain an editing pace typical to documentary and use cutaways and voiceovers to narrate the story. However many aspects will be different specifically the topic, background music, choice of font and talent starring in the documentary.

Planning: Narrative Arc

Below is an image of my narrative arc for my documentary which has helped me to keep within the codes and conventions what most documentaries use. As I am required to film five minutes, I am focusing on the first five minutes but also planning the rest to make sure it will flow if you were to extract a different five minutes of the same documentary. 

Planning: Talent Shot

I have written a passage about the talent who will be used in my documentary. I have explained why and reinforced this with theory from Steve Neale and Andy Medhurst.

Audience Research: Audience Profile

I have created an audience profile of all the products, places and apps which my target audience may most likely have which will help me keep them in mind and target the footage, narrative and message of my documentary towards them.

Generic Research: Second Textual Analysis

Here is my second textual analysis of an existing documentary. It is called 'A Very British Hotel' and you can click here for a link to watch the documentary. I analysed six shots and summarised key information extracted underneath it, this has helped me identify key codes and conventions from another documentary.

Generic Research: Further Information On Idea Facts

I have collected some facts and figures and points of interest about London and Leig. This has allowed me to clearly compare between the two and understand the distinct differences between them. I have also identified different aspects which are available at each place which will help me when I film both places.

Research into london and leigh from Katie Pearl

Generic Research: Helpful articles

To help collect knowledge and research into the facts for my documentary I have read articles which help the question which I am investigating and have linked two below with summaries and key aspects underneath them.

Click here for a link to an interesting article, helpful with my generic research of finding out what it costs and is like to live in London.

The article states that nearly half of all millionaires live in the London and the South East due to rising house prices. The average house price in London is £482,000 and there are now 394,000 estimated properties worth more than £1 million in the UK largely from price growth in London.

Click here for a link to a second helpful article.

Key facts include:

• The UK capital was one of the worst performers among 10 regions analysed for the property market.
• The average home in the capital in 2016 cost more than 10 times annual earnings by Lloyds Bank.
• The biggest gap was in Haringey, a north London borough where house prices increased by an average of £139,803 exceeding average take home earnings by £3,810 per month.
• It is no longer unusual for houses to 'earn' more than the people living in them.

Generic Research: Existing Brand

Here, I have conducted generic research into Celebs Go Dating as a brand to help with planning and producing my own brand.

Planning: Choosing equipment

I wanted to test out equipment which is available for me to use for my product so I am confident I have chosen the appropriate piece. To decide which equipment to film my documentary on I filmed and photographed test shots on an iPhone 6s and a Canon 10d camera.

 

Here are the results of the footage gathered from an iPhone. I used the different features such as slow motion and time lapse.

And here are the results gathered of the footage from the Canon 10d camera. I experimented with different qualities on this camera such as changing the aperture, zooming and changing the depth of field.

From the practise and experimental footage taken I have decided to use the canon 10d camera to take my ancillary product images with. This is because the quality is clearer and I can achieve the desired effect easier with the camera. However I will use the iPhone 6s to film the footage for my documentary on as the quality is similar when filming and the phone is easier to transport around especially when travelling to London and taking cutaway shots.

Planning: Costume

I have planned out the costume for my talent (Cassandra Brown) to wear. I have chosen a black top and blue pair of jeans for her to wear for a shot where she introduces the documentary in a long shot, the picture is below.

I have specifically thought to dress her in a simple casual outfit which is similar to the outfit choices of existing documentary presenters such as Stacey Dooley and Reggie Yates. This is because the documentary is simply educational and the audience can identify with presenters more when they appear ordinary.

 

Planning: To Film The Footage

I have been researching where to film my documentary and used Google Maps to help me plan this. I will be filming main sights and landmarks in London to use as cutaways behind music and voiceovers. 

I will therefore use the London underground tube network to help travel from place to place to capture the footage. The main tube stations include Hyde Park Corner, Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Tower Hill and Oxford Circus.

   I also messaged my talent to let them know the arrangements for the day beforehand. 

Planning: Script

I have planned and written out the voiceovers to record for the footage in my documentary. These are designed to go over the top of cutaways and there is also a speech to film of the narrator as a long shot

Planning: Shot List

I have identified different shots I will use shoot of different scenes in my documentary. These wil help with the organisation on the days of filming and ensure I have a range of angles and shot types to keep the documentary interesting. These are also in order so will help with the narrative of my documentary in the editing stage.

Planning: Storyboard

To help plan the filming stage of my documentary I have made storyboards of the shots which I want to film. On these storyboards I have drawn the image I envisage, have written about the type of camera shot and movement and the sound whilst the shot is being played.

Audience Research: Feedback From Questionnaire

Below I have summarized the findings from my first questionnaire which I sent out to my focus group and members of my target audience on the themes, content and location.


The first question was asking which theme to base my documentary on, this question was very important and the majority of responses voted for moving from London to Leigh which is helpful to finalize my decision. There was also votes for what its like to live in London so I will include a segment of the documentary on this subject.

The second question was about who is interview to gain more information and adhere to the conventions of documentaries. There was a even split between two responses which was a coffee shop owner and an estate agent so I will include both of these in my documentary.

The third question was about the location of where to film my documentary. This also had an even split between two options so I will include both of these, being London and Leigh on sea (rather than Southend on sea) in my documentary.

The fourth question was asking who they believe would be the best presenter for my documentary. There were votes for two of the four people yet the majority of votes was for Cassandra Brown so I will ask her to present my documentary.

Finally, my last question was which channel my documentary should appear on. All the responses for this was for Channel 4 and I agree with my target audience and focus group for this and will aim to produce it to adhere to those codes and conventions, content and use their opening titles.

Production: Questionnaire

I made a questionnaire in order to gather information from my focus group and other people who would fit within the target audience. The questions in the questionnaire will help me finalise the theme for my documentary, where to film, who to film and what important scenes to film.