Studying Documentary Forms

Studying Documentary Forms

  A documentary is a media form which consists of using recorded evidence to provide a factual report on a particular subject. The term ‘documentary’ branches over a multitude of different styles and formats in which it can be filmed in, though all different styles have been generally explained as “the creative treatment of actuality” by John Grierson, an influential maker of documentaries in 1936.

 Documentaries have been a popular format of media since the 1920’s, when Travelogue films (regularly called “scenics” by distributors) created small visual pieces detailing travel spots around America, and have evolved to become pieces which expose emotional themes and otherwise unknown activities going on in the world, as well as inspiring and informative subjects.

   In 1936, John Grierson, a highly influential early documentary director, described documentaries as “the creative treatment of actuality” meaning that it was looking at something factual and exploring it creatively – through film, in this case.

 Documentaries can focus on absolutely anything, and generally aim to make a point about particular issues involved with society, including ethical and political matters. Depending on the topic of the documentary and the image which the director wants to be surrounded with the topic, the documentary will be filmed in one of five different styles including:

Expository Documentary

 An expository documentary involves a voice-over commentating clips using persuasive language. The comments will detail the actions which are happening on-screen, providing facts and information about the topic being discussed.

 A documentary of this style is intended to create a completely transparent, factual representation of the topics, without inputting biased information from publishing companies, directors or presenters involved - however, some expository documentaries involve a degree of persuasive techniques in order to sway viewers opinions, though it's generally done subtly in order to not force views onto people. 

 An example of an expository documentary is Nick Bromfields Aileen, which explored the life of serial killer Aileen Wuornos

Observational Documentary

 Observational documentaries are similar to expository in that there is no direct interaction between people behind the creation of the documentary and the people or things involved. In this case, there are no voice-overs whatsoever, and the documentary only involves clips of people involved with the subject speaking on-screen. Therefore, there’s generally a large amount of interviews, pictures and recordings and the film-makers are not shown on-screen.

 This style of documentary is supposed to present a snippet of actual life, and be the truest form out of the selection of 5, allowing audiences themselves to form opinions from the text.

 An example of an observational documentary is Robert Drew’s Primary from 1960.

Interactive Documentary

 An interactive documentary involves interaction between the film-makers, the presenters, the interviewees and the audience. There is a presentation of both sides of an argument, usually, and the manipulation of the text is much more predominant in an interactive documentary. The more evident editing of th
e different sides can sometimes cause controversy surrounding the authenticity of the information presented in an interactive text – presenters and film-makers can give biased information towards one side and try to sway the audience in siding with a particular opinion over another. Some people have defended this questioning – film-makers, in particular, claiming the projected image is more important that the fine details.

 An example of an interactive documentary is all of the documentaries featured in Louis Theroux’ Weird Weekend Series, alongside the majority of documentaries the BBC shows on their television channel. In Weird Weekends, Louis works to explore controversial or otherwise strange topics featured in today’s society. This can include anything from spending weeks in a rehabilitation home for convicted paedophiles undergoing therapy and hoping to be released into the outside world, in Louis Theroux: A Place for Paedophiles, to looking at people who believe in aliens and taking a more quirky, comical approach. His documentaries generally raise certain questions regarding the topic, and allows audiences to see first-hand what it’s like for someone not directly a part of the activities on-screen.
 These documentaries - particularly the ones which seek to expose and explore controversial issues in society, can be difficult to make as the availability to information and witnesses is limited. Due to the nature of the topics, many locations and people ideal for filming are unavailable or extremely limited up to their availability for documentary makers. 

 An example of an interactive documentary is Whalehunter from 2004.

Reflexive Documentary

 A reflexive documentary works to expose the conventions in documentaries and explore different styles creating an experimental and sometimes artistic aesthetic to the piece. In this way, the documentary uses filmed shots of ‘real life’ and compiles them in a way which can create an experimental and different feel to the footage.

 This style of documentary is intended to give audiences a feel of the manipulation that goes on behind the camera so they can form well rounded opinions on things which are featured in documentaries. In 1929, Dziga Vertov explained the use of behind-the-camera footage in his documentary Man with a Movie Camera as a technique “to aid the audience in their understanding of the process of construction in film so that they could develop a sophisticated and critical attitude.”

 An example of a reflexive documentary is No Lies by Mitchell Block in 1974.

Performative Documentary

 A performative documentary uses actors and scripted footage in order to represent the world indirectly. It’s most often used in case of crimes or muddled stories, detailed by interviewees who may or may not be the actual people involved in the incidents, but are reading from factual information given from the people involved. The ‘performance’ element is in place in order to give the audience a higher understanding of something which is either difficult film on camera or impossible – this is why it’s the most common form for documenting and recreating murder stories.

 The aim of a performative documentary is to present evidence in a subjective way, presenting all the important and opinion-changing information to the audience but in a visually interesting way. Some performative documentaries take on an artistic manner during the recreation scenes, making them more visually pleasing and giving them a wider audience to branch out to.
 Performative documentaries use visual representations of witness accounts in order to paint a clearer image of the goings-on to the viewer, and are particularly helpful in cases with a large amount of misleading and conflicting evidence. It also adds a chance for various filming styles to be explored during production, and therefore introduces a higher demand of creativity on the film-makers part. 

An example of a performative documentary is Tongues Untied by Marlon Rigs in 1990.

 Documentaries main purpose is to deliver information or scenarios to the general public, in order to allow them to explore the nature of the society and world that they live in. Therefore, whilst information should be backed up with facts, there should also be a degree of audience input in that the documentaries allow them to make their own opinions about the matters on-screen. Rhetorical questions, language techniques and representations of real people in real situations should be used, exploring both sides of an argument. 

3 Minute Wonder

A 3 minute wonder is a short documentary which explores topics which are viewed in particular ways/have an emotional attachment and tend to challenge the outlook on controversial subjects/shed light on things which are otherwise ignored. For example, an extremely popular 3 minute wonder which was broadcast on channel 4 in 2010 was called The Last Supper, and followed a murderer as he prepared for his last meal before he was sentenced to death. 
 The purpose of a 3 Minute Wonder - whilst opening people's minds to topics and subjects - is mainly focused around giving people the chance for a screening during prime-time Channel 4 viewing and therefore opening them up to new opportunities in the media business. 
 We were told to watch a minimum of 5 3 Minute Wonder's and choose our favorite from the selection:
Free Falling by Andrew Laurie
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8mFVfXXD30
 I thought this piece was very dramatic and artistic, and an intriguing look into something which is rarely explored in media texts. 
 The topic fits well in the small time frame and creates an interesting view on the activity for people to become immersed in, and also highlights some of the danger involved in the activity.
Karl Pilkington - Life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0fy6plSOk0
 Karl Pilkington began creating 3 Minute Wonders shortly after his comical interest from the media after An Idiot Abroad. He had become popular due to his matter-of-fact opinions (which could usually be argued with) and his inability to filter his sometimes offensive views, and has since joined Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant in The Ricky Gervais Show.
 I enjoy Karl Pilkington's TV personality and find his views humorous to watch. 
Last Supper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Mc3uJ_xRI
 This one, being the most viewed from the selection that I watched, was the most emotional and dramatic of the view. The co-operation of the inmate and the dramatic, light background music works together to create a sad tone to the documentary. 

Introduction to News

 The Role of Presenters
 Presenters are a group of people who introduce a television programme and will appear throughout the lead onto different topics.
 On the news, presenters generally consist of an older male and a middle-aged woman, dressed formally in colour-specific clothing in order to tie in with the surroundings and therefore the 'branding' of the news. The time of day might change the style and coloring of their clothes slightly, as the darker colors in the backdrop could clash with their clothing and create a depressing atmosphere and make the bad news being reported about harsher and more violent for the audience. The clothing the presenters wear will tie in with the text-face of the News channel in order to give a sense of continuity for the shots and allow everything to tie in together.

News sequences

 News sequences tend to fluctuate between lighter and more serious tones during presenting ensuring that all of the highlights are of Public Interest and keep the viewers intrigued and aware. 

 The first news highlight will be either "Breaking News" or the "Headlining story" of the day, usually something of importance to the community - for example, the Headlining story on the BBC UK news is the brutal murder of Becky Watts and the ongoing investigation into her death.

 Following this, reporters spoke of a recent video from terrorist group ISIS and political responses to the opinions stated on the video; a football manager admitting defeat; the poisoning of Crufts competitor Jagger and various other topics following the same theme. 

 The main headlines, however, are generally presented on television in line with more humorous, light-hearted headlines. This doesn't necessarily dampen the importance of the previous headlines, but rather informs viewers of a larger range and theme of topics. 

 It's also important to not report only upsetting news because this will make viewers distressed and uninterested in watching News channels anymore.
 The stories chosen from a range of interesting things depend on a matter of different circumstances for the reporters: at the beginning of the day, editors will compose a timetable for the 6:00pm news and the reporters will use this to arrange their day according to where they'd need to be in the area and what sort of things the camera-men would be required to film.
 This arrangement can easily change and be altered, and there are usually Plan B stories for reporters to explore due to things changing, such as a court case being delayed. In this instance, the whole team working at the news building must be able to quickly arrange a different story to fit in place, and reporters must be able to reach destinations in a short span of time, ensuring that they have the right information and stories in order to report about it.
 In order to chose which topics to discuss and what time to air certain stories, editors will look at their entertainment factor, the other stories being aired that same day and what sort of theme's or 'sectors' they've covered - if there's 2 NHS-related stories, it would be wise to do something unrelated to health care and look at crime or education instead - and how relevant the information is for the viewers - i.e. how important the information is.
 Sometimes there are 'Slow News Days', which is a term used to describe a day with not much 'exciting' news stories to report. There might be less to talk about, and therefore editors will have to ensure that they cram in the most interesting stories in order to keep viewers attention.
 After a range of different stories, the news sequence will conclude with an "And finally..." story, usually something much more light-hearted and memorial than the other stories. For instance, if a person in the public's eye were to have passed, it's likely this news will be the "And finally..." story, looking back on their work and the good they've done to commemorate their life rather than being sad about their loss. This ends the news on an uplifting note, which leaves the audience with a positive opinion of the news channel.

The Chowles News Broadcast
 The Chowles family appeared on the news talking about how their house is repossessed as they cannot pay their mortgage off and neither of them are working due to health issues and having to looks after children. The people of interest are placed on-screen in order to evoke feelings of sympathy from the viewers and alert the public of the issue some people are facing - when they're all on-screen together, the baby is placed in between the two parents, and the dog is locked out in the cold, which emphasizes their difficult living conditions.
 There is a representation of vulnerability through the shots of Pierre, the ill father who cannot work, slipping on the snow outside the house; the mother, Christina looking after the young child. The family are presented in a vulnerable way, in order to evoke sympathy from the viewers and alert them of the happenings being reported on.

Using your own broadcast
 I watched an NBC news bulletin (an American News Outlet) from April 19th. It opens with a quick, brief detailing of the different stories they will be discussing during the broadcast which catches viewers attention and already gives them an idea of what has been happening in their area. The sequence opens with the story of a ship capsizing and people losing their lives, followed by another story of terror, this time a police officer accidentally pulling out his gun instead of his tazer and killing the victim. The language used in this clip follows the lines of "missing" and "loved ones", focusing on the loss of people the memory they hold. Then a story of medicine follows - using words such as "hope" and clips of a doctor handling medicine. This gives people something pleasant to think about, rather than focusing on the many more stories of loss there are likely happening around the globe and in the local area. Next, a news story of remembrance day, focusing mainly on a man who lost his daughter to terrorism. And the news roundup ends with a story of a dog who delivers bats to baseball players. This story is much more lighthearted than the others, not involving death or "hope" of any sort, but rather just being a chirpy tale to finish off and leave the viewers satisfied with what they have watched.

http://news.sky.com/uk 

http://news.sky.com/story/1442178/becky-watts-phone-and-computers-recovered

Editing Techniques

Creative Media Production (Film & TV)

Editing Techniques

 Editing began when cinematography was introduced in the late 1800’s. It involves piecing together bits of film in order to create a sequence which flows and details a story thoroughly. It can be used in many creative ways in order to draw in different types of audiences and create a different atmosphere during the watching of the film. An action scene, for example, can be shot seriously and provoke feelings of anger and tension, such as this scene from The Raid: Redemption does; or, things like contrast and film grain can be edited in order to give it a more Western-esque, cool theme. In that case, there would be a strong incline towards the inevitability of the protagonist winning – as though they’re undefeatable, whereas in The Raid the editing does not greatly imply that Rama and his brother will defeat Mad Dog, and there’s a large amount of tension building up, particularly towards the climax of the fight where there’s no real inclination as to who will win and there’s a constant struggle for the upper hand.

 The basic methods of editing begins back when film cameras were introduced in the 1850’s, and the film reels were cut and stuck onto different shots in order to create a flowing sequence. Since then, it has developed into a wide subject with lots of areas in which people can study and excel in. From having to spend hours splicing the footage and layering film reels in order to create the effect they wish for, editing has evolved into something which everybody can pick up and study and successfully do with the help of some programmes available to buy anywhere. It’s generally quicker, and digital film allows for effects on-screen to look realistic for audiences. In-camera editing takes a great deal more time and calls for a large amount of attention to detail on set, but produces a particular image which tends to look more cinematic and visually appealing. Another aspect of film is that is can be re-scanned in order to become higher definition. Many films shot on a film-camera have been rescanned and remarketed and sold as a higher definition, Blu-ray edition – movies captured on digital cameras cannot go through this same process, meaning that whichever quality they were filmed as, they stay as.

 The Raid was filmed digitally, meaning that the footage could be uploaded to editing software on computers and altered in many different ways on professional programmes.  This acts as great advantage for a high-intensity martial arts-based action film - being a genre that heavily relies on editing in order to create a realistic look to the scenes, something which would have been practically unachievable on film camera.

 The majority of the film is long, epic fight scenes performed by stuntmen – in this sense; the movie plays out like a visual martial-arts show with some backstory, and therefore must be executed perfectly in order to portray a practiced – yet true – style and tone throughout the film.

 The editing therefore must portray a fast-paced, tension-filled atmosphere through the use of quick transitions, many cuts and various different shots of the same action as well as an intense performance from Iko Uwais (Rama), Yayan Ruhian (Mad Dog) and Donny Alamsyah (Andi).

Visual Analysis

This is the climactic fight scene during The Raid, with Mad Dog at this point being the major loyal guard of Tama, and therefore a barricade before Rama, as well as an enemy due to him beating his brother, Andi, for helping Rama previously.

 In order to portray a sense of continuity in the scene, Evans moves forward the narrative by creating a bad guy vs. good guy scenario which is created through the various camera movements and edits in order to create high tension between the characters.

0.01 onwards gives us a slow track to the small window into the room where Andi’s being beaten by Mad Dog, perhaps reflecting a point of view perspective of Rama but more smoothly, an anticipating transition for the audience. A track is where the camera follows/moves with an action on screen, rather than staying put and using the zoom function. It creates an extremely slow build up for the audience, giving a sense of anticipation when paired with the violent grunts and low rumble background music playing in the scene. The sound is ominous and daunting, and slowly builds alongside the track which is broken by an abrupt punch, cut shortly off to a shaky, panning camera of Mad Dog punching a collapsed Andi in the stomach.

1.00: Here, there’s an establishing shot. This long drawn out shot details the relationships between the characters and gives the obvious impression of an oncoming fight, filling the audience with anticipation for the brothers to attack Mad Dog – somebody who has murdered a friend of our protagonist in the past events of the film. Evans makes this specific to the scene through making the camera shake slightly, and drawing out the interactions between the characters – the unnerving moment when Rama steps into the room and makes eye contact with his enemy – creates a lead-up to the final major fight of The Raid, and leaves the following actions unpredictable and therefore exciting.

 The slow pan/track which happens in the same shot resembles the uncomfortable time taken between the characters analysing their surroundings and Mad Dog making the decision to let Andi down, rather than fighting Rama alone. Though this scene portrays a shared arrogance held by both Rama and Mad Dog with them lingering in an atmosphere where the person to take the initiative can either be the fool or the commander, Mad Dog takes it as an opportunity to convey his confidence by letting Andi join Rama in the fight, the shackling sound of the chains being prominent amongst the vacant hiss edited over the footage.

Films use the match on action technique in order to create a sequence which seamlessly flows from one shot to the next, rather than appearing jumpy and unplanned.

 In a fight-scene such as the one in the clip, the match on action technique is extremely important in making the stunts look realistic, and to keep the pace fast and exciting for the viewers.

 The example above is from 2.03 - the peak of the slow build up before the fight begins. A match on action here seems almost unnecessary, but works in creating a gradual increase in the pace of the scene, before the abrupt bang of the first punch, and draws the audience into the intensity shared between the characters. The match on action technique is when an action begins happening in one shot and is continued into the other in order to

 Mad Dog walking between the two suggests his confidence in the situation, placing himself in the centre of the screen in order to emphasize his importance and challenge for our protagonist.

 His costume identifies him with the building, with his dark brown and grey wear blending in with the background and giving him a personal identification with his surroundings. Andi looks more polished of the two, whilst Rama’s SWAT costume separates him and gives him a sense of power over the scene, despite his slight apprehension in the scene.

 The match on action here works to create a sense of continuity, and therefore the sudden outburst of fighting catches us off guard.

 After that point, all hell breaks loose in this room – immediately, the cuts are quicker and the non-diegetic sound increases the pace in coherence with the pace of the editing.

 In order to create a frantic and heightened mood, the 180 degree rule is broken multiple times during the fight. Because of the constantly changing positions of the characters, it’s difficult to judge where the line limiting the camera is placed in this instance, and it almost becomes non-existent to the viewers as well as the people filming. This make the situation seem a lot more real – with the hysterical camera actions highlighting the adrenaline-filled characters’ emotions.

 At 1:43, there is a shot-reverse-shot between Mad Dog pulling up the chains which hung Andi from the ceiling, and Rama looking up on Mad Dog while helping his brother get up from the floor. This creates tension between the characters, as well as a stronger sense of family and team-work between Andi and Rama. With Rama on the floor, addressing the standing Mad Dog directly in the eye, the scene uses the levels in order to represent a traditional way of showing the audience the power held by characters, only here Rama challenges that by starting off low to help his brother but still addressing the standing Mad Dog.

This heightens the tension between the characters and makes for the eventual breakout of fighting to fit better in the scene.

 In this scene there is parallel editing between the fight scene and Wahyu trying to reach Tama on the top floor of the building, before betraying Rama by shooting his fellow S.W.A.T team member in the head and threatening Tama with his handgun to get him out of the building.

 The cutaway shots, though still keeping up with the pace, breaks up the high action fighting to prevent it becoming tiring and boring for the audiences to watch.

 To break up the two different sequences, the soundtrack is cut off completely in the clips with Wahyu, and, though very quiet in the main fight scene with Rama, Andi and Mad Dog, picks up in the clips with them.
 As the fight continues, there is a large impression placed upon the viewers that this could go either way - though we're sure Rama will make it, him being our protagonist all the way through and very prominently holding the scene through close-ups, his costume and his fighting style - Andi could very easily fall in this fight. There is a threat, therefore, that one of the characters the audience should see in a nice light could fall, and Mad Dog might even get away. This creates tension, particularly paired with the high-paced shots of the fight. When Mad Dog downs Andi and Rama is left on a one-on-one fist fight, it suggests that the fears of the viewers might come true. Here, we get some longer clips, lingering on certain shots of the protagonist failing and becoming weaker.

Analysis of Advertisement

Editing Techniques, Questionnaire

Questionnaire
What do the numbers 16:9 refer to?: The aspect ratio of a screen.
What is the frame size of a 1080p video file? 1920 x 1080
If you have a video file which is 720:50 what is the frame rate and what does the p stand for?: The frame rate is 50fps (frames per second.) P stands for progressive scan.
What is the difference between p and i?: they both specify how many fps there are in a video file. The difference being that p allows for one shot to be shown after the other whilst i (interlaced scan) shows half frames at any one moment. P designation produces higher quality film, though it takes more storage on desktops.
What frame rate is real film shot at?: 24fps
What might be the advantage at shooting at a higher frame rate?: the condesity of each clip will be smaller and therefore the footage will roll better, producing better quality films.
What defines a lossy file?: Highly condensed files.
Name three file types commonly used in video editing: MPEG, MOV and AVCHD.
What is the difference between a video file type and a codec? A video file type holds footage whilst a codec allows those files to be compressed or decoded, and uploaded to programmes to edit. Codec's can compress or decompress files.
What is bitrate? A bitrate is the rate at which a file processes information.

Editing How To

1) On a Mac desktop (ensure you are on a Mac setting due to the login screen looking as the one above. If it’s not, follow these steps: restart the computer, hold down ALT for the duration of the switch on process, a screen should appear which allows you to choose a Macintosh setting out of the three shown on-screen.) Log on with mediab, mediab. 

Using macs gives more space to save folders and install editing programmes, alongside using a shared account so members of the group do not hold the folders on their personal accounts and everyone can access it. 

2) After logging on, the desktop screen will appear. 

3) In finder, click on the Movies sub folder. This is where all of the footage will be copied and stored. Click on New Folder and name it appropriately. 

4) After inserting an SD card or USB, copy the files into your new folder and wait for the data to complete processing. You files will look like this – you can create sub-folders for audio and video, effects and edits. This ensures that the data won’t be lost, and that you won’t have to keep inserting the SD card to edit your footage. 
 In order to insert an SD card safely ensure that the "Lock" switch is pressed down, so that the footage can be copied onto the desktop. Once you've inserted a form of memory into the Mac, the icon for it will appear on your desktop. In order to eject it safely, right click on that icon after you've completed copying your files, and select "Eject..." and wait for a notification to appear telling you that it's ready to be ejected. Not doing this can corrupt files and make you lose important files you need. 

5) In order to open Premier Pro, go to your desktop screen and find this icon on the bottom bar. If you can’t find it, go into Applications and search Adobe Premier Pro and open it there instead. You will be greeted by the start-up screen. 

6) This is the start-up screen. If you’re creating a new project, click on “New Project”, if you’re returning to continue editing something, under the “Open a Recent Item” there is an “Open Project” button.

7) Upon clicking “New Project” this screen will show up. Name your project, and make sure you save the folders in the correct location. 

8) Once you’ve created a new project, you will get this screen. You have to import your footage now. Do this by clicking “File” and “Import” and select the footage from your folder. 

9) Your footage will be here, alongside any audio clips which you can cut and change to fit your piece. This section will show the length of the files and you can drag them to the first viewing window to preview them before you add them into your piece. The footage will also be organised into "bins" - folders for you to place clips in according to the type, or the length, or whatever specification keeps you most organised. 

10) When you drag footage onto your timeline, it looks like this. On the right side is a preview where you can experiment with different lengths of video and add effects without affecting the actual footage, shown on the left. To add a piece of footage to your piece, drag it from the lower left quarter to the lower right, putting it in the right place.

 In this screen are all of the major editing tools. Alongside the audio bank is the cutting tool, handy for shortening clips. The cutting tool can be used in both the upper right preview screen and on the actual footage in the timeline. 

In order to cut footage on the timeline, select a cutting tool and click on the place where you want a transition. This will separate the footage. Right click on the footage you don't want, and move it or delete it with the Delete button on your keyboard. If you've deleted or moved the clip, you may need to move around a large amount of other footage. If there's a blank space left between the altered clip and the rest of the footage afterwards, either click on that blank space and click Backspace on your keyboard. This will remove the black screen and create an instant cut to the next selection of footage. 

 In order to move around large groups of footage, hold down the left mouse button and drag over the footage, and move it accordingly. 

 In order to edit a specific clip of footage, you should right click on the file in the timeline and select the edit you want to add. Another screen will appear where you make specific changes. 

There's a good few rows where you can layer footage and audio here. This is handy for adding effects, layering audio to add background music over dialogue or voice-overs and comparing tracks to see which works best for you. 

11) Here you can see how long your production is overall. 

12) Once you're finished with your product, go back to file and select "Save As..." and ensure that the folder you're saving it in is one you have created in a specific place where you'll be able to easily locate it, and has an appropriate folder name. 

This step should be repeated throughout the duration of your editing, in case Premier Pro crashes and you lose work. After "[Saving] As..." once, simply click "Save" and the file will update all of the changes for you.