Analysis in relation to other texts Gurdeep Sheri
In this evaluation, I will compare my documentary to both a new text and a old text looking closely at their similarities and differences. I will evaluate this based on these 6 aspects listed below.
Introduction
Content
Mode of Address
Conventions
Style and Form
Technology
The two texts that I will be comparing my documentary to are : • •
Schools in Britain (Old Text) BBC East News: Suffolk unemployment and apprenticeships (New Text)
Introduction My Documentary My topic was looking at the effects of rise in tuition fees. In my documentary, I tried to make clear that there are other options besides university which was my angle. The main concept of my documentary was looking through these alternative options. I looked specifically at apprenticeships, volunteer work and employment. For each of these topics, I had a interviewee who was a expert in the field. I feel my documentary currently has great relevance and easily relates to the target audience of 16-25 year olds. Out of my three ideas I felt this would be the most effective in terms of appeal for my audience therefore I chose this to carry along into production.
Below is a link to my final documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVVfYBqyir8
Introduction Old Text My old text is called ‘Schools in Britain’. This text talks around the topic of the education system within Britain in the 1980’s. It gives us a outline of how the schools work in terms of the average school day, subjects, and qualifications which are the different angles looked into. I would say the main audience for this video would be parents who are predominantly white as Britain was less multicultural at the time. I feel it is similar to my documentary as it is based in a school environment with similar shots to mine. Below is a link of this old text: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH_xy3uLbqE
Introduction New Text My new text is a news report about the high rise in unemployment followed by the increase of interest in apprenticeships. It gives us a outline of apprenticeships briefly within the space of around two and a half minutes. I feel this makes it similar to my documentary as I also briefly look through options such as employment and volunteer work. The main audience for this text would be people from Suffolk as this is where the clip was broadcasted.
Below is a link of this new text: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWpS7DfB1IY
Content My Documentary My content was based around the options after school for young people. I feel the two texts that I have selected relate to the content of my documentary as they contain several similar features that my documentary has. For example the new text looks at apprenticeships which I also look into. To get a better understanding into the options after school, I had to use a range of interviewees which supported each path that a young person could take. I asked them to give me a insight into their area of expertise which they did leading me to gain valuable informative content. Here are all the interviewees that represented a career option for young people.
Apprenticeships
Employment
Volunteer Work
Content Old Text I feel this documentary has content which is similar to mine as it focuses on school life. There are similar shots of the presenter in the school environment. It also looks through the different aspects of school life just like I look at the different options that young people have after school. However, the topic is completely different meaning most of the general content is different. I focus on life after school whereas this video looks at life in school which means that our content is varied. I have also used a variety of people of different genders and ethnicities whereas this film uses only white people which is fair as it represents 1980’s Britain successfully.
Presenting in a Classroom Environment
Content New Text The new text focuses on similar content of my documentary which is the route of apprenticeships for young people. The differences that they have their information as part of a news report whereas I present apprenticeships in a documentary form. Also the new text looks at other news reports within the same video such as the commonwealth boxing whereas I look at the other options that young people have relating back to the aim of my documentary. Therefore we only share one similar piece of content. I feel the new text relates to mostly white people as no other ethnicities are shown whereas I have used a range of ethnicities to make my video more mainstream.
Apprenticeships – News Angle
Mode of Address My Documentary I feel my documentary has a very informal mode of address which relates to the young audience of 16-24 year olds. I feel they can connect to the presenter on a personal level. From my client feedback it is clear that the ‘light hearted and humorous’ mode of address would appeal to the target market. During the interviews, I changed my approach to a formal one to almost denote a job interview feel which is another thing that young people can relate to. I think this made clear to them the boundaries of professionalism which is always a good thing to know about.
Talking directly to the camera meaning directly to the audience. Gives the documentary a personal feel about it, almost as if the presenter is having a conversation with the camera.
Mode of Address Old Text This text also has a informal mode of address to connect to the audience of a personal level. The presenter talks directly to the camera to involve the viewers. There is also reflected by the clothing of the presenter who is in a casual clothing. We do however see a formal side to the video as all students are wearing a formal uniform and are behaving in a very conventional manner to a school pupil. The school is also a very formal place being portrayed as a very professional location.
The use of subtitles can also help get the audience involved as they are reading along with the video. The presenter is looking directly at the audience to try and get a personal connection presenting a informal mode of address.
Mode of Address New Text This new text has a very formal mode of address about it as it is a news report. Everyone we see is in their work environment and work attire reflecting the professional feel of the documentary. The news presenters do look at the audience whilst speaking but are very formal when doing so. The interviewees are in their work clothes but try to speak to us on a personal level giving us information about apprenticeships which I feel does not work successfully. I do think though a formal tone for the news is the best way to go as the audience can take it seriously.
The presenters in formal clothing presenting a formal mode of address.
Conventions My Documentary Throughout my documentary I have used a range of conventions of a documentary. I feel they really helped enhance my documentary and give it a professional feel. Here are the conventions that I used. • • • • • • • • • •
Sign on / Sign off (Voiceover, Rhetorical questions) Montage (Archive footage, Music) Vox-pops / Interviews (Expert advice, Anecdotal stories) Graphics (Titles, Logos, Cutaways, Articles) Comedy to highlight point (Unusual to camera pieces)
Montage – Archive footage and music
Graphics Article
Conventions Old Text This text did also use conventions which were similar to mine. Here are a list of these: • Sign on / Sign off • Voiceover, Rhetorical questions • Archive footage, Music • Comedy to highlight point • Voxpops One of the main elements which was similar to mine was the use of voxpops. I also used young people to get their opinion on my topic. Another key convention that related to my documentary was the comedy to highlight point. I used a whole comedy segment to highlight how not to do a job interview. This presenter also tries to play a violin which goes wrong to emphasise the high talent that students that can play the violin have.
Voxpops and Comedy used similar to my documentary
Conventions New Text As this was not really a documentary, there was not really a lot of the standard conventions used. However there was some conventions that were used as listed:
• • • • •
Sign on / Sign off Voiceover Montage Interviews Graphics
One of the main elements which was similar to mine was the use of interviews. I also had interviewees who gave me better insight into my topic of options after school for young people. Another key convention that related to my documentary was the graphics. This news report used graphics to show the rise of unemployment. I also used graphics but for other things besides statistics such as the steps for a successful interview.
Style and Form My Documentary I tried to make my documentary seem like a journey looking through the options. I tried to make it look like I was looking for a option for myself as I am not going university but as told my feedback this was not made clear enough. The form of my documentary is basically option followed by option followed by option with some extras in between such as a comedy segment. I used different interviewees combined with young people throughout to give the documentary a balance between a formal and informal style. This was to relate to school life being formal in the classroom and informal when with friends. I think this balance was supported by the people I used who highlighted my video as being a journey.
Life after school ends with exams which I used at the start of my documentary to emphasise the start of a journey.
Style and Form Old Text I felt personally that the style of this documentary was aimed at parents. This is because the presenter seemed like almost a motherly figure who was informing the audience about school life in Britain. I think this gave the documentary a informal style, but at the same time reliability as it was coming from a trustworthy figure. It was also recorded like a journey with the varied slow and fast editing showing us how a school day works which I think worked really effectively.
Trustworthy motherly figure.
Style and Form New Text This video is a news report which means it has a very formal style. The form is made up of a news topic followed by another news topic followed by another one all introduced from the initial studio. The fast editing combined with the posh voiceover once again adds to the professionalism of the video. I think this is very different to my documentary as I balance both a informal and formal style to try and relate to my audience of 16-24 year olds. I feel a formal style is the best approach for a news report as this makes the news reliable which means it appeals to the older audience.
Formal attire giving the report a formal style. Middle aged relating to a older audience than my documentary.
Technology My Documentary Throughout the production stage of my documentary, I only used a camera and a tripod. I found this was all I needed to produce a decent quality video which was the case. For the post production stage, I used a MacBook Pro with iMovie to edit my footage on. I found this was all good, however I felt the graphics on iMovie were limited which led me to move my video to final cut to enhance the graphics. I also used a USB stick which helped me transfer the video to another Mac. I then used LiveType to make my remaining graphics. Here is the difference of both graphics that I made in iMovie and graphics in Final Cut Express.
Difference in graphic quality. LiveType on the left and standard iMovie on the right.
Technology Old Text For the old text, the first thing that I noticed was the quality of the video. It is a old video therefore I can understand that the cameras were not as good in those days. The editing I felt was good which really reflected various camera angles and shots. I also thought the use of voiceover made the clip a lot better. I feel maybe if more music was used, the video would have been a lot more engaging to watch. However all in all the use of technology was very good.
Different camera shots and angles
Technology New Text I felt the use of technology in this clip was very good. There was a range of camera shots which really made the news report exciting. This related to my documentary as I also used a range of different camera shots and angles. The sound quality and editing style is very advanced which added to the professional style of the news report. Here is a look at the different shot types that were used.
Different camera shots and angles