Unit 27 Task 1

Issues:

Accuracy:

Accuracy within any documentary is very important, this is because after all what you are producing should be factually correct, However some documentaries have been produced inaccuracy to suit a certain opinion or belief. An example of this would be Supersize Me, The documentary where director Morgan Spurlock goes on a one month all McDonalds diet records his progress and shows him gradually becoming rather ill, However many people on the internet believe that the documentary is somewhat fake and Morgan's results have been doctored to be worse than they would actually be if it wasn't faked. Many People believe that Morgan was planning up to the cameras and making out as if he was feeling a lot worse than he actually may have been, nutritionists have stated that if someone ever decided to eat a diet like that then the results would be profoundly worse.

Balance:

Making sure that a documentary or a news report is balanced is very crucial in its success, this is because if either are out of line or unbalanced then it can completely ruin the context of what is trying to be portrayed. However, some documentaries are designed fairly unbalanced, take  Michael Moore's Bowling for columbine, this documentary makes you believe that every American owns a fire arm which is quite clearly not the case for everyone. Michael does have a method behind doing this and that's to make the audience really feel as if the majority of Americans are gun crazy and own a fire arm.

Objectivity:

Subjectivity:

The subject of a documentary is what the documentary is founded on, most documentaries only focus on one subject however some may focus on my that just one subject matter which may be done to find out differing opinions or information. The main aim of any documentary maker is to find out something or show something within it, so making sure the subject matter is covered and received well within the documentary is crucial for its success.

Opinion:

Some documentaries can be ruined because of opinion, documentary makers always need to take into consideration that they cannot get to carried away with personal beliefs when producing something that may possibly needs to be factually and politically correct, using varying opinions within the making of a documentary can lead to good discussions and stronger weight with points that may be made. An example of a documentary maker who has a very good balance when it comes to personal opinion is Louis Theroux, Louis Theroux has made many documentaries and is always present in shots used when interviewing certain people, Louis Theroux always asks very personal questions and also when the interviewee asks Louis a question he happily asks and puts his opinion on the table which helps decide what way you may sway when deciding who is right or wrong.

Bias:

Producing something that is biased is very damaging for whatever subject you are producing, this is because it can lead to factual information being misrepresented or the matter being screwed in a way to represent something else.

Representation:

Representation within the media has many aspects, firstly the way the media represents a certain story could be unjust. An example of this would be photoshopped edits. Photo shopping has become a norm in society which many newspapers use to make models look better after a shoot. This is a misrepresentation because the viewer is given false imagery that has been doctored to look better.

A good example of how the main stream media represents certain individuals would be the representation of Nigel Farage, big media corporations made him out to be a racist biggot who would have been a poor choice for prime minister, which was rather unjust in many peoples opinions, Certain interviewers would ask him questions that had nothing to do with his agenda aswell as this sometimes He would be asked very personal questions that many found unfair. The media portrayed Farage in this way so the public would get on his back and not vote for his party.



Access

When filming for the documentary you would need to get a list of possible locations which you may be able to film at. If there are locations which you know, for example your house, it would be easier to film there. If you were to want to film in a public area, you would need to get permission by the local filming office. So if you wanted to film in Kent, you would need to contact Kent Film Office to get permission to film on the location.

Contract with viewer:

If you would have people in the documentary you would be making, you would first need to get permission from them. To do this you would normally get a form for them to fill out to say that it is alright for you to film them. This form is normally called a consent form which you would in this case give to the interviewee.

News:

Studio news readers;

Studio news readers are the people who when you would watch the news on the television, they would be in the studio, typically sitting at the desk where they would typically tell the news from.

Field reporters;

Field reporters are the reporters who go out to the location where the news story would have happened. Or the reporter may go to a location closest to where the actual incident for the story happened.

Interviewing




Experts and witnesses;
Experts and witnesses can come useful when gathering information when trying to a certain point across; or try to get a balanced point across.
When using an expert on a serious matter it would help to let the audience/viewers to gain trust in what they are saying as it is what they do for a living. An example could be if they were talking about diets and the amount of obese people in the UK, people when watching the news would rather trust a doctor than a news reporter with what they say.
Witnesses would help in certain cases as they would have seen first-hand what would have happened. You could say with what happened at London recently, they had been reporting with people who witnessed it first hand, the same people who took the videos at the scene. They could hold vital information, or information which could deeper information into the topic.




Actuality footage;
This is also commonly known as archive footage. This would occur when footage would be put in to support a statement which they may making; to help get the point across. It may not always be the same quality as the rest of the footage but it would not matter as it may be years older.

Documentary


Documentary Formats

Poetic;

The narrative for poetic documentaries often uses montage to portray the message that they would want, alongside with no use of voiceover.

Lighting, sound and mise-en-scene are used often in juxtaposition to engage the emotions of the audience allowing the audience to come to their own conclusion with the information that they have said throughout the documentary. It could/would be different to any others as of the use of the montage.

Expository; This is one of the most common type of documentary which you may see. It will consist of a voiceover which can be presented in three different ways. These different ways of addressing the audience directly to what is going on, 'voice of god' where it is heard and not seen, lastly there is 'voice of authority' which is where the person doing the documentary can be both seen and heard.
Images are used to illustrate , or it can be used as a counterpoint to what the topic of the voice over may be. The editing will be used in a continuity style so it can link images together to support the argument that is being put forward.
A variety of footage, interviews, stills, archive footage is assembled to support the argument as well as the images. It will attempt to persuade the audience of a particular point of view. This would be done by appealing to logic and a common-sense response.



Observational; This documentary type is more known as 'fly on the wall'. It would appear that they have been filmed in  real time which makes it seem like it is filmed as the events are happening and the people involved do not know that filming is going on. The filmmakers will try not to get in the way so nothing will be changed to what you will see. There would be no voice over during the documentary so it can not steer what we are thinking as the audience or to what conclusions which yourself as an audience member may conclude.
Observation documentaries date back to the 1960's. There was technological developments that made it possible to have lightweight mobile cameras, along with sound equipment which is portable for synchronised sound.


Reflexive; Reflexive documentaries borrow techniques from fiction films which will create an emotional response. It will emphasise the nature of the film using anti-realist techniques which include re-enactments, expressive lighting and dramatic music. When present, the voice over is likely to be questioning and uncertain instead of being authoritative. It will solely rely more on suggestions rather than facts which will give it an untrustworthy feel to it. But it still manages to engage the audience by making them more aware of the problems which it will be outlining and what they may face. The emphasis would be between the filmmaker and the viewer rather than the filmmaker and the subject.



Performative; This type of documentary would normally the voiceover where the use of 'I' and the other conventions of first person is used. When progress is seen to be made, the documentary maker will make comments on it. It is often shaped into the narrative of the documentary which may be investigative with a possibility of not having a satisfactory conclusion. The audience will be addressed in an emotional and direct way to get the point that they want across.
The topic of the documentary is normally about gender/sexuality rather than factual topics.



Participatory; The documentary maker , and maybe the crew will interact with the subject the documentary is about. Interviews will tend to dominate but be informal as the style of questioning it will be done in is known as 'on the run' questioning. They will use archive material, which can include stills, news footage and newspaper headlines. It will be mainly on location shooting, normally with a handheld camera which means that long shots will be dominate in the documentary.
The voiceover person will normally be the documentary-maker, where that person is visible to the audience as you would see them take action and participate in the documentary.



Realism;

Realism is the quality in which you would be representing a person or a thing in a manor which is the closest to reality. They would not beat around the bush to make anything seem more interesting.

It would also have facts which are true, and not changing a little to the truth as some people may make up the facts and figures. It would get deep into a specific topic. You may also be able to get a connection to what you are seeing. This may be because as it is shown in a realistic manor you would be able to connect with the emotion the person would be feeling.

Dramatization;
Dramatization is a part in a film/novel but in the case in a documentary where it would make the event which will be happening different to the truth. This way may be used to make the audience interested in what they are watching as if it was based on the truth then some people may eventually get bored and not what to continue watching.

If it may be a boring topic which you would be making a documentary about then they may have to play with the truth with the message that they may be getting across to make sure the audience would be interested. When people do this, they may take it far from the truth or they may do it a little. It would depend on who is the director/producer, or it could depend in the editing stage as they may end up liaising to change it to what the original plan in the pre-production stage would have wanted to be. 

Narrativisation;

Narrativisation is normally heard or seen in the documentary. The narrative is the way to address the audience and telling the story which in the case would be the narrative for the documentary.

Sometimes using this may drag the documentary out so you would have to be careful when making the documentary. You would need to know exactly what you would want to do. You would need to make sure to have the right amount of interaction that you would have in it with the audience as if it goes on for too long then it may get boring for the viewer and they would turn it off.

To make sure that no one would get turned off, when planning the work you could come up with an in detail step by step to how the programme would turn out. Or you may have to come up with a plan B.