Documentary Forms

Introduction

A documentary is a factual programme which gives us information about a certain topic or subject. There are different types of documentaries, from expository, observational, interactive, reflexive and performative. They all do the same thing, yet in very different ways.

Expository documentaries

For an expository documentary, key features include the fact that these documentaries are made to expose a person or a topic, with a usual voiceover explaining what’s going on in detail about the case at hand.

An example I found of this was a documentary going over a case back in 1968, known as “The Mary Bell Case”, which talks about the case of a child murderer. Not as in the sense of a grown adult who killed children, but the sense of a child killing others. The main voiceovers are to do with interviewees who agreed to be interviewed over the case of Mary Bell and of the narrator who explains certain things at key parts. The documentary itself is mainly composed of photographs and old pieces of film to illustrate the fact about Mary Bell’s case, alongside the interviews with said people in question. It’s an example of expository documentary, since it’s mainly filled with voiceovers and such. It doesn’t really observe too much and really uses historical records mainly for its filming.

Observational documentaries

An observational documentary is quite different from an expository documentary. Unlike where you have voiceovers and interviews from the subjects, the film maker is practically uninvolved with anything that their subjects are doing. So they just film them as they are, with no interference made by them.

For an example of this type of documentary is a documentary called “Rough Aunties” by the director Kim Longinotto, released back in 2008. This is about a group of women in South Africa fighting against the rampant sexual abuse of poverty-stricken children. Of course, these stories are rather bleak, however there is still hope, colour, song and uplifting moments which contrast to the despair.

Interactive documentaries

Interactive documentaries are the complete opposite to an observational documentary. Whilst observational documentaries are where the film maker stay completely out of the way and just watch as the things play out, interactive documentaries are where the film maker becomes directly involved with the events or subjects that are being filmed.

An example of an interactive documentary would be one of the Louis Theroux documentaries, known as “Louis Theroux: Twilight of the Porn Stars”, made back in 2012. This goes into depth about the porn industry and the stresses and work that people who work within it go through. It mainly consists of interviews and off filming of certain events, though it doesn’t show anything too explicit.

Reflexive documentaries

For a reflexive documentary, it really focuses on how the documentary is filmed rather than on the subjects that they are filming about. So, reflexive documentaries are more focused on how they are filmed and made, challenging the documentary’s apparent skill to reveal the “truth”.

An example of such a documentary would be of “Driving Me Crazy”, where it clearly shows the director, Nick Broomfield, in front of the camera with his film crew and most of the documentary itself is about the making of the film, more than the actual content, so it is a very good example of a reflexive documentary.

Performative documentaries

A performative documentary is quite different from all other documentaries, since they basically explore emotional and subjective aspects of a documentary and also addresses the audience emotionally. Basically, this form is more emotional instead of a normal style of documentaries.

An example of such a documentary would be the documentary of “Tongues United”, which is a documentary all about a black gay man who wants equality for all gays, not just of himself. This is a powerful documentary, since it irks some really big emotions from the audience and also some certain questions.

Contract Letter

07/07/2016

             To whom it may concern,

             I am writing to you concerning the job advertisement you put it out for digital video production producer for your company of Flipside Media. I want to talk about a number of things concerning this advertisement. However, I would also like to discuss contracts in general. As you know, contracts are of course the legal agreements employees have to sign before entering a job, telling your employee what you want them to do, when they will be required to work and what you will be paying them. As you also may be aware of, these can also include confidentiality clauses, which of course entails keeping things secret from mostly anyone else outside of the work place.

             With this job advertisement, I couldn't help but notice that you specify what age and ethnicity you wanted to fulfill this role. Now, I couldn't help but notice this is in slight violation of the Equality Act. As you may be aware, the Equality Act entails making discrimination against grounds of race, gender or age illegal. I couldn't help but notice you specifying specifically that you wanted someone under 30 years of age and someone of the Christian race. Now, I know you are a Christian organization, but what is there stopping a say 37 year old Muslim from doing this job? Really, there is nothing stopping them from doing this job; they're perfectly capable of doing such a job themselves, so you should really take that into consideration if you want to keep within the legality of the Equality Act. This really does link to the equal opportunities legislation, where employers aim to recruit fairly and come up with codes of practice that is evidence that they comply with the Equality Act.
               When it comes to employers and employees, we need to discuss a little bit about your employer liability and the employee's rights in relation to this proposed video. As you know, you are liable for any physical or emotional harm whilst in your employment. However, concerning employer liablity, you are not technically liable considering they are not yet in your employment; this is only to get the job. Though you are also responsible for their health and safety. They could be injured on the job and could claim for compensation. Despite going in for employment by you, you could still be liable for any physical or mental harm to them, especially if they go to try and claim for compensation, bringing you to court and getting you to pay them back.
               When speaking about trade unions, as you know they are there to protect the rights and interests of employees. Of course, they have to be a member of a union to get those benefits. This is basically linking to the protection of employees, where employees are supposed to be protected against suffering any harm from any work they do they take on health and safety grounds. They should not suffer any harm in the work place, otherwise the employers are liable for paying compensation.

                Codes of practices are of course not part of the law, however they do exist to protect the consumer or the citizen; as you may know, this is a very important part and powerful role in TV and film. You as employers are responsible for coming up with policies, procedures and codes of practice that are specific to your institution. To avoid any legal issues with the end product, these said codes of practice, along with practices and procedures should be passed to the applicants in order to protect the consumers or citizens who watch the finished piece of work.                 Now, I would like to bring up the issue of representation within this project. I couldn't help but noticed you abruptly stereo typing males and females within this issue about rape. You say you must interview "female victims and male offenders". Might I remind you that rape can happen to anyone, regardless of whether they're male or female and the gender of offenders can vary as well. You cannot just make this seem as though it just effects females in the way of them being victims; this is very bad stereo-typing and you need to rethink this proposal through. It'll just make it seem as though males should be monitored at all times since they're apparently "the only ones who can offend" in your point of view. You cannot do this and you would probably have some legality concerns if you did.
                There is also a big concern about whether you can actually get people to talk so blatantly to an audience about it. Do you really think realistically that you can get victims and offenders to talk directly to a camera about what happened? No. They'd probably either stay silent or not even volunteer to do this at all. Realistically, you will not get any victims or offenders to talk to a camera about what happened and get it recorded on footage. Also, "compliment the interviews with re-enactments, dramatizations..." First off, you cannot request a re-enactment; it would be traumatizing for both parties and they would refuse to do it. You'd more than likely get a few complaints and also you cannot just do that. Second off, dramatizations of rape is not a good idea. You would get a lot of complaints from many people about this subject. It is a very delicate subject and should not be treated like this at all.

                 Finally, we come to the legal issues of this project as such. First off, as you know, the Ofcom broadcasting code is the law and this pronounced project of yours may be in violation of a couple of codes. You say that this No Means No date rape campaign will be shown to children in high school. That is in violation right off the bat to the protecting the under 18s code within Ofcom's code. It's not a good idea to show something this serious and obscene to children starting high school, especially if you still want these dramatizations within such a campaign. This is also in violation of the harm and offence part of the code. Young teens such as them could find this offending and something this obscene would be in violation, so I'm afraid you target audience will have to be someone of a higher age. This would also be in violation of the Obscene Publications Act, where factors such as the age range of the target audience and time a production can affect whether or not the material is deemed as obscene.
                  For the certification this video would more than likely be given by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification), this would probably end up being either a 15, 16 or maybe even an 18 depending on how explicit you make it. This is because the topic of rape, coupled with your want for re-enactments and dramatizations, is very delicate and a very obscene matter. This most certainly wouldn't be a PG or even 12, since something like this would not be suitable for such young people.
                  Finally, we need to mention about the intellectual property law, which of course includes things such as copyright, trademarks, passing off, etc. Now, I couldn't help but notice you want a "popular music soundtrack", however you only allow a recompense of only up to £20 for the whole production. In order to get the rights in order to use a popular music soundtracks, your applicant would have to pay hundreds, if not thousands for the right to own that song or even songs, otherwise you would be violating the law and get taken to court for the violation of copyright law. So unfortunately, you will not get a popular soundtrack with that amount of money; you would have to deal with royalty free music instead for the video.

                   Yours sincerely,


                   Natasha Sandra Louise Mullan

Jobs Booklet

Technologies

TV Advert Analysis

TV Advert Analysis

Analysis of Editing Techniques

What is Editing: History and Development

Editing is a combination of different things, from transitions to the making of sequences to continuity. It has been a thing that filmmakers have always developed on to make their films better.

When taking shots, they can be combined to make sequences, thus a type of editing. When making sequences, you need to take multiple shots in order to make it. You combine shots to make everything flow smoothly and make it so that the edit is practically invisible; therefore, a normal scene will take place.

In-camera editing is a technique which practically gets rid of normal editing means, since the cinematographer strictly shoots the sequences in order. It practically gets rid of having to editing outside of filming and the result is in the film already being "edited" when it is developed.

Digital film-making versus film. People would usually expect people to go straight for digital, but normal film is still strong with many directors in Hollywood. Sure, it may take a day to see the results of your filming the previous day and there may be things that you don't like, but you can't replace the feel of film. On the other hand, you can retake a shot when using digital means to film, since you can always check a shot after filming it. If the lighting isn't quite right in a shot, you can retake it. If someone screwed up or the shot isn't quite right, you can always retake it. Its a lot faster than waiting a day and more convenient. Though the fact still remains, both are good yet both have limitations, so the argument is still there.

Transitions

A part of editing includes transitions. In other words, the transitions between either shots or sequences/scenes. Cuts are the most commonly used types of transitions; with a lot of different types of cuts. Such as straight cut. This is the most used type of cut, quickly moving through shots by abruptly ending a shot and abruptly starting another shot. There are also fades, both in and out, where the picture gradually turns into a single colour, mainly back, or when a picture gradually appears on the screen. A dissolve is where a scene changes into another scene, but it looks like it is dissolving into the next scene. And a wipe is...well as the name entails; the scene is wiped away and replaced by another scene.

Visual Analysis: Hans Gruber's Death - Die Hard

Barely a second into the sequence I chose, there is already an example of a straight cut, abruptly cutting from one shot to the next really quickly, from John McClane right to his wife having a gun pressed to her head. It is also a close up shot on Holly McClane's/Gennero's face, showing off the emotion of fear she has and making everything a lot more tense.

The same transition is used 5 seconds in, focusing in on Hans Gruber as he raises the gun and now points it to John McClane

Continuity
In the film industry a system has been developed called the continuity system, which is basically something that helps the flow and keeps a good understanding of the story running. To make a good continuity system, you need:

Establishing shots - These are usually the first shots of a new scene, made so that the audience can see where action is taking place.
Match cuts on action - This refers to the editing technique where the editor cuts from one shot to another that match's the first shot's action.
180 degree rule - This is a basic guideline to the on-screen spatial relationship between characters and objects within a scene.
Motivated editing - This is a form of editing that motivates what you see or hear. So basically, it means when something is not in frame, you see it appear or hear it in the next cut.
Shot-reverse shot - This is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character.

Identification with main protagonist or other characters:
This is vital in the audience are going to be involved. This involves the use of the following:
Screen time - This is the time allotted to or occupied by a particular subject, actor, etc.
Point of View Shot - This is a short film scene that shows what a character is looking at (represented through the camera.
Close-ups - This is a type of shot which tightly frames a person or object. This is one of the standard shots used regularly with medium shots and long shots.
Reaction shots - This is a portrayal of a person's response to an event or to a statement made by another within a film.

Film & Editing Techniques
Shot variation - This is a technique used in filming to create a sequence of images through editing that makes sense.
Cutting to soundtrack - This is where you edit to the soundtrack, where the pace of the cuts are motivated by how fast the song is.
Montage - This is where you select, edit and piece together separate sections of film to form a continuous sequence.
Multiple Points of View - This refers to the different views of the person on screen and there are many different ones to use.
Providing and withholding information - This is where you try to make the narrative more dramatic by giving the audience more information or taking away information.
Cutaways - This is a shot which is the interruption of continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else.
Parallel editing/cross-cutting - This is the technique of alternating two or more scenes that often happen simultaneously but in different locations.
Jump-cut - This is an abrupt transition from one scene to another.
Editing rhythm - This is when the relations between shots function to control film pace.

Ownership and Funding

Ownership Concepts
Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) - This refers to broadcasting that is purely for the public instead of serving commercial interests. An example of such a broadcasting station is the BBC, which is funded by a licence fee instead of selling advertising time. It was the first and is one of the biggest public service broadcasters. These types of broadcasters have to follow certain requirements set by Ofcom as part of their license.

Commercial Broadcasting - This refers to broadcasting that is privately owned by corporate media, opposing state sponsorship. They are funded by things that sponsor them and are paid for by their owners with the fees they collect.

Corporate and Private Ownership - Private ownership is where something is owned by a private individual or organization, instead of by the state or a public body. Corporate ownership is is where the owner is personally liable for their business' debts and loss', as well as profits and such. It is owned by a person or group, but not on a massive scale that we would expect.

Global Companies - This is a company that operates in at least more than one country. This is the most recent definition. The past definition was that a company is based in one country that trades around the globe.

Vertical Integration - This is the combination in one firm of two or more stages of production normally operated by separate firms.

Horizontal Integration/Monopolization - This is the term for an industry that is the best out of their provision, such as say a company has monopolized the TV industry, meaning that they alone are the sole heads of industries, making it near impossible for any other company to try and enter that industry.


Funding Types
The License Fee - This refers to the fee that is required to have television license. Everyone needs to hold one of these in order to watch or record television broadcasts.

Subscription - This is where you pay to receive something, such as the ability to watch films on Netflix or you can freely sign up into YouTube to subscribe to channels and even pay for certain films that are in full, like Cabin in the Woods and the Saw series. You have to keep paying for certain subscriptions, since they will run out eventually in some cases.

One-off payment to own product - This is basically where buy something to own it. For example, when you got to a shop and pick up a DVD; you pay one time and you now own the product.

Pay per View - This is a type of service where a subscriber of a television service provider can purchase certain items to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows an event at the same time everyone is ordering it.

Sponsorship - This is basically a type of thing to support an event, activity, person or organization financially or through the way of products or services.

Advertising - This is a type of marketing used to promote or sell something, usually a product or service. Advertisements are usually on between programs to do such a thing, but also to help fund commercial broadcasting services.

Product Placement - This is where a product is placed to be seen by the public eye in a broadcast and also films. It is widely seen in American TV shows and such, however in British TV shows, they have to have a sign that there is product placement. However in films, it is clearly seen and often is seen throughout films. For example, in the movie Iron Man, there is a blatant product placement with Tony Stark eating a Burger King as he gets out of his car.

Private Capital - This consists of investors and funds that make investments directly into private companies.

Crowd-funding - This is where a project or venture is funded by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically through the internet.

Development Funds - These are the funds that are given to put something into development and are what are used to get stuff going in development for a piece of media.