Justification of Shot Types/Elements within my Documentary

During the editing stages of my documentary I incorporated some conventions I had seen in mainstream programmes broadcast to ensure my own production followed these themes, this would allow it to be as authentic and professional as what I could possibly achieve. Essentially my film would be complying with the standards seen in the media industry itself to this day so I felt I had effectively regulated myself to working with the conventions to not only please my audience but distributors as well should they ever stumble across my film in the future.

It is a conventional trend that in most professional documentaries, especially with those focusing upon serious life issues that require some sort of justification, facts are commonly inserted into the main film, this provides further emphasis over the matter being discussed and directly informs the reader of important knowledge that will help them develop more understanding on the subject. For example in my own product I included authentically checked facts about anorexia, allowing me to confirm not only how many individuals suffer from the condition but also acting as reinforcement to the viewer that it is more common in society then what they may initially perceive. Facts are commonly associated with health related shows, these can be identified in episodes of 'Embarassing Bodies' which require further emphasis upon an illness, such as indicating statistics of how many individuals suffer from it, since my production is health occupied in addition I feel as if I have complied to these standards extremely thoroughly.

Although not present in all documentaries I decided to add as an additional preference, the names of the girls to their stories at the start of their own individual clips. I felt this would be essential in creating an emotional link between the audience and the girls speaking on the screen, therefore they can recognise that this is their own personal experiences they are speaking about that have no been manipulated by the filming crew in any manner. Moreover it establishes to the viewing public how sensitive the issue will be, as the women involved may have not spoken about these events to anyone previously, furthermore this aids in the audience being able to elicit a form of empathy towards them and to admire the challenge they are doing by speaking to a camera without any prompting. The use of the word 'Story' explains how the content that will be described in the footage actually occurred  therefore is true to real life and was not a staged event which personifies the realistic nature of the programme further.

I decided to include the names of the girls and their family members in the running time of the filming. This illustrates to the viewing public the people on screen are genuine, real life individuals who have names and occupations - rather then just being a nameless model in the sequence. To me it also aids to emphasise that emotional connection even more between the target audience and the girls that they can identify them by their own name and to show they actually exist within our society as members of the public. This is a common element I witnessed in many of the health related documentaries - especially the likes of the programmes 'Supersize vs Superskinny' which often used the naming process to allow us to recognise the stories  being spoken about (particularly the anorexic ones) involved real people that live amongst us.

The addition of extra footage of the girls personified that they conform to ordinary activities allowing us to realise there is more to them then their anorexia alone and that they are perfectly capable of engaging with average life occurrence without difficulty. It also aided me as a method to break down all the interview sequences, if the viewers were to continuously watch endless amounts of interviews then it would very quickly become monotonous and would cause them to disengage with the content of the programme. To avoid this happening I knew it would benefit me to have this extra filming, to make my documentary more appealing and interesting. For the sections where the girls were preparing food I altered the colour consistency to black and white, not only did I recognise this would follow the conventional black and white theme that was running continuously throughout my three products  but it helped to distinguish the problem that is being addressed- the anorexia nervosa itself. This differentiates it from the rest of the footage to pinpoint directly the cause of these girls problems and to show it is the 'danger' in all of this that is causing the 'black and white' irrational thinking of the females themselves. I'm taking a unique approach by altering the colour like this as I have not witnessed it within a mainstream product just yet, so I'm hoping it will be effective in justifying its job.

The use of archive footage within the running time of the documentary allowed me to re-illiterate the severity of the girls conditions and how dramatically and frighteningly the anorexia had not only devastated their physical self but also how it had consumed them mentally as an additional side effect. I'm hoping these kind of images will shock the viewing public, as I feel the 'shock factor' is truly the only way I can reverberate my message within the content most effectively - literally how this evil illness robs so many people of their lives and the potential they hold within their beings. It also aids in showing how this awful event actually did occur in these women's  lives and hopefully justify to the viewers that they should never have really been subjected to this fate at all. Through the incorporation of photographs from the girls personal files, phones and cameras it further emphasises their anorexia actually took place as these images offer valuable insight of the occurrences that have happened in the past. Additionally using archive footage of them when they were healthy indicates they did have a relatively average and happy life before the illness stuck so the audience will be informed they weren't always like this, preventing them from assuming the gild have suffered from this all of their lives. Traditionally in health related documentaries this type of footage can be seen to offer an understanding of how severe an individuals condition may have developed to use as the 'shock factor' I previously described so in this respect I feel I have conformed to regular technological standards in the media industry.

I decided to use extreme close up shots to really emphasise the importance of particular scenes, these were commonly used in my documentary when the subject being interviewed talked about a serious matter - this allowed me to capture their entire facial expression and emotions they emit to re-affirm the sheer vitality of that particular sequence as what was being spoken about was critical to the foundations of the content. Hopefully this would confirm to the target audience how severe the girls anorexia turned into, this should provoke an empathetic response which is what I'm intending, not only that but it informs them how the condition is not a 'phase' and is seriously a life threatening mental illness that claims lives. I have commonly seen shots like this during major scenarios in documentaries when something concerning is being detailed - whether this is health related or about other instances such as an interview during a war film.

Additional footage of the ducks in the park were used in the style of an establishing shot to act as a continuation sequence from when the girl first entered, this implies a closing scene - by this point she has left the park, not only that but her story is now at an end and we are ready to move on to another. This is a closure essentially and indicates how she is tying to deal with her illness as best as what she possibly can yet it will always be lingering there in the background, just as how the birds will linger in the safety of the park.

Progress Update 3

Final Completed Media Documentary - 'The Girls Who Wouldn't Eat'

After a month of hard, consistent work and effort I have finally completed my footage compsition and editing for my documentary 'The Girls Who Wouldn't Eat'. I am pleased to inform I am also ahead of my time manaement constraints, in this instance it has allowed me more opportunity to work and update my blog of the piees that are urrently assent. To begin with I exported my video from the Premier Pro Software, this allowed it to be converted to a quicktime video that would be then available for the exam board to watch.

I made two copies of the documentary - one is in standard quality without any additional enhancement and the other is in high definition so is visibly more brighter and alert then the latter. I felt it would be beneficial to have two copies, not only to see how they compared but as a reserve in case one was misplaced and I needed a back up file to prevent me loing my work altogether which would be highly detrimental.

The following stage for me was to upload the video onto the social networking site 'Youtube', my lecturer felt this would be an interesting strategy in gaining public interest as ultimately she desired to see how my finished product would do in the real life industry with true members of the pubic who would act as my target audience. Once the file had concluded exporting, I logged onto my Youtube user account and sucessfully added it to my channel, the documentary video can be seen in the link below: 

To conclude I emailed the ULR to my lecturer Kaye so she could send it off to the moderator of the campus Helen who would be standardising and marking our work once the deadline had expired. Her opinion was valuable criticism to what i had produced as it would offer a neutral and unbiased insight into what another media teacher perceived my documentary to be like, this would aid me in gaining positive and negative feedback over my production so I an identify areas of success and improvement for future tasks.

Reflection and Comparison with Last Years Task

To help me gain a level of understanding of my own personal improvements during the time I have been present on this media course it was recommended to me that it may be beneficial to compare and contrast together my coursework pieces from AS and A2 level together. This would highlight greatly how my skills have developed regarding photo editing strategies, concept idea designs and how much knowledge I exhibit in acknowledgement of appropriate and important common conventional themes present in media products that I have replicated within my own work. I chose to compare some samples of my work from my music magazine piece from last summer with the brief I am currently engaged with for my second year task.

I compared my music magazine front cover which I developed the previous year for my AS coursework with the advertising poster for my TV documentary 'The Girls Who Wouldn't Eat' as although they weren't identically themed products (i.e they were not both front covers for magazines) in context they appeared fairly similar in construction and layout so made ideal candidates to reflect against one another. Easily the most major criticism of my music magazine is the image that I have opted to use upon the front cover quite frankly I am humiliated at how weak and amateurish my editing skills were at the time of me first undertaking media as a subject. Although my photoshopping skills aren't as severe as what other individuals might be for starting a new course such as this, it can be clearly identified that a magic wand tool was used to cut the image of the two girls out of its original backdrop as there are some slight edges and inconsistencies around the outline of the women, at the time of my constructing the front cover I overlooked these errors however now with more experience I can distinguish them quite easily and it would be understandable for my work to be marked down for this as in whole, jaggered edges make the product look unprofessional and as if any person could have created it - therefore it would not correspond with a mainstream magazine in that particular setting and its likely the audience would easily overlook it if it was displayed in a shop due to these errors. However when contrasting back to my poster there is no rough edges at all, partly this was because I didn't need to use the magic wand tool. Yet this image in particular looks more smooth and of an industry standard then the one above, the model seems to have a purpose in my A2 coursework and she advertises what she is designed to - the horrific physical effects of anorexia nervosa whilst the two girls in the magazine front cover look like they have no real purpose and do not connotate any response or emotion as a whole. This lack of appeal means they fail to connect with the target audience which acts as a deterance for them buying the magazine. The use of colours in both of the pieces of work correspond well with the whole layout, however there is a remarkable difference in consistency and the way that colour has been displayed. For the project 'The Girls Who Wouldn't Eat', the blending of the dark neutral colours reflects well the mature, adult mindset that is required for the documentary - essentially this will appeal to the desired target audience (18 and above) and will act as a repellent to any individual below the age range, I did not want children or teenagers engaging with the product due to them not being able to fully comprehend the seriousness of anorexia but also they might be disturbed and quite frightened by the effects the illness can have upon a sufferer both physically and mentally. On the other hand an adult audience would be able to respond more positively to it as they have had more life experience and knowledge to know how o prepare for what is to be bestowed in the documentary - they can easily regard this is of a serious content and will know how to engage with the situation more throughly. However when deconstructing the colour scheme of my magazine front colour I feel the palette has failed to identify with the target audience entirely. Originally I was aiming to appeal to a more older generation of music lovers from the onset ages of 17-25 and the genre i specifically selected to focus upon was the indie/alternative set. I don't get he impression my choice of colours was very accurate in portraying this - the brightness thoroughly makes the magazine stand out which is a bonus because it means more members of the public are likely to notice it if it appeared upon a newsagent shelf environment and out shadow similar magazines which use darker shades therefore outcompeting them based upon visual purposes. Despite the positivity the overwhelming use of yellow alludes to the idea this magazine is targeting a younger age range as this is the colour scheme that is more associated with ( for example young children to mid teens) this bypasses the age range I was hoping to attract, this consequently means I will lose out on selling opportunities for two reasons - the first being I am not enveloping the immediate attention of my desired audience and secondly although I may engage the interest of younger readers they are unlikely to be able to relate to the content through the use of language and choice of artists involved as indie is not a subculture general related to younger readers. The text on the music magazine in in particular is basically all over the place, there is no consistency running throughout as the variety in font changes far too often (this is noticeable especially on the additional accompanying article names), this loses the conventional appeal and gives the impression none of the articles relate to each other in that of the indie genre but of entirely different spectrums, in addition it may be too visually disturbing for the reader to look at as there will be many different points of interest to engage with, which could discourage them from buying the product as they wouldn't know which of the articles was the most important. The positioning of the text as well is not consistent, kerning is a major issue as some of the wording is not in equal spacing with one another and different sized font is used on pretty much every word which is highly unprofessional  I can also pin point some of the letters have been stretched on a number of the titles whilst it remains compact on others which is a major editorial flaw. This makes the whole overlook of the magazine quite immature and not believable in a realistic environment. I can identify the use of drop shadows on at least two of the titles of the adjascent articles on the magazine front cover, although I can remember from last year that I employed these in an attempt to make the product appear more interesting and eye-catching, in this respect the idea failed because without the continuation of drop shadow on the rest of the text throughout the page, these two words look incredibly out of place and therefore pointless as a use of empahasis. When I contrast this back to my documentary poster the use of font is incredibly appropriate for the purpose it is portraying. I used the 'KG Skinny Latte' style for the title of the programme, it is fairly unique against the other fonts and the idea was it to stand out well over the other aspects on the page which i feel it does. The font itself is quite childish but I believed it personified well the anorexic body and how the sufferer returns to a childlike state due to physical complications, moreover the use of 'Girls' in the title rather then 'Women' further emphasises how these females have reverted to a pre pubescent form of themselves and alongside the frail image of the model the whole concept ties in and complements each other perfectly well. This consistency is missing from the magazine screen shot you can see above. The style used upon the review is that of a basic concept, the simplicity is favoured here as if I had opted to use a more extravegant style then it would have conflicted with the headline for the attention as the dominant font, this would create the conflict of the audience being unable to identify which is the most important areas to direct their focus over, the inability to correctly identify which is the title etc could act as a repellent from them engaging with the poster as a whole. I firmly believe in this manner that the simplistic style used on the remaining words aids to avoid this issue as a whole. The bold of the name of 'The Guardian' and the five star rating doesn't necessarily overwhelm the title as although they are both equally as appealing and dramatic to look at, they do not engage a battle for dominancy as the headline (which is the most important of the two) is significantly larger then the latter which prevents this event from occurring at all. In essence it allows the audience to correctly notice which is the aspect they should relate most throughly with. Lastly it is identifiable I used a logo in both of the productions, however one ultimately has a competitive advantage over the other - in this scenario it regards the documentary poster. The BBC institutional logo has been correctly paced in the bottom right hand corner, it is significantly reduced in size as compared to the title of the documentary so as not to create any immediate conflict with another, yet it is still enhanced enough to be noticed by the audience so they will be able to correlate that this networks broadcasting channel is where they will be able to locate the programme 'The Girls Who Wouldn't Eat'. The positioning of it allows the logo to be noticed, but in the same respect it does not overwhelm the main title. Importantly, the symmetry between the headline and the BBC indicates that these two elements are related to one another and correspond together as an entire entity, this means the audience will notice that the BBC network is appropriately the most likely place to view the programme. When comparing these deconstructions to the magazine logo the same unfortunately does not apply to it. Logos are generally smaller in size in comparison to the more important aspects of the product (such as image, title, kicker) because they are the main selling points, the logo is essentially there to establish the company who has produced it, this means it should still be noticeable yet does not have to be bold or dramatic as there is no reason for it to compete with the remaining conventions. This is not the case for the magazine as the logo is almost identically in proportion to the title 'Fleet', this disregards the manner I explained before forcing these two elements to compete with each other which discourages appeal from the product. Whats more I think it is incorrectly positioned in contrast to the poster logo, it should be located more 'out of the way' therefore it would prevent irrelevant competition on the page. I feel my lack of understanding towards conventional themes is ultimately what let me down in terms of grades during the construction of this task the previous year. I will admit it upsets me how little effort or even background research I put into this task, I am grateful at how motivated I was to develop my skills as what can be evident  in my documentary poster as I feel I have improved significantly and quite dramatically in the short space of time between these two coursework productions in terms of media knowledge and skill specialism in creating items in such a short space of time. I believe firmly my commitment to improve in this subject payed off this time.

When observing both of these double page spread articles I have produced over the course of my two years in media studies I can identify and bring to attention a large number of major differences that separates them in terms of the grade boundaries. The primary one displayed is from my music magazine brief which I completed for my AS courswork the previous year, this spread was made entirely on the Adobe Photoshop programme which contrasts critically with the 'The Girls Who Wouldn't Eat' article that was specifically assigned as an auxilary task for my video editing brief for A2 this current term, this was develoepd within the Premier Pro software. Deconstructing these two side by side the most primary distinction lies with the layout of the spread themselves. In the music product there is no clear page boundaries, there is no crease aligned down the centre of the document to highlight this is part of a two page article, instead a poor choice of colour palette offers some incentive where it is to be located. The images are placed entirely in the wrong sections with both of them positioned at the top and bottom of the pages respectively, this completely ignores conventional magazine trends as normally an enhanced, enlarged image will act as the central selling point, in this case it would occupy more or less the entire left page, sometimes even overlapping into the adjascent which contains the main body of text for the article. In the first image this layout is not achieved with the vast majority of the pages occupied by texts, to be honest it makes it look boring with nothing appealing or very eye-catching to gaze upon. Just looking it, the layout is so unprofessional and would never pass as a mainstream production, to me its very childish and I'm  ashamed that not a lot of thought and effort actually went into producing it. In contrast these concerns are evaporated once you compare it to the documentary double page spread. Because it was created on a very ample and high tech programming software that is used for the creation of magazines used in the media industry, individual pages are easily noticed as that 'crease' has been created allowing the reader to recognise these two pages are interlinked together. This specifically enagages with the traditional conventions required, a large blown up photograph is displayed upon the left page with the text of the article corresponding with it on the opposite. All these elements are placed in their correct positions, unlike the music magazine where the photos have been spread all over with no correlation to each other., this makes 'The Girls Who Wouldn't Eat' article more authentic and therefore more likely to be found in society on our newspaper shelves and stands. Another aspect that appears to me is the quality of the images used on the spread themselves, a clear difference can be seen between the music magazine and the article for my mental health documentary. Although I admit one of the photographs from the music one was created in a studio environment with essentially up to date and high powered equipment/lighting, it fails to correspond with the image that accompanies it (which was taken on an ordinary webcam). This causes confusion between the overall look of the production, the audience can be awed by a stunningly captured photo on the left then be left dumbstruck at how downhill the beauty of these images deteriorates as the pixilation is extremely noticeable in the second. What is made is a boundary showing how much potential this product could have had, furthermore how it was thwarted by the lack of effort in the remainder of the images which caused the quality to rapidly decline. When looking at the model in 'The Girls Who Wouldn't Eat' production on initial glance you are instantly captivated by the expression and posture she is poised in, it truly personifies the sense of emotions being rev berated, how sad and depressed she is through the consequences of her illness. The audience cannot help but feel pity and empathise with her situation, in addition the underlying quality of the image itself is extraordinary and it can be identified this was created with an expensive, effective device. Compared with the music magazine images there is no emotional connection or relationship that is formed between the reader and editors, the model in the photos appears to be 'posing' there is no expression or message she is trying to personify to the audience which makes her sort of a canvas - boring and unemotional. She does not connect with the vibrant, eccentric young woman who is described in the article therefore she does not correlate with the character she was supposed to be pre-disposed to. This could deter the reader from engaging with the article as they may feel the writer has 'lied' about the person in question and they aren't made out to be who they thought, in the end this could make them avoid the piece of writing all together. This however is not the case with the documentary article as the model illustrates the overwhelming sadness and anguish that is described within the meanings of the words of the spread, moreover this emphasises that relation more strongly. Regarding text work and font the key difference between the two products is consistency and variety. The style for the lettering opted for in the music article is very basic like what is traditional of a printed production, yet it does not fit the overall 'look' of the piece - they don't seem to fit together and I would more then liely expect to see something of the sort in a newspaper rather then a music magazine for young adults. This consequently loses the youth and young appeal to the spread so it is not specifically designating towards the desired age range as potential readers but that of a more older generation. A major contrast is that unlike the documentary article it does not contain any further text elements, these include; a kicker, drop caps, names of writer and photographer and a correctly placed headline. All of these inconsistencies further deteriorate its statetory position as an authentic media article, the unprofessional look makes it conform to that of a childs work, it would be easy to assume that the audience would have no intentions of even considering oppsing to read it because without these additional aspects it makes the article appear bland, empty and therefore very boring in comparison with the latter. The documentar double page on the other hand has a certain qyality to it, all of the identifable elements I spoke about are present which give the end resulting product a very noticeable, eye-catching layout with many convetions to graps reader attention. Not only that but it complies with standard media practises containing all the apsects a mainstream magazine spread would include. This point alone is what allows it to drastically overshadow its competitor in terms of professionalism, credibility and most importantly 'wow' factor to its intended audience.

Target Audience Feedback - Video Interviews

Although it can be clearly notified that I have addressed my desired target audience in my brief (from the age ranges of 18 to potentially late 50's) it was important for me to conduct a process to obtain their own opinions on documentaries rather then my own interpretation as this could lead to subjectivity in the construction of my documentary - in that case I would not be addressing my viewers interests at all but merely benefiting my own desires. To overcome this instance I composed a set of questionnaires that would target specific elements surrounding documentaries, the questions I created can be seen below and were asked of all my individuals :

1. Are you interested in TV documentaries?
2. What type of documentaries do you like?
3. Is there any elements that would make you want to watch it?
4. What do you not want to see in a TV documentary
5. What sort of content would you like to see in a TV documentary?

All audience members were interviewed via a video link so their reponses could be further analysed to understand their interpretations further.











As what can be implied from these varied range of responses it appears the audience are interested in very true to life or realistic programmes that contain some sort of story (whether it is through watching people with illnesses as stated by one of them) or if real life people are involved within the content. Furthermore the majority do not want to witness any violence or gore in the programme which I must firmly keep in mind during the storyboard constructing stages. This task has allowed me to greatly identify with my target viewing public and the opinions offered here will provide a valuable starting point as to what aspects of the documentary I should focus on specifically.

Inspiration from Mainstream TV Documentary Makers

As adhering to the concept I foretold in my brief, I desired a realistic vibe to be reverberated throughout my documentary, specifically orientated around the filming styles which would help personify the authentic and realism of the situations bestowed. To gain inspiration over how to film these ideals I delved into the work of famous documentary makers who have incorporated this filming style into the construction of their productions.



Louis Theroux

Louis Theroux is a British journalist and broadcaster who commonly work for the BBC network. He is well reknowned for his documentaries and filming styles - his most popular of which being his television series 'Louis Theroux Weird Weekends' and 'When Louise Met...' however for my media coursework I have decided to focus on his cutting edge programmes that were filmed as a 'one time only' special, these are regarded as his BBC Two exclusive specials.

In these shows he focuses his attention mostly in the American countries where he travels around filming real life occurances, events and groups of people for the content of his documentaries. Some of the programmes under these categories are 'Louis and the Brothel' and 'The Most Hated Family in America'. Although it is noticeable he is displaying the more harsher, underworld side of life and what occurs in our every day societies, that we are unaware of what I am particularly interested in is his selected style of filming, which is easily identifable from the onset of the prologue. In the majority of the scenes the camera is held by a camera man (as what would be expected) however the main difference from regular styled filming is that instead of being balanced (such as on a tripod) the equipment controller monitors the camera in a realsitic fashion, in some scenes it can clearly be seen shaking as the person follows Louis rather then be strong, straight and steady as what is commonly expected of mainstream camera work. This specific incorporation of the shots as shaky and uneven connotates extremely well with the concept of my documentary 'The Girls Who Wouldn't Eat' - for some scenes in my own production it is expected of the girls in question to be followed about doing their every day lives and activities (or in some individuals cases followed in a hospital). I want to make the environment as believable as possible as if the audience can immerse themselves with the timing of the filming, despite not being there, as this aids to create a realism scenario, therefore they can identify more with the females on screen and can be more sympathetic to them then what normally could be genrated (for example in a more gritty documentary where the filming style is entriely stable such as air crash investigation)  Moreover it aids my target audience in being able to idenfity with the situation - they will relate and contrast better to familiar environments they themselves have experienced (a home setting is an excellent example as we all are pretty much raised and live in one) this gurantees a stronger connection between not only the subjects on screen and the viewing public but also between the filmaker and the audience themselves.




This is a segment taken from one of Louis Theroux's documentaries 'The Most Hated Family In America'. It can be clearly distinguished from the onset that the camera is not positioned on a tripod such as the scene when Louis is in the car at 0.03 seconds into the clip

During this section the camera itself wobbles quite frequently as the man operating it is sitting next to the broadcaster, therefore this gives him no option to but exclude the use of a balancing device. Despite this the shot works extremely well as it personifies the sense that they are in an immediate action of travelling somewhere, with the jerkiness as the vehicle moves adding to the notion that this is a real time event.

Very noticeable during this specific scene at 0.035 seconds is how frequently and violently the camera disorientates on screen, making the presentation of the shot very off focus. This allows the camera man to track the woman's movements more effectively, obviously this is not a scripted sequence otherwise the shot frames would be perfectly aligned, this develops the understanding to the audience that it is an authentic scenario as Louis and his crew were not prepared for the action that follows, this prevents any biasm or prior knowledge of what to expect from the footage so the crew act as realistically as possible. It also aids in giving the opportunity of timing this females real time movements so the audience get the impression they were actually in the situation when the filming was commenced. Moreover we can see they have chosen to film this scene in her home, a common environment that I had stated above how we all have experienced at some point therefore this connection between viewing public and the documentary is strengthened due to the use and incorporation of various familiar situations we can all relate to and are comfortable with

Nick Broomfield

Nick Broomfield is a British documentary maker, most well known for appearing in his finished productions holding a sound boom and wearing a Nagra tape recorder. He operates with as few of a crew as what he can possibly achieve, using only one or two camera operators. Broomfield's best known work is 'Kurt and Courtney' , detailing the escapades of Kurt Cobain and his lover at the time Courtney Love and was selected for the 1998 Sundance Film Festival award before Love threatned to sue. Some of his other popular productions include 'Soldier Girls' and 'The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life In the Universe'.  It is his self-reflexive film making style ( a film being made about the making itself as much as what is focused upon the subjects) that he is best known for. His work has had major inflcunces upon the likes of Louis Theroux (who I rveelld on above) who have adopted a simialr filming style for their own products. This reaon alone is whyI chose to conceite with Broomfields work as I felt this 'realsitic' filming specifics would help to highlight the real life danger and familair settings the illness anorexia nervosa thrives in which is the subject of my own documentary 'The Girls Who Wouldn't Eat'

I chose to view Nick Broomfields most popular film 'Kurt and Courntey' in hope I could be inspired by the method of film his has opted for an to identify if there is any techniques I could replicate in my own media product.

Through the segment of this clip from the film many interesting filming points are noticeable in the construction of the documentary which have caught my immediate attention.

In segment 0.025 of the clip, Broomfield employs a zoom manouver to draw emphasis on Kurt Cobain's dead body - this not only distinguishes the sheer severity of the situation but provides a shock response from the audience as he gets ever closer to revealing the singers unfortunate fate. This technique is to purely initiate a particular reaction from the viewers - in this case shock and upset, as the scene itself is quite disturbing and I understand Broomfield wants them to recognise what a tragic end this was to a passionate song writer. I believe the zoom would be most beneficial for my own documentary, particularly in scenes when archive footage of the girls is focused upon, a zoom could be used to generate emphasis upon photographs when they were physically so ill to provoke an instant shock factor response from my viewing public. This would help illustrate my message that anorexia is a seriously devastating condition that is not to be so easily overlook, it may also aid in informing the audience just how dangerous mentally the disorder can take over an individual for them to create such harm to themselves.

At 1.05 Broomfield incorporates archive footage into the construction of the documentary that was taken from case scene analysis and news reports detailing the coverage of the incident when it was first broadcasted. I believe this provides a sense of realism, that although the death of Kurt Cobain occurred many years ago, this evidence from the original crime scene helps to establish the idea this actually took place, as evident from the authentic documentations and reports that were given access to - therefore the realism concept is strengthened. Although I spoke about using archive footage previously (this would be images of the girls before and after their eating disorder developed) I think witnessing it in a famous film such as this strengthens my originally small idea that this would be essential to my documentary. Images will help personify just how much of their lives the girls have lost individually to heir own illnesses and I hope this would elicit some instinctive sympathetic response from my viewers that will help them realise that the girls did not choose to live this lifestyle and they were 'average' humans before the condition enveloped them.

During sequence 3.34 Broomfield interviews an individual who happened to know Cobain himself. It is moreover not the content of the interview I am interested in but the choice of filming style used to capture it. it can be easily noted from this clip that the camera man (in this case Broomfield) is operating the camera minusing a tripod or balancing device, this makes the frame of the shot slightly shaky and not as focused to what a conventional interview would appear like (for example straight without any disturbance). Professional interview styles involve keeping the equipment as in sync as is possible to highlight a sense of seriousness and dramatic emphasis over what is being said, therefore the audience is more likely to be paying attention to what is detailed. In the case of Nick Broomfield he chose not to apply this method. Although the composed frame is not as level as what it could be, this actually aids in displaying a realistic approach to the filming as it can be identified he did not take this back to a studio to be edited, in fact there has been no alterations to the overall quality of the footage which makes it appear grainy in some sections. In my opinion this helps to generate the realistic vibe he is going for, the notion that the film has not been tampered with in any manner reinforces this was filmed in a real time event and is as authentic footage as what anyone could watch, this allows support to the audience making them recognise more coherently this is a true to life piece of work, therefore they can relate to the situation more efficenty. Although for some of my interviews I want them as steady and balanced as what I can display (in these cases a tripod will be used) for some, such as the scenes when the girls are moving around, I feel Broomfield's realistic shaky approach would help track the 'real time motion' of the girls in their every day lives, emphasising to the audience these are real humans immersed in a regular world we all share.

I have gained so much knowledge and valuable experience from deconstructing and watching these documentaries, I hope to use the concepts I have gained in my own TV documentary to help illustrate the realistic nature of the illness and how it occurs in every day life surrounding us.

Peer Review 2 for my Double Page Spread

Before I handed in the double page spread and its accompanying page to the exam board, to definitely ensure it was up to the standard that was required of it I created another peer review that was composed of my classmate and lecturer so they could offer their final verdict over the presentation and if any last minute changes needed to be adhered by.

I began my peer review by asking Taylor if she had any outstanding criticisms concerning the third page of my work as ultimately I was more concerned about identifying the inconsistencies in my product then focusing upon the positives. After she studied it thoroughly she concluded there was no major issues she could identify in my final draft - if she was to recommend anything to me at all she suggested moving all the text of the writer review box in a symmetrical line so they were all directly positioned and spaced from one another. Besides from that slight adjustment there were no other concerns she could raise for me to tackle. However she undoubtly praised what I had produced, stating that the images were effective and related directly with the nature and content of my article (which revolves around eating disorders) and how the use of the writers photograph was a beneficial way of relating to the audience by showing the reviewer is a normal person just like themselves. Furthermore she stated that me changing the colour of both the additional boxes so they were in the identical shade of grey was more then worthwhile and commented similarly to what I had said in that there was less competition between the two text bodies for attention, the array of colours could have been potentially off putting to the reader and discouraged them from reading the article.

Lastly i got the expert opinion from my lecturer as I felt she could give me the best most accurate point of view over how my double page spread appeared via the marking criteria and if it looked of a professional standard. She began by giving me a marking specification sheet which she filled in accordingly to what grade she would say each of te following elements in my spread were like (this included text and font, image quality, continuity, use of proper language etc) When she was finished it was revealed i was firmly in the level 4 criteria which is excellent as i truly am aiming to achieve an A on my products so this more then exceeded my espxations. I asked her to really work at picking a fault out as i was intending to create an almost flawless product. The only thing she could pull me on was the kerning of a few of the sentences (partiularly in the writer review area) which once were sorted would allow my spread to be as professional and mainstream as what I could have produced. She praised the use of how I had considered my layout, especially concerning the placement of the additional text boxes as these could have easily conflicted with the main text body causing confusion amongst the readers.

Essentially the most important and therefore critical set of opinions I had to gain was in relation to the two primary pages of my double page spread as arguably these were the most important in the entire construction of this product as they would be the main attraction and selling point of this article as a whole, undoubtly these pages would be the first seen by the reader when engaging with the content. In that respect it had to be as intriguing and eye-catching as possible to gain full acquaintance from the audience otherwise potentially they may not be interested and could be discouraged from reading the products altogether which would be disasterous for me. To begin with I gained the review from Taylor my class mate who I relied heavily upon for nearly all of my peer verdicts as she was the closest in vicinity to me plus she was working on an extremely similar brief to mine at the time. Overall her positive feedback regarded the image in essence, she was happy that I had swapped it over for the original as although she liked the one I had been drawn to incorporate into my final design, she explained the posture and body language emitted from the model on this specific photograph was more effective then the previous as you can truly identify the sheer pain and distress that is going through her mind due to her illnesss. Understandibly if Taylor herself could notice the torment then I was persevere in the idea that my target audience would as well, she was herself a neutral party so it made her comment more truthful with less bias (for example had she been working with me this kind of regard would be fairly frequent as she would want to make the product sound amazing) however with her creating her own work I felt this opinion was free of manioulation. Secondly she noticed how the pull quote had been slightly moved to the side of the girl, she described how she believed this would be beneficial to me as the red and black did not clash anymore (as they had previously when the quote overlapped the leg of the mode) and were more easily distinguished then before which would allow the reader to be able to clearly identify what is being said. Taylor liked how emphasis had been placed upon the words 'Anorexia' and 'Choice' through the use of italics, she felt this helped to highlight two this girl in the photo did not wish to become like this and she could emphasise with her. This is the general reaction I was hoping to provoke from my audience from the beginnings as stated in my brief as if they could recognise through the use of language and images that anorexia is not a condition or a lifestyle an individual chooses, then the moral codes and ethics of my message can be reinforced that much more strongly. Lastly she added she had no major concerns to pull me on - she had already been happy with how the article had been presented in a flowing form and she was pleased I had kept in the drop caps for conventions.  SHe suggested positioning the headline very slightly to the right but other then that she had no issues. She commented that my product as a whole was extremely effective in what it was attempting to portray and she was throughly happy with it.

I gained the professional wisdom from my lecturer on top of my peer review as with Kaye being more informed of the media world due to her job I felt her opinion would be the most critical to obtain she would be able to remark on minor details that would otherwise be missed by my class mates. Almost immeditely she stated the pull quote had to be moved over slightly to the left and down a few spaces just to give it more distance from the image so they would not overlap, yet they would still remain in close vicinity allowing the audience to recognise they wee still related to one another. She was pleased I had decided to go with the photo change as it was she who had recommended inserting this image in place of the previous, she liked how it displayed itself on the page and how it would instantly attract audience attention due to the underlying posture and expression that emitted from it - it was too hard to simply overlook what had been presented. She re-read through the article to ensure there was no spelling errors or grammatical mistakes, she identified a few which allowed me to remove and correct them. Kaye had no negatives revolving around the article, she was happy with the flow in the article, the consistency of the elements and the use of additional information (such as the writer/photographer names, kicker) as this formatted with traditional mainstream magazine conventions. There also no concerns over the font style opted to display the headline, she believed it worked efficiently with the product and did not seem 'out of place'. In conclusion her final statement was that besides from the insignificant alteration that had to be made to the pull quote, she was overall ecstatic with the quality of the product I had produced and she gave it a teacher assessment review it came out as an 8/10 at minimum on the mark scheme.

In terms of my feedback I'm thoroughly impressed with how the review process went, i was expecting more harsher comments over the ability of my work so its made me more determined that my products will be the best that I can possibly create them. Only a few minor details were apprehended upon which will be easily corrected so there will not be extra work for me to complete. Once these alterations have been made my double page spread will be officially complete, this will allow me greater time to focus upon dedicating myself to the construction of my documentary video.

Final Feedback on my Documentary Poster

Despite me having believed I had come to a coherent conclusion in the construction of my documentary poster it can to my attention that I should conduct one final peer review to ensure my production had reached its maximum quality.

In a previous post I documented how I was comfortable with the auxilary product I had produced regarding the poster advertisement for my double page spread. Seen above is the original completed draft which I am extremely happy and pleased with, as due to many peer reviews and lecturer assessments it had been reached to a conclusion that no more editing was required for this particular task. However one of my lecturers made a comment last week that he believed the headline for my programme 'The Girls Who Wouldn't Eat' was not positioned correctly enough, sure the font and style appeared fine, his issue revolved around the placement of the letters. What he proposed to me was that I moved all of the words down so the 'W' of 'Wouldn't' fit directly in the indentation of the models back where the spine ends. He felt this would create rhythm and consistency throughout the production, he did not deny that all the elements worked well together but detailed how its professional sheen could be emphasised further through the use of the placement of the headline as it would directly link the image with the title, highlighting they corresponded with one another more thoroughly.

Encouraged by his words I decided to make the necessary alterations that would improve significantly the overall performance of my poster to the exam board. I began by loading the document up in Adobe photoshop so I had all the correct tools to make these changes possible. For my next stage I grouped together each word of the title as they were all inserted separately in individual text boxes, I had chosen to do this previously as it would allow me to individually move each word without misplacing or altering the position of another which was perfectly fine. With all the headline grouped it would allow easy manouvering to get the title in the essential position (in the groove of the models back) Once everything was grouped, I used the directional arrow keys on the keyboard to steadily move the headline down until the 'Wouldn't fit exactly in the indentation as what was initially proposed. With a minor directional change to the left I was pleased with the new positioning of my title. Finally I asked my lecturer again to receive his new verdict on the change he had recommended, after studying it he said he was content with what I had done and that no further corrections could be made.

I was relieved to note that I had completed my poster after months of hard preparation and ardious work to achieving its potential. Most importantly I have benefited massively from the guidance of my peers ad lecturers as without their comments and opinions I would not have related to what the audience or a neutral party desired in my product, as having my own judgement on my product would have ensured my biasm prevented it relating to the audience and readers I had proposed in my brief.

Developing my Double Page Spread - Part 6

At this level the accompanying third page to go alongside the main spread was almost nearing completion. I had adhered to my lecturers advice regarding the text of the anorexia symptoms box, by doing so I kerned each individual line of wording so they were equal in width and depth to one another - this allowed them to be in continuous prose to one another redeeming and elevating a professional look to the layout of my article. It allowed the statements to flow more coherently therefore they continued one after another displaying an element of continuity in my work. I also added in the anorexia helpline like i was recommended which contained a phone number for readers to call if they felt concern over a particular loved ones behaviours. This type of security is commonly seen in articles that focus upon general and mental health in the population so I feel I am conforming to mainstream standards by offering this option to the audience. The image was placed centrally to the text, offering enough space between the words and photo so they did not become contorted and overlapped with one another. Additionally I moved the pull quote up slightly so it was more centrally situated on the page, this would give it the advantage of being in the direct eye-line of the readers so it was not easily overlooked and gave it an emphasising effect to the content of the article. Finally at the bottom of the left hand page I added the twitter name of m company 'Mindscape Motion' , this gave the audience the opportunity to engage more with the the programme and distributor - by checking out their page they could discover more interesting publications and references to the documentary whilst also being informed about the company itself, seeing if any of their other media programmes would be of interest to them. This in general generates more publicity for 'Mindscape Motions' gaining them a larger viewing audience.

Here the drastic changes I made in the previous screenshot can be seen more clearly with particular attention to detail on the alteration of the factual box in terms of the image and text layout. As can be noticed, the pull quote which accompanies the main image has been altered slightly - 'anorexia' and 'choice' have been reverted to an italic form, I regard this as an ideal way of drawing emphasis upon these words as essentially they tell the story most effectively of one of the girls. It strongly displays towards the audience that this deadly illness is not a rational decision the individual may make, therefore removes all stereotypical 'self blame' concepts upon the sufferers. I kept the colour palette as red as I feel it effectively highlights the danger and death associated with the condition (such as the severe impact on the heart) whilst dealing with the medical point of view - particularly the hospital scenarios some patients are subjected to. The quote itself was moved slightly to the left as when the words overlapped with the black on the image it caused them to be difficult to distinguish as the colours clashed severely. By changing the position it allows the reader to recognise more clearly what is being said without any hesitance of confusion.

After numerous peer feedbacks and constant confirmations this is the finished completed first two pages for my double page spread article detailing about my documentary 'The Girls Who Wouldn't Eat'. Personally I am thoroughly pleased with how it appears, I'm confident the last minute image change I made for the main photograph was the correct decision as through evaluations from my classmates and lecturers they all agreed it personifies the emotional turmoil and despair this illness creates to the sufferer extremely well. In addition it was more easily placed in the centre of the page which I had struggled to do so with the original photo, this therefore grants me improved access of altering the position of the pull quote which now doesn't look like it is conflicting with the image, allowing them both to be distinguished easily from one another. I am happy with where the other co-joining elements are placed (this includes the headline, kicker and centre body of text) - the method which they have all been situated gives the impression they are in continuation of one another, showing they all relate and revolve around the same issue which provides perfect conventions within my product. The colour palette works accordingly with the nature of my documentary, the seriousness is emphasised through the dull colours of black and white and the contrasting brightness of the red which signifies the danger, death and devastation caused by anorexia. In conclusion I cannot pick many faults at all with my production as the constant peer feedback has made me confident all of the errors have been eliminated.

This is the final copy of the adjacent third page for my double page spread. As a minor alteration as instructed by my lecturer I made both of the added articles (the review and fact box) in the same grey tone, we both agreed they would convey well together this way, it would illustrate they both are separate from the main body of text but highlight they were also related to each other in content. My lecturer also felt that two different shades of the grey colour for the boxes would cause too much visual disturbance and it could be quite off-putting to the reader to view as they would not know which convention to focus upon as there would be so many dominating ideas together. Therefore I made the important correction of making them the identical palette to create unity within my product. Besides from the subtle change there is no overall difference in this page as compared to a few screenshots before

Creating an Image for the Fact Box

I had informed my lecturer that I desired the additional factual box containing signs and symptoms of anorexia to be placed above the writers review box as a way of enhancing the overall look and layout of the page, this allowed its visual appeal to be significantly enhanced whilst providing valid areas for the reader to be enticed by, this would guarantee the success of my double page spread. However she was not pleased that I was intending to leave the fact section untouched - in essence she explained it required more input, in this case through the insertion of an image to further emphasise what was being described. By including a photograph of something related to eating disorders then this would help to illustrate the message more clearly to the audience that anorexia has a quite severe yet noticeable symptom crietria. Therefore through my lecturers peer assessment it was recommended to me to fulfil my own expectations it would be beneficial to employ the use of this extra image to ensure my article looks as authentic and appealing as what it could possibly achieve. To do this I captured several image of an anorexic girl on my LSD camera with a tape measure, this was a slightly stereotypical marketing strategy of the illness yet refined what was being explained in the fact box most effectively, as measuring ones self is a common perception of the disorder held by many members of the general public who have no informed knowledge on the illness itself.

The primary photograph that was took was in fact a test shoot to highlight if the technology was working to its optimum, yet despite this factor I feel this photograph works quite well for the message I am attempting to direct towards the audience. The models pose is almost identical to how I pictured it during the scripting stages - she's brought one of her legs forward enough effectively that all of the eye line gaze is brought towards this leg in particular as ultimately it is the area the tape measure is officially orientated around. She has also enhanced the 'dieting' effect by pulling on the measuring equipment which tightens her already frail frame drawing emphasis upon her physical ailments, which I desire to highlight the destructiveness of anorexia itself. Her posture is great, by having one leg placed behind her it looks like she is pushing herself towards the audience in the sense that she is making her pathetically thin body that even more noticeable to the reader - that way she can;t be missed so instant gaze is brought upon her. Significantly the lighting actually turned out extremely effective despite it being an ordinary bulb from mediocre household lighting so I am slightly impressed the quality hasnt' been as damaged as what I anticpated. The door frame in the background could easily be cropped out and removed in the editing stages if i was to use this image.

After our primary take I instructed the model to change her position around slightly, this required her to 'twist' more towards the camera lens, as if the whole movement of tightening the tape measure caused her to jerk her posture about. This way i could see how she would be perceived in a new angle rather then opting to create a similar shot to the one you see above. This ultimately will give me more variety in my images to choose from. She also altered which legs was used for the measurement, this time orientating it towards her left rather then the right in the previous image. Immeditelly when i viewed this back I was not impressed with how the model came across to me. I could easily identify a number of noticeable issue that were not present in the original phtograph. to begin with he is leaning too far forwards towards the equipment, almost as if she is 'thrusting' her leg into the frame for the audience to observe, I feel as if her body language is aggressive and too forward which may deter the reader because it personifies the sense she is desperate for the attention. Its almost as if she is promoting anorexia rather then highlighting it which goes against the message I want the audience to identify to. Secondly the lighting as I expected initially has not enveloped her frame very well, unlike my first image there is a greater amount of shadow over illumination of the body, I ant her scarily skinny frame to be recognised more significantly so bright overhead lights are essential to create that effect. Unfortunately in this shot it appears darker then what I had originally perceived which would mean more colour enhancement in the editing stages if i was to select this photograph which would impact my time management negatively as I am already slightly behind the schedule I had proposed.  In essence I do not have the time to simply 'throw away' editing an imperfect image when it would have been sensible for me to selected the best quality one in the first place.

A final image was taken just to clarify I had opted to experiment with alternate angles of the model and to provide a wide image and a unique set of shots that could be filtered through identifying which most appropriately conceived to the nature and genre I had stated. After I viewed back this photograph I had already made the important  decision in mentally that I was to incorporate the initial image I had captured in the shoot over the remaining two. The reasons for not selecting this specific one are almost identical in description to the corresponding screenshot above in that the colour consistency was too dark for what I had imagined and that I did not own the appropriate use of time management to sit and correct these flaws when I am under extremely tight time cosntaitns. In addition to what I have stated  really was displeased at the angle the model was balancing herself at, it looked as though she was due to fall over - there was not a very professional stance about her. Although on a positive note I was delighted with how the body was emphasised effectively by the tape measure, I just felt the canted angle this shot was taken in ruined the effect of the entire photo and set it off balance, it undermines professionalism and strips it of a regal look. In finalisation I will not be using this particular image as to orientate with my factual text.

Now that i had concluded to myself I was going to employ the use of the first image I took in the shoot to accompany my factual text about anorexia I uploaded it onto the Adobe Photoshop editing software as so I could easily alter the consistency and hue of the overall quality of the photo. I felt this was necessary due to the colour balance being slightly off (it was too dark in some areas with a large quantity of shadow) and in addition cropping was required so I could effectively remove the doorframe which was present towards the right hand side of the image. Once the document was safely in the programme I clicked and selected the effect control tool box for the photograph and began experimenting, alternating between unique hue, shadow presets and saturation levels to locate the appropriate effect for my image. The idea I had was to brighten the darker tones to bring profound emphasis onto the physical aspects of the anorexia (e.g the thinness of the legs) to highlight significantly the physiological complications for the illness. Moreover I also reverted to use the clone stamp tool (which is located in the main tool bar to the left) to copy the whitewash of the walls and duplicate it over the area of the doorframe which is fairly noticeable. This removed the notion this photograph was taken in a home and not a professional environment whilst aiding it in having a sleek and smooth feel to it, with the exact same consistency of colour reverberating throughout the photo.

Seen above is the final completed draft of the edited image for my fact box about the symptoms of anorexia. As what can be identified from the original photograph, the colour and brightness has been significantly improved, with the tone of the skin more colourful and healthy look (an oxymoron to the fatigue and lifelessness that accompany's the physical complications of this illness) whilst also redeeming it of professional quality as it removes any blemishes and perfections that may be present giving a clear cut image to focus upon. The lighting has been directed more towards the tape measure, with profound emphasis to draw attention to how unusual this girls behaviour is (measuring the width of ones leg isn't normal) this unusualness may seem intriguing to my audience who are likely to be more interested in the nature of the text if the photo has an intriguing quality to it. Most importantly it relates directly to the content of the spread as this photo in particular truly defines the world of eating disorders and  categorises effectively the behaviours which act as an unwelcome baggage along with them. It is highly noticeable that the doorframe in the right hand backdrop behind the model has been removed via the clone stamp, this adds the consistency appeal i was attempting to create as it is less likely this image will be identified as one not created in a studio environment and gives my work a flawless, very professional appeal. The next stage for me is to insert this into my double page spread document and position it in the correct area to gain maximum attention from my readers whilst additionally conveying effectively with the other elements on the page (mastheads, kickers, pull quotes, further images etc) as if any of these clashed with this photograph then it could mean there is a competition for dominance in the product which strips away the mainstream look and deters a maximum audience as too many conflicting aspects can be off putting to look at.