For my media A2 coursework, Arran and I created a five minute extract from a new

documentary TV programme.
We called the documentary The journey we take. and the five minute extract
started 1 minute after the documentary TV programme began.
From the start to the end of the extract, the main convention we used was based
on the direct interviews and was totally focused on the three individual people.
Inevitably, this allowed the interviewees to speak directly about our subject matter
prompted by the questions ask by me and Arran. This essentially creates a sense
of realism for the viewer, that the documentary makers ( Me and Arran) are
mutually shared by another person, and thus is more valid. I would say that this
was the key convention in providing a platform to work and develop from.
Another conventional aspect we used was the technicality of realism when shaping
our interviews, the natural lighting was very important to capture to enhance the
quality of the interview. The lighting arrangement was different for each person as
it was set in different locations.
I could argue that this challenges the forms of conventions as the interviewer and
interviewee in a documentary tv programme tends to be in the same location and
setting. We went against this convention due to our chosen genre. The setting had
to reflect the personalities of the three people in some way, we chose locations that
were relatable to them. Although it was harder to do this for Matt due to him not
being from the Island, however the fact that he was filmed in his girlfriend's
(Ashias) living dining room can justify this.
The lighting ideas for the extract was adopted from the general conventions of our
media product.
Kims interview took place in his room, we wanted him to be sat on chair in front of
his window which gave us natural lighting, therefore artificial lighting was not
needed.

Whereas in Aishas setting of

the living, the light above was

all that we needed as the room itself was fairly light and airy. Originally we were
going to place more of spot light, however the soft light focus from above gave
Aisha and the room a more natural effect to fit the atmosphere and mood.

In Matts interview he was set in a darker room in comparison to Kim and Ashia.
Which meant that an artificial light was essential. For this we used lighting from the
left back of the room to project onto Matt. It was placed at the back to reflect a less
light as it was quite strong. Also There was a mirror behind Matt so we had to make
sure the light was position out of the mirror. The back left was the only spot that
was suitable.

Another convention we followed was incorporating people appropriate to the topic

and the target audience. The journey we take is specially about the younger
generation; people of the ages from 15- 23 who is either transiting into the real
world or working towards the journey . This was our primary target audience.
Having Kim, Aisha and Matt expressing and talking about their journey established
the genre and subject matter perfectly, each with different story and perspective
and all in the age region from 15-23.
The camera work for our extract was another key convention to be carefully
thought about. Generally interviewees in documentary TV programmes are

framed either to the left or right of the screen, using a medium close up, close up
or big close up. However this was one of the conventions we challenged, and in the
process of creating we decided not to stick to this rule, as I thought this set up
looked too perfected and unnatural for our particular subject matter which follows
a more a serious, intimate and personal outlook. Alternatively, we placed the
three people in a comfortable position, thus the camera is fixed to unconventional
frames , unconventional in frame layout but conventional for representation of our
genre. Camera work in our extract varied between zoom in/outs, medium shots,
close ups, extreme close ups and straight on angle for all frames. It was worth it to
challenge this convention for our case, of reinforcing our genre and using the
camera frames to do so. We were aware that camera positions is generally labelled
as a crucial element especially for interview footage therefore we did follow the
rule in some of the scenes where the interviewer (Arran) was on the same eyeline
as the interviewee facing straight on angles.

In terms of camera movement, we used handheld camera and a tripod. Consisting

of zoom in and outs. We stuck to minal creative camera movements and edits to
sustain the interest of audiences, enough to make sure the interviews were visually
stimulated.

We mainly used the simple cuts to construct the extract. This is the most common
edit in TV documentary programmes. Our aim was to make sure the audience
didn't notice the edits as much, therefore we made it as less intrusive as possible.
We had no major fancy edits as this would also distract the audience from our
subject matter. The camera shot transitions were over all conventional of TV
documentary programmes. By only having one camera we managed to create
subtle and natural- looking camera shot transitions for most part of our extract,
although there were a few difficulties for Matts transitions. For Matts interview,
the camera would be zoomed in and out at parts creating disorganised and messy
transitions, so we replaced this with over edits such as the filler imagine of Matt
with his weight training equipment to follow a more natural and flowing transitions.
Some other edits included Dissolves to add a visually interesting touch and added
to the dramaticness of what matt was saying, we thought. Unfortunately, there are
some noticeably bad edits, which was due to the minor audio skips that couldnt be
edited out.

Filler shots is key in documentary interviews, and I learned this when when I
realised the number of different shots it takes to make a five minute extract, let
alone a whole documentary. Kims footage was the longest out of the three in
terms of consecutive scenes of him talking as he was the main focus of the
documentary. Thus, it was important to use filler shots in Kims footage to draw the
audience into our story and most importantly reveals more of Kim's personality
and interests. To achieve the most relatable and authentic filler shots, Arran
recorded footage of him playing Sniper Elite V2 and watching Rooster Teeth play
Grand Theft Auto V on Youtube. This was a great way of reinforcing the idea that he
finds .. stories that people write, and create and come up with to be far better than
what I have now.. Another filler shot that was added was a medium- speed
panning shot of his bookshelf and the posters he has on his wall relating to video
games and other media which reveals a lot about Kim.

The conventions of sound in TV documentary programmes is generally followed by

music to create an atmosphere and is relevant to the topic in some way. However
Me and Arran decided not to incorporate sound, in an attempt to provide more
clarity for Kim, Aisha and Matts speech. We felt that by adding music (bed), it
would compete with the dialogue too much. This is why it was important to make
sure that the three interviewees were in a quiet room tone. We wanted to capture
that clear, crisp sound in some of the less light hearted scenes, in particular Matts.
Although we did have a few minor problems with the sound. There were slight
differences in room tone between shots which made smooth sound transitions
difficult. We also didnt anticipate the echo of the speaker in certain rooms, I think
Matts was the most susceptible to echos, but we did manage to level out the
sound in edit. The clarity of sound, usually depends on the degree of control, and I
was happy to see that Arran had a good level of control when holding video camera
or balancing it on the tripod.

For the speech in the extract, TV documentary programmes usually edit out the
questions of the interview, so that we can only hear the interviewees. This was
something that we definitely used and developed as we wanted nothing but Kim,
Aisha and Matt to take the spotlight. In our research and planning stage this was
something that me and Arran learned how to capture; we learnt how to stage
interviews so that the interviewees will appear to speak directly to the viewer. We
noted to maintain eye contact and give visual feedback while the interview goes on
(nodding, smiling, ect). This was something we remember to do for interviews.
Mise - en - scene in interviews anchors to the relevance of the person to the topic
and tells us something about the person. For our extract and Genre, this was an
obvious convention to use and develop. In Kims setting of his room, gave the
audience clear distinctions of his interest and building his personality together.
However I really thought about how important this is because really, we wanted to
make sure that the viewer felt connected and could relate as others are going
through this process. The mise en scene in Kims footage gave us the chance to
make him appear like your average normal teen on screen. It had to be authentic
even more so for Kim (protagonist). In our extract mise en scene in Kims scenes
included, his books, his games, computer playing in the background, posters, most
of it was digital stuff that was great as it it relevant to what he is currently learning,
studying and using at school. On the other hand, Matts and Ashias had less mise
en scene attention as they were secondary focuses, also because they had more
content to provide (older than kim and have experienced University) there scences
demanded less distractions, the speech in their scenes played the major role for
Aisha and Matt.
Lastly, graphics is the last convention to examine and evaluate. In TV documentary
programme, graphics are normally just two lines and are in a simple font in order
to not distract the viewer. Graphics can be used to note down the interviewees
name and relation to the subject. There are other conventions of graphics, however
these were the two that were relevant to our five minute extract, drawn from after
1 minute into the documentary, therefore a title sequence was not included and
end credits were not included. We channeled the two conventions into our extract.
The concept of the extract included an introduction to the different interviewees.
So it was necessary to add text on screen consisting of simple font and two lines
giving information about who they are, and where/how they are doing it in the
beginning of their interview, effectively this establishes who the person is and and
why they are there, and what the
programme will be about.

I have learned so much in the research planning and producing stage and learning
about these stages is crucial to have a solid understanding of what makes media
products. I came into media unaware of media key conventions, and how people go
about creating them. Through each of the stages, minus the time I had off, I have
discovered how to use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media
products, overall it has been an insightful process.