Paige Balderson

In what ways does your media product use, develop or change forms and conventions of real media products? The coursework task that we were set was to produce the opening 5 minutes of a documentary of which focuses on a controversial topic targeted at a chosen audience. During the research and planning stage of our documentary, we conducted research into codes and conventions of existing documentaries. We aimed to incorporate such conventions into our documentary to make our product more professional and realistic. Our final documentary was named Brand New Teens ; which focuses on the influences of fashion trends/branding on young people (specifically teenagers) today. Our documentary was set on Channel 4, as this was the most suitable channel for a documentary aimed at the younger generation- as founded from our research and planning. v

Examples of our target audience: males and females, aged 14-19 years old.

To ensure we portrayed a professional, effective and well carried out documentary we had to ensure we followed standard codes and conventions of existing documentaries. After viewing examples for ourselves from websites such as: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/tags/documentaries/4od and www.youtube.com it was noticeably clear the codes and conventions of which they all coincided with. We listed such conventions in a blog post to refer to as guidance throughout production of our documentary.

Paige Balderson

Through analysing existing documentaries, within the research and planning stage, we found that the opening consistently begins with an image montage. Incorporating a series of images and quick documentary snippets most related to the topic; creates a dramatic effect and to hook the audience as well as giving them a brief overview on what topic the documentary is focused around. As a group we decided on the most appropriate images/footage of which we believed would be most attention pulling. These included:

The above images are just three examples of some of the main features of the montage. The image of Dorothy Perkins portrays our topic well as it is relevant to fashion and the shop window displays current fashion trends. The image of the student looking at the screen is relevant as it immediately identifies our target audience- teenagers. The image of teen fashion trends being typed into the search bar is evidently relevant. I believe we followed the convention of using an image montage during the opening 30 seconds (approximately) effectively.

All documentaries incorporate an ident at the very beginning and our documentary is no exception. Through analysis of existing documentaries it soon became clear that the most appropriate channel choice would be Channel 4 due to their increasingly growing and popular audience. Through using the ident (as featured on the right), we gave our documentary credibility as a production of Channel 4. Adhering to conventions, and Channel 4 as a brand, the voiceover not only introduced our documentary but Skins , which is another program that is broadcasted by Channel 4. Doing so made the documentary appear realistic and showed we d done our

Paige Balderson research and carefully thought out our material. Skins was a good choice also as it is aimed at the same bracket of the population: teenagers.

The key to a successful documentary and a convention adapted by most, if not all, documentaries is the focus on a controversial topic. Within Brand New Teens we discussed whether the media, our peers, influence trends or if we are all individual and unique within our style choices and are in fact uninfluenced by what s going on around us. This topic is controversial as the viewers have the power to create their own opinion and debate whether or not they believe others have an affect on how they choose to look.

Furthermore, we analysed a number of existing documentaries based on a similar topic to ours: fashion trends and branding. The most inspiring and effective documentary of those researched would be The Model Agency. This was aired on Channel 4- confirming our channel choice was the most suitable. The full analysis can be found here. As quoted in that blog post: Initial ideas that could potentially be incorporated into our own documentary after viewing 'The Model Agency' are the thought that we try to capture footage of 'model lookalikes' aka fashionable members of the public, that portray a model exterior. In 'The Model Agency' they clearly have access to original footage from the runway and professional models; we don't have this accessibility and we can create alternative ways to show 'trends.' As stated we found alternative ways to show trends. We did this through filming fashionable shoppers on the high street and

Paige Balderson capturing footage from a runway show of which we had access to.

Expert interviews are a key contributive aspect of a documentary as the audience often value their opinion and thoughts as they have expert knowledge that a member of the public doesn t hold. Most documentaries express a balanced argument and this is created through using varying individuals of who provide a range of perspectives. Through analysing existing documentaries we found that expert interviews are used alongside the viewpoints of the entire population. Within our documentary we used student interviews also as our target audience are teenagers, therefore it made sense to include such interviews. The experts of which are incorporated within Brand New Teens are Lee Samuell- a local fashion designer and Julie Maitland- a college counsellor of who deals with the teenage generation on a daily basis. Both delivered credible opinions and ones of which we believe will hold the audience s attention.

OUR DOCUMENTARY

REAL DOCUMENTARY

Lee Samuell is a local fashion designer; due to his occupation he clearly has the background knowledge and expertise beneficial to our chosen topic. Coming from a fashion background it was natural that he could openly talk about his opinions on fashion trends and how and why they are adapted so easily, particularly across the teenage generation. As displayed in the images above taken from Brand New Teens and Panorama, there are clear similarities shared between the two. Both interviews are effectively set up in terms of their mise-en-scene. Our documentary s interview uses a mannequin as a relevant prop, helping to enhance

Paige Balderson the sense of realism. Louis Walsh s interview is formally set-up: with a chair and bookshelf in shot. Lee Samuell s costume could be described as quirky and casual which makes sense due to his role, whereas, Louis is wearing a suit which is far more formal and appropriate for the discussed topic. Both mise-en-scenes evoke professionalism through their use of props and costume. Both expert interviews display credits in the bottom left-hand corner, as this is one of the numerous documentary conventions. Expert and non-experts are always introduced to the audience so they are aware of what s going on, what role this individual plays and gives them a better understanding of their background which may influence their personal opinions. Our documentary develops this convention by including the interviewee s job title: fashion designer, whereas Panorama fails to do so. Reasoning behind this is that the audience are very likely to already know Louis; however it can t be assumed they do, so it is best to include the additional information. We also used Julie Maitland due to her well-suited expertise. Julie is a college counsellor and the main area of her work is around collaborating with students on a regular basis. Consequently, she holds a good foundation of information when talking about her opinions on their motives and thoughts when it comes to knowing their fashion influences. Not only knowing what teenager s aspire to look like but why it s so important for them to feel part of a group- which is a crucial aspect of getting behind the thinking of maintaining a group identity. Similarly to Lee Samuell s interview, we ensured Julie was surrounded by an effective mise-en-scene to heighten authenticity. Julie is based in her office space, which is immediately clear due to the props shown: a computer, chair and desk. We also ensured attention to detail wasn t lacking through displaying a fashionable, relevant website up on the computer screen. Whilst this may be a minor detail we believed it was effective and professionalized the interview. Furthermore, we included credits in the bottom left hand corner to ensure consistency throughout the documentary. Once again, Julie s full title is presented to ensure the audience isn t left wondering Julie s role.

Paige Balderson

As our prime target audience is teenagers aged 14-19 year olds, it made sense to include interviews with student who obviously fit into this age bracket. Additionally, it will be a more appealing documentary for this particular audience, as they will feel they can relate and connect with those being interviewed. Khadra s interview was valued as she stated that teenagers have a pressure through fashion magazines, which opened our eyes to just one of the potential reasons teenagers are so easily influenced. The mise-en-scene of Khadra s interview could be improved with a more interesting and aesthetically pleasing background- because of this I believe this was a flaw within our documentary. However, it is realistic as it set in college, which is the natural environment for a student. Helen is not only an example of a student interview, but she was also one of the main characters as a lot of focus was around her views. Consequently, she was featured in quite a substantial proportion of the documentary. She expresses a real life example of how teenagers are influenced by fashion trends and choices of those around them. Exploring the ways in which she understands the term fashionable and how she determines fashion trends to be complementary of those who set them. The mise-en-scene of Helen s interview is extremely effective and engaging; this highlights a teenager s natural environment. Within the framed shot we can see relatable props such as hair products, straighteners, a mirror, posters; what you d expect to find in a typical teenager girls bedroom. Whilst student interviews were an asset to our documentary, we challenged conventions through not crediting the interviewees. The possible reason for this is that they were introduced by the voiceover, which is why we assumed it was unneeded. Reflecting back it would probably have been a better idea to do so, as the audience may have expected such key characters to be visually titled.

Paige Balderson

Throughout all existing documentaries a variety of camera shot types are incorporated to add interest and appeal to the subject. To ensure our documentary has the same effect we tried to include as many of these shot types as possible.

Establishing shots are used to introduce location, time and setting, for this reason they re extremely important, as the audience can feel orientated. It synchronizes a connection between the voiceover and the scenario being described. The two example shots were used to establish Solihull and make the audience familiar with its surrounding. With the shot on the left we used a panning shot to display Touchwood which is is Solihull s main shopping centre. We believed a panning shot was most effective as the entire environment could be captured. The shot featured on the right was constitued for the same purpose; to introduce the viewers to Solihull. The Welcome to Solihull sign is intuitive, as that is effectively what the aim of this type of shot is- to welcome, and familiarise.

Close-ups are often used to portray emotion in characters facial expressions. Our reasoning for using a close up shot was to ensure that the focus was on the individual and to show they represent the target audience. It also contributes to the variety of shots to maintain interest.

Paige Balderson

Mid long shots within our documentary are used to show both the people shown and their surrounding environment. Mid long shots are one of the most commonly used shots due to the amount of information that can be picked up on from them e.g. how someone got from place to place, and what they re doing there. It all contributes to make a successful synchronisation with the voiceover. An example of when we used a mid long shot was when we were filming Lee Samuell during his interview (as seen in the anchored image).

The voiceover in any documentary is conventionally used to inform and explain to the audience exactly what is going on to ensure no doubt or confusion during viewing. I was chosen as the voiceover within our documentary as I can relate well to the target audience, due to being a teenager myself. Having watched and analysed existing documentaries it was clear what kind of information we had to deliver through the voiceover; such as where we were going and factual information i.e. statistics.

Paige Balderson During our documentary we maintained some of the original diegetic sound to keep the sense of realism. For example, when filming the establishing welcome to Solihull shot we kept the sound of the passing vehicles as we believe this will make the audience feel they are their also. This boosts audience involvement making for a more connective documentary.

A common convention used in documentaries is the use of sound bridges. This involves playing alternative footage during the begging or ending of someone s interview in a synchronised fashion. For example, we used this technique when Khadra (a student) mentions pressures teenagers face from magazines and we cut to an image of a magazine as she is continuing to talk.

Throughout our documentary we used the same backing music to ensure consistency. The backing music we chose to use was called break beat. We varied sound levels during the documentary to ensure interviews and the voiceover were constantly dominant. The backing track added to the mood of the documentary and we believe it will appeal to our target audience due to its modern sound.

Transitions are an additional editing convention commonly used to ensure fluidity between shots and scenes. They can be used to bookmark a new period of time, or a new location. For example, a cut-to-black transition is used to distinctively represent a new chapter in the documentary. An example of a transition we used was when we cut to an image of fashion magazines using the page peel transition, as it appeared most appropriate and similar to turning the pages of a magazine. The majority of our transitions were done through fading in and out of each shot for a flowing and subtle movement.

Paige Balderson

As previously mentioned, we have used titles within our documentary to add extra information e.g. used when introducing new people. Other examples of when we ve made use of titles are when displaying statistics on the screen. Additionally, at the end of our 5-minute slot the voiceover asks the audience about their true influences so we included a question mark on screen to mark the ending.

Documentaries are meant to be unbiased in all circumstances. Whilst, we weren t intentionally biased, the majority of our interviewees were female. Some may argue that this causes an imbalanced argument. For this reason our documentary may be seen to not follow the unbiased convention.

Paige Balderson

Vox pops are not commonly used in existing documentaries, as they re not seen as professional or as substantial as interviews. Due to our lack of contacts and given time we were unable to fill our 5 minutes with expert interviews so as an alternative we used a series of vox pops with teenagers on the high street. An example is displayed on the left of a fashionable teenager we spotted on the Solihull high street. We ensured our vox pops had a suitable and relevant mise-enscene to recreate realism. For example, the vox pop shown was shot in front of a popular shop among teenagers, New Look. We believe the use of the mannequins in the background made for a very effective surrounding environment. Though vox pops may not be commonly used, we certainly valued ours as they provided the documentary with a variety of perspectives from those without a professional, fashion-minded background. This is better as they are more representative of the target population and their thoughts are less biased towards a particular response.

As previously stated: due to our lack of professional contacts and feasibility due to time and impracticality it became a limitation. As a result of this, we had to result in gaining access to some unoriginal material to incorporate. An example of us doing so was when footage of a fashion catwalk was played. Clearly, we couldn t arrange to attend an actual fashion show ourselves; however we were lucky we could obtain some of this material as it added to the professionalism of our documentary.

Paige Balderson

Previous to creating our own listings page, we conduction some research into existing products in order to get a better perspective into their conventions and how they are displayed. We analysed two existing listings page; these can be found here. Key: Using conventions= Pink Developing/Challenging conventions= Blue

Title Main image

Picture credits Channel/ Date/time

Three-column layout

Pagination

Drop cap

Pull quote

Title: the majority of existing listings pages have a title positioned near the top half of the single/double paged spread. We used the title trending topics: #fashion as this is appealing to our target audience as it's a link to Twitter- a popular social networking site with our audience. However, the title used is conventionally the name of the program that is being listed.

Paige Balderson

Main image: through research and planning, it was immediately apparent that all listings pages use an image that dominates over a 1/3 of the entire spread. We followed this convention as our image fits across more than half of the top third of the page. It is also brightly coloured making sure it stands out and is eye-catching. The main image shows the model looking directly at the camera to make a more obvious connection with the reader, however in our image Helen (main character) is looking away at the computer screen.

Picture credits: original images are often anchored with the name of the photographer to ensure they are credited for their work and it is the magazine s disclaimer. Brand identity: ensuring the continuity of brand identity, the name of the documentary: Brand New Teens and channel number: Channel 4, are listed.

Date/time: this is an obvious convention; the readers need to know when the program will be shown in order to tune in.

Dramatic pull quote: this is used to draw the audience in to the listings and to impel them to read more to find out what makes the program so interesting/dramatic.

Through analysis of existing radio trailers the commonly used conventions are clear. They include: background music, mentioning the program title that's been advertised (brand identity), the use of content directly taken from the documentary, a short clip that is snappy as well as a clearly spoken, bubbly presenter to promote.

Paige Balderson

The majority of radio trailers use consistent backing music during the entire advertisement. Radio is powered by sound and listener s can only gage what they like through hearing aids rather than visual. Backing music is effective as it maintains the listener s interest, without it there may be no sound at points, which would mean they d lose curiosity and more than likely turn over.

One of the main conventions for producing a successful radio trailer is the constant brand identity. Thus ensuring to include the channel number and program title; which we maintained through out our ancillary task. Channel 4 was mentioned as well as Bran New Teens, the audience then makes the association and combines them to form the brand identity.

Radio trailers are often no longer than one minute long due to the amount of adverts played on a daily basis. Our radio trailer however didn t completely adhere to this convention as it lasted approximately 54 seconds. This was slightly longer than anticipated, as the brief asked for a 45 second radio trailer. In this way we challenged and developed this convention. This was done to ensure all desired content was covered, however if it d been shorter than it may have been snappier and maintained the listener s interest for a longer period of time.

The presenter s voice was clear and coherent which is key for a successful radio trailer. We used a male voiceover to give our tasks variation and a balance of female and male involvement.

Paige Balderson

An additional area of brand identity is pulling content from the documentary and including it in the radio trailer, to create a parallel product. Below is a copy of our script:

Presenter: Channel 4 brings you Brand New Teens a new documentary looking into the pressures teenagers face with fashion Sound byte: I think your friends do have a huge influence on what you wear Sound byte: I love fashion, I spend about 50 a month on clothes Presenter: It s often celebrities and peers who seem to influence teenagers to wear a particular brand Documentary content: Celebrities do influence how people dress, cause you see them on TV and you think well I want to look that, I want to have what they have I think that we as teenagers do have the worst because there s always the peer pressure that we've got to buy the brand names and got to buy what we see on TV Presenter: For a full program listing click Channel 4.co.uk/brandnewteens Brand New Teens, Sunday night at 8 o clock, Channel 4

As shown above, we included documentary content within the radio trailer to ensure all products are linked and are successful. The listeners also get an insight into the documentary and the debates covered; hopefully drawing them in to tune in.

2
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks? It s extremely important that all of our tasks were consistent and followed the same theme. This was particularly significant to maintain brand identity. Our main task was based around teenagers following fashion trends and their influences that drive them to do so. Some statistics that were mentioned: A staggering 82% of teens said they would stay loyal to their favourite brands, may surprise the audience and make them realise that this is an important topic as it affects the majority of the younger generation. Our ancillary tasks, both the listings page and the radio trailer were created in order to promote the main task and to create a connecting brand image.

Paige Balderson

Below are annotations showing connections to our documentary: This maintains our brand identity as it shows the corresponding documentary title, channel, time and date of the listing.

Helen was one of our main characters in the documentary; therefore it made sense to incorporate her into our listings page also. This will ensure brand identity is created as the audience can make associations between the two.

We selected images directly from our documentary and unified them with our listings page. Above are the two examples of this; an image of H&M- clearly linked to the fashion aspect of our topic and a vox pop of a teenagerimmediately making it apparent who our target market is.

Paige Balderson

A2 Paige Balderson, Sarah, Helen, Final Radio Trailer mp3.mp3

Click the link to listen to our radio trailer

Brand identity was maintained during the radio trailer with the successful use of documentary content, i.e. interviews. Dramatic quotes of these interviews were inputted to attract the audience and to entice them to watch the documentary advertised to find out more. These included quotes such as: I guess that celebrities do influence how people dress, and you see them on TV and you think I want to look like that, I want to have what they have. A student stated this during a vox pop and it was chosen, as we believe it captures the essence of the documentary- how fashion trends influence teenagers.

The timings don't match; in the listings page it states the program will be on Thursday at 8pm, whilst the radio trailer says Sunday at 8pm. This was unintentional and was not spotted during production. This was an example of unsuccessful synchronisation when creating our brand identity.

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What have you learnt from audience feedback? Once any product has been created, it s important to get audience feedback to see how well the product meets specifications and expectations of those it is targeted towards. As our target audience is teenagers, it made sense to take the opportunity to show our documentary and ancillary tasks to our peers. The majority of feedback we received was very positive.

Paige Balderson

Overall Response to documentary The majority of respondents quoted good and excellent when rating our documentary, which was extremely positive feedback.

The choice of topic for TV The majority of respondents quoted very good and excellent when rating our documentary, This was especially pleasing as previously stated they were a selection of our target audience, meaning we were successful in appealing to them.

Filming/shooting of appropriate material The same amount of respondents answered good and very good when analysing our filming of appropriate material. I agree with their decision, as I believe our material was relevant and our chosen topic was constantly enforced.

Editing so viewer can understand meaning The same amount of respondents answered good and very good when analysing our editing. I am proud of our editing, as I believe it was effective and professional. However, in order for us to achieve excellent I believe a wider variety of transitions and titles could have been added.

Paige Balderson

Using sound and music appropriately 3 quoted our sound and music choices good and 3 quoted very good. To improve, and achieve the majority at excellent, the sound levels needed to be consistent throughout. Because of closeness to the mic, the voiceover was varying in sound levels. This would be changed if we were to re-do our documentary.

Using effects such as transitions, captions etc. appropriately We received positive feedback for our effective use of effects of which I am pleased about. It s difficult to judge whether editing is over or under-done due to the fine line, however I believe we were successful in our choices.

Appropriateness for target audience Once again, positive feedback was received for our appropriateness for target audience. This was an especially important category, as our main aim was to appeal to teenagers and that we were.

Professionalism/how well does it compare with real television documentaries? We received positive feedback from our peers, with answers ranging from good to excellent.

Paige Balderson

Here are two examples of the original feedback sheets for our Brand New Teens documentary.

I was in charge of creating the listings page, and due to this high involvement, the feedback was especially vital for me. Below is a list of strengths and area for improvement that we received. Strengths: looks very professional and photos link well to the topic -nice layout with images and boxes -initiative link to twitter with the title -image is very clear and relevant -good use of mise-en-scene -looks realistic and relevant to modern society -

All of the positive comments were rewarding and made us proud of our product. We were especially glad that our target audience believed our product looked professional, and the link to Twitter was quickly picked up on.

Paige Balderson Weaknesses: - what s getting us talking red with a dark grey background is unclear -could use more coloured text -more images could be used -brighter colours could be used to attract teen audience

I agree with the first point, about the combination of red and dark grey. In hindsight, we should have chosen a lighter background colour or font colour, for example: white. However, whilst it s true that more images could have been used, I believe that we used enough, as the page may have been too cluttered with any more.

80% SAID 9/10

20% SAID 8/10

Here is the original feedback sheet for our Brand New Teens listings page.

Paige Balderson

Strengths: the beginning of the radio trailer is very interesting and captures the audience attention -good use of interviews -voiceover is clear -good sound bytes from the documentary -very similar to a professional radio trailer, very realistic We were very happy with all of the positive feedback we acquired from our radio trailer. It was pleasing to hear there was a good use of interviews and that the voiceover was clear, as these are main conventions that escalate to a successful trailer. Additionally, a good opening is essential to ensure the listener s interest is initially grasped.

Weaknesses: -sound levels need to be consistent, as some sound was louder in parts -voiceover sounded like a monologue at times -over the 45 second time limit I agree with the areas of improvement of which we received. The sound levels varied during the trailer, which wasn t bought up during production, only on hearing it through bigger speakers, was it accentuated. Whilst the voiceover was clear, it may have seen monologue-like due to the lack of fluency at times, so for this comment I agree and if we were to remake our trailer then we would be sure to have a flowing voiceover speech prepared.

75% SAID 7/10

25% SAID 8/10

Paige Balderson

4
How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages? When creating our media tasks we used an array of technologies, both familiar and non-familiar. Internet Whilst we were initially debating on which topic to focus on, we used the Internet to help us come to a decision. Possible alternative topics included marriage and student fees, both of which were good contenders for our target audience. Through a group discussion and Internet research, we decided to base our documentary around fashion trends and influences from the media and our peers. One of the deciding factors for us doing so, was browsing through existing online articles on pressures teenagers face in order to fit in. We were unpleasantly surprised on how many teenagers face such pressures today. This made us more inclined to get the bottom of it, and find out why. Here are some of the articles used, which inspired our initial ideas for our documentary: -Teen takeover -Abercrombie and Fitch

Another way in which we made use of the interest was through online video websites. Two of the main websites I used when collecting and analysing my research were www.Youtube.com and www.channel4.com. Channel 4 s website allows users to watch documentaries that have been aired on TV to be watched online using the online service of: 4oD. This came in extremely useful when analysing existing documentaries. It also helped us pinpoint the main codes and conventions incorporated in to documentaries to ensure they are successful in the message they are trying to convey.

Paige Balderson It was beneficial to watch all of the documentaries as they all sparked ideas and inspiration for our own task. For example, The Model Agency was especially useful as the topic was similar- fashion, which helped us with putting ideas into practice and discover our possibilities. The use of the fashion catwalk, and expert interviews inspired us to do something to a similar extent. We used footage of a runway show and we were able to arrange an interview with a local fashion designer, which were both assets to our documentary. YouTube is a video-sharing website, which can be accessed and uploaded on-to globally. When researching our chosen topic, YouTube was one of the first websites visited for related material. An interesting video I found was about The Clothes Show Live and all the backstage action that goes in to producing a successful line-up. As quoted in the blog post I created: Designers from all over the country can sell their products and making their brand better known and advertised. Having been to the Clothes Show myself, I know how many teenagers go there in search of inspiration for the next 'trend.' The fashion show is the main point of interest as the fashions come to life and the audience (predominantly teenagers) can get their own ideas of how to piece outfits together. It brings the runway to the high street making it affordable for a target market of 15-25 year olds. This video gave me an insight into why fashion trends are so dominant and adapted by the younger generation. This gave our documentary direction, as our background knowledge into possible reasons was up-to-date. Here is the link to the Backstage @ The Clothes Show Live 2009 video. Blogging As soon as our task was assigned; we were immediately split into groups. Our group was named C02 and from then on we had our very own blog, on the popular site www.blogger.com. It allows users to regular update with blog posts, and for us it enabled us to keep a record of our progress and monitor existing/outstanding work.

Paige Balderson

The blog was a great way of maintaining our group efforts with sharing and communicating of ideas. The blog enabled us to view each other s completed and drafted posts. Ensuring none of us were working on the same thing at the same time for effective use of time management. Additionally, collaborative working was just as easy to achieve as the group positing function allowed us all to contribute on certain posts such as with the logging and transferring sheets. Apple Mac computers None of the research and planning could have been conducted without the use of the Apple Mac computers. They provide access to five fundamental pieces of software: Final Cut Express, Photoshop, InDesign, Comic Life and Garage Band, all of which are essential in completing our tasks successfully. They also enable us to surf the web and complete our online research.

Comic Life Comic life was a new piece of software to me and I quickly became comfortable with using it. Comic Life allows the combining of still images and captions to create a comic strip of which would form our storyboard for each minute of our documentary. This was crucially useful when planning where to feature each piece of footage, and to help us get a better idea of how our documentary will flow. When it came construction it was merely a case of following the storyboards, minus a few tweaks we made for the better, to ensure continuity. I was responsible for both the opening minute and the fourth minute of the documentary, of which were storyboarded using Comic Life (shown in the above and right-hand image.)

Paige Balderson There are many worthwhile features that Comic Life has to offer. Some of which are outlined below:

There are a variety of page templates to choose from. The choice depends on how or what you are storyboarding. I chose a 00 S Comic basic template.

Comic Life has a finder function that allows you to locate the images of which you want to storyboard.

Once the images have been selected and arranged, they can be annotated with speech bubbles. These make the storyboard more aesthetically pleasing.

We used a variety of equipment during construction. Digital Camera We used the Kodak easy share digital camera in order to take our still images, which were required for both the documentary and the blog.

Video Camera One of the most vital and most-used pieces of equipment was the Canon HD video camera. Enabling us to film the relevant and appropriate footage for our documentary. The camera had a variety of settings and functions that enabled you to alter the picture quality, effects e.g. noise and sound levels. The function we most used was auto-focus to ensure the object/interview was prominent and clearly seen.

Paige Balderson

Tripod The tripod was essentially needed to ensure shots were steady. An unsteady shot would be picked up upon immediately due to the lack of professionalism that portrays.

Headphones Headphones facilitated us listening to the interviewee speak preinterview to assess whether there was any background noise i.e. buzzing. In our interview with Julie Maitland, there was a buzzing a slight buzzing noise, which we assumed we could alter during editing, however we were unsuccessful. After two more following attempts we managed to get rid of the background noise, so Julie was clearly heard and the interview was more effective. They also enabled us to playback voiceover once it had been recorded. If what was being said was unclear or distorted we were able to immediately re-record. Microphone The microphone was used through out the entire construction period. It was needed during interviews and during voiceover recording. Aided clearer sound than just the video camera alone.

Final Cut Express Final Cut Express was the software we used to create and construct our final documentary: Brand New Teens. Once all of our footage was obtained we used the method of log and transfer to select our highest quality clips. These clips would then be added to queue and transferred to our bin (our folder that obtained our final footage.) The video viewer window was used to watch our entire current documentary extracts and play it back, as if we were the audience. This helped improve and better our documentary, as we were able to monitor progress during construction. We were then able to monitor sound for the duration of the documentary. Once we d inserted all of our desired footage into the timeline, we were able to crop/manipulate the sound; both diegetic and non-diegetic. This enabled us to change sound levels, i.e. mute or minimise backing music whilst an interview was

Paige Balderson being featured. We were also able to completely remove the sound from each clip if only the visuals were required. An example of when we did so was with the shoppers on the Solihull High Street. In this case, Final Cut Express also enabled us to quicken with scene with the speed tool. We believe that this was an effective feature and was used suitably. Additionally, we were able to overlap sound bites to create a successful sound bridge. InDesign To construct the listings page we used Adobe InDesign. For the listings page we wanted to incorporate stills directly from our documentary, as this is the best representation. We were able to do this through clicking command shift 4 which allowed us to choose the section of which we wanted to print screen. These photos when then edited in Photoshop (mentioned below) and copied into InDesign. We also decided to take our own images, post-documentary, of Helen the main character. As a group we chose to do this, as we thought we could better represent our topic through arranged props e.g. fashion magazines. Such a still image was not incorporated in our documentary; therefore we went to greater lengths to achieve this. Below are some examples of our potential listings main image:

Before inputting our article immediately into InDesign, it was written on Microsoft Word, as the spell check tool is most useful. Once it was pasted into InDesign, I used the column tool, and inputted 3 columns, as this is the most appropriate and conventional layout choice.

Paige Balderson As I stated in my blog post: Whilst completing the listings page we reached a problem of which we managed to overcome. We wrapped the text around the images; for a more professional appearance, whilst this was achieved, our title and picture credit was hidden in the process. After several attempts at sending the picture 'to back,' we asked for help off an assistant teacher who showed us that once clicking in options there was a choice to 'ignore text wrap.' This successfully bought the title and picture credit back to the front. InDesign enabled to do so using the previously mentioned tool and create an effective and aesthetically pleasing arrangement.

InDesign also offers the feature of a drop-cap, which is a common convention, used in listings pages. We were able to choose the exact size of our drop cap using the up and down arrows; we could also preview our changes as we made them making it easier to decide.

There was a drop shadow tool of which we used on our title to make it stand out and ensure it immediately grabs the reader s attention.

Photoshop Before the images were inserted into InDesign, they had to be edited in Photoshop before hand. With the main image of Helen, I adjusted the colour levels and saturation to make the colours more prominent. Such effects also helped improve the quality of the image, therefore seeming more professional and realistic. All of the images were adjusted either using the auto-levels or brightness and contrast tools of which Photoshop has to offer.

Paige Balderson Garage Band Garage Band is a software application that allows users to create music or podcasts. I used Garage Band to create for the creation of our radio trailer, which aim is to inform and persuade radio listeners to watch our documentary Brand New Teens. Even though we used the Canon HD video camera to record footage for our radio trailer, we only extracted the sound, as no visuals are required.

There are three main components to our radio trailer: backing music, presenter s voiceover and documentary extracts i.e. interviews. Garage Band allowed easy adjustments of appropriate sound levels throughout.

Comic Life Once construction was completed, Comic Life was helpful in the final stages of our documentary. It allowed us to create our 9-frame sequence, which represents our entire 5 minutes, with the more prominent snippets included.

Paige Balderson Burning disc After all of the construction work was finalised, it was time to burn all of our products onto disc. Our radio trailer was burned to a CD-R disc, whilst our documentary was exported as a mov file. It was then opened using iDVD on the Apple Mac, which enabled us to create a suitable and professional menu-screen.

Folders All of our final construction work was saved in a final construction work folder for easy access for the teacher and moderator. All our work is in one place and can be quickly viewed and retrieved. Evaluation Whilst producing my evaluation I decided Microsoft Word would be the most suitable choice, due to the features it offers; such as the incorporation of text, anchored images and hyperlinks. All of which are useful when annotating and portraying my final construction work.