Codes and conventions of a TV documentary.

• Narrator- The narrator is the voice over in a documentary, their sex is dependant on the documentaries subject matter. Sometime there will be a regional accent used if necessary to the topic. The narrator acts as the glue holding disparate elements together to construct the narrative, the age of the narrator is appropriate to the topic and/or target audience and the narrator always speaks in standard English.
• Camerawork- Interviews: framed to the left or right of the screen and are always filmed in either close up, medium close up or big close up.
  The variety of camerawork is used in filming observation/cutaways. Cutaways are used to break up and illustrate interviews to help keep the audience entertained.
  Handheld camerawork is used on actuality footage where the camera person needs to react quickly to events which are happening.
  There is a variety of camerawork used to be creative and sustain the interest of the audiences e.g. still images - zooming in or out to keep it visually stimulating.
• Editing- Simple cut is the most common edit. Editing must not be intrusive i.e. the audience must not notice it, so no fancy editing is used as it will distract audience from the subject matter of the documentary. The audience should not notice editing. Use of chromaky is sometimes used in interviews. Other types of editing included is fade to black or fade from black this is usually to signify the end of a "chapter" in the programme or beginning of a new one.
  Questions are edited out so we only hear the intervieweas this is a common convention of mixed documentaries.
  Dissolve is also a common edit used, it is maninly used on archive material.
• Narrative structure- Documentaries tend to be single strand so they are only focusing on the one topic.
  Documentaries are mainly non-linear unless the programme is following a sequence of events.
  They are open or close or sometimes circular.
• Mise en scene- Archive material is used in chromakey and is put in interviews as it anchors the relevance of the person to the topic and tells us something about them.
• Graphics- graphics on interviews are usually two lines the first line is the intervieweas name in a larger font than the second line which states the relevance to topic, this all anchors who they are and their relevance to the topic. The graphics are simple font and simple colour and is consistent throughout the programme.
  Other graphics are used to anchor location and time where necessary in the documentary graphics are usually incorporated in to the title sequence and is very creative.
• Theme- there is only ever one main theme but inside of this are other smaller themes like binary oppositions.
• Sound- Music is used to create atmosphere. The music is relevant to the topic in some way or something that is said.
  Foley artists are used where sound effects are used.
• Archive material- Most archive material is from other media. It is relevant to what is being talked about in the interview. Can be used to illustrate the topic. Photographs are used alot as archive material and not part of other media. 

That Thing.....Lara Croft (BBC2)

The Music Biz - The Marketing of Meatloaf.

The music biz

View more presentations from SofiOlivia.

PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE : THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT.

The Devil Made Me Do It. on Prezi

The narrative structure of the documentary is non-linear as there are flashbacks, and it is single strand because all of the footage is interlinked and the documentary is left open giving us the option to decide whether Marilyn Manson is evil and can lead others to kill.

Throughout the documentary the editing includes montage of Marilyn Manson clips.

There is the use of shot reverse shot to show conversation.

There is also flashes of photography.

The use of cutting is used but it is so discrete you don't notice it and other editing used is dissolving mostly used on graphics.

The stock footage included within the religious document include:

-Religious iconography: crosses, statues, churches.

-Teenagers

-The town in general.

The various sound effects used within the documentary are:

• Violins and guitars.
• Marilyn Manson music.
• Religious church music, choirs, religious music.o kill.
• Atmospheric music
• Sound effects on re-creation of murder.
  There is also the sound of narration and translation the voice is kept neutral to show no signs of being biased and speaks in standard english.

Murder scene.The murder scene begines with a long shot down a corridor at the far end of the corridor this is a door that is highlighted by the ambient light coming from a near by window a man heads through the door at the end of the corridor and as it closes the voice over stops and the sound of the door closing echoes to reinforce the emptiness. The scene then cuts to a pan across the town from a rooftop.

Sound effects used through the murder scene:
Heartbeat.
Muttering.
The build up to the blow - and then the blow of the object hitting the nun.
The heartbeat increasing showing the shock of the nun.
Thudding giving an insight in to how the nun was murdered.
Dog barking in the town symbolising alone/empty.
Sound of the knife being removed from the bag.
The sound of stabbing.
The heartbeat slow downs responding each beat to the edit, there is a last heart beat and a pause then the camera cuts to a grave yard and the sound effect of a church bell all symbolising death.

In another scene there is a video of Manson fans with religious music in the background suttly this is juxtaposition putting two opposites together to create meaning.
A interview with manson uses low angle to show him as powerful, the lighting is set up so that one side of his face is light and the other is dark this is to create an image that is Marilyn Manson a saint or a sinner, in the interview Manson sums himself up as someone who rebels against what is considered ordinary.

Archive material - Marilyn Manson videos, news reports, t.v coverage, newspaper pages, t.v talkshow, websites, still images and the coverage of the massacre.


Graphics - Lyrics on manson clips, title using religious iconography, Name of people in interview and their relevance to the story, dates and times, place names establishing location, subtitles, translation, credits and the verdict of the three girls.

TYPES OF NARRATIVE STRUCTURE.

• Open - There are questions left unanswered at the end. The audience is left to make there own minds up, about the issue. e.g. - assisted suicide.
  • OR
  • Closed - No lose ends everything is tied up at the end there is a definite ending. e.g. - 9/11 documentaries.
  • Linear - The programme is in chronological order. i.e order of time. e.g. - 9/11 documentaries.
    OR
  • Non-Linear - The programme is not in chronological order. Time is disruppted in some way. e.g. - flashback. 
  • Single strand - Only one narrative thread or storyline.
    OR
  • Multi-strand - More than one narrative in the same programme. May overlap.
  • Circular - At the start a question is posed the narrative explores the question then returns to it at the end. i.e - at the end the programme returns to the question posed at the start.
  • Visuals - Television is a visual medium. The programme needs to be visually stimulating, and maintain audiences interest. 
  • Archive material - Stock footage e.g. street scenes, countryside, motorways, cityskapes, football crowds.
    -Historical footage.
    -Extract from TV, film and radio.
    -Newspaper front pages.
  • Interviews - The important aspect of a documentary. They can be held anywhere but mise on scene is important relating the interview to the topic/issue.
  • Vox pops - (vox populis) voice of the people. Ask one question to lots of people and then most interesting/entertaining to use in the programme it can get a good cross section of audience. 

DIFFERENT TYPES OF DOCUMENTARY.

• Fully narrated - An off screen voice over is used to make sense of the visuals and dominate there meaning e.g. natural history documentaries. The narrator always seems authorative "voice of god".
• Mixed - These use a combination of interview, observation and narration to advance the argument.
• Fly On The Wall - The camera is unseen or ignored and simply records every minute of real events as they happen. There is often no narration leaving audience to reach their own conclusions.
• Self reflective - When the subject of the documentary acknowledges the presence of the camera and speaks directly to the documentary maker.
• Docusoap - These documentaries follow the lives of individuals usually with designated occupations.
• Docudrama - A re-enactment of events as though they have actually happened.
• T.O.W.I.E, Made In Chelsea and Geordie Shore - These type of documentaries are a docusoap but scripted. They blur the boundary between fact and fiction.

DOCUMENTARY GENRE.

A documentary is documenting something that has actually happened.
They provide the audience with an insight in to a topic they may not know about.
Documentaries inform and can educate an audience about a topic. This must be done in an entertaining way, to sustain the interest of the audience. The audience has more choice because of audience fragmentation due to digital and satellite television. There are specific channels created to documentaries e.g. the documentary channel. This is an example of narrowcasting.