The brief for my work

This is the overall brief of my work- 

7. An extract from an original documentary TV programme, lasting approximately five minutes, together with two other options.

• A double page spread from a listings magazine focussed on the documentary.
• A newspaper advertisement for the documentary.

Production: my final documentary with changes

Production: Final newspaper advert

This is the final look I have gone for with my advert. I have kept the font consistent with the black background and white text, to build up a brand identity for my documentary. Furthermore, I have gone with the codes and conventions of a traditional Channel 4 advert, and I think my product adheres to these very well.

Production: My final TV listings

This is my final TV listings double page spread. I have made some of the changes that I received from my audience feedback, and this is my final outcome. 

Evaluation question 1: In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Evaluation question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary products?

Evaluation question 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Q3 from Ella Chapman on Vimeo.

Evaluation question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Evaluation question-technologies from ellachapman123

Analysis of my documentary

Analysis of my DPS

Analysis of my newspaper advert

Newspaper analysis from ellachapman123

Audience Research: Profile

Audience feedback: TV listings (DPS)

I wanted to received some feedback from one of my close friends regarding my final product. I used iMessage as an application to conduct the feedback, as it meant I could easily send over a screenshot of my work too. 

As demonstrated below, Katie has given me some constructive criticism and advised me to add a transparent background behind the main article. I think this could potentially look really good so therefore, I tried it out.

Below is a screenshot of what the main article now looks like with a transparent background colour placed behind the text. I used the 'magic wand' tool on InDesign to match the colour red from one of the lifeguard's uniform. 

However, where I have turned down the transparency level to 15%, the colour has changed slightly. However, I think it is an effective adaption because it adds more colour to the overall look of my double page spread. 

Generic Research: Codes and Conventions

After analysing already existing products as part of the research process for my ancillary products I have consolidated my research into two lists. These involve the codes and conventions for each of the two products, this list will help me out when it comes to incorporating them into my work. 

The TV listings (DPS)

• Large masthead, in top left hand corner 
• Byline 
• Lots of images to illustrate text
• Direct mode of address
• Clear colour palette 
• Sub-headings 
• The time and channel the show features on
• Web address
• Rhetorical questions
• Imperative and declarative tones
• Colloquial lexis (language that can be understood) 
• Columns for the article  
• Paragraph breaks 

The Newspaper advert

• Central image 
• Direct mode of address
• The logo (usually on right hand side of the advert)
• Usually horizontal shaped 
• Clear colour palette 
• The logo the same colour as typography 
• Web address
• Simple yet effective-not too crowded 
• A strap-line
• The time and date being shown
• Text placed within a shape (as seen on Channel 4 adverts)

The Documentary extract

• Expository...or Participatory 
• Rule of thirds effect when presenting interviews
• Establishing shots 
• Statistical facts
• Text on screen to introduce characters
• Slow motion editing technique 
• Editing also something sped up 
• Consistent font types throughout 
• Still images used as cutaways
• Panning camera movement 
• Non-diegetic music in the background 
• Over the shoulder shots 
• Underwater shot types 
• Strong mise-en-scene- actors involved dressed in uniform

Generic Research: Journalism on the lifeguard

This particular article lists specific elements that only qualified lifeguards would be able to relate to. Therefore, this could be an article that my target audience may have read, if they are that interested in the role of a lifeguard. 

Click here for a link to '14 things your lifeguard might not tell you'

Click here for a link to 'a real life lifeguard assesses lifeguarding in Baywatch'

Click here for a link to the Baywatch trailer, which acts as a representation of what people think lifeguards are like

This is an email I received from the Royal Lifesaving society. It proves that lifeguards as needed due to their importance. This is what I plan to raise in my documentary. I want to raise awareness about what it really takes to be a lifeguard.

Generic Research: Channel 4

This is a YouTube video that I found very beneficial to watch. It demonstrates a wider range of generic conventions that have been used on already existing Channel 4 adverts.

 I have come to the conclusion that the more niche designs are a lot more effective and interesting to look at for the target audience. 

Some of the example within this video hold conventions that you wouldn't expect to be on a Channel 4 advert. 

An example is where the text covers the majority the main image. This would not have been a design I would have originally thought would look effective, but after watching this video I now think differently. 

Production: More changes to my listings

This is a screenshot of the changes I have now made to the top of my listings double page spread.  I have moved the tagline into the centre of the page, so it can easily be seen by the audience when they look at the masthead.  Furthermore, I have included a summary of what my documentary is about at the top. I have made the change of making it into more of a slanted position, it fills the space slightly more and is also a lot more interesting to look at. 

After reviewing the conventions of some other listings magazines, I have chosen to include a small author's note at the very bottom of the double page spread. This is a screenshot of the product straight from InDesign, which means that is why there are lines still over the top of the text.
I needed to research how I was going to place an image inside a circular shape, as this is something that isn't obvious on InDesign. Therefore, I used a YouTube video that told me exactly how to carry out these changes.
Click here to see this video

This is a screenshot of the YouTube tutorial that I found. She walked the tutorial through step by step, so I found it easy to follow. It was slightly fiddly to get the picture in line with the while circle behind. but once I worked out the technique it was easy to do.



I have been in contact with Charlotte from my focus group, as I wanted her opinion on the writers note I have included at the bottom of my double page spread. 
Her feedback was positive, and I have decided I am definitely going to leave this part in as it is a popular convention of already existing magazines. 

Production: Adding a title

I have decided to add a suitable title to my TV listings page. Due to my documentary being aired on Channel 4, I decided that this logo would be the most appropriate one to use for my product.

Many other already existing products I have looked at also have logos on the front page. I discovered that they are all short and simple titles, with the purpose of simply labelling what the product involves. It is also a professional convention that brings the product together more.

Production: Making changes to my DPS

I have taken into account the feedback that I received from my audience questionnaire, and have now started to make some changes to my double page spread. I have included screenshots of these changes down below.

I have adapted this part of my double page spread by moving the images closer together. I have therefore, reduced the amount of white background behind the images, as I think this aspect looked slightly less professional. Also, I have added one more image to fill the space a bit more, this is an image of a lifeguard at Clements Hall. The effect of having the images placed like this is now more prominent, which is the effect I wanted to achieve. 

The audience from my questionnaire said that it would be a good idea to place the Channel 4 logo  in the corner of my double page spread. This has the effect of enhancing the overall brand identity due to the fact that the logo is also placed on the newspaper advert. After experimenting around with the location of the logo, I decided that it was the most visible over the image with water as the background. I is now very clear and stands to well to the audience. 

Also, I have now added in a small byline at the side of my double page spread. It reads 'Photography by Ella chapman.' I believe this is a very professional aspect and is a small detail that still looks effective. Furthermore, it is also a convention of already existing products, which is an inventive to me to include on my own product. 

Another frequent comment that I received from looking at the responses from my questionnaire was that I should add in a website. I have also done this on my newspaper advert, so to be consistent I also added this to my double page spread. I decided to have the font the same as my main article to maintain the house style across all of my products.

Production: Audience feedback

As a class, we have created audience feedback questionnaires, I found this really helpful as it has now given me a list of things that I can work towards improving in order to make my products better. 

After reviewing my audience feedback, I have now collated a to do list: 

1. Remove the cutaway of the disabled hoist when talking about staff training
2. Add more quotes in red on double page spread 
3. Add a web address on double page spread 
4. Add some bylines, the name of the writer, as well as captions on the images 
5. Put the Channel 4 logo on the double page spread 
6. Add in other featuring programmes from Channel 4
7. Avoid showing too much white background between images 
8. Put some images between the text
9. See how the advert looks if you crop out the door in the background 

The comments that I have received in regards to my voice-over are all very positive. One person has said that it is slightly too slow. I will review this and see what parts are too slow and which ones I should think about adapting.
Furthermore, I also plan to watch my documentary back and check that the audio can be heard clearly over the music the whole way through. The voice-over is ultimately the element that is more important for the audience to be able to hear, so I want to make sure this takes place throughout the whole documentary.

People said that everything in my documentary is relevant to the topic, and the conclusion I am aiming to get to. However, one comment stated that the chair lift cutaway when explaining about staff training isn't that relevant.
I do agree with this opinion as it is a cutaway I included because I felt as though the rescue between the two lifeguards went on for too long. However, after taking it out I don't think it is really needed, and looks better without it being there.

I found the feedback that I received from this question very helpful, and a lot of it I have decided to put onto my to do list. Reflecting on the product I have created for my double page spread, I think adding some of these conventions I have been suggested will really help improving it.

 I am going to add some more red text within the article as I think the large amount of text comes across as being quite intimidating for the target audience, and it also make it less likely for them to read it all. Furthermore, to improve this further I plan to see how it looks to have images placed within the article. 

This was also a question that I have received very helpful feedback from. I now plan to make sure I make some of the white background less visible. The images are fairly spaced out at the moment, so I can push them closer together and maybe even gather some more images to place within the article itself. 

Production: Double page spread

This is where I am now up to with my tv listings double page spread. I have now rearranged the images that I chose to place on my blog, as I thought this looked a lot more creative and more aesthetically pleasing for my audience. Furthermore, I have also now added social media links to Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook. This is something that my target audience are very familiar with, and is also a way of marketing my documentary. 

I found it helpful to look at other double page spreads and take the codes and conventions they've used as inspiration for my own product. 

Planning: The article for my double page spread (draft)

THE LIFE OF A LIFEGUARD...

Being a lifeguard is more than just sitting back in one of those comfy high chairs. It's a responsibility. A responsibility of one's life on their shoulders. If a casualty isn't rescued within that all important 30 second time frame, then consequences will be severe.This documentary holds the real truth of the lifeguard, what it really takes to have the qualification be able to sit around that pool, and to be accountable for the lives of others.

This occupation is a popular part-time job for many teenagers. Clements Hall Leisure Centre is the location that stars during this documentary, and 90% of the employees are below the age of 20. The NPLQ (National Pool Lifeguard Qualification) can be undertaken at just 16 years of age. It seems to be that the average age of a lifeguard today is just 17 years old. It could be said that this is too young, but on the other hand, if they're trained professionally and have a good level of fitness, then there isn't much that can be argued with.

However, it goes above and beyond...not only will the secrets of your local lifeguards be revealed, but also the guards aboard. Are they different? Do they take their job as serious as UK lifeguard's take theirs?

The presenter of this documentary is a lifeguard herself, so knows her stuff and is passionate about the occupation enough to want to find out more. Working part-time at her local leisure centre, she has a pretty good idea of how the average shift as a guard pans out, but this information isn't enough. Ella jets off to Mallorca for the week to have a glimpse into how the swimming pool and beach lifeguard's live their day. Ella has the aim of discovering if all lifeguard's are the same. With the amount of responsibility they have around the summer holidays, anyone would hope the standard of concentration and observation would be nothing but impeccable. All will be discovered.

Ella gets the opportunity to get exclusive information by interviewing the lifeguard's from the beach in Mallorca. Lifeguarding a beach could not be more different from watching a pool, the amount of space that has to be watched is almost never ending, and this makes their job understandable twice as difficult. During the months when tourists come flooding onto the beaches of Spain, their role could not be more vital. Ella uncovers the amount of rescues that have taken place on that very beach in Mallorca, as well as what skills are really required to undertake the role. A sneak peak into the lifeguard hut itself is also revealed, advanced rescue equipment that could not be more precious in the time of a severe drowning.

The search for an answer also includes an important visit to the famous Southend-on-sea to talk to the RNLI lifeboat crew. Are the beach lifeguard's in the UK anything like the ones you see when swimming in the exotic ocean abroad? How can they prepare for every situation they get faced with out at sea? The strong waves that are powerful enough to kill any human. This is why lifeguard's are more important than many people think, their importance is only recognised once something serious happens.

Diving into forceful waves isn't exactly glamorous...Bay Watch is far from a realistic example of how lifeguard's are in real life. Running along a warm beach, dressed in a red swimming costume whilst in slow motion is an expectation that is unfortunately not exactly true. It goes more along the lines of blowing the whistle every five minutes because some young children keep bombing into the pool, or having to sit on poolside in soaking wet clothing, where several rescues have taken place within such a short amount of time.

Regardless of the not so glamorous parts, to be trained in having people's lives on your shoulders is something not everybody has. The life of several different lifeguard's will all be revealed...exclusive footage that will explain everything, answering the question many wish to know. Are all lifeguard's the same?

Production: Double page spread

Today I spent the lesson making a start on my tv listings double page spread. Below is a screenshot of  of an already existing magazine spread that I thought looked really effective. I have taken the red outline as inspiration for my own product. 

I thought that the shade of red was really effective due to the fact that I already had a lot of this colour incorporated within the images already on the page. 

In terms of the colour palette, it is also similar to my newspaper advert, and I want to ensure I maintain a clear house style across all my products. 

I then decided to add a drop cap to the start of my article. I did this due to after having analysed already existing tv magazines, and this is an aspect that is clearly a convention of many products on the market today. Therefore, after refreshing my memory of how to do this on InDesign by using Google, I then inserted this into my work. 

Planning: Images for my ancillary product

Today I spent the lesson gathering together together the images that I am potentially going to use for my second ancillary product. When I was filming my main footage I always had in mind that I needed to take pictures as I went along, so this is what I did. This was to avoid having to screenshot images from my already existing footage when it came to putting together the double page spread. The resolution of the images would then be of much better quality. 

The screenshot below is of some of the images I have chosen to include. I have ensured that I have gathered a wide variety of images across each of the locations I filmed footage at. These include: Clements Hall, Mallorca and also the lifeboat hut in Southend. This will then mean that the audience can get a clear idea of what is going to appear throughout my documentary. 

Below is an example where I have begun to edit the images I have shortlisted to be part of my ancillary product. In this particular example I have made the image darker overall but have also turned up the colour slightly, so the equipment stands out more and looks more aesthetically pleasing. 

I did this in apple photo due to the fact that I only wanted to make small adjustments to the image, and this application does what I intended. 

As part of the research towards my second ancillary product, I decided to search up some interesting statistics that would be useful to include in the double page spread. I found some evidence that the average lifeguard is just 17 years of age. 

This makes sense due to the employees at Clements Hall all being around this age bracket. I thought this would be good to include due to the fact that this statistic may spark thoughts from the reader in terms of what their opinion is towards this. 

Production: Changing the house style

After getting some very valuable feedback from my focus group, I have thought more about the house style that I want to achieve through my newspaper advert. My aim is to achieve a sense of branding across all three of the products that I am in the process of creating. 

After looking at many other brands and adverts (especially Channel 4 ones) I have come to the conclusion that the type of text used is continuous across all the products involved with the brand, and I think this is a really good way to build up an identity. The newspaper adverts I analysed have the same text throughout the whole thing, so this is why I changed my advert to have the font 'bebas' across the whole thing. The screenshot above demonstrates this, and I am really happy with how professional it looks. 

However, to build up the brand identity for my documentary, I then went on to change the font on my iMovie to 'bebas' too so this font is now continuous throughout all my products so far. I like this font better due to the fact that it is bold and easier to read over the moving images in my documentary. 

Production: Downloading font to my iMovie

Here is a short clip on how I downloaded font from DaFont, and placed it into my iMovie. To do this, I used Quick time player to record the screen, this is an easy way of demonstrating the process step by step. I knew how to download font from the music magazine that I created last year as part of my AS level, by the act of having to download my own font that I chose as my house style.

 I think this is a really good idea because it means that the font on the product will be niche and will be almost personal to your own product. 

Production: Today's lesson

I have now made a lot more progress with my newspaper advert. This is a screenshot straight from InDesign, so the purple outline will not appear on my final product when I export it.

The progress I have made is the slogan and the date and time my documentary will be appearing on Channel 4. I have placed this into boxes with a white background, as I feel as though is the easiest background the text can be identified on. The date and time is in a slightly smaller size as this is not the main focus of the advert. 

I identified this as a convention of Channel 4 adverts, as seen below. 

The font I have used for the slogan and date is the same font I have used throughout my documentary, as my aim is to maintain a house style across my package of products, and I think this aim has been accomplished. 

This is my newspaper advert so far. I am really happy with the progress, and I now plan to ask my target audience for their opinion on what they believe I can adapt to make it better.

I asked Charlotte what she thought of this product, and she said that the picture is really effective as the lifeguards look serious and very professional. The colours are bright and really eye catching for the audience.
However, she gave me the advice of maybe placing a website or social media link somewhere on the advert. Due to the fact that this would be another subtle way of advertising the documentary. I really like this improvement Charlotte has given me and I plan to act on this improvement.



I then went on to ask Katie what she thought of the production of my ancillary product.
She told me that she really likes the main image I have used however, the two fonts next to each other look too different and almost ruin the look of the advert.
Katie gave me the advice of potentially making all the font on the page 'BEBAS' as this is the one that stands out more and looks the most effective for the audience to read.

Generic research: Micro observation

A micro observation is a small aspect of the footage that creates deeper meaning towards the overall narrative. I then thought about examples from my documentary that have deeper meaning and I came up with some that I thought have more meaning than I originally thought.

In my cutaways, I have included lots of lifeguard rescue equipment e.g. an AED, which is a defibrillator. This therefore, maintains how serious the role actually is, they're professional lifeguards.  The cutaways also link in with what the participants are speaking about during the documentary, which ensures the narrative is kept consistent an logos is applied to.

In addition to this example, I have also thought carefully about the different camera shots that I use and what effect these will have on the audience. A main example is the use of the camera shot 'rule of thirds' which I believe to be effective due to the fact that the swimming pool can easily be identified in the background. This is clearly a large part of the occupation of a lifeguard, and it is important that appears frequently during my documentary. 

I think it is really helpful to reflect on the micro elements during my documentary, as you begin to realise how much of an impact this has on how the audience interpret the information you're putting across through the footage. 

Production: Logo overlay

As part of the production towards my ancillary product, I wanted to include the Channel logo in the corner of my newspaper advert. To get this idea underway I then put the image into Photoshop on  a transparent canvas. I then used a tool named the magic wand tool to get rid of the background behind the logo.  After converting the file to a PNG, I was then able to insert this into InDesign, and the background did not appear. This ensures that it looks professional and exactly like the already existing Channel 4 logos.

Production: The life of a lifeguard

This is my final draft of my documentary. I spent some time making the changes that have been suggested to me through my ongoing focus group feedback. Some of the main changes I have added/taken out consist of:

1. Keeping the transitions more simple, most of them are all now 'fade to black' which keeps it simple yet effective, following a convention that would most likely exist in an already existing documentary.
2. I have also taken out the Channel 4 introduction due to the fact that I didn't feel like it was really needed, as I also wanted to cut down the duration of my piece slightly.
3. I took out the 'alarm' sound effect as this isn't something that other documentaries have, and is not an aspect that is very professional either.
4. Also, I have changed all the font so it is the same, this builds up my sense of branding. I really like the font I have chosen, it's simple and easy for the audience to read. This is an example of a micro aspect that actually makes a huge difference to the whole look of the documentary.
5. I have recorded a new voice-over. It is now louder and clearer, and the tense in which I speak remains consistent throughout the whole thing. 
6. Finally, I have added an small extract at the end, in which I am standing outside the RNLI Lifeboat centre, ready to go in and ask them some questions that the audience will be able to watch after the break. 

Production: Documentary outro

Today I made my way down to Southend seafront to film outside the 'RNLI Lifeboat' centre. The plan was to have a small scene at the end of my documentary that involves me explaining how I am going to ask the lifeguards some questions, and this will be shown after the break. 

I filmed this footage on a camera that had a large microphone on top, due to the fact that the wind down at the seafront may have been too strong for me to film using my iPhone 6. 

I also planned to have some establishing shots of the location in this small scene, and I am really happy with the ones I shot, and I have inserted this in before the point when I begin talking. I used the camera shot technique of a pull focus, this is when the object gradually comes into focus, and I think this has turned out really well and looks really professional. 

Below, is a short clip of what the scene looks like, the camera quality is really clear and the sound was also picked up well. 

Here is a short video that I put together of all of the footage that I managed to film when I went down to the sea front. I only wanted around 15 seconds of footage, so I didn't end up using a lot of what I filmed. However, I really like the extra footage I got, and I could always use them for my ancillary product when it come to putting together the double page spread.

Production: Today's lesson

I have now started to put together the title for my newspaper advert. Here, I have inserted two screenshots of each of the different titles. I now plan to get feedback from people in my focus group to see which one they personally prefer. 

I matched the colour of the '112 SOS' sign to the title I have put in. I did this with the 'eyedropper tool' on InDesign. This ensures that it looks as professional as possible, and the colour palette remains  consistent. 

To keep the sense of brand identify, I wanted to use the same font that I have used throughout my documentary. However, in regards to this newspaper advert, I wanted to match the font I used to the '112 SOS' sign. So I used the most similar font I found online to keep it consistent throughout the advert. 

I have now asked people from my focus group what they think of the two separate titles. The overall conclusion that I have reached is that the title in the bottom left hand corner is the most effective one for me to use. However, I have been advised to make the box slightly larger so that is the aspect more in focus rather than the '112 SOS' sign. 

I really like the effect of the title looking as though it is resting on the bench. The drop shadow effect that I have placed on this is what is creating this specific look. 

I agree with the opinion of my focus group, as many Channel 4 adverts I have come across when carrying out textual analysis have the main title in the bottom corner of the advert. The rest of the page remains fairly clear, the more simple the more effective the advert tends to be.

Production: Today's lesson

Here is my progress from today's lesson. I placed the image I plan to use for my newspaper advert into InDesign. The next step I took was to try and match the font used for the '112 SOS' to the font I plan to use for my title.

For this, I used DaFont, which is a website that enables you to download the font and place it onto InDesign.

Here is a screenshot of a text message I have sent  to someone in my focus group. Charlotte thinks that the font in the word 'BEBAS' looks the most like the '112 SOS' sign. I trust her response as she studies media and journalism at University, and works with all of the applications every day.


I then went on to try and find a font that matched the exact one I have used in iMovie as part of my documentary. Again, I used DaFont and managed to find two fonts that I felt replicated the original font very well. However, I couldn't decide which one was more appropriate so I asked one of my friends. 
Chelsea thought that 'Geo Sans Light' was the most like the original font, and especially when it is presented in capital letters.