LO2 Task 1 - Codes and Conventions (Compare and Contrast)

One type of factual programming is the News, this being for example the BBC News. Looking at this Factual programming you are able to see that this type of factual programming will consist of a wide range of facts and statistics and will be presented in a professional manner.

The codes and conventions within this type of factual programming is that it will include a Mode of address to the viewer, as you are able to see from the example that the women is dressed professionally and typically set in front of a table and having her hands leaned forwarding. This use of posture allows power to be demonstrated to viewers therefore making the information provided more valid. This is emphasised by the tone of language provided allowing viewers to have more focus in what is being said.

Another code that is covered is the use of a field reporter, within the News this is a typical feature to include as it allows more insight into what is happening and the topic at concern. We can establish that the studio news reader provides the basis of the news whereas the field reporters allowing more focus to a selected subject. From having the studio news reader and filed reporter we are able to see the links that that are made to the studio, this set the professional manner in ending the message being provided or introducing a topic. 

The main phrases used are "Over to our field reporter" and "back to the studio with (Name)." Another convention within this type of factual programming is the interviewing done; this allows better understanding of the issue being discussed. Interviews will be used with expert perspectives in addition to witness. For example a topic like the riots would be more likely to include witnesses. On the other hand a topic such as schools and education may include experts. Within the News there is a report structure established this being that it may be categorised with headlines and as an introduction may include the main subject at the beginning to gain individuals interest. The use of the report structure allows professionalism to be maintained and also allows the mode of address to be complemented well. A final convention that the News will tend to have is actuality footage this being that for example a topic like the riots being discussed the use of CCTV video is presented to show the damage this allows more realism to be within the news report provided.

Another type of factual programming is Breakfast Television - "This Morning"

The programme is scheduled time is set during the morning and these times tend to be around 6am - 12.30am.The BBC breakfast show This Morning, is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. It's main presenters at the moment are Phillip Schofield, Holly Willoughby, Ruth Langsford and Emonn Holmes. In addition to that it includes various other presenters standing in as part of contribution or for any illness.

One example of a Breakfast Television is "This morning" scheduled in to be presented in the morning, this being that it starts at 10.30 am and end at around 12.30 am. One convention that the breakfast television holds in contrast to the News is that they will be placed on couches creating a more comfortable atmosphere reflecting the morning feeling many individuals gain. It may include a table however this convention is used to create a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere.

The use of having the presentation in a more relaxed environment, this being that the individuals tend to be sitting on sofas compared to the formal conventions of News that is in a more formal manner. This allow these programmes to be able to show more characteristics for example laughter and so on, yet at the same time their posture maintains in a professional manner. This allows better interaction between the audience and the viewers as it makes it more enjoyable and entertaining to watch.

Within This Morning the atmosphere set, this including the use of mugs of coffee or tea are a great way to set the Mis-en-Scene, it allows the show to be relate-able to individuals at home, this being those may be doing a similar thing enjoying a cup of coffee or tea, this allows help support the relaxed environment that the individuals are in. In addition to this they are at times in the Kitchens looking at food and this is a great way for viewers to start their morning as they to may make the food shown on TV.Whereas the News keep a professional front, with just a desk and papers, this allows a better set of professionalism and seriousness to the information that they want to provide.

Looking at the show, I am able to see that in terms of the way the presenters are dressed are more colourful but at the same time appropriate, this allows more relaxed environment once again and allows the presenters to create a personality traits from the sue of their clothing and their behaviours, this can be a great method in creating a better connection with the audience. Whereas the News simple are dressed in formal wear, and wear dull colours such as black, grey and so on. The main use of this is to allow professionalism to be presented but also the seriousness of the News and the information being presented to viewers.

Looking at the way the presenters are speaking, looking at the show "This Morning" you are able to see that the conversations that take place are light heated and the presenters are able to include humour when presenting information. The information is factual and within the show are delivered in different methods, this being videos, commentaries and interviews. one great method that the show have used to gain the interest and connection of their audience is through the use of social networking sites, this allows them to have a say in the topics discussed. This allows the show to allow more involvement from its viewers and this then makes it more entertaining and appealing to viewers.

LO1 Task 1: Issues Relating to Factual Programming

Factual programmes aim to record important events and ideas and inform it to the viewers, it convey different opinions and create public interest this can be in factors of peoples lifestyle or even stronger such a politics. In addition it will aim to record, reveal or preserve information to their audience and will am to analyze and interrogate or even express selected topics at hand. In some factual programming there is aim in persuading and promote the topic or idea.

Accuracy 
This issue within factual programming is the aspect of the worth or state of being correct, specific or even precise. In relation to factual programming viewers are entitled in to expecting that programmes given are true and accurate and that they are not being misled.

 A good example of this issue being successfully presented is the "BBC News"; the reason for this is because it portrays real events, and provides support in facts rather than viewpoints and opinions. These facts are supported and backed up by the field reporters who give better understanding of the circumstance in addition to achieve footage that is presented.

Being accurate applies to a wide range of programming available this including programmes that present entertainment to viewers with the elements of factual information. Furthermore Actuality is important as programmes will need to insure that they are honest, especially the News as it providing individuals with information. Therefore being fair and accurate will allow restriction in misleading 

viewers. 

Balance

Being balanced is by keeping the argument or discussion even and fair on both sides. Every story or issue has two sides and during a production of making a factual television programme it will be vital to insure that both side are given so that you are not being biased. 

A good example of a balance is the  Worlds Strictest Parents, this being that we are presented with the lifestyle of  individuals before being take to strict parents allow. In addition to this we are also provided with the child and parents therefore establishing both sides what takes place.

If you are biased within your report by only taking one side in account then viewers may lose interest and also when reporting a story you have to insure you are not subjective so that you are able to be impartial providing more support in the balance you want to have.

Impartiality

Being Impartial is achieved by being able to not take in account either side of a story and staying neutral. This is a vital aspect when providing a story or argument as not being impartial could cause controversy amount your viewers.

A good example of being impartial is the documentaries done by Louis Theroux. This is because he stands aside and just goes round having conversations with individuals. By Louis not providing his views allows individuals to provide their own perspectives. To have a more neutral position in the subject allows limitations in being biased and allows you to be balance as you will be able to look and focus more on both sides.

Objectivity

Being objective is by insuring that you are able to get a point across without being biased or impartial. This is done by insuring that you are able to allow viewers to be able to have an open mind about the subject that is being talked about and shown. Being objective relates to news and reports which will influence eyewitness account of events.  In order to be objective is putting an argument in place however it can not be biased so that it will give the audience to have their own opinion about the matter.

An example of being objective is shown below:

Looking at this News Report you are able to see that the message that the News wants to put across for those with special needs and how they assessments are being affected, they have done this by insuring that they are being objective in the sense that they have selected an expert to talk about the information, however it is open minded as the subject is not be presented in one light, the use of questions for the expert allows the news report to be objective and not portray a mislead argument as he is not placing his own feelings or perspectives in the argument. 

Subjectivity

Personal feelings and opinions will be taken in place, so people will judge the subject matter in relation to their personal feelings rather than facts. Subjectivity is to be avoided in some media places such as the news this is because if the news readers puts in their view points then they will be showing a one sided view on the matter and this will then become biased.

Looking at the example above for Super Size Me documentary you are able to see that it includes a wide range of subjective elements within the documentary. This being that the documentary looks into the individuals personal feelings while taking the transformation, it looks at the individuals cycle from healthy weight to his super-size self. Looking at the documentary the use of subjectivity is appropriate as it is showing the viewer the emotional effects and physical effects of the subject matter. The use of subjectivity however being used in different types of factual programming may not always be a good factor in the sense that having it on a news report could affect the information to then be biased as individuals will be focused on the personal feelings of the individual. 

Opinion

These will be judgements that will be based on the person view. For example, some people might like eating peanuts whereas other may not.  Opinions may not always be based on facts, knowledge or research but will be based on the person view. Also, opinions will be supported by arguments however; some people may not have the same opinions on the arguments. There are audience whom will listen to the facts and will still have their own opinion on them, these will people are known as passive audience. Reports should not give their opinion on the stories this is because they will need to allow the audience to have their own opinion on the story that was being told.

Looking at the example above I am able to see that within "The Big Questions" includes opinions and perspectives and these are not placed on facts and statistics, this being that the topic that is being looked at is  "That does hell exist", looking at this I am able to see that it is more from belief's. Looking at this I am able to see that their is a wide range of opinions and viewpoints from a diverse group of people allowing the information and responses to not be biased.

Bias  

This is where an argument will be one sided then the person will listen to the evidence given to them by the party but will not take it to consideration and will not change their mind about it. Censorship will help the news so that it is not seen biased. By knowing this I also gathered that censorship is against biased views so that it can protect the passive audience.

Representation

This is when something will be shown in a certain way. If the person presenting the documentary wants the audience to have a particular view then they will present it in a way so that the audience can feel that way towards them. So they can present the person in a bad way so that the audience is against it. However, they can also present it positivity so that the audience can have sympathy towards something or someone.  Representations are when they represent something. It can be representation of recognisable stereotypes.  The media will be challenging them or help them.  

Access

This is where people will have the freedom to be able to use something. So permission will then allow the person to use someone or something. So in documentaries there will be people getting interviewed. So the person interviewing would have got the persons permission so that they could interview them and to use it in the documentary.

Privacy

This is where somebody might want to keep something to them-selves and for it to not be known by others. Everyone has the freedom to privacy. Privacy is a part of the human rights. An example of privacy might be that in some TV programs you can see that the some peoples faces have been blurred, this is because they asked to keep their privacy relating to the incident that occurred.

An example of this is shown below: 

From the example shown above you are able to see that within the documentary that privacy is being provided to the individuals, this in the sense that those who don't want to be identified are not shown, this being their faces due to their community and that the documentary has insured that they support this by not showing the individuals, they do the following which is shown below:

This example shown above has a voice-over of the individual speaking about their experience and we are able to see a very faded out figure of the person speaking, this is done in order to protect the identity of the individual as shown above. 

Contract with the viewer

This is where you have an agreement with the audience. So an example a TV program such as documentary about racism then the audience will expect a documentary to be about racism.  

LO3 Task 1 – Types of Factual Programming

Docusoap
A Docusoap is a series that looks about the lives of real people. A docusoap will not have professional actors but tends to have ordinary people that live out their daily lifestyle. We are presented with problems that take place and events i.e. their relationships, friendship, business problems and many other factors.

An example of this is “Made in Chelsea”; it is broadcasted on Monday at 10pm and will consist of main character such as Jamie, Spencer, Louise, Millie and many others. Within each episode it looks at the events that take place such as the relationship problems that take place, business such as Jamie’s Candy Shop and the bonds of friendship they have from the party’s that are presented.  In addition another example is “The only way is Essex”, this has a similar presentation to Made in Chelsea as it looks at their glamorous day-to-day lifestyles.  

Game Show
A Game Show is a program that looks at people who play games or answer questions in order to win prizes or rewards.  These tend to take place with challenges which vary from physical to mental activities in order to win. Some example of this is “Who want to be a millionaire" within this TV programme their will be rewards of sum of money with a wide range of questions being asked to challenge the contestant mentally.

Another example of a game show is "The cube" or "The total Wipeout" which consists of challenges in testing the contestant's physical abilities however within "The cube" it focuses on both elements the mental and physical. In addition the TV proggrame “Take me out” can be classed as a game show that provides a reward of a date, which is different to the other types of rewards given.  

Reality TV                   
Reality TV is a television programme that does not use professional actors but presents real situations and circumstances that involve ordinary people. Typical conventions of a reality TV include factors such as presenting the relationships the people will have, business aspect in their lives.  An example of this is "Jersey shore" that is an American reality television series that look and follows the lives of eight housemates that spend the summer in the Jersey Shore in the U.S states.  In addition "Keeping up with the Kardashians", it presents their daily lifestyle in the sense of the arguments that take place and each episode concentrates on different family member with different story lines and plots.

Breakfast Television
Breakfast Television, it is a type of factual programing that is broadcasted in the morning and tends to be between 6am-12.30am. It consists of current International News, Local News, Weather and traffic reports, Guests to make the programme more entertaining.

An example of this is “This Morning” it begins at 10.30am- 12.30. It consists of four main presenters which are separated into two, this being Holly & Phillip and Ruth & Eammon.  They tend to be sitting down on couches and a table in front to create the comfortable and relaxing atmosphere.  In addition to this another example of this is the 

"GMTV" and "The Wright Stuff".  

Fly on the Wall
Fly on the wall is a television program that shows real people doing what they normally doing during a normal every day. This can range from the one specific day that is special to them i.e. Wedding day, Religious dates and just generally living. 

An example of this is “My big Fat Gypsy wedding”, this programme looks at the gypsies lifestyle and build up to their special day this being their wedding and the dresses they were and how the value that day. “The family” is another example, series on channel 4 that follows a family and provides you with an insight of what they do, the use the same people throughout the series to create a storyline for the audience.

Documentary
A Documentary is a television programme that looks at real people and real events for example “Bowling for Columbine” looking at the violence of guns and the affect it had in the area of columbine. In addition another great example is “Crime Pays” on Panorama, this looks at how individuals in the society have been able to fulfill the living lifestyle they desire without the interference of law restricting them of the crime committed.

Infotainment
Infotainment is programme about real events and facts that is produced in a way to entertain people. They are produced in order to entertain and inform at the same time, they tend to use the same presenters in order to enhance the popularity and include elements such as reviews, interviews, and many other factors.

An example of this is “Top Gear” and "Soccer AM" Within Top gear it consists of three main presenters that provide information about cars with entertainment as they take them on journeys.  In addition "Crime Watch" is another great example as it provides information to prevent crime within a neighborhood with entertainment with the recreation of the crime taken place. Another example of this is "Embarrassing Bodies" and "The Sex Education Show" this provides information about sex with a sense of entertainment as the presentation of knowledge makes is more interesting.

Chat Show
A Chat Show is a program where real life people talk and discuss their life with a presenter. It will usually have a live studio audience or an audience to provide better connection from the reaction they provide. An example of this is Jeremy Kyle, this looks at the problems that ordinary people are going through and the aspect of chat show looks at the person's problems. In addition to Trisha Goddard that does a similar thing on Jeremy Kyle.  Furthermore Jerry Springer is another great example of this is Jerry Springer which tries to resolve people's problems with a main issue of relationship problems that arise. It will include interviews between Jerry and the guest and tends to have some input from the audience.

Magazine

A magazine show consists of various reports, stories and news. It will also include a wide range of different genres to allow the shows and brings them together to make it more interesting. It will tend to have special guests, a live studio, and audience and sometimes may even have performances.  Some examples of this are "Big Brother bit on the side" and "Loose Women." Furthermore another example is "The one show" which talks about different topics discussing this week's updates and guest.

Mockumentary

Mockumentary is the form of a serious documentary taken on a subject and then presented in a way to make a mockery and makes it look silly and usually tends to include jokes.

An example of this would be “Come fly with me” which is based in the airport and it makes a mockery and joke out of the situations that take place. Another example is the “Bloody Foreigners” made by Omid Dijalli, this that makes jokes of foreigners.

News

This is a programmes that give out information about recent events, this being local news, international news. Examples of this are BBC News, Channel 5 News, and BBC One News. All these have main presenters in addition to field reporters to get a better knowledge of the  events taking place. 

LO4 Task 1 – Documentary Formats

Within this section of me looking into factual programming, I am going to look at the various formats that can be used and are used in documentaries, this will then allow me when doing my own production that our group is able to select which format that we will be taken forward. The different types are as follows: 

Documentary Format Reflexive 

The use this format is create a relationship between the film-maker and their subjects, this in the sense that we are able to see in the eyes of film-maker. In many of these formats they are usually the one as the main character in their own film. 

A very good example of interactivity for the interactive format is shown below: 

Looking at the example shown from the BBC trailer, you are able to see that this documentary fits in well with the format type, this being that the audience is being provided with a relationship that is shown from the film maker to the subjects, in this case the Human Planet as shown above in the trailer. 

Documentary Format Expository

This format within many documentaries are used and its used to speak directly to the viewer, this being the format of an authoritative commentary. This authority can be supported by the additional uses of including voice-overs, in addition to this can be emphasised by putting across a strong argument from the commentators position. In many formats the use of this is done by the use of rhetorical questions and persuasive techniques to persuade the viewers.

An example of this type of documentary is shown below:

Looking at the documentary example shown above, I am able to see that it is from Dispatches and looks into "Meeting the Taliban". The documentary meets the format set out for it, this in the sense that it includes the commentator being a rich deep male voice, this showing a great amount of power and an authoritative manner, future more the commentator addresses the audience directly, his voice can be seen as omniscient and all knowing and within this documentary is used as a voice-over to introduce the topic matter.

When looking at the documentary I able to see that one its main purpose is to insure that particular voice draws in the individuals to the documentary, it also looks into creating a awareness for the subject matter this being the Taliban's and how they operate.

Documentary Format Performative 

This type of documentary format is used to stress a subjective experience or an emotional response to the world, these can be seen in terms of personal, unconventional. It focuses on emotional aspects, this could be one way in which the documentary can insure to get a story across or even a message to the audience. One major use in exploring the emotional response could allow awareness to be created on that certain subject to the audience.

A very good example of this is the documentary from Alesha Dixon - "Look but don't touch"

When looking at the example, you are able to see that it explores the emotional perspectives of individuals, this being in the sense that it explores their response to body image and the media. It looks into different individuals emotional impacts, this being for example Cheryl Cole as one very popular celebrity, looking at her response to body image and the expectations may create a big interest from viewers and can allow her emotional response to viewers to have more impact as she is well known.

Documentary Format Interactive

This type of format is used in order to engage individuals more directly without having to use the classic exposition interview styles. For this format it insures that the film-maker is able to account for the past events with witnesses and export to whom which the viewers are able to see.

A very good and popular example of this is: 

Looking at the example above from Louis Theroux, I am able to see that this format suits the documentary very well. This is because that he stands aside and just goes round having conversations with individuals. By Louis not providing his views allows individuals to provide their own perspectives. To have a more neutral position in the subject allows limitations in being biased and allows the audience to be able to see the documentary from the viewpoint of  Louis, this is a great method insuring that a relationship is created between Louis and the subjects whom he is asking. 

Documentary Format Observational/Poetic

For this format, it is used in order to simply observe lived with a minimum amount of intervention.. This being that within the documentary  their is little interaction with the subjects and for them to live without the use of having scripts. For this to be done, their is sometimes restrictions in the use of voice-overs commentaries, rehearsed dialogue, or re-enactments of the events.

A example of this format is shown below:

Looking at the example shown above from Baraka film, you are able to see that this format suits well with the documentary this being that we are watching what is taking place without any major interaction from the commentator and they are living life as it is. Some may say that this is a extreme case for the format, however it is constructed well as their is also limitations to voice-overs from the commentator and their is more music for the flow of what is being shown to the audience.