Codes and Conventions
Documentaries have a wide range of typical codes and coneventions; it is important to know these so we know what makes a successful documentary.
- Documentaries use real facts along with dramatization. Documentaries cannot be considered to include the complete sacred truth, but they can also not be considered to be complete exaggerations.
- Documentaries always use an element of interview - evidence is needed to prove the truth of the exposition.
- Mixed documentaries use a combination of cutaways, voiceovers, reconstructions and interviews in order to use variety to excite the viewer.
- Camera angles used mainly include close ups and long shots in order to contrast the thoughts and themes of the documentary.
- Cutaways are often used to excite the reader and add a bit of variety to the whole documentary
- Narrative structure of a documentary begins with an exposition - a question which entices the viewer, and makes them want to continue watching.
- Narrative structure continues with conflict in the middle - there is something which makes the audience question the question.
- Narrative structure ends with a solid ending, which offers an explanation to the original exposition
- However, documentaries can also end with an unclear ending, but this is less popular recently as audiences want a clear answer to their questions and feel unsatisfied if they are left without an answer.
- When every interviewee is being interviewed, the graphics used have always been simple, as many creators like to focus on the discussion of the topic more than the graphics; The interviewees are always told to never look directly into the camera. The interviewees are positioned towards the camera so the eye line is 1/3 down towards the camera.
- Cut aways are always used where necessary.
- Variety of camera angles are always used.
- Natural sounds are always used when the interviewees are being interviewed.
- Voice overs are used where relevant, this is specifically obvious when the interviewee is discussing an issue and the image of the topic is been shown towards the viewers of the documentary.
- Music beds and sounds effects are used to create a specific mood.
- "Experts" are always chosen when interviewing, this is to make the documentary stronger in the sense of facts and figures are 100% right. The experts are also named at all times.
- A successful documentary tends to use the mixed style, so it has everything that a viewer will enjoy viewing.
- Evidence is used, to make the documentary more factual and allows the viewers to understand the basics of the documentary just by the view of the evidence.
- Reconstructions are used in documentaries, this allows the viewers to see the point of view of the creators perspective.
- The mise en scene in every documentary was always relevant, showing that all documentaries where done professionally.
- Every documentary contains a relevant title and the documentary has always included an opening title.
- Vox pops are used when relevant. Vox pops are where you choose a location and ask people questions based on the topic of discussion. This is seen in many documentaries. It is also called opportunity sampling.
- The questions asked by the interviewers have always been simple, direct questions based on the topic. They have never posed personal questions.
- A documentary will have archieve footage to show different materials of the topic. The expostion will always be clear, and the theme is always important
Formal Proposal
Formal Proposal for Documentary
Topic
The topic of our documentary is takeaways and fast food. We feel this is an appropriate choice in today’s culture; people are moving further away from home-cooked meals and swaying to ready cooked meals, which have a much lower nutritional value yet are convenient for the busy lifestyle of many people in modern Britain. This entails comparing takeaway culture to more traditional ways of eating; for example, Sunday dinners at home, which are a tradition to many people of Britain. Has this died out? This is what our documentary aims to answer.
Type of Documentary
Our documentary will be a mixed type; we will be mixing vox pops with formal interviews, cutaways and voiceovers. In order to do this, we will edit the documentary with fast paced cuts and use minimum use of transitions such as dissolves and fades. Vox pops will entail short interviews with random members of the public, in which we can cut answers together rapidly in order to show general public opinion in a quick manner.
Style of Documentary
The style of our documentary will be informal; this will be conveyed through voiceovers and informal interviews. Throughout the documentary, the language used will be influenced by slang and friendly language, in order to ensure that we are truly contacting our audience and not belittling them with a formal news style programme. This is further proven through the scheduling choice; Channel 4 uses a lot of different ways to contact a younger audience, even through advertisements which are targeted to our audience and idents which are casual and mysterious. Contributing to this, ‘Take Out’ will interview and feature people from a sample which includes people from many walks of life, in order to not intimidate the viewer and make the whole documentary more accessible to everyone.
Channel and Scheduling
In terms of the channel and time that we will schedule and base our documentary on, from primary research which we have carried out, we found that the most popular channel for our target audience is Channel 4, and the best time for our target audience to be watching would be around 8pm, in the centre of a primetime slot. Ideally, we would place our documentary between the Channel 4 News and a popular comedy slot, such as Ugly Betty.
Target Audience
Our target audience for ‘Take Out’ would be a young audience, aged 17-35. This target audience is one who is regular eaters of takeaway foods; for convenience and popularity. We have noticed in our primary research of takeaway customers that a lot of members of our target audience enjoy takeaways with their friends; they order pizza when going out at night, they have a Chinese for a girls/boys night in and they have a takeaway on their way home from a night out. Our target audience have grown up with takeaways as a treat, and have grown up buying food casually with their friends from pizzerias and chip shops.
Primary Research Needed
Primary research we need includes questionnaires issued to members of our target audience; these questionnaires are related to takeaways, yet also fit the participant into a demographic through enquiring on their age and gender. Other primary research we will use includes the interviews we conduct and film, and vox pops which we film
Secondary Research Needed
Secondary research which we will use in ‘Take Out’ includes newspaper articles, internet surveys and other past research which has been carried out. We will also use past adverts from fast food chains (e.g. Dominos and McDonalds) in order to show how attitudes towards takeaways have changed. We will also compare and contrast primary and secondary research, in order to see the similarities and differences between the two.
Narrative Structure
The beginning of our documentary will centre around the exposition – is home-cooked food becoming undermined by the more popular and culturally relevant takeaway? This will be illustrated by interviews with people in takeaways, and with vox pops of people talking about takeaways; this will also outline the overall theme of how dependent we are as a culture on takeaways.
The middle of the documentary illustrates the conflict between the takeaway and home-cooked meals. It also shows how people’s choices over their calorie intake and their attitudes towards dieting have changed over the last decade, through interviews with young people and old people, contrasting opinions and creating deeper conflict.
The end of the documentary answers the withstanding questions about the fast food industry; ‘why is it so powerful’, ‘what makes our culture want them’, and ultimately ‘Are takeaways more popular than home-cooked meals?’
Outline of Content
Content within our documentary is all directly involved with the fast food industry and takeaway style meals. We will use a variety of cutaways, including extreme close ups of people within our target audience eating takeaways, and to contrast this, home-cooked meals. Other cutaways we will use include close ups of takeaway signs, with zooms and MTV style camera work, in order to make the documentary more up to date and more accessible to a wider, younger audience. Filming takeaway wrappers will also achieve this, as it will reinforce the theme, while contributing to a running theme of consumer culture throughout. Archive footage will also be used in a similar style; we will use various older figures from related secondary research in order to represent the conflict currently in society, and will use newspaper articles as cutaways to back up or contrast what interviewees are stating.
We will also use interviews from fast food owners and fast food purchasers and interview science professionals, in order to compare and contrast opinions and further themes of conflict between the generational gap within the narrative structure. Vox pops will be running along the same theme, and although used in moderation to illustrate a point of general public conflict, we will show that people who could be role models to viewers (they may look up to them as their appearance is something that they aspire to.) Voiceovers within ‘Take Out’ will also fit along with the theme; the voiceover will not run throughout, but simply between content in order to make the narrative flow more smoothly. A clear, female narrator will talk over the action – this will make the audience more comfortable and will encourage more people to continue watching the documentary; they are not ‘uncool’ for watching a documentary.
Resource Requirements
• Camera
• Microphone
• Stills camera
• Green Screen
• Tripod
• Permit to film vox pops
Topic
The topic of our documentary is takeaways and fast food. We feel this is an appropriate choice in today’s culture; people are moving further away from home-cooked meals and swaying to ready cooked meals, which have a much lower nutritional value yet are convenient for the busy lifestyle of many people in modern Britain. This entails comparing takeaway culture to more traditional ways of eating; for example, Sunday dinners at home, which are a tradition to many people of Britain. Has this died out? This is what our documentary aims to answer.
Type of Documentary
Our documentary will be a mixed type; we will be mixing vox pops with formal interviews, cutaways and voiceovers. In order to do this, we will edit the documentary with fast paced cuts and use minimum use of transitions such as dissolves and fades. Vox pops will entail short interviews with random members of the public, in which we can cut answers together rapidly in order to show general public opinion in a quick manner.
Style of Documentary
The style of our documentary will be informal; this will be conveyed through voiceovers and informal interviews. Throughout the documentary, the language used will be influenced by slang and friendly language, in order to ensure that we are truly contacting our audience and not belittling them with a formal news style programme. This is further proven through the scheduling choice; Channel 4 uses a lot of different ways to contact a younger audience, even through advertisements which are targeted to our audience and idents which are casual and mysterious. Contributing to this, ‘Take Out’ will interview and feature people from a sample which includes people from many walks of life, in order to not intimidate the viewer and make the whole documentary more accessible to everyone.
Channel and Scheduling
In terms of the channel and time that we will schedule and base our documentary on, from primary research which we have carried out, we found that the most popular channel for our target audience is Channel 4, and the best time for our target audience to be watching would be around 8pm, in the centre of a primetime slot. Ideally, we would place our documentary between the Channel 4 News and a popular comedy slot, such as Ugly Betty.
Target Audience
Our target audience for ‘Take Out’ would be a young audience, aged 17-35. This target audience is one who is regular eaters of takeaway foods; for convenience and popularity. We have noticed in our primary research of takeaway customers that a lot of members of our target audience enjoy takeaways with their friends; they order pizza when going out at night, they have a Chinese for a girls/boys night in and they have a takeaway on their way home from a night out. Our target audience have grown up with takeaways as a treat, and have grown up buying food casually with their friends from pizzerias and chip shops.
Primary Research Needed
Primary research we need includes questionnaires issued to members of our target audience; these questionnaires are related to takeaways, yet also fit the participant into a demographic through enquiring on their age and gender. Other primary research we will use includes the interviews we conduct and film, and vox pops which we film
Secondary Research Needed
Secondary research which we will use in ‘Take Out’ includes newspaper articles, internet surveys and other past research which has been carried out. We will also use past adverts from fast food chains (e.g. Dominos and McDonalds) in order to show how attitudes towards takeaways have changed. We will also compare and contrast primary and secondary research, in order to see the similarities and differences between the two.
Narrative Structure
The beginning of our documentary will centre around the exposition – is home-cooked food becoming undermined by the more popular and culturally relevant takeaway? This will be illustrated by interviews with people in takeaways, and with vox pops of people talking about takeaways; this will also outline the overall theme of how dependent we are as a culture on takeaways.
The middle of the documentary illustrates the conflict between the takeaway and home-cooked meals. It also shows how people’s choices over their calorie intake and their attitudes towards dieting have changed over the last decade, through interviews with young people and old people, contrasting opinions and creating deeper conflict.
The end of the documentary answers the withstanding questions about the fast food industry; ‘why is it so powerful’, ‘what makes our culture want them’, and ultimately ‘Are takeaways more popular than home-cooked meals?’
Outline of Content
Content within our documentary is all directly involved with the fast food industry and takeaway style meals. We will use a variety of cutaways, including extreme close ups of people within our target audience eating takeaways, and to contrast this, home-cooked meals. Other cutaways we will use include close ups of takeaway signs, with zooms and MTV style camera work, in order to make the documentary more up to date and more accessible to a wider, younger audience. Filming takeaway wrappers will also achieve this, as it will reinforce the theme, while contributing to a running theme of consumer culture throughout. Archive footage will also be used in a similar style; we will use various older figures from related secondary research in order to represent the conflict currently in society, and will use newspaper articles as cutaways to back up or contrast what interviewees are stating.
We will also use interviews from fast food owners and fast food purchasers and interview science professionals, in order to compare and contrast opinions and further themes of conflict between the generational gap within the narrative structure. Vox pops will be running along the same theme, and although used in moderation to illustrate a point of general public conflict, we will show that people who could be role models to viewers (they may look up to them as their appearance is something that they aspire to.) Voiceovers within ‘Take Out’ will also fit along with the theme; the voiceover will not run throughout, but simply between content in order to make the narrative flow more smoothly. A clear, female narrator will talk over the action – this will make the audience more comfortable and will encourage more people to continue watching the documentary; they are not ‘uncool’ for watching a documentary.
Resource Requirements
• Camera
• Microphone
• Stills camera
• Green Screen
• Tripod
• Permit to film vox pops
Research
•A portion of oven chips contains 9 times more vitamin C than a slice of pizza
•A portion of takeaway fish and chips contains just 60% of the calories found in sweet-and-sour chicken, egg-fried rice and a portion of vegetable spring rolls
•Chicken Tikka Masala, pilau rice and a plain naan has 17% more fat than a portion of fish and chips
•Top of the takeaways! Fish suppers remain the nation’s favourite, outselling Indian food at a rate of 2:1
Surprisingly (or maybe not) although the most popular restaurants for fast food seem to be burger bars, according to figures from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, our favourite choice for a fast food meal is fish and chips.
Take-out food is often fast food, but not always so. Whereas fast food carries the connotation of a standardized product from a globalized chain or franchise, take-away outlets are often small businesses serving traditional food, which is sometimes but by no means always of high quality. Examples include neighbourhood fish and chip shops in the UK, Australia and New Zealand; sandwiches sold by delis in the U.S.; kebabs sold in many countries; and the wide range of sausage-based snacks sold from stalls in German cities.
•The UK's 8,500 fish and chip shops sell over 277 million portions of chips per year.
•Over half the UK adult population visits fish and chip shop at least once a month, and 15% of the UK adult population enjoy fish and chips once or twice a week.
•The British Nutrition Foundation confirms that an average portion of battered fish and chips contains 20.6g of fat. That is almost three times less fat than a chicken tikka masala and pilau rice, which is loaded with a staggering 59.9g fat. A Chinese takeaway of sweet and sour pork with egg-fried rice weighs in with 38.6g fat, nearly double the content of fish and chips.
•An average serving of chips contains more than double the amount of fibre found in an average serving of brown rice or bowl of porridge.
•An average portion of battered cod & chips has fewer calories, at least half the saturated fat and just a tenth of the salt of a cheese and tomato pizza.
•You can get a third of your daily vitamin C from a portion of chips.
•Thick chips absorb less oil than thin ones, so chunky chips are healthier.
•Fish & Chips is amongst the least processed takeaway food available.
The popularity of sandwich bars and juice bars is rising, with one particular sandwich outlet announcing ambitious plans to increase its number of outlets to rival McDonalds. Jumping on the healthy eating band wagon appears to be one thing that the rival fast food joints are trying to out-do each other on, falling over themselves to print nutritional information on their websites, and offer diet versions of old favourites, healthy and lower fat menu options
We all know takeaways aren't the healthiest of meals but chances are we also don't realise just how bad some of them actually are.
An average Indian takeaway of chicken tikka masala, pilau rice and a plain naan contains a whopping 1,338 calories and 55g of fat, according to a report in Which? magazine last week.
That's two-thirds of the calories and almost 80 per cent of the fat an average woman should have in a whole day. Chinese sweet and sour chicken, egg fried rice and vegetable spring rolls are even worse, containing a massive 1,436 calories and 60g of fat!
Department of Health guidelines say that women should have no more than 2,000 calories and 70g of fat a day, and men no more than 2,500 calories and 95g fat in total.
http://www.britztakeawaydiner.co.uk/swindon/facts/
http://www.lovechips.co.uk/top-takeaway-facts/
http://www.takeawayfever.com/join.php
http://facts.randomhistory.com/2009/06/27_fast-food.html
http://www.mirror.co.uk/life-style/dieting/2008/07/03/your-healthy-guide-to-takeaway-food-115875-20629920/
Interview Questions
Polish Homecooking
1. Tell me about yourself
2. Do you feel that your heritage is important when cooking?
3. Do you purchase takeaways often?
4. Do you enjoy cooking and is your kitchen important to you?
5. What is your favourite meal to cook?
6. Do you feel that food is important in your household?
7. Is cooking central to your daily life?
7. What do you prefer - Takeaways or homecooking - and why?
Indian takeaway - Raj Baris
1. Do you have a typical customer?
2. Do you deliver? If so, how many miles do you deliver to?
3. What is your busiest day of the week?
4. What is your busiest time of the day?
5. What makes your takeaway different from other Indian takeaways?
6. How have takeaways influenced a change to modern cultures and attitudes to home cooking?
7. Do you have many competitor's around this area? If so, which businesses, and how do you feel this has affected your takeaway?
8. How do you promote your business (i.e. Leaflets, website)?
9. Is this takeaway a franchise?
10. Is there a specific set menu which many customers buy?
11. Do you hand out leaflets?
12. Do you think takeaways are unhealthy?
13. What is your most popular dish?
14. Do you have regular customers - if so, do you know them well?
Vox Pop Questions
1. Do you prefer home cooked food or takeaways?
2. What is your favourite takeaway and why?
3. What is your favourite home cooked meal and why?
4. Why do you order takeaways?
5. How often do you eat takeaways?
6. How often do you make home cooked meals?
7. How do you normally order takeaways?
8. What do you feel are the benefits or takeaways?
9. Who do you purchase takeaways with?
10. Do you consider yourself to be a healthy eater and if so, why/ why not?
11. Do you think alcohol influences you when purchasing takeaways?
12. How do you feel most takeaways have influenced home cooking?
Indian home cooking questions
1. How often do you purchase takeaways?
2. Do you feel eating healthy food is important, if yes, what do you add to your home cooking to make it more healthier?
3. Do you prefer home cooking or takeaways?
4. Do you feel being able to cook your cultural food type is important?
5. Do you feel it is important to teach Asian youths how to cook Indian food?
6. Is home cooking a huge part of your life?
7. What is your favourite home cooked meal?
8. Which out of takeaways and home cooked food costs more in your opinion?
9. Would you consider yourself to be a good cook?
Domino's Questions
1. What is your most popular pizza?
2. What is your busiest time of the week?
3. Do you have a typical customer?
4. Do you deliver?
5. How have takeaways influenced a change to modern culture and attitudes to home cooking?
6. What makes Domino's different from other takeaways?
7. How do you promote your business?
8. Is there a specific menu which many customer buy?
9. Do you have regular customers, if so do you know them well?
10. Do you have vegetarian menus/food?
1. Tell me about yourself
2. Do you feel that your heritage is important when cooking?
3. Do you purchase takeaways often?
4. Do you enjoy cooking and is your kitchen important to you?
5. What is your favourite meal to cook?
6. Do you feel that food is important in your household?
7. Is cooking central to your daily life?
7. What do you prefer - Takeaways or homecooking - and why?
Indian takeaway - Raj Baris
1. Do you have a typical customer?
2. Do you deliver? If so, how many miles do you deliver to?
3. What is your busiest day of the week?
4. What is your busiest time of the day?
5. What makes your takeaway different from other Indian takeaways?
6. How have takeaways influenced a change to modern cultures and attitudes to home cooking?
7. Do you have many competitor's around this area? If so, which businesses, and how do you feel this has affected your takeaway?
8. How do you promote your business (i.e. Leaflets, website)?
9. Is this takeaway a franchise?
10. Is there a specific set menu which many customers buy?
11. Do you hand out leaflets?
12. Do you think takeaways are unhealthy?
13. What is your most popular dish?
14. Do you have regular customers - if so, do you know them well?
Vox Pop Questions
1. Do you prefer home cooked food or takeaways?
2. What is your favourite takeaway and why?
3. What is your favourite home cooked meal and why?
4. Why do you order takeaways?
5. How often do you eat takeaways?
6. How often do you make home cooked meals?
7. How do you normally order takeaways?
8. What do you feel are the benefits or takeaways?
9. Who do you purchase takeaways with?
10. Do you consider yourself to be a healthy eater and if so, why/ why not?
11. Do you think alcohol influences you when purchasing takeaways?
12. How do you feel most takeaways have influenced home cooking?
Indian home cooking questions
1. How often do you purchase takeaways?
2. Do you feel eating healthy food is important, if yes, what do you add to your home cooking to make it more healthier?
3. Do you prefer home cooking or takeaways?
4. Do you feel being able to cook your cultural food type is important?
5. Do you feel it is important to teach Asian youths how to cook Indian food?
6. Is home cooking a huge part of your life?
7. What is your favourite home cooked meal?
8. Which out of takeaways and home cooked food costs more in your opinion?
9. Would you consider yourself to be a good cook?
Domino's Questions
1. What is your most popular pizza?
2. What is your busiest time of the week?
3. Do you have a typical customer?
4. Do you deliver?
5. How have takeaways influenced a change to modern culture and attitudes to home cooking?
6. What makes Domino's different from other takeaways?
7. How do you promote your business?
8. Is there a specific menu which many customer buy?
9. Do you have regular customers, if so do you know them well?
10. Do you have vegetarian menus/food?
Polish Homecooking Interview - 20/10/10
This interview was conducted in a kitchen, to run along with the theme of homecooking. After explaining the questions to the interviewee, I framed the interview to the right of camera, showing the kitchen.
The respondent answered in full sentences and gave long, useful answers which we can use alongside takeaway interviews in order to compare and contrast answers.
After conducting the interview, I took some handheld shots of the interviewee cooking a meal; this can be used as a cutaway underneath interview audio, and can reinforce the whole theme of the interview.
The respondent answered in full sentences and gave long, useful answers which we can use alongside takeaway interviews in order to compare and contrast answers.
After conducting the interview, I took some handheld shots of the interviewee cooking a meal; this can be used as a cutaway underneath interview audio, and can reinforce the whole theme of the interview.
Filming Vox Pops - 27/10/10
Today, my group and I went into Warrington town to film vox pops. We attended the manager's office and recieved passes to film in a central location in the middle of the Golden Square Shopping Centre.
While filming, we were careful to ask people a direct set of questions whilst remaining friendly and easygoing. This was to ensure that interviewees gave honest answers when answering questions surrounding takeaways. It was important to tailor the questions for some people; when asking people in a rush, we made sure to only ask the key questions in order to get concise, honest answers which we could use in our documentary. The filming process took around 3 hours, and we found it to be successful; we kept the camera static, and adjusted the framing depending on the height of the person.
While filming, we were careful to ask people a direct set of questions whilst remaining friendly and easygoing. This was to ensure that interviewees gave honest answers when answering questions surrounding takeaways. It was important to tailor the questions for some people; when asking people in a rush, we made sure to only ask the key questions in order to get concise, honest answers which we could use in our documentary. The filming process took around 3 hours, and we found it to be successful; we kept the camera static, and adjusted the framing depending on the height of the person.
Indian Takeaway Interview - 28/10/10
Today, we went to an Indian takeaway in Penketh, to get an interview with the owner. When we reached the takeaway, we were careful to remain professional, so we did not waste the owners time, as we were within opening hours.
After framing the takeaway owner behind the counter, we explained the questions we would be asking him and asked him to answer in full sentences when possible. After hooking him up to a microphone which was connected to the camera, we asked the questions quickly and efficiently. After leaving, one of my group members ordered a takeaway and then filmed her family eating it; this is useful as it can be used as a valuable cutaway.
All in all, a successful day's filming!
After framing the takeaway owner behind the counter, we explained the questions we would be asking him and asked him to answer in full sentences when possible. After hooking him up to a microphone which was connected to the camera, we asked the questions quickly and efficiently. After leaving, one of my group members ordered a takeaway and then filmed her family eating it; this is useful as it can be used as a valuable cutaway.
All in all, a successful day's filming!
Filming Domino's Pizza - 2/11/10
This interview was set up for 5pm in Great Sankey, within opening times. Due to the weather and lighting, it was inappropriate to film outside the store, and so we filmed in the staff room, which had certificates and other domino's product advertisements on the walls.
We interviewed a young female employee, who was dressed in Domino's uniform. After framing the subject correctly, we asked the questions and monitored the responses; asking the respondent to answer in full sentences . Sometimes we had to repeat the questions in order to get a more concise answer which could be used more as a 'soundbyte'. It was a successful interview and I feel it was very professional.
We interviewed a young female employee, who was dressed in Domino's uniform. After framing the subject correctly, we asked the questions and monitored the responses; asking the respondent to answer in full sentences . Sometimes we had to repeat the questions in order to get a more concise answer which could be used more as a 'soundbyte'. It was a successful interview and I feel it was very professional.
Cutaways and Opening Title - 5/11/10
Today, our team went into Stockton Heath and filmed some cutaways of various takeaway establishments. When doing this, we used a handheld camera in order to quickly film signs and menus, as of weather issues. We filmed a range of takeaways, from Chinese to Italian.
After this, we purchased a pizza from Domino's and filmed ourselves eating it out of the box, using a high angle shot on the pizza box. We plan to use this as a sped up timelapse shot for the opening title, as it shows the theme of our documentary and reflects one of the professional interviews (Domino's Pizza). I feel that this was successful as we were able to show the takeaway industry in a way that was unbiased yet reflected the theme of TakeOut.
After this, we purchased a pizza from Domino's and filmed ourselves eating it out of the box, using a high angle shot on the pizza box. We plan to use this as a sped up timelapse shot for the opening title, as it shows the theme of our documentary and reflects one of the professional interviews (Domino's Pizza). I feel that this was successful as we were able to show the takeaway industry in a way that was unbiased yet reflected the theme of TakeOut.
Editing - 8/11/10 - 3/12/10
Throughout this period, we edited the documentary, choosing to follow the running order as closely as possible. However, this was not always possible, as we had other footage to replace it. Dissappointingly, we were also not able to produce the Fonejacker style sequence we had hoped to make for the opening of our documentary.
Instead of this, we used a montage of shots of takeaway signs, set to the Fast Food Song by the Fast Food Rockers; a song from the early 2000's. I feel that in the end, this was much more effective anyway, and would interest the audience just as well.
Editing was difficult throughout this 3 week period; we had to compromize on shots and choose what would be best and most interesting for our target audience. Music was a factor; what music is appropriate when creating a documentary on fast food? Archive footage held a similar problem; how could we include archive footage which was unbiased to homecooking or to takeaways?
All in all, I feel that the editing was successful; fast paced editing, designed for our target audience.
Instead of this, we used a montage of shots of takeaway signs, set to the Fast Food Song by the Fast Food Rockers; a song from the early 2000's. I feel that in the end, this was much more effective anyway, and would interest the audience just as well.
Editing was difficult throughout this 3 week period; we had to compromize on shots and choose what would be best and most interesting for our target audience. Music was a factor; what music is appropriate when creating a documentary on fast food? Archive footage held a similar problem; how could we include archive footage which was unbiased to homecooking or to takeaways?
All in all, I feel that the editing was successful; fast paced editing, designed for our target audience.
Production Schedule
Name of Programme: Take Out
Directors: Daniel Cox, Victoria Copley, Jasleen Bhattle
Producers: Daniel Cox, Victoria Copley, Jasleen Bhattle
Client: OCR
_____________________________________________________________
Date Production Started: 27th September
Formal Proposal Started: 4th October Completed: 8th October
Storyboard Started: 8th October Completed: 11th October
Shooting Started: 11th October Completed: 1st November
Post Production Started: 1st Novemeber Completed: 15th November
Rough Cut Submitted: 22nd November
Final Show Tape Completed: 17th December
Sent to Client: 17th December
______________________________________________________________
Location Equipment Required:
We have filmed in the following locations:-
Voxpop Questions filmed at Warrington Market, Market Office, Bank Street, Town Centre, Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 2EN , Tel: 01925 632571
Raj Baris Interview filmed at 23 Honiton Way, Penketh, Warrington, Cheshire WA5 2EY, 01925 725725
Dominos Interview filmed at Great Sankey, WA5 3LX, Tel: 01925 721555
We had to use the following equipment throughout our filming process:-
Videocamera
Tripod
Microphone
Headphones
Transport Required:
The location of our interviews where fairly close to our homes making it convenient just to use a bus or car transportation.
Directors: Daniel Cox, Victoria Copley, Jasleen Bhattle
Producers: Daniel Cox, Victoria Copley, Jasleen Bhattle
Client: OCR
_____________________________________________________________
Date Production Started: 27th September
Formal Proposal Started: 4th October Completed: 8th October
Storyboard Started: 8th October Completed: 11th October
Shooting Started: 11th October Completed: 1st November
Post Production Started: 1st Novemeber Completed: 15th November
Rough Cut Submitted: 22nd November
Final Show Tape Completed: 17th December
Sent to Client: 17th December
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Location Equipment Required:
We have filmed in the following locations:-
Voxpop Questions filmed at Warrington Market, Market Office, Bank Street, Town Centre, Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 2EN , Tel: 01925 632571
Raj Baris Interview filmed at 23 Honiton Way, Penketh, Warrington, Cheshire WA5 2EY, 01925 725725
Dominos Interview filmed at Great Sankey, WA5 3LX, Tel: 01925 721555
We had to use the following equipment throughout our filming process:-
Videocamera
Tripod
Microphone
Headphones
Transport Required:
The location of our interviews where fairly close to our homes making it convenient just to use a bus or car transportation.
Scripting Voiceover
Takeaways are literally taking over Britain. On every street in the UK, there is likely to be a fast food outlet, catering to the hungry public. But are takeaways overtaking British tradition? This is TakeOut.
So who is responsible for this rise in fast food culture? In the UK, 8,500 chip shops sell over 277 million portions of chips per year. Staggeringly we spend on average, 10% of our yearly food budget on takeaways. Is speed and convienience worth the damage to our wallets, and what's more, our health?
Homecooking is becoming less and less popular, with today's youth focusing on speed over health. But what do the older generation think of the subject?
But what about healthy eating? The average indian takeaway packs in a huge 1,338 calories and 55g of fat; over 65% of a female adult's recommended daily calorie intake.
So when it comes down to it... what do the public prefer? Takeaways or Homecooking?
So who is responsible for this rise in fast food culture? In the UK, 8,500 chip shops sell over 277 million portions of chips per year. Staggeringly we spend on average, 10% of our yearly food budget on takeaways. Is speed and convienience worth the damage to our wallets, and what's more, our health?
Homecooking is becoming less and less popular, with today's youth focusing on speed over health. But what do the older generation think of the subject?
But what about healthy eating? The average indian takeaway packs in a huge 1,338 calories and 55g of fat; over 65% of a female adult's recommended daily calorie intake.
So when it comes down to it... what do the public prefer? Takeaways or Homecooking?
Codes and Conventions of Radio Trailers
- Use audio clips from within the documentary
- Use the same voiceover as within the documentary
- Easy to understand, clear
- Music underlaying, related to the theme
- Short, simple
- States the date and time of the showing
- States the broadcaster name, perhaps the slogan of the channel
Although the following examples are not technically radio adverts, they would work as on the radio. Both advertise documentaries well and feature the various codes and conventions mentioned.
Radio Trailer
Takeaways are taking over Britain. Everyone has a favourite [vox pops x4]. Is this modern trend replacing tradition? [Diane's interview, homecooking]. TakeOut, 8pm, tonight on 4. Fast food, fast Britain.
We will use the trailer on independent stations such as Key103, Heart and Real Radio, in order to make sure a wide audience are reached. This also attracts our target audience of young people; they are likely to listen to these radio stations as they feature musical hits from today. It will be scheduled to broadcast twice an hour from 4'o clock. This is during the school run, and so young people may be leaving school/college and come in to hear a trailer of an exciting new documentary.
We will use the trailer on independent stations such as Key103, Heart and Real Radio, in order to make sure a wide audience are reached. This also attracts our target audience of young people; they are likely to listen to these radio stations as they feature musical hits from today. It will be scheduled to broadcast twice an hour from 4'o clock. This is during the school run, and so young people may be leaving school/college and come in to hear a trailer of an exciting new documentary.
Codes and Conventions of Newspaper Advertisements
- One central image, relating to the theme
- Image locks the viewer into the documentary and commands the audience's attention
- Scheduling in small form, set to a bottom corner in order to not detract attention from the central image
- Graphics set to a standard colour scheme
- Simple image and simple titles
- Logo of the Documentary/Broadcaster
- Limited wording; attracts the audience into wanting to know more
- Small use of photo manipulation
- Use of a website link, set in with the title and small use of description
Drafting Newspaper Advertisement
When drafting our advertisement, it was important to use one main central image which would attract the audience and encourage them to watch the documentary. We therefore thought that it would be a good idea to use an image of a pizza; this not only directly links with the theme, but also links to the opening sequence of our documentary.
It was important to use the Channel 4 logo when producing the advert; this validates the advertisement and documentary, and links all texts. It also alerted the audience of the 'brand' of the documentary; there is a certain format which Channel 4 documentaries follow, and they are famed for often being out of the ordinary, and aimed at a different audience. Not only this, but the audience are shown the basic scheduling of the documentary.
We used a central image of a domino's pizza, but moved it to the side of the page; typical of other print advertisements for Channel 4 documentaries that we have studied.
We used Adobe Photoshop to produce our final advertisement. We feel that the colour scheme of the print advertisement is exciting and relevant to our audience, and the image is eyecatching and interests the potential viewer.Audience Feedback
When getting feedback from my audience, I first prepared a questionnaire in order to gauge how people felt about specific parts of my documentary. I then handed out the questionnaire to mainly members of my target audience, and a couple of people in an older age group, in order to gain a wider opinion on the texts.
Documentary
1. Was the content of the documentary relevant to you?
2. What comments can you make on the audio in the documentary?
3. Do you feel that the visuals of the documentary made sense?
4. Did the documentary hold your attention?
5. Is there anything that could be improved on in the documentary, to make it more interesting to you?
Radio Advert
1. Was the audio clear?
2. Did the radio advert flow?
3. Did you like the music in the background of the advertisement?
4. Was the voiceover appropriate?
5. Did the audio flow well throughout the advertisement?
Print Advert
1. Was the poster clear?
2. Did the advertisement show the theme appropriately?
3. Do you feel the colour scheme was suitable?
4. Was the image of the poster suitable for the documentary and relevant to the theme?
5. Was the poster eyecatching?
After giving this questionnaire out to 15 people, I got relatively positive feedback, from which I understood many things. For example, all participants felt that the documentary was relevant to them; even the 2 people I had asked outside of my target audience. The documentary was universally commented positively on, and was said to make sense and hold viewers' attention. If there was anything to be improved on, it was commented on that the audio could be clearer and flow more smoothly.
In terms of the radio advert, it was said that the audio was not very clear, but the audio content was good - interesting, but could be clearer. Otherwise, it was generally agreed upon that the voiceover was appropriate to the theme of the documentary. The music was said to be interesting, but some questioned it's relevance to the documentary.
The print advertisement was widely commented on as appropriate and relevant to the theme. The image was said to be eyecatching by almost every participant, and it was commented by some that it was entirely appropriate and a clever link to the main documentary.
Documentary
1. Was the content of the documentary relevant to you?
2. What comments can you make on the audio in the documentary?
3. Do you feel that the visuals of the documentary made sense?
4. Did the documentary hold your attention?
5. Is there anything that could be improved on in the documentary, to make it more interesting to you?
Radio Advert
1. Was the audio clear?
2. Did the radio advert flow?
3. Did you like the music in the background of the advertisement?
4. Was the voiceover appropriate?
5. Did the audio flow well throughout the advertisement?
Print Advert
1. Was the poster clear?
2. Did the advertisement show the theme appropriately?
3. Do you feel the colour scheme was suitable?
4. Was the image of the poster suitable for the documentary and relevant to the theme?
5. Was the poster eyecatching?
After giving this questionnaire out to 15 people, I got relatively positive feedback, from which I understood many things. For example, all participants felt that the documentary was relevant to them; even the 2 people I had asked outside of my target audience. The documentary was universally commented positively on, and was said to make sense and hold viewers' attention. If there was anything to be improved on, it was commented on that the audio could be clearer and flow more smoothly.
In terms of the radio advert, it was said that the audio was not very clear, but the audio content was good - interesting, but could be clearer. Otherwise, it was generally agreed upon that the voiceover was appropriate to the theme of the documentary. The music was said to be interesting, but some questioned it's relevance to the documentary.
The print advertisement was widely commented on as appropriate and relevant to the theme. The image was said to be eyecatching by almost every participant, and it was commented by some that it was entirely appropriate and a clever link to the main documentary.
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