Documentary Production Schedule

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Career booklet

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My Research Dossier

Examples of PRIMARY research and PRODUCTION research.

Examples of PRIMARY research and QUANTITATIVE and QUALITATIVE research.

Example of SECONDARY research as information is taken from the internet, specifically the Unilever, BARB and Ofcom websites.

Competitive gaming research/Proposal

Nature and Purposes of Research

Nature and purposes of research in the Media Industry

Primary

This is where the research has been found out first hand, in the media industry, this helps the Filmmaker create a understanding of the subject and enables them to create a more informed final product. For example this could be a experiment or survey, which would then be analysed and put into statistics or writing. During my college course I have made multiple surveys to gain a understanding of a target audience. An example of this is when I made a survey to do with Re-Branding a unilever product, both qualitative and quantitative data was taken because it allowed us to create an advertisement that would appeal to a student target audience, rather than the previous family target audience. Evidence of this definition is on BBC Bitesize.com “involves gathering new data that has not been collected before”.


Secondary

This is where research is taken from another piece of primary research that someone else has done, the pros of this method of research is that it is quicker to acquire than primary research because it is already done, however it could be misinterpreted or bias meaning there is a chance the information may be false. For my Depict video, we researched into the “Film Noir” genre, in order to give our production the same feel to it. Evidence of this is shown in our production because of the black and White backgrounds, and the formal attire we used as costumes.

Still from Depict video

Quantitative

This type of research is usually used to gain statistics about a large group of people, this information gives numerical data.

quantitative

ˈadjective relating to, measuring, or measured by the quantity of something rather than its quality.

The pros of this type of research is that it's easier to analyse than qualitative, and the data can also be put into statistical graphs and charts to present if needed. In media, this was helpful in the creation of an advert rebrand, because the data that we collected allowed us to gain a good understanding of the previous target audience, so our groups could rebrand it for a different one. This method has few cons however there is a small chance that bias data may be submitted, rendering the statistics inaccurate.

Qualitative

This type of research is used to collect detailed answers of people's opinions, this type of research is focused on the quality of the answers, this was used in some of the surveys I made throughout my business course at college, this is because I had to gain people's opinions on a pricing strategy for a business presentation.The pros of this method is that responses are open ended and leave most of the decision making to the person answering which results in a detailed response which may help or hinder the research, this depends on what the researcher is trying to find out. An example of this is when I made a detailed film review on Cars 3, this can be seen as a qualitative review because although some figures were used it mostly consists of my personal views and opinions.

Data Gathering Agencies

These agencies are essentially made to collect data about different topics and add them to data banks. An example of a data gathering agency is BARB which is short for the Broadcasters Audience Research Board this companies main focus is to gather data about the viewership and rating on TV channels, all of the information collected is used by companies to see where they could improve on during their productions. This is useful especially in media because it allows advertisers to plan ahead on when the best time is to play their advertisement, so it has more viewers and can reach the right target audience. Furthermore increasing their product outreach.


Audience and Market Research

This is analysing the type of people that will be exposed to the media that is being shown. For example, people who make children's TV shows will research what the best time to air the programme is, and also look at the latest trends so the audience is able to relate to it so it entices them to watch more. Effective ways of gaining information is by analysing results and also using surveys in order to gain a good understanding of the audience, and the best way to make a product successful. An example of this was in media where I was tasked to rebrand a Unilever product. I chose Lynx and made a presentation about how I would target their new target audience. In competitive markets some productions also take the time to analyse their competitors, this is so they know what they can do to give them a edge over their competition.


Production Research

This research is used by filmmakers mostly in high budget productions, doing this helps give the filmmakers a estimate of how much each scene will cost to make, when devising a plan for the TV Advert I was a part of making in college there was a budgeting sheet included so the group were able to track each purchase that was used in the making of the Advert. When adverts are made in professional productions, they offer hire people to research what type of characteristics people have of the product that is trying to be marketed. So they can find the best way of showcasing the product and selling as much as possible. This research is also important for finding locations suitable for filming.

I also did research for the documentary that I Produced on the growth of competitive gaming. I planned interviews, and also thought about what different types of shots I wanted to include. And
any cutaways to other gameplay or interviews were also included.

Sources
https://classroom.synonym.com/pros-cons-qualitative-quantitative-research-8179604.html

Documentary Mini Task

Documentary Mini Task

A documentary is a piece of media put together in the effort of making it informational about a particular topic, there is usually interviews and footage of things that relate to the subject.

There are 5 different types of documentary that is possible to create.

Firstly there is Expository documentaries, these mostly consist of either a dramatic or calming commentary talking about a particular view of a subject and this accompanies  images and footage of what is being narrated. The narrator's function is to make sense of the visuals that we see and to inform the viewer of what they are watching. This often means that the viewer takes the narrators word that what they are seeing and what is being said is true. David Attenborough is famous for narrating expository nature documentaries; although he is present in some scenes, he largely narrates the action on screen. For example, in this clip of Planet Earth he is telling us about the Vampire Squid From Hell Vampyroteuthis as we see images of it from a submersible.

The next type of documentary is an Observational, this is where the filmmaker would follow a particular group or person, and observe their actions and in most of these documentaries there is rarely any voice overs or interviews. The filmmaker's presence is unknown and they are seen as 'flys on the wall'. They include long takes and can be created with basic filming equipment. These productions are made with the intention of the viewer coming to their own conclusions about the person and subject. A good example of this is Armadillo, it's about a group of soldiers from Denmark who got sent to Afghanistan, for the most part, there is no voice over or narration, and appears to show footage from when the filmmaker followed soldiers as they put their lives on the line, without interfering or manipulating them.




Thirdly, there is Interactive documentaries, these documentaries have a very present filmmaker or documentarist who engages with the subjects / objects and the audience. Interactive documentaries often focus as much on the presenter / filmmaker as they do on the topic and the names of the presenters become well known. Ross Kemp, Louis Theroux and Michael Moore all make documentary films in this way. In Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore uses footage of himself interacting with subjects in the documentary and archive footage to inform teh audience and present his point of view.

Fourthly, there is reflexive documentaries, these usually involve a focus on teh construction of the documentary rather than the topic / content. One of the first was Man with a Movie Camera as it was looking at how technology could be used to tell a story. A well known film maker in this category is Nick Broomfield, who is famous for his independent film making skills, he often shoots with very little camera crew, and sometimes even on his own to make the production as personal as possible to both him and the viewer.

The last type is performative documentaries, these productions usually include more reenactments, and a controversial outlook on the topic, a popular genre for this type of documentary is things such as murder mysteries and crime documentaries, an example of this is a documentary made a couple years after both Biggie and Tupac were gunned down, there were dramatic interviews and reenactments that feature key members of the both the police force and Death Row Records speaking about the incident, and their opinions of the situations and what happened.

My general philosophy of filmmaking to do with documentaries is that I think it's important to be genuine and give an evenly sided viewpoint of the topic, but also give the viewer enough information to come to their own conclusions on the subject. For example, Louis Theroux does a very good job at asking questions to the interviewee that leads to honest and answers that lets the Audience think what they want about them. I also think that if a documentary ever dramatizes the truth to the viewer, then this should be declared.