Analysis of two other Documentaries

To make a good documentary i felt it a necessity to have a look at other documentaries, how they were created and what made them so successful. I alalyzed these two documentaries in great detail and have posted the images on here.

Here i have analyzed Lawless Britain: Unlicensed Boxing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmoCAvyYWok)

And Summer With The Johnsons

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYTI8GBAblI)

Institutional Information - Under Age and Under Pressure

When creating a documentary it is important to consider what channels you plan to broadcast on and at what time to achieve a maximum impact. I decided to choose to air my show on BBC1 for a variety of reasons. Firstly, due to the fact that every TV has the ability to be able to air that channel, therefore you immediately have an upper hand over other channels such as SkyOne and such. Secondly, Due to the fact that the BBC leaves it's programs un-interrupted by adverts, therefore the full effect of the documentary could be seen. Lastly, the fact that the BBC itself incorporates all of its programs onto the internet after being shown via the Iplayer facility really helps to get the documentary across and continuously viewed for what could be another month later. A feature that would probably help with the playing in Schools and such.

Where will your media text be shown?

I hope for my documentary to be shown on BBC 1, where it would be aired at just after 9pm, to escape the limiting watershed. This time would be great for my documentary as it would allow it to reveal the full and honest extent of the damage that under-aged drinking could do and yet the true British feel it brings to the streets of a sub-urban town. I also feel by being able to divulge into the world of underage drinking and being amongst the mindset on today’s ‘ASBO Culture’ I will be able to show more than the problem of underage drinking, but perhaps unearth problems with the society in which we live in. This adverse effect that I hope to create could perhaps entice more viewers towards the show.

Release dates?

I hope for it to be released around April 2010 as it will highlight these problems before the upcoming summer holidays, but with still giving them enough time to do something about it. By doing this, Local community’s, Police forces and more importantly Parents will become more wise about where there children's ‘pocket money’ does end up, and what they can do to prevent it.

Available over the internet?

Being aired on the BBC my documentary will almost instantly be available on BBC Iplayer and will be more easily accessible for viewers who missed the show but wish to watch it at work or on trains home etc. This modern attraction will again draw much more attention and will also provide easier access for the program to be shown at schools and in meetings.

Due to its educational value, will it be made available to schools and if so, how?

Yes, it would be given to schools upon request and hopefully shown in life skills/ citizenship classes Or the Classes will be able to Access the program Online.

Target Audience - Under Age and Under Pressure

As with all media productions, a target audience is always a certainty and must be considered, as choosing the right target audience could have a big impact. However, the topic of underage drinking was that of a luxurious decision, allowing me to work towards a very vast and broad target audience instead of just specifically filming towards one. However, my main targets proved to be teenagers from 13 onwards, and all parents and figures of authority. I feel with such a strong subject it was important to get the messages from my documentary to all of these people.

When writing my 'Target Audience' Plan, i said:

"My target audience consists of a wide variety of generations and also different types of people. My documentary includes information relevant for ages up to 70 downwards to approximately 14 or even younger. My documentary is tackling a very relevant topic and amid fears that binge drinking is ruining the so-called ‘golden’ generation I feel this in-depth analysis into the cause and the solutions of under-age drinking will draw in many more audience members than I dare to anticipate. This style of documentary is one which will draw in people from all works of life, from the ordinary ‘housewife’ to the well established lawyers and perhaps even the prime minister himself.

Alcohol-related subjects are a consistent prime-time hit, with concerned parents around to witness what their own kids may be up to when they are outside in the public. Local councils and youth advice teams will take special attention to the methods my documentary will say in which will help teenagers to realise that alcohol is not the way forward in terms of achieving popularity and achieving promotion in the much desired social hierarchy. "

StoryBoard - Under Age and Under Pressure

When planning any form of media, it is always good to have some form of storyboard in place so you can practically visualize your plans. I planned out six separate scenes, with details on lighting, sound, camera angles and movements and what was to be happening within the scene. However, as with the majority of documentaries, everything is practically filmed live, and there can be no promises on being able to shoot exactly what you need and how you need it. However i feel my documentary practically gathered the gist of what was in my story board.

Synopsis for Under Age and Under Pressure

After much deliberation i finally decided that i really wanted to create something different to what the rest of the class were producing. Hence, i began my planning for my documentary, which was going to highlight the dangers, risks yet astoundingly common, Under age drinking.

After looking at my brief:

7. An extract from a new documentary tv programme, lasting approximately five minutes, together with two of the following three options:

•A radio trailer for the documentary.

•A double page spread from a listings magazine focused on the documentary.

•A newspaper advertisement for the documentary.

I decided that it was best to begin my preparation for such a large project almost immediately. This was my synopsis.

"The title of my documentary is going to be called “Underage and Under Pressure”, a documentary highlighting today's new-age of young binge drinkers and what drives them to think alcohol makes them more ‘socially acceptable’. I am hoping that my documentary will highlight how young people start with drinking in streets, to house parties and then onto pubs and clubs. In my documentary I will hope to show how easy it is to get into clubs and pubs without any id. I also hope to include how this problem has always been around, but just on a much more un-documented and smaller scale and how landlords combated this in the past. Also I would like to get an interview with a past/present pub landlord, fellow underage drinkers and hopefully a figure of authority.

I plan to do the majority of my documentary in the streets of Dartford and Dartford town center amongst my interviews which will take place in separate settings. However, I also plan to create a newspaper advertisement and a radio trailer for the documentary, in which I hope to include either pictures or quotes from the sound over to entice the target audience into watching my documentary. To create my radio trailer I will use the Radio Broadcast room to record my original choice sound over, however I will then transfer this to the computer and edit it, adding special effects sounds and adding quotes from my documentary. The newspaper advertisement I will create on Photoshop. "

I feel that my documentary did mainly follow the majority of this early planning, with slight changes and substitutions to the plan occurring along the way.

Where my Research has come from...

The majority of the facts provided for my research has come from the 2004 Home Office report on Underage Alcohol Abuse. Providing me with the most recent available statistics in regards of thw country as a whole.

However, i also have research on some theories of how to deal with the problem, with the Health Correspondent, Thomas Moore, reporting on how one particular surgeon goes to schools to show a 15 minute presentation with a serious amount of incredibly graphic images of injuries sustained by underage drinkers who have entered pubs/clubs and ended up with, missing eyes, broken Jaws and in one case a 15 year old boy who had his nose bitten off.

The surgeon's presentation has had such a drastic impact that 1/3 of all underage drinking in his town has been reduced!

This has made me think more about how i can broaden my documentary into showing some already successful solutions and how any town can adapt these to their own community.

This is one of the many images published within the surgeons extremely powerful presentation arguing against Underage drinking.

Update on how i am doing!

What i have Completed.

Ok, so this is where i am so far on my A2 coursework:

Synopsis - Completed

Script - N/A

Storyboard - Completed

Target Audience (how and where will you advertise) - Complete

Institutional Information (Where will your media text be shown, release dates) - Complete

2x Analysis/ deconstruction of similar texts related to my chosen brief - Complete

Annotated notes on promotion of existing text, posters, Cd/DVD covers - Complete

Audience and Industry research - Questionnaires, feedback from your blog - Incomplete

What i am going to do from here

I plan to compile all of my planning tick-list into one file, and be able to show it in the form of a well-produced presentation.