Media Evaluation

Evaluation Video

Evaluation video from Martin steell on Vimeo.

Ancillary Task 2

Documentary Radio Ad from Martin steell on Vimeo.

Documentary

Documentary - Violence and Video Games from Martin steell on Vimeo.

Textual Analysis

In documentaries there are consistently common traits found within them. I’m here to take a look at a famous documentary called supersize me and see what is found inside of it that makes it a documentary.

Voice Overs – the narrator/presenter of the documentary has a constant on and off the camera, he talks a lot and gives examples of statistics, figures etc. and then goes on to explain what they mean.   

Statistics – In supersize me, to get his point across about how fat American’s are getting he brings up a chart for overweight adults in America also stating that the fattest state is Mississippi.

Statistics – In supersize me, to get his point across about how fat American’s are getting he brings up a chart for overweight adults in America also stating that the fattest state is Mississippi. 

Archive Footage – Footage such as this comes in the form of pictures or video clips from the event the documentary in question, used as an example or used in order to support evidence. Here heshowspictures of his mother in the kitchen stating that she cooked food for him every day, whereas a lot of families eat fast food.

Montage sequence – they are used to imply the passage of time and they are also used to condense it but at the same time emphasise the event in frontof you,this was twice notably. Firsat when when shyowing how many people enter the McDonalds resturant and the second when eating the first mcdonalds meal for breakfast to show the amount eaten.

Interviews – they are commonly used in all documentaries and they are either with professionals who have studied the topic the documentary is on, workers and managers or the general public for their opinoins on the subject. In supersize me he asks members of generalpublic what their favourite fastfood resturant.

Overall from the textual analysis I feel this has helped me realise exactly what I need too put into my documentary and how to make it work.

Ancillery Task 1

Documentaries - History and Development

Early 1900’s: The earliest sign of a documentary they were incredibly short but moving images in general were such a novelty that it brought tons of people to see them, The best examples of these black and white documentaries is the fascinating footage of the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière, shot at their studio in Lyons, France.

1914: In this time there began development of two different styles of documentaries in a longer form they were storytelling documentaries. People used reenactments to show what happened like in, In the land of the headhunters and The rescue of the stephasson arctic expedition.

1922: Reenactments in documentaries became common place at this point. A famous documentary Nanook of the North, Robert J. Flaherty shot on location, but frequently censored the behavior of his subjects and they even had them build an igloo without a roof so he could get sufficient light and space for his camera work. Newsreels also used this method; a cameraman would arrive on the scene after the battle was won--or lost--and re-stage battle scenes so he could film them as news clips.

1930’s-40’s: Films were used as outright propaganda during the 1930s and 40s war years, when Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, which stirred Nazis to their fevered adoration of Adolph Hitler, was countered by Frank Capra's Why We Fight newsreels, which were produced to sway Americans to go to war. All were treated as documentaries.

Cinema Vérité: Taking advantage of technological developments in image and sound recording equipment, the French Cinéma vérité, similar in name to Kino Pravda, took documentary filmmaking to a new level of realism by using handheld cameras on location to capture events as they occurred. No more staged battle scenes. Cinema vérité shows you the real thing. The North American variation of Cinema vérité, was known as the Direct Cinema style.

Various Takes on Direct Cinema: Following the Direct Cinema style, most filmmakers shoot for reality, but contemporary directors are generally divided into two groups--those who enter the story and influence its outcome or those who remain objective observers who watch and film as their story develops.

Still in Vogue: Another Direct cinema style, it usually involves following one person or a group around an event. Often using hand-held cameras catching reactions from the subjects and people around them events unfold. Directors filming this style of documentary often shoot for an hour long, so they can edit them down and tell a concise story.

Power of Persuasion: the potential of propaganda in Documentaries is very high as many try to make the viewer see one side of an argument instead of staying neutral through out. Basically its still a factor in contemporary nonfiction films especially those with relevant political topics.

Big Budget, Small Budget: there are such documentaries that are given bigger release and are commercially successful, like Supersize me, March of the penguins and an Inconvenient truth have given nonfiction features a much broader reach--and yielded bigger budgets for some documentary filmmakers. On the other hand, very affordable digital recording equipment now makes it possible for almost anyone to make a documentary, which guarantees a proliferation of nonfiction films--which will undoubtedly give rise to the development of new and highly individual styles of documentary filmmaking.