unit 6 media communication 3

8/6/2019 Unit 6 Media Communication 3

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Unit 6 Media Communication & Production Evaluation

In this section I will be analysing my documentary, with two other texts. And then I will becomparing the two texts to my own documentary. I will be analysing the texts under fivecategories:

• Content

• Mode of Address

• Conventions

• Style and Form

• Technology

The two texts I will be looking at are:

• Alex Cowings – Irish Dance Vs. Tap Dance Documentary (2001)

• From Mambo to Hip Hop (2006)

Introduction

My Feature

My documentary feature is about the growth of dance that is influenced me the media.What I mean by the word ‘media’ is that I looked Dance Reality Shows on TV in particular.My feature was mostly shot in Central London, as all the famous dance academies andschool are situated there, such as the Pineapple Dance Studios and Bollywood DanceLondon, where I had shot three of the interviews that were in the documentary. Thisdocumentary that was produced, directed and edited by me, had mostly focused on how istelevision as a media medium, affected the growth of dance, and how it has influencedpeople in the UK and all over the world to join this activity as a career or as a hobby. Thistopic and angle was the most unique out of the other ideas I had come up with, so that’swhy I had chosen to take this idea forward to production.

Click on the following link to view my documentary - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjKiYVmtD0g

Old Text – Alex Cowings – Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance Documentary (2001)

This documentary was made in 2001, situated in New York. The narration of thisdocumentary is in a different language (Irish), so this is why there are subtitles in thedocumentary. This documentary’s focal point is the street tap dancer Alex Cowings. Thepresenter looks at comparison between Irish dancing and Tap dancing in New York. TheIrish presenter looks at how Irish dancing and Tap dancing is similar, the impact of thetwo similar dancing forms, and the history of the Irish dancing and Tap dancing. This

documentary also shows many clips of people dancing on the street or on the rooftops of buildings. The Irish presenter also interviews many contributors such as, Alex Cowings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjKiYVmtD0g







parents, John Diamond (famous Irish American dancer). I think that the target audiencefor this documentary may be people aged 20 years and above, and to those people whounderstand English as well as Irish.

Click on the following link to view my documentary –

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L28FKztRAn8

Part 2 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqaY89VhL-8

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNsRDl5Ro_E&feature=related

New Text – From Mambo to Hip Hop (2006)

This documentary is simply about the history of different dance forms that were createdby people of South Bronx, which was the birth place of Salsa and Hip Hop. Thisdocumentary not only looks at dance forms, it also looks at the music styling. Thisdocumentary doesn’t have a presenter or a narrator, it just has a flow of interviews andclips of people dancing the Mambo and playing musical instruments related to the danceform. From Mambo to Hip Hop’s main focal point is how these dance forms and musicalforms were created and especially where and what was the area like when it was created.This documentary text, had included many people related to Mambo, Hip Hop and Salsadancing around the 1970’s, and especially looks at people who were famous at that time.

Click on the following link to view my documentary - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L28FKztRAn8

Content

My Feature

When looking at the content of my documentary, I would say that my documentarycontains quite a lot of information about the topic. For example this documentary hasinterviews that focus on the opinions of dance professionals and what they think about themedia having an impact of the growth of dance, and where it’s a good thing in thereprofessional lives. This documentary also has a segment that focuses on dance forms beingrace and age specific. I have also involved a segment people taking part in dance classesin London. The reason why I had used this segment in the documentary is so that the

documentary has an entertainment factor. Underneath are some images that back up mystatement:

Old

Text – Alex Cowings – Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance Documentary (2001)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L28FKztRAn8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqaY89VhL-8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNsRDl5Ro_E&feature=related




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqaY89VhL-8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNsRDl5Ro_E&feature=related





Mode of Address

My Feature

When looking at the mode of address of my feature, I would have to say that the over allmode of address was informal and direct towards the audience. The reason why I hadmade sure that the language of the documentary was informal is so that the presenterwould relate to the audience, and seem like an ordinary teenager, who is in the sameposition as the audience. What I mean by ‘in the same position’, is that the audiencewould be novice, which means they might not know anything and dance, so I had madesure that the presenter seemed like a novice person, by the dialogue and language used inthe documentary. As well as the tone being indirect, I think I would admit that thelanguage of this documentary was also sort of fun and upbeat, so that the audience wouldnot feel bored while watching the documentary. The outfit that the presenter had wornthroughout the whole of the documentary was informal, which shows the mode of address.Another aspect that shows the mode of address is the location of interviews and vox pops.Underneath are some images that back up my statement:

Old Text – Alex Cowings – Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance

Documentary (2001)

This is the young presenter that

would relate to the audience, andseem like an ordinary teenager.

As you can see that the outfit thatthe presenter is wearing is casual

and informal which shows themode of address.



In terms of the mode of address in the old documentary text, I think the first thing I wouldhave to say because the narration is in different language, I would have to take a guess of what the mode of address would be of this documentary. So, my guess would be that thisdocumentary’s mode of address is in between formal and informal. According to thesubtitles, my guess is that the language and word used in the documentary seems formalas well as informal. And the tone of the documentary is indirect from the audience. Whenlooking at the mode of address comparison between my documentary and thisdocumentary, I would have to say that the mode of addresses are completely different.The reason why I am saying that the mode of addresses are different is because firstly thenarration or voice overs used in the Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance Documentary, is in adifferent language and is informal/formal and indirect. And the mode of address in mydocumentary is very much different as it is informal and direct so it relates to the targetaudience. The Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance Documentary, doesn’t really relate to the targetaudience I had in my documentary. The outfit that the presenter had worn throughout thewhole of the documentary was also informal, which shows the mode of address. Another

aspect that shows the mode of address is the location of interviews and vox pops.Underneath are some images that back up my statement:


These are the subtitles that areused in this documentary, as this

documentary narration is in Irish.

As you can see that the outfit thatthe presenter is wearing is casual

and informal which shows themode of address.

As you can see that the outfit that thepresenter of this documentary is wearing is also

causal and informal, which suits its targetaudience (20 years and over).



When looking at the mode of address in the new text documentary, I would have to saythat the mode of address is quite informal and indirect. The only reason why thisdocumentary’s mode of address is informal and indirect is specifically like this because of the people used in this documentary. The contributors that were involved in thisdocumentary were mostly Black Africans, Puerto Ricans or Cuban, so there languagedialect is quite informal, in the way the talk. When looking at the mode of addresscomparison between my documentary and this documentary, I would have to say that themode of addresses are moderately similar. The reason why I think that the mode of addresses are moderately similar is because the From Mambo to Hip Hop documentary’smode of address is informal, which is similar to the documentary I had made, but thisdocumentary’s tone is also indirect, which is different to the tone I had used in mydocumentary. The aspect that shows the mode of address is the location of interviews andvox pops. Underneath are some images that back up my statement:

Conventions

My Feature

When looking at the conventions used in my documentary think that I had used everyconventions there is in a documentary. In my documentary I had used, a sign on/off,establishing shots, a young presenter that relates to the target audience, relevantinterviews, relevant music, cutaways, titles introducing the presenter or interviewee,graphics and voice overs. All the conventions had an individual role and purpose in thisdocumentary. For example, cutaways in between interviews or segments, gives thedocumentary an easy flow between each segment. Relevant music connotes that theinterview or segment is about a particular e.g. dance form. And a voice over narratessections of the documentary where the presenter is not on screen. Underneath are someimages that back up my statement:

As you can see that the location background forthese interviews are quite formal, either at

home or at the park. This shows the mode of address of the documentary.



Old Text – Alex Cowings – Irish Dance vs. TapDance Documentary (2001)

When looking at conventions used in the Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance Documentary, I think Iwould have to admit that there were many conventions used in this documentary.However, there were one or two conventions that were not seen in the Irish Dance vs. TapDance Documentary. In terms of the conventions comparison between my documentaryand this documentary, I would say that the conventions I had used in my documentarywere used in this documentary except one or two conventions. The conventions that wereor were not used in this documentary are listed in the following table:

CONVENTIONS WERE THE CONVENTION USED IN THE ‘IrishDance vs. Tap Dance’ DOCUMENTARY?

Establishing Shots The documentary did have establishing shotsbefore every location change.

Sign On The documentary did have an effective andinformative sign on to the documentary.

Sign Off The documentary also did have an effective and

informative sign off to the documentary,summarising his trip to New York – the presenterends the documentary by having a dance off inTimes Square New York.

Presenter that relates to the targetaudience

As the documentary is aimed towards people agedroughly 20 years and above and who understandEnglish as well as Irish, the documentary containsa presenter who is around that age and who speaksEnglish and Irish.

Relevant Interviews I think that this documentary did have a lot of interviews and contributors that were relevant tothe topic of the documentary. The contributorsincluded people such as, a granddaughter of afamous Irish-American dancer from the 1800’s.

Relevant Music The documentary also included music that wasrelevant to the topic, for example, music thatwould be played whilst people would do the Irishdance or American Tap Dance.

Cutaways The documentary also included many cutaways,whether it was in between interviews or segments.

Titles This documentary did not contain any titles tointroduce the presenter or contributors.

Graphics The only graphic that was used in this

documentary, was at the beginning of thedocumentary. The text in this graphic was in again

As you can see that the presenter isinterviewing a person, and asking them what

reality show they watch. You can also see thatthere is a title to show the answer they have

given.



a different language.Voice Overs All the voice overs that were used in the

documentary were in Irish, so they wereimpossible to understand, without subtitles.

So as you can see that the table above shows that the Irish Dance vs. Tap Dancedocumentary has many conventions that my documentary has, but the only conventionthat does not exist in the Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance documentary is the titles convention,that allows the reader to understand who the person on screen is. :


When looking at the conventions used in the From Mambo to Hip Hop documentary I wouldhave to say that this documentary uses all the conventions that were used in mydocumentary. This documentary uses the following conventions:

• Establishing Shots

• Sign On

• Sign Off

• Presenter that relates to the target audience

• Relevant Interviews

•

Cutaways• Titles

• Graphics

• Voice Overs

I think that when comparing the conventions of my documentary and the From Mambo toHip Hop documentary, there are not any differences at all in terms of conventions.However, there is only one simple convention that was misleading in the From Mambo to

Hip Hop documentary. This convention was the presenter that relates to the targetaudience. The documentary did not have a presenter to host the documentary.Nevertheless, even though this documentary lacks one simple convention, thisdocumentary still flowed very well. Underneath are some images that back up mystatement:



Style & Form

My Feature

When looking at the style and form of mydocumentary, I would have say that, the style I was going for was supposed to be fun andenticing towards the audience, and I think I had achieved this goal. I think that the choiceof style I had used in my documentary was meant to reach out the target audience (16-24). If I had gone with a documentary style that was completely the opposite of thecurrent style, I think that my documentary would not have appealed to people in thetarget audience, and I also think that it wouldn’t have been a success as it would havebore the audience. Also as I had mentioned before that I think my documentary is like ajourney, what I mean by ‘like a journey’ is that in my documentary the presenter travelsto different locations in London, to find out something about the topic. So I think that thisis also part of the style of the documentary. Underneath are some images that back upmy statement:

Old Text – Alex Cowings – Irish Dance vs. Tap Dance Documentary (2001)

When looking at the style of this documentary. I would have to say that the style is quitesimilar to the one I had used in my documentary. The style that I had used in mydocumentary was the ‘journey like’ style, similar to the one I had used. This documentarystyle was similar to the one I used, for a purpose. I think that the purpose for using thisstyle in this sort of documentary is because the presenter in this documentary travels todifferent locations to find out information related to the topic, similarly to what thepresenter did in my documentary. Underneath are some images that back up mystatement:

As you can see that this shot has introduced theperson they are filming.




In terms of style and form in the From Mambo to Hip Hop documentary, I think that therewasn’t a specific style in this documentary. The reason why I am saying this is because thisdocumentary is a simple documentary that explores the history of particular and formsand music forms, so this documentary doesn’t really have a specific style or form.However, if I had to choose a style for this documentary, I think that the style that wouldprobably suit this documentary is again similar to mine, fun and enticing. However, thedocumentary doesn’t seem too fun or enticing. The only entertainment factor that was inthis documentary was the music and the clips of people dancing and playing musical

instruments. Underneath are some images that back up my statement:

Technology

My FeatureIn terms of technology that was available for me, I think that I did not use any advancetechnology, I think that I had used standard technology. The technologies I had used were:

• Internet for research

• YouTube, Scribd and Blogger for uploading work

• Camera

• Tripod

• Tape



• Rode Microphone

• Built in Microphone

• Recorder to record voice overs

• Fireworks to create graphics

• iMovie to edit the documentary

I think that the amount of technology items I had used, were good enough to produce agood documentary, and this is exactly what I had done. I think if I had used advancedtechnology for a simple documentary I think that I would have found it hard to cope with,as it would have become confusing, to what technology to use.

When using some of these technologies, I think I had done an exceptional job. I think Iused every technology to its best. However, I do think that there was one piece of equipment that I had difficulty with. The piece of technology I had difficulty using was theRode/Built in Microphone. When filming an interview and two sets of vox pops in London, Ihad difficulty making sure that the sound works from the microphone. Because in onesituation, the sound levels were very bad, I had to go back and film the shots again.

Also when using the camera and tripod I think that I had made sure that the camera shotsand angles were framed correctly. Underneath are some images that back up mystatement:

Old Text – Alex Cowings – Irish Dance vs. TapDance Documentary (2001)

In terms of technology used in this documentary, I think that this documentary had alsoused standard filming and editing equipment. I think that the problems that I had in mydocumentary, did not occur in this documentary. The sound levels were really good andclear, the overall documentary was edited very well and the camera shots and angles wellvery well framed. Underneath are some images that back up my statement:

As you can see that the presenter isinterviewing a person using a rode microphone.



New Text – From Mambo toHip Hop (2006)

In terms of technology used in this documentary, I think that this documentary also hadused standard filming and editing equipment. However, the only filming sections in this

documentary were the interview, the rest of the clips used in the documentary were allarchive footage used to connote the topic of the documentary. The sound levels were alsovery well sounded, the overall documentary was also edited very well and the camerashots and angles were also framed very well. Underneath are some images that back upmy statement:

As you can see that this shot is framed verywell.

As you can see that this shot is framed very wellin a low angle.

unit 6 media communication 3

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