Original Front Page for Project Analysis

Analysis of Documentary Factual Project

Finished Product

 When compared with my original, the two greatly contrast. For example, my original idea was to be filmed in ‘a day of my life’ documentary. However, I decided to make my documentary more about my own personal experience and less on people with scoliosis in general. This was because I felt that a more personal story would have more of a genuine feel to it and would be effective as a documentary.

 The documentary is very appropriate to the target audience and it is appropriate for all ages as well, and it is also very educational, as it focuses on the limitations of scoliosis, but is also quite inspiring as it shows that these obstacles can be overcome. It also focuses primarily on the importance of family and how anything can be overcome with help from your family and others around you.

The audience would like the documentary because it has a high amount of educational value and has emotionally driven parts in it, but not complex enough that it would bore or frighten younger audience. People with scoliosis would also like the documentary because it shows that they are no different to everyone else and, as well as this, it can also help to provide them with hope when they are feeling frightened.

The style of the documentary is fairly serious yet touching, but also quite light-hearted and pleasurable to watch to see that people with scoliosis have just the same life chances as people without scoliosis. It is also an educational and emotional medical documentary with a slight twist of humour. In addition, the documentary is also quite formal and direct, which can help the audience to take what you say more seriously and help it to be more memorable.

Production Process

The technical side of the documentary is also quite good as the text and the interviewees are clearly visible to see and the documentary as a whole is very easy to hear.

I began my documentary project by researching the history of scoliosis and I discovered that research into scoliosis goes as far back as Ancient Greece, when Hippocrates discovered that applying hard force to the spine of a scoliosis sufferer could help to ease the pain. Although the treatment was a lot more primitive back then, it did help to create the treatments for scoliosis that we know today. 

I also discovered the first real plaster cast goes back to the 1880’s, where Lewis Sayre observed people with scoliosis and deduced that a plaster cast back brace could help to relive the pain induced by scoliosis.

 I also researched celebrities with various other disabilities, such as: Usain Bolt, Kurt Cobain, James Blake and Howard Hart, to see how they cope with their disabilities and how some of them have even helped to change the way that people view disability and have shown how there can be hope for people with disabilities.

They are also inspirations because they have not let their disabilities get in the way of them achieving their dreams and fulfilling their full potential and have also promoted disability equality via their various promotions and advertising endorsements.

I also researched YouTube clips on more recognizable and iconic celebrities, such as: Lenin Moreno, Theodore Roosevelt, Stephen Hawking and Ralph Braun, and ascertained some inspiration from them about my documentary. I can also see how their speeches helped to change perceptions on disabilities, as they were very emotionally powerful and genuine.

I also researched the statistics linked to scoliosis and the facts and figures that have been undertaken to obtain to full grasp of scoliosis and it’s limitations. I found this fascinating because, even though I personally have scoliosis, I have never learned about these facts nor have I ever been told about them.

Overall, I found the research part of the pre-production documentary planning to be relatively easy because the information that I required was simple to find and analyse.

I began planning by creating a calendar of the weeks that I had to film the documentary and edit it by on Microsoft Outlook. This helped me to gain a better understanding of balancing my time. I also made a list of the people who knew about my condition and me and would be willing to be interviewed. This helped me to plan ahead and to link information with my film. I then emailed my interviewees to see if they wanted to be interviewed or not. This helped me to practice my typing and manners skills.

All of this helped me to balance out and break down the time that I had left on this project effectively and to the best of my ability. This also proved useful later in the project, as I knew when and where I would interview them and until what time that they were available for.

I filmed the documentary using a Sony HandyCam Camera, a Velbon tripod and DV tape to save it onto. The documentary is in a modified aspect ratio with modified lighting. In all of the documentary footage locations, I set up the camera and tripod carefully and followed all of the appropriate safety procedures.

However, there were problems with lighting in some areas as well as some lip-synching issues when it came to editing on Final Cut Express. On the other hand, these problems were easily solved on Final Cut by learning various editing techniques.

As well as this, I also found filming to be slightly challenging, as this was new to me and I was not very experienced. However, I took notes in class and used these to my advantage.

In addition, I found placing the camera onto the tripod to be difficult. On the other hand, I practiced again and again until the method stuck in my head and I learnt how to do in a fairly quickly time constraint. Relating to this, I found where to place the DV tape to be difficult. However, my tutor showed me how to place the DV tape carefully and correctly.

Also, I found placing the Fire Wire into the camera to implant the camera footage into Final Cut Express difficult. However, I soon located where the Fire Wire port for the camera and plugged the Fire Wire into it.

Sources of Information

I began creating recces by copying maps of my various locations from the Internet and placed them onto my paperwork. I then wrote down information on the shooting information, lighting information, sound information and sound information. This was very important as it allowed the tutor to see where you are going and what information is associated with it.

I then created the risk assessments. For this, I wrote down the severity of the risk factor, how it can be avoided and how what type of risk it is into the corresponding boxes. This was very important because it allowed the creator of the documentary to take into account the various risks associated with the locations and see how these risks can be avoided.

I also created the storyboard. For this, I wrote down the various scenes that my documentary would consist of into various columns and placed them into a numerical order and then I drew images of each scene by hand and placed them into the storyboard. I created the script for the documentary on Celtx. I did this by typing the introduction and the outro for my documentary. I thought about this very carefully and took an amount of time into it.

I also created a shooting schedule for my documentary. For this, I typed into a number of dates, where I would be, who I would be interviewing and whether the date of the interview was confirmed or provisional.

'Scoliosis and I' by Alex Hoad

This is the conclusive documentary of my scoliosis factual documentary project. It is about how people around have adapted and learned about scoliosis through meeting me.

Scoliosis PowerPoint Presentation

Scoliosis Audio Interview

This is a YouTube clip of me interviewing my tutor Michael O'Keefe on scoliosis.

Programme Summary

I will be creating a documentary about scoliosis. I will be interviewing various witnesses (Mum, Dad, Etc) and asking them questions about what they think about scoliosis' disadvantages and how scoliosis can be assisted.

Interview Questions

Scoliosis Interview Questions - Mum, Dad & Nan

1) When did you first discover I had scoliosis?

2) What do you know about how scoliosis affects my body?

Scoliosis Interview Questions - Ruth Nixon & Emma Cowling

1) How many students have you looked after with scoliosis?

2) How did scoliosis affect the students that you looked after?

3) What was your first impression of scoliosis?

4) Do you think that scoliosis affects a student's ability to learn?

5) How do you think that Schools/Colleges treat students with scoliosis?

6) How do you think that School or College treated me?

7) What did you learn about scoliosis through supporting me?

Summary of What I Have Found So Far

Through creating this documentary about scoliosis and the various research techniques that I used in the  project, I have gained a considerable amount of information about the condition of scoliosis as well as other disabilities relating to scoliosis.

I first created a mind map about the various things in my life that I am interested in or have experienced. The outlining genre that I found interesting was scoliosis and therefore, I decided to film my documentary on scoliosis.

The first topic that I began to examine was the history of scoliosis and researched the people who first developed devices that would prove instrumental towards the creation of future help for scoliosis sufferers, such as Hippocrates and Ambrose Pare.

I then began researching the various techniques that they used, from applying pressure to the spine in Ancient Greece to the first plaster cast for the spine that helps alleviate scoliosis in the early 1800's.

I also researched various celebrities with scoliosis as well as other disabilities to give the blog variety. From Stephen Hawking to Ralph Braun and Usain Bolt. They would serve as an inspiration to people with scoliosis and other disabilities. I especially found this part to be very interesting because I was unaware that Usain Bolt had scoliosis. I also did not know that Kurt Cobain had scoliosis as well.

I then asked various students in the Media Suite a series of scoliosis-related questions divided into five questionnaires. I then scanned the results onto my blog.

Paperwork: Call Sheets

Paperwork: Risk Assessments

Paperwork: Recces

Paperwork: Shooting Schedule

Paperwork: Storyboard

Paperwork: Script

Paperwork: Production Personal Log

Paperwork: Front Page and Production Schedule

Alex Hoad's Documentary Proposal

The Flow Chart for My Film

This is the flow chart for my film about my scoliosis. I will start with some shocking statistics and facts about scoliosis. I will then briefly talk about my personal story regarding scoliosis and how scoliosis effects me personally. I will then interview all of the people who have witnessed my scoliosis first-hand (Mum, Dad, etc)

Flow Charts of Different Types of Film Angles

This is a flow chart of the various angles that films and documentaries go through. The tutor then asked us to create our own flow chart, depending on our film idea and basis.

Twitter - Codes and Conventions

Hashtag

A hashtag provides the user with links to the topic or subject that is within the hashtag. Hashtags consist of sentences with no spaces beginning with a hashtag. Hashtags are important because they contain links to websites and information that people may otherwise be unaware of or unable to find.

Columns

Columns divide the various sections of Twitter into various genres.They consist of vertical grids that seperate different types of content from each other. They are important because without them, different content and genres might become mixed up together, or someone might not be able to find the help/resources needed to complete a task.

Trends

Trends are the various topics and subjects that are popular on Twitter. These trends appear in the form of a small image of the topic accompained by the name of that topic followed by a brief synopsis about what the topic entails at the underneath the name and the image and you can to follow it or not.

Pictures

Pictures are images that people take either of themselves or on a specific topic. These pictures can be posted onto the person's Twitter page or can be sent to friends or around the world to other people's Twitter pages. They are important because, for example, people who have not seen each other in a long amount of time can send each other pictures so that they can see what each person looks like.

Followers

Followers are people who follow your user name and work around Twitter. The amount of followers that you have obtained will appear on the followers counter in the top-right corner of the screen. Followers are important because, without them, no one would know how many people are liking what they are writing about on Twitter.

Thumbnails

Thumbnails are quick skecthes that people, most likely in the employment genre of Art, draw themselves and they can be posted to the person's Twitter page or be sent around Twitter. These are important because if people create Art for a living and want to showcase their work quickly, they can post thumbnails on Twitter for instant feedback.

They are also formatted for easy access on Twitter for phones and tablets, which makes them easier to view.

Search Bar

A search bar is used for typing in a specific subject or user name when you cannot find it yourself, and it is also remarkably quicker and easier than searching through Twitter pages to find what you are searching for. This is important because, otherwise, Twitter users would have to spend lots of time searching for the subject or user name that they are looking for, and even might never find it.

Analysis of 'John's Not Mad' Magazine

I created this article by first opening a Text Box and typing the headline onto the document. I then Copied and Pasted my essay onto the document, using a Text Box to place my essay into. I also used Text Boxes to type quotes from my essay into in Bold letters to make it look more authentic. I used another Text Box to create my by line and place it at the top of the article. 

I then obtained four photographs of John, past and present, and placed them onto my article to give the impression of a genuine magazine article. The images give a sense of nostalgia and sympathy and give the reader an opportunity to view John as he has aged. I have maintained the columns in an order that fits a magazine article. I have also tried to keep text and imagery in the line so as to not cause confusion and to make the main body look professional.

I used Text Boxes and imagery to create two fake adverts to make the article look genuine. The adverts are quite short, however they still contribute to the impression of a real newspaper. The by line has been  placed in a manner to make the article look interesting. 

What I found good was the creation of quotes using Text Boxes. I found this good because I feel that the quotations give an interesting insight and I learned a lot of skills because of it.  What I found bad was the part when I had to arrange the screen shots from the internet because there was a lot of difficult cropping and photo-column alignment work involved. 

Below are two screen shots showing the process that I took to create the magazine.

Codes and Conventions Newspapers

Headline - It is in bold, big font so that the reader can identify that the newspaper has access to important news.

Imagery/Photos - Helps to add definition and an insight to the newspaper. Usually a minimum of three images. E.g: secret photos, 

Text - Adds dialogue and structure to the article and helps to place an image in the reader's head.

Quotation Marks - They help to identify what a interviewee is saying and when it changes to another interview.

White Spaces - Allow words and sentences to have spaces between them so as to not get mixed up.

Graphics - They provide interesting illustrations to carefully explain facts, charts and statistics. 

Sub-Headings - They are smaller than the headlines, but they provide a brief synopsis of the article whilst encouraging the reader to buy and read the newspaper.

Mast-Head- Useful so that the reader can grab people's attention and to explain in detail.

By Line - Tells the reader who wrote the article/the author.

Exaggeration - Sensationalises a topic and makes it sound batter/worse than it really is.

Body Copy - It is the segment of an article that people read.

Lead Story - The first article that appears on the front page.

Decks - Summary of a story.

Slogan - Used to promote the newspaper/article.

Columns - Help to divide the article/s

Advertisements - Newspapers are paid by companies to advertise their products in their newspaper.

Captions -

The Guardian 

The Guardian is filled with the codes and conventions that I have mentioned earlier. The headline is in a large and bold font. This is done to make the headline large and therefore more intriguing. As for the imagery, they have merged five images together because they all connect with one another and are related with the main image. This is done so as to give an idea of correlation and structure and to use a plethora of important events to emphasise importance. They also use red tags to tell information about the events in question.  the sub-heading is slightly smaller than the main headline, yet it is capable of reading,