Codes and conventions of factual programming for television: Presentation

This is my presentation on 'Codes and Conventions of factual programming for television'. The presentation consists of two examples to give the audience a better understanding of what codes and conventions are used to create documentary film making and the news, The two example i used are 'Johns not mad' for the documentary and the 'BBC news at 10' for the news example.

The first slide of my presentation consists of an overview of my documentary 'Johns not mad' and what the documentary is about, it also shows the audience what codes and conventions are used within documentary filmmaking and this documentary. The codes and conventions i gave information on are  observational footage, voice overs and interviews as i felt these were the most prominent codes and conventions used in a documentary. Then the following slides develop on the codes and conventions to give the audience a better understanding and knowledge of them. I also used images to illustrate what i was saying such as images of John doing his daily routine for observational footage and shots of the different interviewees for the information on the interviews slide.

I then went on to talk about 'BBC news at 10' and the first slide i did on the news example was a short explanation on what the 'BBC news at 10' was about and what codes and conventions were used such as news reporters, interviews, voice overs, hard and soft news, and graphics (facts and figures). I then go onto develop on these codes and conventions  the same as i did with my documentary examples so that the presentation correlates between the two types of examples so that it looks and feels organised. I also used images to illustrate the information i was given, this was used to make my presentation more entertaining and interesting. Throughout the presentation i also labeled the images to let the audience know what the images were about.

Documentary idea rationale

My documentary idea is called 'The day in the life of a pianist', my documentary will follow an aspiring, professional pianist Lewis Peart to see how much time he spends practicing the piano and what his daily routine consists off such of how he balances his social life with his dedication to become a professional pianist. My documentary will show one individual person creating his own path to having a career as a professional concert pianist.

The conventions I intend to use for this documentary are Observational footage, interviews, and a voice over. The observational footage I will use will be cutaways of Lewis playing the piano and footage of his home and college to compare the different environments he plays the piano in. The observational footage will illustrate and show the audience what and how Lewis plays the piano to give the audience a better understanding of the skill and effort Lewis puts into playing the piano. I will also use observational footage to make my documentary look and feel more authentic and professional. I also intend to use observational footage to make my documentary more interesting for the audience instead of just using footage of interviews with Lewis.

Another convention I will be using is interviews. Throughout my documentary I will show footage of interviews with Lewis, I intend to use interviews is to give the audience more insight into the reasons why Lewis wants to become a professional pianist and information about how he started playing the piano. Interviews also are one of the main convention in documentary film making as they focus on the specific person the documentary may be on or to give information on what the documentary’s subject is  which is what I want to achieve in my documentary due to my documentary being on one person and his journey to become a professional pianist.

The final convention I will be using is a voice over. The reasons I will be using a voice over is to narrate the situations and give information to the audience about the footage being shown such as facts and figures about Lewis or develop on the information he has given in the interview. The voice over that I will be using will also be the answers to the questions that I am asking Lewis in the interview over certain footage to make the documentary more interesting.

My documentary idea will deal with issues relating to factual programming by being impartial and objective towards the subject being shown. This is due to the documentary dealing with one person’s aspirations of becoming a professional pianist and shouldn't be shown in a prejudice way such being biased and subjective with my opinion but allowing Lewis to give his own information and view on it due to many different documentaries not being subjective and voicing the opinions of the presenters. My documentary will only show the facts and opinions of Lewis as the documentary is about him and his daily life. 

BBC news at 10 analysis

Codes and conventions

News reporters are used through out the news such as the use of a male reporter who is situated in a studio in which he gives the headlines and information about the news that is occurring and relevant. Another reporter that is used is a female field reporter who elaborates on the news that is happening.

Voice overs are used over cutaways and observational footage such as to give information on the news which is being reported. The cutaways/Observational footage which are used relate to the news being broadcasted such as giving more elaborate and illustrated information on the story.

Interviews are used also during the news such interviews with experts and witnesses to give information  of the subject being reported. Interviews with experts are with people who have knowledge on what is being reported on such as doctors, whereas witnesses are people who are the general public who do not have a wide understanding of the subject but who have happened to see and witness it.

The news have a mixture of hard and soft news. Hard news which is reported is things such as big news that is important and is life affecting news, whereas soft news is news which is not as important and is more for entertainment purposes.

Facts and figures are shown through graphics to give the audience a better understanding of the news and to make it more entertaining and visually appealing so that they do not become disinterested The facts and figures being shown are quantitative and qualitative research. Graphics are also used in the studio behind the reporter which relate to the news.

Documentary-Johns not mad

Codes and conventions

The documentary 'Johns not mad' uses several codes and conventions of documentary film making. The codes and conventions are:

Observational footage, the documentary uses mainly observational footage of John to show how he copes with everyday life and how he copes with his Tourettes, This is used to go into more depth about Johns life and give the audience a better understanding of Tourettes and what it is.

Voice over, Voice overs are used to narrate the situations that johns facing and his struggles in his daily life. The voice over is female due to the voice being more sympathetic.

Interviews, Interviews are used through out the documentary. The interviews used are with John, Johns mum, and an expert, the interviews with John give the audience an insight to how John feels to such as Tourettes affects his daily life and how he has to cope with it, The interview with his mum is on how she has to cope with coming to terms with johns condition. The Experts interview gives the audience more information on the Tourette's condition, Experts interviews act as the voice of god and give more information and facts on Tourettes. 

Representation clip

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01pvbp3/growing-up-poor-original-series-1-girls

The BBC also has to represent Britain and reflect how Britain actual is to the audience watching their programmes. The BBCs mission as quoted from the BBC webpage is “To enrich people's lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain”. This means the BBCs mission is to tell facts but also entertain audiences which means they must represent Britain truthfully and honestly due to the BBC potentially having an international audience also so that it does not offend viewers who are watching. An example that I analysed from the BBC is a programme called ‘Growing up poor’ which follows the lives of teenagers who are trying to survive on £10 a week and struggling with their daily lives. The BBC represents Britain honestly and seriously as it shows a balanced debate and impartiality to the situations the people have to deal with, the programme shows how people have to deal with poverty and how they ended up this way which doesn’t show the BBC being subjective but objective due to them only showing the facts and never being opinionated. Overall from analysing this programme I believe the BBC are honest in their representation of Britain and tell the facts of what is happening.

Objectivity clip

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04t63y7/newsnight-26112014

The BBC also has to be objective when telling factual news and stories due to the BBC being required to be impartial and only deliver the facts to the audience without the opinions of the reporters/people working at the BBC if this were to happen then the BBC would not be impartial and objective but would be subjective. Objectivity is when reporters tell the news that is happening but only base their conclusion on facts rather than their own opinions. A quote to support this is Steven Maras (2013) “Objectivity is the reporting of reality, of facts, as nearly as they can be obtained without the injection of prejudice and personal opinion”. This quote shows that objectivity is reporting on facts and reality without reporters being subjective (Bringing in their own personal opinions) and coming to a conclusion based on facts and not opinions. An example from the BBC which shows objectivity is a programme called ‘Newsnight’, Newsnight is a current affairs programme which reports on news which is happening in the UK. From what I can see from analysing this programme is that the beginning of the programme the reporter says a point but then follows up with some factual information and uses evidence to report what is happening, this happens throughout the show. During the show we hear a voiceover and several different interviews which are always objective and impartial towards the subject, I also saw that when the interviewees answered the questions being asked by the reporter, the reporter never voiced his opinion he only talked about the factual information when coming to a conclusion. From watching Newsnight I believe that the BBC when reporting are objective as they always use facts and evidence to create their conclusion.

impartiality clip

The BBC Is required to ensure all subject matters are treated with due impartial due to it being an international public broadcaster which means the public pay for it through TV licences. This means the BBC has to be impartial because they must treat various different views and opposing viewpoints equally and not be biased towards one viewpoint so that it does not offend the audience watching it. A quote to support this Eric Barendt (2002, pp 108) states “In contrast, Television and radio are required by law to be impartial in their treatment of political and industrial controversies”. This quote shows that subject matters concerning political and industrial controversies should be dealt with due impartiality when it is being discussed on television and on the radio as it is the law. An example from the BBC is a programme called ‘Question Time’ which I analysed to see how the BBC are impartial. This topical debate show deals with issues and debates which the members of the public pose questions for guests which are on both sides of the panel. The Question Time I analysed dealt with Nick Griffin from the BNP who debated with the people who oppose his political ideology and questions from members of the public. The host David Dimbleby is impartial due to him giving both sides of the debate the opportunity to voice their opinions without giving his opinion or siding with one side of the debate which would mean he is not being impartial if he sided with one side of the debate, David Dimbleby is also impartial throughout until the end which shows that the quote “Trust is the foundation of the BBC: We are independent, impartial and honest” is true when  it comes down to the BBC being impartial due to hosts on the BBC such as David Dimbleby being impartial.