Relevant video to our documentary (By Natasha Kohli)

Here is a short video which has been taken from a news channel. This video goes to a certain place in America where they look at different stereotypes, and ask for the views of the people that live there. The responses we get are mostly negative, as they believe that they are being put into a certain category because of where they live and how they dress. The reason i have picked this video, is because our documentary is simular to this. We are trying to show how people are stereotyped into society by the way they dress. So by using this as an example, would help us in our own documentary, so we get an idea of the reactions we would be getting from all people.

Final Draft Proposal (By Natasha Kohli)

Final Draft Proposal

Research Into Theorist Walter Fisher (By Zoe Woodstock)

Walter Fisher studied communication of which later established the 'Narrative theory'.  It was useful to research Fisher because this narrative theory is based on the idea that people are storytellers. Fisher, in 1984, states that 'storytelling is one of the oldest and most universal forms of communication and so individuals approach their social world in a narrative mode and make decisions and act within this narrative framework'. 

Fisher's research theory however conflicted with current beliefs of how people interact. Thus he developed two paradigms: the rational paradigm, and the narrative paradigm. The rational world paradigm describes how people are rational and make their decisions based on arguments. Rationality is aided by our amount of knowledge which can help us solve logical puzzles through analysis. The narrative paradigm states how people are storytellers and they make decisions by having good reasons. Factors like our culture and character can determine what we view as good. The world is a set of stories from which we choose to re-create our lives.
Fisher made it possible for individuals to distinguish what makes a story justified. He calls this 'Narrative Rationality'.  This concept consists of two parts: coherence and fidelity. Coherence defines whether a story makes sense structurally. Fidelity relates to whether a story is true or not. 
We are trying to portray our argument rationally and hope the audience will make a rational decision toward fashion and stereotypes and base their arguments on good reasons.

Weekly Update :5 (By Georgie Watters)

This Week We Are Mainly Sorting Our Blog Out And Getting All Of Our Blog Work Done And Up To Date. We Have All Discussed That We Will Start Filming The Last Of Our Interview's Next Week.

BBFC (By Faye Callaghan)

As our documentary will be televised, it is necessary for it to include a BBFC (British Boards Of Film Classification). We have decided to give 'Fashion Tribes' a PG (Parental Guidance) certificate so it is not suitable to anyone of a very young age of whom may not understand the content. 

Technology We Have used (By Georgie Watters)

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Weekly Update- Week Four (By Georgie Watters)

For Week Four We Have Finished Our Assessments And Are Just Getting Our Blog Work Done Before We Focus Our Main Attentions On Producing And Editing Our Documentary.

Research Into Subject Matter ( By Natasha Kohli )

Stereotyping is when people are put up into a certain category according to the way they present themselves towards others. In this case the way people dress, stereotypes them into society. Without us really knowing their characteristicts, we tend to judge them by the way they look. And we ALL do it.

The uk fashion market is highly dynamic. It is marketed with a wide diversity attitudes towards brands and trends. Fashion Segments, takes account of this diversity to give retailers and manufacturers an overlook into their customers and the wider marketplace. Fashion market analysis describes attitudes towards fashion and brands and consumer behaviour related to types of clothes, stores visited and the frequency, value and purpose of shopping trips.

Fashion Segments ensures that you understand your customers and prospects and helps you recruit new customers through targeted, personal communications. Marketing database also supports network planning, helping you to identify the best locations for clothing stores through  the size of the market in which you compete.

Different types of fashion trends: 

Vintage style- vintage is when people bring back clothes from a previous era.

Bohemiam- Hippie look

Hollywood glam-  A style that originated in Southern California in 1930 that combines English, French Regency, Greek Revival and old Hollywood.

Punk- Punk fashion is the styles of clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewelry, and body modifications of the punk subculture.

Trendy- A trendy is a social categorization of person who follows modern fashion and listens to mainstream music, having no music genre in particular they follow.

Hip Hop- Hip hop fashion complements the expressions and attitudes of hip hop culture.

Goth- Gothic fashion is a clothing style worn by members of the Goth subculture

Newspaper Research (By Georgie watters)

Newspaper Advertising Is A Form Of Communication Intented To Persuade An Audience (The Viewer Or Readers)  To Purchase Or Take Some Action Upon Products Or Services. It Includes The Name Of The Product And How The Product Could Help Benefit The Consumer To Persuade A Target Audience To purchase Or Consume That Particular Product. These Products Are Normally Paid For Or Identified Through Sponsers And Are Viewed Through Different Media Platforms. Newspaper Advertising Can Also Communicate An Idea To A Large Number Of People In An Attempt To Convince Them To Take Certain Action. 

Possible Score Notes (By Zoe Woodstock)

We chose a few possible pieces of music we could use for our documentary, listening to them throughly to see if we could use any particular parts. The selected tracks we have chosen may be used or parts of them may be used depending on their suitability with the content. I then uploaded them to Soundcloud so they could be posted on the blog neatly.

Fashion Culture Audio Track 1

We chose this possible track as it fits our subject well. The tempo is fast and the pitch is high. The camera noises match the topic of the fashion industry regarding the paparazzi concept for example.




Essential House Audio Track 3
The initial beat in this song is a good basis when displaying cutaways of models walking down the catwalk for example. The tune is quite inconsistant in terms of pitch which gives a good range.




Essential House Audio Track 7
The beat in this track sounds similar to a disco tune. The beats at the beginning provide a backup sound for cutaways for example, one for every beat.




All the tracks have been retrieved from copyright free cd's. 

Research Into Cultural Theorist Stuart Hall (By Zoe Woodstock)

Due to the audience being an important factor in all televisual media, we thought it would be wise to research the relationship between the text and the audience. Stuart Hall is a renowned theorist who established the 'Hall's Theory' of encoding and decoding. This is an approach to textual analysis which focuses on the scope for negotiation and opposition on part of the audience. In simpler terms, this means that the audience does not passively accept a text, of whether a book or a film, and that an element of activity becomes involved. The audience negotiate the meaning of the text. The meaning depends on the cultural background of the viewer. The background can explain how some readers accept a given reading of a text while others reject it. This theory is also one of the main proponents used to describe audience reception. Hall developed these ideas further in his model of encoding and decoding of media; "The meaning of a text lies somewhere between the producer and the reader. Even though the producer encodes the text in a particular way, the reader will decode it in a slightly different manner. Hall calls this the 'margin of understanding’.
Due to the audience being an important factor in all televisual media, I thought it would be wise to research the relationship between the text and the audience. Stuart Hall is a renowned theorist who established the 'Hall's Theory' of encoding and decoding. This is an approach to analysis which focuses on the scope for negotiation and opposition on part of the audience. In simpler terms, this means that the audience does not passively accept a text, of whether a book or a film, and that an element of activity becomes involved. The audience negotiate the meaning of the text. The meaning depends on the cultural background of the viewer. The background can explain how some readers accept a given reading of a text while others reject it. This theory is also one of the main proponents used to describe audience reception. Hall developed these ideas further in his model of encoding and decoding of media discourses. The meaning of a text lies somewhere between the producer and the reader. Even though the producer encodes the text in a particular way, the reader will decode it in a slightly different manner. Hall calls this the 'margin of understanding'.
Our documentary is a social topic and will undoubtedly create different receptions from audience members as they decode the content.

Adapted from: http: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Hall_(cultural_theorist)

Equipment (By Faye Callaghan)

For our Documentary we will be using a range of different eqipment in order for us to film or interviwes and cut aways to a high standard. This will include the items bellow plus more:- 

The camera we will be using is called PD170 and we will be using this to film our documentary interviews and cut aways.

Throughtout our filming we will be having the camera on a tripod. We will use this to make our documentary look more real and professional. We will also be using it for our cutaways to give a good quality image.

The PD170 comes with a microphone however it doesnt give the best quality sound so we have chosen to use a tie clip microphone to give the best quality sound in order for our documentary to sound professional.

We will be using headphones during filming to hear the sound, this is important for the camera or sound person so they can make sure the sound is perfect. This also helps because we know what it sounds like on location instead of taking it back to the editing suit and realising its wrong, then you can film the take again.

Paglight, This is a light that can be used to create a silhouette effect on a person for example if the person doesn't want their face to be shown we can create a dark effect over their face so all we can see it their outline. Also if we film in the dark/dark lighting it aids us in seeing. 

Voice-over ( By Natasha Kohli)

During our documentary we will be having someone who will take the role of the voice-over. This is used so we can get the message easily through to the audience, rather than having them reading thoughout the documentary, which would make them lose enthusiasm half way through. As our theme is fashion, we decided to use a womans voice, who sounds intelectual and has good pronounciation. Some may say this stereotypical as we are using a female rather than a male. But we are infact going against stereotypes as a lot of documentaries use a male voice to use as the voice-over.

Newspaper Research (By Natasha Kohli)

"Do you think society affects the way you dress?" As this is our main question, we decided to get images and newspaper clippings, so it makes our documentary seem more interesting and would engage the audience. Rather than having just interviews and cutaways throughout the documentary, having these articles would make our production seem more straight to the point and would show different styles of how we are trying to portray the message here. The second newspaper article quotes "Londoners with cool designs on you" - this works well with our documentary as we are trying to show different people with different fashion trends.

Some quotes in these clippings will be scripted and then used during the voiceover. This will make it look much more effective, because we have got imagery as well as voiceover.
The clippings will only be in certain parts of the documentary, because we dont what our audience to lose interest, so by having them ocassionaly fade in and dissolve, will make it look much fascinating.

Documentary Logo (By Zoe Woodstock)

The HCTV logo will be used throughout our 5 minutes of documentary. HCTV refers to Havering college TV. This design has been adapted from the BBC logo to give it a formal and noticeable appearance.

Weekly Update- Week Three (By Georgie Watters)

Documentary Genre (By Zoe Woodstock)

As with any production of a film, we thought it was necessary to research the various genres and modes to improve our documentary. Genre is the type of text being connoted to the audience. This topic is one of the principal factors in product differentiation. Documentaries are separated from fiction films because they portray real life situations and issues to create awareness in the audience or to entertain them. However the main aim in representing a documentary is the authenticity of the evidence. Furthermore the information must also be understandable of which a commentary may be added to aid. Documentaries can sometimes alter people’s opinions or attitudes to particular topics that are being focused on. Documentaries attempt to document reality but due to mediation the veracity of the finished product may be decreased. It is impossible for edited images to be completely factual and the input of the producer's thesis can increase the bias of the product. The specific moral or political view from which an idea is established makes the documentary subjective. Perhaps, to misquote Eco, the objectivity of the text lies not in the origin but the destination?There are many purposes of documentary. A simple recording of events such as a holiday video or polemic texts that evoke argumentative views (Bowling For Columbine) can both be categorised as documentaries. The audience must recognize the purpose early on to decode text differently to fictional narratives and this enhances the importance of the title.

I researched into the ideas of Steven Neale, a professor of philosophy and linguistics. Steve Neale believes that 'genres are instances of repetition and difference'. He stated that 'genres are processes of systematisation' and not systems themselves. He agrees with genres always being historically relative and that they may also help to shape moral values.
















Adapted from:
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre1.html 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Neale
http://www.slideshare.net/crosswaysfederation/types-of-documentory

Documentary Codes & Conventions (By Zoe Woodstock)

Codes and Conventions are documentary techniques used to present the information for the subject in question. Hence re-representing reality. They are used to record important events and ideas for example. 
Vital techniques include:

Exposition

The exposition occurs at the beginning of a documentary and introduces the important themes of the film. It is important because it creates the viewer's first impression and introduces the viewer to the content.

Dramatic segments of the documentary are specially chosen in order to catch the viewer’s attention.

Actuality

Actuality refers to film footage of real life occurrences, places and people. This is contrary to fictional films that use actors, scripted stories and artificial sets. This needs to be impartial, informative, clear, accurate, sourced and creative.

Sound and Voice-over

This should be combined diegetic and non-diegetic sound, with the mix indicating where attention should focused.

The voice-over can be spoken while the camera is filming or added to the soundtrack however all sound should be clear and delivered in an accent that is understood by the whole audience. The 'acrolect'(a high standard version of English regarding the grammar and vocabulary) should be followed.

Structure of the voice over:

1. Begin the with question or problem – summarise the key issue

2. Key facts

3. Opinions and more facts

4. Conclusion and projection – what’s happening next

Visual Coding: Mise en Scene and Props

The Mise-en-Scene is extremely vital in producing high quality filming. The lighting must be natural and of high-key so the interviewees are in complete view. Nevertheless too much illumination must be avoided and interviewees skin colours must not contrast with the background.

Interviewees
The positions of the interviewees can be alternated to display the contrast of people who have different opinions. Interviews on opposing sides of an issue may be shown to give the viewer comprehensive information about a topic.

The main object in the frame must be the topic of focus therefore the background shouldn't include any distracting action.

Camerawork

The Rule of Thirds must be followed so the interviewee is the main focal point.

Normal interviews begin with an establishing shot, followed by mid shots, ending with close-ups.

The eye-line must be considered with the interviewee looking off screen at a mid point diagonally of about 30 degrees.

The camera must also be attached to a tripod and positioned at eye level to avoid dramatisation e.g. high angle to show vulnerability.

Graphics

These can be in the form of text, to portray a message to the audience in a simple yet effective form.


Editing

Continuity enables the footage to flow smoothly as intended in a documentary. Techniques such as the 180 degrees rule; match on action; eye-line match and the 30 degrees rule should be used. Cutaways are essential in documentaries unlike jump cuts.

The on screen graphics should consist of adequately sized, bold lettering for the names, basic font for the roles, white on a black bar (to make it clear). These should all be presented by fades in and fades out.

Straight cuts are significant so the audience can comprehend the information before the footage is cut.

Adapted from class notes and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film_techniques.

The Helvetica Font (By Zoe Woodstock)

I researched into the usage of the 'Helvetica' font and discovered that it is the most commly used 'sans serif' typeface. It is extensively included in most documentaries, office software, electronics, car manufacturers etc. The Helvetica font will be used in our documentary to blend in with current, national TV documentaries to professionalise our product.