Ancillary Task- Poster

For our individual ancillary task I decided to do a poster. For this I needed to consider carefully what to include in order to make it a successful piece of work. I needed to think about how I was going to design my page and the variety of fonts and text sizes I was going to use. Colour was important as it makes it much more exciting and easy to read.  I also needed to consider the appropriate language to use as it was important to use media terms throughout. Use of pictures that were related to my topic were important to use as it broke up the text as well as added something interesting for the readers to look at. A variety of camera angles throughout our documentary were important as it allowed the audience to have a different perspective on certain things.

Our archive footage in which we included in our documentary was important to include in my poster as it shows the statistics of both schools and their exam results.

Pictures of uniform and facilities were very important to include as they were some of the main differences.

Jodie Marsh - My Secret Past

Throughout the development of our A2 course, I felt it was important to continue to watch documentaries. Not only because they are interesting and entertaining to watch but I felt it was a good idea to get as many ideas as possible. It gave my ideas on interview techniques and particular camera angles. 


This documentary in particular was a very touching and very personal one as it was based on the topic of bullying and the extent of tragic damage it can do. I felt in some ways it could relate to our documentary topic as a lot of bullying takes place at school. Glamour model, reality TV star and body builder Jodie Marsh tells the full story of what effect bullying had on her and how it has made her the person she is today. Jodie faces up to some uncomfortable memories from her time at school. It is an emotional journey that sees her exploring beyond the boundaries of her native Brentwood to uncover the true extent of bullying and its impact on its victims. When Jodie was at primary school her nose was broken during a hockey match. At secondary school her crooked nose was crooked became the subject of bullies’ taunts. Constant verbal abuse led Jodie to contemplate suicide and caused her parents to offer her a nose job when she was 15. It made no difference and the bullying continued until her parents removed her from school. With her own personal experience in mind, Jodie connects with some of today’s young victims of bullying. How does it affect them and what support do they receive? How do schools deal with bullying now compared to when Jodie was at school? Is their approach effective? Jodie knows that bullying experienced at school can affect people for the rest of their lives, and she wants to help others recover from the psychological damage more quickly than she did.

It was an amazing documentary and was extremely sad to be able to witness some of the effects bullying has, even later on in life. On the channel 5 website people were able to leave feedback about the documentary which was very interesting to look at. 

Change of plan!

Unfortunately along the way of our filming we had a few problems. After doing our filming and interviews at Heathside school, it was time to move on to filming at our private school, which we had chosen to be St Georges College. We called up St Georges in order to ask for permission to film but unfortunately their policies didn't allow us to.

Our new chosen private school is Reeds School, which is based in Cobham and has beautiful grounds. Our filming will take place there next week as we need to film the grounds and do some interviews in order to complete our documentary.

Planning for double page spread

Magazine Article- Group ancillary task

For our group ancillary task we are doing a magazine article. Doing this presentation allowed me to get more of an insight in what to include. Doing a magazine article will be good for our documentary as we will need it to be appealing looking as well as including the right text to attract an audience. We thought our magazine article would be effective if it was based around exam results or the stress of pupils as this would be appealing to both old and young people. It wouldn't just be something the pupils themselves are interested in, it would also be very appealing to parents and teachers. 

Filming Interviews

The clip above is part of our filming process. We believed it was crucial to include interviews in our documentary as the audience can really relate to them. The interview between Nick and myself was important as I have attended both a private school and a public school so the audience can clearly listen to my point of view and my opinions. The positioning of Nick and myself worked well as we could clearly listen and speak to one and other. The audience could also clearly see what was going on. We made good use of the 180 degree rule. The questions within the interview flow nicely allowing the audience to get a good understanding of our opinions.   

Interviews

Analysis Of Documentary Process

In class we looked upon our documentary and evaluated what was
the successful and what needed improving when looking at making
the final documentary.  

One Shot

Camera Angles: During the interview filming
we used the camera angle 'two shot' as this clearly

showed to the audience the interviewer and the 
interviewee, which also showed reactions. 
This is an appropriate shot to use in the filming
of our main task,equally effective would be a one 
shot but with a voice-over with the questions
so the focus is on the interviewee. 

PreviewTwo Shot 

We also worked an the opening/introduction to our documentary. 
We decided we would use sped up video of the route of the car
journey heading into both the private school and public school.
After filming the footage we decided it was an effective way of
showing a clear difference between the two. The camera angle used
was a panning shot used through the windscreen of a car. 

Here are the two screenshot from Google Maps of the route we took
and the entrances to the

public school (Heathside School) and the private school (St Georges College)

St Georges College 

Heathside School

Documentary Process so far : Analysis

In class we looked at the process of our documentary so far, what was successful and what wasn't successful. We looked at things we need to improve to make our documentary everything we need it to be.

The camera angles we have used so far and why: We've used two shots for interviews, this worked really well as both the person being interviewed and the person interviewing were in the shot. This allowed the audience to get a full perspective of what was being spoken about.

We've created a really good opening for our documentary. We filmed the journey in to school to both St Georges and Heathside. This was really effective as there was a massive contrast between the two. The camera angle used here was a panning shot as it sets the scene for the documentary.

We took lots of long shots when filming the facilites to get a full view of them all.

Close ups throughout our documentary also worked really well as they emphasized certain things we filmed.

We researched some interviewing and questioning techniques, this worked to our advantage as we got a good idea of what would work well in our interviews included in our documentary

Our documentary takes the forms of observational and participatory. Our group members get involved with the documentary allowing the audience to really understand and get involved with the documentary themselves.

We chose to do a magazine double page spread, this task is done individually. We also are doing an advertising campaign as a group based around our documentary.

Our documentary targets a varied audience. The aspects included in our documentary target all ages as a lot of issues are covered.

We've made our documentary different and interesting by including many different aspects. We have included several interviews throughout which works well to keep the audience interested, it also breaks the documentary up nicely. We have also including statistics in our documentary as the statistics support our arguement in the documentary.

We've worked well together as a group, our group is organised and we are up to speed with the process of our documentary. We have aimed to take on  individual duties so our final outcome is the best it can be.

It would be good if we could get together more outside of school and do some work as a group as we need to stick to deadlines.

We are going to include archive footage in our documentary such as pictures and newspaper articles. This will be effective in the outcome of our final piece.

Interviews

In class today we filmed our interview with myself being asked the questions. We did this as I could give a perspective on both a private school and state school. The interviews worked really well as we asked a wide range of questions that really bring together our documentary. We also interviewed Miss Donovan as she could also give us a point of view from both sides. We are going to St Georges College next week to film a few interviews with teachers there and to get some more footage of the school itself, mainly the facilities as there is a massive difference between the two. Types of questions included were:

• Is there a massive difference between the facilities at the two schools? If so what are they?
• Do the pupils have a different attitude to learning?
• Is it worth the money you pay to be educated at a private school?
• Does the uniform in sixth form effect attitudes to learning?
• Is the teaching standard the same? 
• What does a typical school day consist of?

Planning our interviews

We have decided to include various interviews in our documentary in order to break our documentary up as well as include different points of views on a state school and private school.
I am being interviewed in our documentary as I used to go to St Georges College in Weybridge so I have experienced both a state school and private school and what life is like at both. I will be able to unravel some of the differences and similarites from both schools.
We are also including interviews of several teachers and we can pick and choose the best bits to include in our final outcome.
During our interviews we also have to consider the different camera angles. This will provide the audience with a more interesting documentary to watch as we will not just stick to one camera angle. Possible shots we have considered are: Two Shot, Close up, Long Shot, Zooming in and out to create a bigger picture. Specfic camera angles will also allow the audience to follow the story line more clearly.

Development for magazine article

Doing this presentation helped with deciding what to do for our group ancillary task. Looking at different examples and annotating them really helped me. It also gave me a chance to look at different lay outs and images that will relate and go well with our magazine article. We also need to think of a good story line in which will capture the readers attention. We will need to think of things such as font and colour and the effects of them. 

Public vs Private

In order to get a good idea for exactly what we were going to do and what we wanted to achieve, I created a powerpoint to show what we were going to do, the roles everybody has, how we are going to make it unique and what audience will our documentary interest? It was very useful doing this powerpoint as it will help in our developing and progress of our documentary. 

Location shots of Heathside school

 In preparation for our final piece we took some location shots of both schools we were basing our documentary around. This really helped as we were able to develop and edit some of our ideas for our final outcome. It also allowed us to see some of the major comparisons between each of the schools.

Playground area

Sports fields

Long Jump

Netball/Hockey/Basketball/Tennis/Football court

Rugby field

Our Final Idea

For our final piece we have decided to look at the comparisons between a state school and a private school. The school we have chosen for our state school is Heathside school in Weybridge and the private school we have chosen is St Georges College in Weybridge. This will work well for us when it comes to filming as both schools are very local. In our final piece we are going to look at the facilities, uniform and the students and teachers, which will include interviews. The final conclusion will prove or dis prove the asumption that private schools achieve higher GCSE results than state schools.

What is needed

Marking criteria

It was important to take on board what was expected from us to achieve the best possible results.

Hayley - The world's oldest teenager

Hayley Okines, who has a condition known as progeria, which makes her age eight times faster than a normal person, stars in Channel 5′s documentary, Extraordinary People, I watched this documentary last week and was so moved by it.
The World’s Oldest Teenager, follows Hayley to the USA where in the New Year she is to try a new drug. Forever Young could transform all of our lives as it could enable everyone to live 20 to 30 years longer – and Hayley, who will be 14 in December, is to be the guinea-pig to bravely trial it out. It takes nerves of steel for her mum Kerry, because there could be side-effects no-one knows of. At the same time, it could transform Hayley’s life. When doctors diagnosed Hayley as a toddler, it was estimated she might not live until her 13th birthday. Now, although nothing can reverse the rare genetic condition she suffers from – which causes arthritis and hip problems as it prematurely ages her – it could give her the chance of a future.
At the same time this incredible film, which is narrates by Hayley herself, follows her as she meets fellow progeria sufferer Harry Crowther. Since meeting a year ago the pair have struck up a strong friendship and regularly keep in contact on Facebook. They are helping one another through their life-threatening illness.
Hayley is also shown with her brother and sister – who don’t suffer from the condition – and as a normal teenager. And in that way, she is just like any other girl of her age – she adores clothes, make-up, Facebook and Twitter – and is possibly singer Justin Beiber’s greatest fan.

And like any other teenager she and mum Kerry fall out sometimes. “Hayley is tiny so I find it hard to let go,” says mum Kerry, “I don’t even like her going on the bus by herself into town – but of course she wants to just like her friends.”
Meanwhile, Hayley, who is recognised wherever she goes and even has her own Wikipedia page, is shortly to have her autobiography published. Old Before my Time, written by Hayley, her mum Kerry and writer Alison Stokes, will be published on 24th November .

Story board for final piece

Within our group we created a story board to help us with our final idea. It included a shot-by-shot explanation of our documentary opening.

1. Shot one was a long shot of our chosen private school.
2. A long shot of our chosen state school.
3. Wide angle shot of uniform.
4. Long shot of facilities- comparisons.
5. Two shot- interview- students- state school.
6. Two shot- interview- students- private school.
7. Two shot- interview- teachers- state school.
8. Two shot interview- teachers- private school.
9. Statistics of both schools.

Ideas

Analysis of Documentaries

In class we watched about a ten minute clip from 6 different documentaries and made notes on the conventions presented in each.

We looked into:

1. The conventions used
2. Soundtrack
3. Editing techniques
4. Use of archive footage
5. Documentary type

The first clip I watched was from 'The Blue Planet'...

1.  The conventions used were, voiceover, voice of God, narration- facts and figures
2. Natural sound was used, build up of sound to create tension was also used, the sounds of animals were used which was effective because it was realistic.
3. A variety of camera angles was used, different lighting, jumps from scene to scene which kept it exciting, fast and slow shots also kept the audience interested.
4. No archive footage was used.
5. It was a nature documentary, it also included some poetic forms as it was very calm and relaxing with the music and pictures shown.

The second clip was from 'When we were Kings'...

1. Voice over was used as was voice of god, interview was also used.
2. Loud music was played, meaningful music was also played which made the documentary moving.
3. Variety of camera angles were used, different lighting was used, black outs, fast and slow editing, pausing on images, black and white images.
4. Archive footage was used, clips of him training were shown, posters, clips of him boxing and also shown with other celebrities.
5. It was a poetic/observational documentary.

'Summer Heights high' was the third documentary...

1. Use of interview, use of titles, introduction to documentary was effective, it enabled the audience to understand exactly what was going on. Voice over, mise en scene.. school, correct environment.
2. Natural music, school play music, music between scenes.
3. Variety of camera angles, fast and slow editing, lots of reaction shots, introduction to characters, lighting.
4. Musicals the drama teacher has featured in. DVD of school.
5. Its a parody/mockumentary.

The fourth was 'The World at War'...

1. Use of interview, mise en scene, voice of god.
2. Patriotic music at the beginning.
3. Jump cut, slow motion, colour/black and white, variety of camera angles, use of titles, use of translation.
4. Clips of Germany, Images of soldiers, letters/reports.
5. Expository documentary

The next was the 'Take That official documentary'...

1. Voiceover, Hearing the boys point of view, use of interview
2. Crowds screaming, tense music, Take that backing music.
3. Jumping from scene to scene, blackouts, slow motion, sped up, Use of titles, cuts between interviews.
4. Clips of them as children, clips of concert, Philip Schofield and 15 year old Gary Barlow, pictures of their old jobs and clips of them performing when they were younger.
5. Poetic/observational documentary.

The last documentary was 'David Tennant- who do you think you are?'...

1. Voiceover, use of titles, voice of god,  voice of authority, handheld camera
2. Peaceful calm music in the background
3. Variety of camera angles, close ups, jump cuts, establishing shots
4. Use of computer graphics, time line, pictures
5. Participatory/observational

This activity allowed us to develop skills and get a better undestanding of the different conventions in different types of documentaries. It was good practice as we had to really watch the clip of the documentary in order to comment on the conventions used.