How did your research inform your products and the way they
use or challenge conventions?
Dziga Vertov used documentary story-telling as a way of
re-configuring the dynamics of truthful storytelling. I was inspired by Vertov’s
use of creativity in his shots to convey his narrative, especially overlaying
shots that can be considered revolutionary of their time. My research on
Vertov’s shots inspired me to be creative with my visual storytelling, thus I
felt encouraged to include footage that referenced his overlaying shots but in
slightly re-branded ways. I used the idea of overlaying in a shot whereby my
interviewee is sat with a projection of a French flag over her face, and again
in a shot where my other interviewee is looking down into a broken mirror,
which references a mirror shot that Vertov used himself. In addition to the
traditional documentaries, I researched BBCIII documentaries like, ‘Being
British-Bangladeshi’ and ‘The Instagram effect’, as both of these documentaries
shared my target audience, and the former discussed similar topics to my own
documentary. I attained my knowledge of traditional documentary conventions
from my research of contemporary documentaries, such as ‘Blackfish’, which illustrated
the conventional ways of interviewing within documentaries, however I equally
utilized my knowledge of those typical conventions to then challenge them. I
referenced Sergei Eisenstein’s ‘Battleship Potemkin’, which demonstrated a use
of montage that does not typically occur within a chronological format of a
documentary. I used the theory of montage in my own documentary, which then
defied the typical chronological conventions of most documentaries.
How did your products represent social groups and issues?
My documentary Is based around the lesser told stories of
international students studying in England, essentially meaning that
representations were the key convention of my documentary. I use my documentary
as a way of challenging the under discussed stereotypes of international
students, in which they are classified as ‘unimportant’ and ‘abnormal’ in
regards to British culture. I have three main representations in my documentary:
Age (Young), nationality and gender (female). My products represent these
social groups combined, in an attempt to place an emphasis on the lack of
importance on the person, and the nation wide focus on the limiting identities
of these young international students. My Social media minor task more represents
the young social group, as the contemporary illustrations of my interviewees on
Instagram resonates with a youthful representation. My documentary primarily
discusses nationality, and the challenges that arise from being born from a
different nationality than your peers. I represent nationality through the
discourse of my interviewees, but equally through my visual representations and
the use of projection to convey the emphasis on national identity. Alongside representations,
my products discuss issues that accommodate young international students in the
UK, which are common among people with different national backgrounds. These
issues brand from cultural issues and language barriers to issues of racism and
prejudice, which are very prominent in the lives of international students,
however severely under-discussed. I represent these issues through my interviews
which are accompanied by camera shots that resonate the negativity surrounding
the representation of international students.
How do the elements of your production work together to
create a sense of branding?
My overall branding is driven by the key ideas of
nationality and the currency of important conversations being made by people
who can be considered to be in the ‘shadows’ of mainstream society. I aimed for
a brand of identity to be illustrated in all of my products, in order to achieve
that strong sense of branding. For my minor task I made choices that referenced
identity, for example in covering up the faces of my interviewees and placing
an emphasis on the importance of introducing each interviewee in regards to
their identity. My photos of people were all comprised of close ups, which
purposely positions the audience to consider the person they are looking at and
resonate with the significance of identity. I carried that message further in
my magazine minor task, whereby I took careful measures to ensure that my
magazine image reflected the same significance on identity. My magazine image
features myself, lying on a British flag with an American football helmet in my
hands. This was to reference my own nationality, and to convey they branding
throughout my minor tasks. I wanted my audience to engage with my media products,
through Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratification theory, as the audience will
engage with my media products as they resonate with the message.
How do your products engage with the audience?
My audience for this documentary was ABC1’s and 2’s with a strong
female skew, typically aged 16-34, who have common interests in politics and
social media. My primary audience would be young international students who
engage with my media product for its representation and discussion of narrative
that is relevant to their lives. My secondary audience would be along the older
spectrum of my target audience, and engage with my documentary as a form of
educating themselves and learning about different view points. This secondary audience
could be classed as ‘more mature’, as it would be comprised of people who are
interested in learning about new things that are unfamiliar to them. In regards
to the young demographic of my target audience, the visual aspects of my
documentary would interest them the most, as some shots are artistic and
colorful, which attract the eyes of people, despite the possibility that
people can be easily distracted. I think that the visually colorful shots
would attract the young audience, as they have short attention spans and
require the media they consume to be instantly gratifying.
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