Unit 27: Task 1

Unit 27
 

Introduction

Factual programming has a set of issues at its disposal to create an effective and entertaining programme that will keep man audience involved. Factual programmes come about when a certain subject is explored by a person who will then find out facts and relative information about the subject. In factual programming, the subject tends to be aimed towards a single interest so the viewing audience will know what they are watching. The provider will give out facts and an interesting story to the audience. To make sure everything broadcast in the UK there is a regulator known as Ofcom.  Ofcom is for the benefit of the public and is not for commercial purposes. Ofcom protects the public from anything that may cause hurt or harm both physically and mentally.

Accuracy

Accuracy is key when it comes to factual film making because when the public what a documentary they expect to be informed, and when information is given out by these programs it is expected to be true. If the information turned out to be false then this would be when Ofcom would step in and take action against the team who helped put the documentary on air. It is important that the information is true for both sides of the argument to present a fair viewpoint for each side. If the information is not true then they may lose the trust of their viewing figure, which with all of the social networking and the speed of which information can be transferred so fast can be bad news from the network. 

Programmes that must be accurate are things such as the news, which are much of the public’s only way of getting information from around the world. The news is real, and gives an accurate presentation of a story, and offers both sides of the story and they must be careful to give real facts. Although they try to keep a balanced argument sometimes, a bias opinion comes in for example in interviews. If they are unsure about a story, they will only report on what they have on that story but if they have heard rumours on a story, they will stress that it is not fact before revealing the information.

Balance

Balance is when and argument is presented with both parties having a flag bearer for their opinion. This means that the argument is kept balanced and that both parties can present their ideas for the story, this helps make sure that there is no bias opinion circling the issue. Usually when an argument is televised then there will be a host to keep the discussion in check. They will make sure that everyone has their say that everything stays in order and all the opinions are heard.

Impartiality

Impartiality is when the presenter does not take either side of a story; instead, they sit on the fence and offer no sort of opinion. In factual programmes, it is important to show both sides of the argument and offer no opinion. It is important to be impartial as there is two sides of the story and if there is a drift to one side then some of the audience may be turned away. To some networks it is important to them to remain impractical because this helps to maximum their audience. Many people watch factual programmes just to gain the facts, and they don’t want to see an argument because they it gets the mind going and takes the audience member away from the feeling of being relaxed.

Objectivity

Objectivity is when you make a judgment based on what you have seen. For example the information you present to you audience in documentaries are important, because they will make their judgment based on the footage that they have seen on the documentary. Being objective is being able to put an argument across and presenting all of the research gathered without being biased because if they present a bias argument then they will offer the audience an opinion, which many may not share. Giving the audience a chance to make up their own mind keeps the topic alive after the documentary is over. As i have shown with the documentary below which was 'Is Britain a racist country?' which was made by Channel 4. This is the same as an opinion piece because then you offer your opinion to the argument and when the audience can see your opinion and then have their own choice as to whether or not to listen to it.

Subjectivity

Subjectivity is when you make a judgment based on your own personal feelings and opinions, this is forcing your viewpoints on the public, and this can make you seem pushy and even in some cases stupid as maybe not all of the population shares the same opinions as you. Many of these types of documentaries present the topic in a bad way and a bad style to create a bad opinion on the topic and this creates and emotional feeling among viewers. I used the trailer from the very controversial documentary made by Micheal Moore which was Bowling for Columbine. Subjectivity is similar to an bias opinion because that is still your point going out to the audience.

Representation

Representation is when someone or something is being made to look a certain way. In a documentary if you wanted the audience to have a particular view on someone, you would have to show them in a particular way, either in a good way or bad. This can be done in several ways for example if the person does an interview they could a lot of things in that interview which could then be re-edited to make the person look bad, and to make a person look good they could re-edit it another way. To make the person look good you can create a feeling of sympathy for  the person and then the audience grows to like the individual. The media can also victimize the individual and make the out to be something they're not. They can also make some people fall into a certain stereotype and then make them out to look and sound like this stereotype. There may also be a host or presenter which may direct the audience to have a certain opinion on a person and this connects representation to a Bias viewpoint. An example of this is the Jeremy Kyle show and Judge Judy.

Access

Access is when you have the freedom to be able to use something or someone. For example when you use old footage on the subject or in a historical piece of film or an old interview that was conducted before a subject may have died or is not willing to conduct an interview. There is also the need to get access to film someone or in somewhere when you are going to film a documentary and then once you have the permission of the person you need the permission from a site where you will film, unless it’s a public place. In my exmple below I can see that the makers of the documentary used footage from around the time the documentary is talking about.

Privacy

Privacy is when you are able to keep something to yourself and you are at liberty to hand out this information if you wish to do so. No one has to share something to someone or currently the world if they don’t want to. In some documentaries, you see people’s faces being blurred out when they are talking. A person is able to say that they want the image of themselves to be kept private. This is commonly seen in news interviews and on reality television shows were people are seen in the background in things where they don’t belong for example on shows like the BBC’s ‘The sheriffs are coming’ where a person being reprocessed may not want their image show.

Contract with the viewer

Contract with the viewer is when the audience tunes into your documentary which maybe called ‘The moon’ and then you show a lot of shots of the moon and space or pictures and some footage of maybe astronauts on the moon and this is what the viewing audience member is expecting. The example i have used is called Sleeping Rough and is about people sleeping on the streets and if you watch it, its what you see.

My documentary - Beards; Hair Everywhere

 

I feel that my documentary will be accurate, as I have already begun to build up a portfolio of facts that I can use to show what my documentary is about and keep my documentary interesting. I have to keep my argument balanced and considering my subject, which is not too controversial, it should not be a difficult task.

 

I would remain impartial because I feel that this documentary will teacher me as well as my viewers and I will have to remain impartial because I have no other choice. I am going to be the presenter and I will lead the documentary rather than guide it to a place I want it to be. There will be argument in my factual documentary and although the two parties will not meet, I will have to edit my piece to give a controversial but fair viewpoint.

I aim to represent all characters in my story in different ways to give them more of a personality and a background, which will keep my audience more entertained and interested in my work. When it comes to giving my characters stereotypes, I have an interesting scenario because some of them are stereotypical and some are not.

I would be working closely with my characters and like many documentaries my documentary rely on my characters being open and relaxed so if they wish to remain anonymous then I would give in to their needs because they are integral to the story and if I don’t have them I don’t have a story.