Typography and Titles

I have planned and presented the specification for the house style fonts of all of my ancillary products below using Exam Time.
Mind Map created by courtneyodonnell with ExamTime

Following this plan, I experimented with a variety of Final Cut Pro fonts, and found a thin, elegant and sophisticated font which is most appropriate for my documentary due to its formality and modern, minimalistic, youthful look.

Italicised font to represent the quotation.

Experimenting with a balance of upper and lowercase letters to create my artistic, sophisticated and youthfully modern style which would appeal to both my younger demographic and sophisticated older demographic.

To plan my documentary titles (which will remain the same for my newspaper advertisement, and my listings magazine will include a quotation from the article, according to conventionalities of my products/ exhibitors), I researched current Channel 4 documentary titles in order to choose one which is appropriate for my exhibitor.

I found that these titles most commonly use simplistic language, keywords about the themes or topics of the documentaries, colloquial phrases to relate to their target audience, and are short and punchy (often two words) to create a lasting and memorable effect; such as 'Drugs Live', 'Food Unwrapped', Kids Who Can't Stay Awake', 'Being Bipolar' and 'One Born Every Minute'.

These are my evaluated ideas for titles;

• 'Sexism and the Media' - unbiased by suggesting there's a relationship but not defining it, presents a debate, but sounds like 'Sex and the City', which is misleading.
• 'Representing Gender' - ambiguous to create an enigma and present my theme. Gender rather than sexism as it would deter non-feminists (part of my target audience) but attract feminists (also my audience) - less of a balance. It contains two words similarly to Channel 4 and is simple, and also sophisticated to represent my style of documentary, but sounds quite boring - less interesting to potential audiences, unlike 'Blurred Lines: The Battle of the Sexes'.
• 'Misogynistic Media' - too complicated and strong/ controversial, however the alliteration is persuasive.
• 'Gender Roles in the Media' - pun of feminist idea of gender roles as well as roles within the media (production, actors, writers, musicians etc.) - represents my two topics. However this pun isn't very obvious and the title is lengthy - less punchy.
• 'Our Sexist Media' - addresses the audience and engages them, however it sounds like I'm blaming my audience whereas my documentary blames institutions - contradiction.
• 'Feminism vs. the Media' - appeals to feminists but audiences are often put off by feminism - taboo word which isolates them.
• 'The Role of Sexism' - suggests that sexism is a major part of the media industry just like production roles - appropriately introduces my documentary without being too obvious. Simple, mono-syllabic and includes a pun (like gender roles) - conventional of my exhibitor.

Therefore in conclusion I have decided to choose 'The Role of Sexism' as my main title due to its appropriateness to both my documentary and my exhibitor, whilst not isolating non-feminists with controversial language, but attracting feminists interested in debates of sexism (my primary, active audience).

I also added a hashtag to my titles, following my main title in structure, in order to market to and engage with my younger audience more interactively through Twitter and Facebook debates and discussions. This would also advertise my documentary through the two-step-flow concept, as followers of social media accounts or users who notice the trend would become curious about the nature of the hashtag and discussions or become interested in the debate - therefore leading them to my production.

Male Representation Footage

Following the identified for male representation within my documentary from my focus group, I have planned a short shoot within this Prezi presentation to resolve this issue below.

Resolving my Target Audience Issue

From my interview and focus group research, I have been addressing the possible issue of the older demographic of my 17-35 year old target audience being isolated due to my young, 17 year old presenter. However I found that overall, my target audience is opinionatively appropriate.

It was picked up on that younger people are represented perhaps most strongly through my youthfully fast paced, "choppy" editing style and young cast; however the formal, educated vocabulary of my narration and complex issue in focus will attract older audiences. I also found from my interview with a member of my older demographic that he did not feel isolated by my young presenter, and respected her due to her knowledge and professional deliverance. He also stated that using a young presenter would break the stereotype of young people being less interested or educated on political issues. Therefore, overall I have concluded that my target audience is appropriate, and whilst my younger audience is represented through my youthful documentary style and cast, my older audience is represented equally through my narration, costume and topic.

From the opinions I collected within this research, I've also considered marketing more closely to feminists rather than educating all people on sexism, although my documentary would be more informative to non-feminists. Therefore I've developed my target audience to include an active audience of educated feminists and people interested in sexism or the media, and a passive audience of non-feminists interested in Channel 4's successful expository documentary programming, or curiously attracted through the social media debates featuring my hashtag (two-step flow concept). My active audience will seek to be educated with information which supports their opinions and could be brought into debates and entertained by coverage issues which they are interested or passionate about, whereas my passive audience will be educated on an issue which they were perhaps unfamiliar with, and entertained by the youthful and interesting style/ composition of my documentary. Furthermore, although my documentary is supportive of the feminist perspective as its purpose is to present an awareness of sexism, it considers opposing arguments throughout therefore removing an isolating bias, which could actively attract anti-feminists who will seek to challenge the documentary through debates and social media.

Audience and Exhibition

Using the YouGov website, I researched and analysed the main consumers of my exhibitors in relation to my target audience and productions to determine that they are appropriate and relevant. I have presented this research below using SlideShare.

Audience and Exhibition from Courtney O'Donnell

Audio Editing

To add my voiceover of Rowan introducing her interview with Emily over relevant location shots, first I extracted the audio of the voiceover shot, reduced background noise to improve the quality.

After applying the audio reduction to all of my clips, increasing for shots which were particularly lower in quality, I proceeded to add my non-diagetic music by downloading this from my Soundcloud uploads.

For organising the timings of where my music should be positioned, I referred to my shot and script presentation which included this planning. To allow my different music to flow smoothly during changes I applied ducking, which created a soft transition.

Adding my non-diagetic music over my footage

Smoothly fading songs into each other through ducking/ adjusting the volume parametres

Ducking my non-diegetic music to allow my voiceover/ diegetic audio to be emphasised and understood clearly

Further smooth fading between music

To match the tone and tempo of my music to the mood of my footage, I used;

• A faster building volume and tempo section of 'Hard out Here' for my introduction, which therefore built tension and excitement towards the beginning of my main documentary content. I also timed this music to naturally change from the verse for the main part of my introduction (which I repeated to correspond to my introduction timings by trimming and pasting two complete bars of the music after one another) to the faster, more upbeat chorus for the final part of my introduction which informs the audience of the investigation, and my main title. This change in music not only creates excitement, but indicates the end of the introduction.
• A slow, fading section of the same music used within my introduction for the end of my documentary extract to form an organised link between the two and indicate that this part is finished, and flow to the TV adverts through the relaxed tempo.
• I have used trimmed and pasted repetitions of slow tempo sections of my music for most of my narration and interviews to prevent drawing focus away from it with distracting music.
• I have indicated the changes between the sections of my main content through smoothly transitioning between the different music at these points.
• Similarly to the building of tempo and volume of my introduction, I have applied this to the second to last shot of my documentary to create excitement for the conclusion of this part.

Ancillary Product Photography

Following my plan for my photography, I styled and photographed my documentary presenter, Rowan, for my TV listings magazine double page spread photography in the style of the Radio Times (my exhibitor). To prepare this shoot, I brought my make-up kit and borrowed a still camera from my media department to ensure that my image is high quality, as it will fill most of an A3 page being a Radio Times style, double page spread background. As I photographed in my trademark Forum library location to present the setting of the majority of my documentary, I used the same clear natural lighting for this shoot.

Below, I have evaluated my images in order to determine which is most appropriate for my double page spread.

• Poor lighting with an unnatural orange tint whilst I was figuring out the flash on the camera.
• Rowan's expression isn't very bold or interesting - too relaxed.
• The headphone is too far away from her head, preventing an aesthetically pleasing focal point.
• The headphones wire is looped.

• The shadow of the background draws focus to Rowan, creating an aesthetically pleasing balance.
• Rowan's facial expression is more interesting and dynamic than the previous image, with her wider eyes and slight smile.
• Although the smile makes the photo less serious, it presents the youthful style of my documentary.
• Same issue with the looped headphone, although this could be cropped.
• Her hand it raised higher to draw a focal point.

• Effective balance of shadows similar to previous image - however I don't want to focus on this area too much as I can edit this using Photoshop or Picmonkey.
• Her expression seems unnatural and draws attention away from the seriousness of the issue, due to her wider smile and lower 'concernedly raised' eyebrow.

• This is one of my two favourite expressions of Rowan's, as it captures the critical, serious, but playfully youthful look I am creating to represent the style of my product, and links to the photography within the Radio Times due to the similar expressions which I've deconstructed.
• The lighting is very clear and high quality, with an effective shadow balance for the background, however the exposure of her face may be too high; which I will need to lower during editing.
• The pink within the background relates to my topic of feminism, which presents my article content and the theme of my documentary.
• The colour balance is warm, bright and youthful due to the red, pink and orange which markets to my younger demographic and presents an eye-catching look, whilst her black costume aligns with the sophisticated, muted and monochromatic style of the Radio Times' photography.
• The tones of grey along the outside of the image can be selected to form my planned, fading left, gradient, soft grey to blurred bookshelf background.

• The plug socket on the wall can be edited out easily.
• The clean, clear background also naturally forms this soft grey gradient, fade, which is conventional to the style of the Radio Times.
• The lighting is very clear and balanced, although her red hair is washed out by the white background - however I can edit this to enhance the boldness of this colour.
• The colour scheme is muted, sophisticated and monochromatic which is conventional to the Radio Times, and also features the bold pop of red from Rowan's hair to add an expressive, youthful and interesting style.
• Her expression is quite bold and interesting, and is my second favourite expression overall due to the captured youthful and concerned style, despite her lower eyebrow.
• Her position to the side and the high slightly high angle forms a flattering and professional look.
• The headphone wire contrasts well with her black costume, follows the contours of her pose, and blends with the white background.

• Her position facing directly forward is less interesting and stylistic than my other images, or the photography in the Radio Times.
• Her expression is less interesting than some other images due to the lower eyebrow which prevents my concerned and critical envisioned look.

Overall, I've decided that these two photos are the most professional looking and appropriate for my intended style, audience and exhibitor; therefore I will apply them to my draft to test which is most effective:

Focus Group Feedback

I held a focus group with my media class in order to receive feedback on the technical aspects of the first edit of my production from a media studies perspective (including editing, style, representation and audience etc.), and to gather opinions from my target audience about the overall effectiveness of my documentary. This was an appropriate focus group as it contained 8 people, which is appropriate for creating an equal discussion but is not broad enough to rely on entirely - therefore I will continue to research wider target audience feedback. For this audience feedback I also focused on the young adult demographic of my target audience due to their ages of 17-19, as well the educated students, and feminists and non-feminists sub-categories of my target audience; however I also included one adult from my older demographic.

The first edit of my documentary which I presented to my focus group:

Documentary First Draft from Courtney O'Donnell on Vimeo.

Footage of focus group feedback:

Focus Group Feedback from Courtney O'Donnell on Vimeo.

Evaluation of what I found from this focus group, and the improvements I will make following their feedback:

• My issue solving by combining to unusable takes to make them usable did not affect their audio quality or flow of the narration, but I will need to cover them with footage as the cut can be detected.
• My fast paced and broad range of shots during the introduction, and range of angles overall work really well and are conventional of documentaries.
• The topic I'm exploring is informative, interesting and valid. This would therefore entertain my audience, attract them due to my interest topic, and create purpose and relevancy for my documentary.
• I could use jump cuts to speed up the overly long duration of location shots. I definitely agree with this improvement and will apply it to my production.
• I should add subtitles to my 'Literally I Can't' archive footage in order to draw focus to its sexist lyrics and familarise people who are unfamiliar with this song; particularly my older demographic.
• It meets the 'entertaining and informative' convention of the documentary genre to an extent, as it's informative but the seriousness of the issue makes it less entertaining.
• Suggestions of my target audience included older women and young adults (who are represented by my cast, hashtag social media marketing, and youthful cut/ transitions style). This meets my intended target audience of 17-35 year olds, therefore I think that I have resolved my previous issue about older people being isolated from my production due to my young presenter, as although my younger demographic is represented most strongly and are perhaps my primary demographic (as picked up on by my focus group), the complex topic and narration, conventionality to the documentary genre and my ancillary product main consumers also represent my older demographic.
• My male interviewee being unavailable for my production effected my gender representation negatively, therefore I will shoot an additional short extract of an interview to use within my introduction to further preview and extend my enigma for the rest of my documentary. This will either be a positive representation of males in relation to sexism, or a controversial opinion in order to fuel my entertaining debate and shock my audience.
• My presenter was very effective through her deliverance and appropriate acting.

Time Management

I have found the organisation of my shoots and audio throughout my production process to be very successful, mainly due to my;

• Effective time management pre-production and production (although editing is where I started to struggle due to my unfamiliarity with Final Cut Pro which slowed the pace of this process)
• Detailed, early planning and organisation of script, costume, sound and mise en scene etc
• Early organisation of sound and fast-responsive musician
• Enthusiastic and helpful presenter who was very accessible and flexible for shoots
• Small cast, which lowers the probability of conflicts of availability
• Organisation and arrangements with actors via texting, due to the fast-responsiveness of this method

Using SlideShare below, I have attached some of my conversations with my presenter, Rowan, to demonstrate my organisation of dates and times for filming shoots. The arrangements are quite casual due to our close relationship, whilst also being detailed and precise.

Comparative Research and Plan for TV Listings Magazine

I have comparatively deconstructed two more TV listings magazines to understand the genre and style of my product, determine my exhibitor, and plan my own TV listings magazine. I have presented this below using Prezi.

Interview for Audience Feedback

I recently conducted an interview with Mr Mooney to collect feedback on the rough edit of my documentary so far, and have presented and evaluated my findings below using Emaze.