research

Modes. 

poetic-

It is consider the 'subjective interpretation of the subject' basically meaning it's biased. 

This mode dictates that a certain tone or mood is depicted throughout the documentary, which will influence the viewers understanding and intake of information. This mood is purposefully created through the leaving out of important information, such as character descriptions and specific events, which create a biased view point.

An example of a poetic documentary is Robert Flaherty’s Man of Aran (1938),  Flaherty filmed scenes intended to fit into his desired narrative and conclusion, rather than allowing reality to guide his direction.

expository-

 The expository mode is where the documenter speaks directly to the viewer, through the use of tools such as voice over, or subtitles, and through this create a powerful argument and point of view.

 Images are more so used to emphasise the point being mentioned by the documenter and not to create their own point, this adds to the extremity of the point being made. Through the picture they are directly addressing the audience. The audience are strongly directed to view a picture or video in a specific way. This is used in historical documentaries to deliver an 'Unproblematic and objective' account and interpretation of past events.

An example of an expository documentary is David Attenborough's, Blue planet. 

Observational-

Emphasising the documentary filmmakers engagement in observing the subjects daily life and circumstances and documenting them with an unobtrusive camera. The observational mode uses a more 'unbiased' method, through the simple observation of events happening around the documenter without any direct interference. Conclusions are then obtained from the events and scenarios witnessed. This passive way of obtaining facts, creates a more intimate connection between the audience, by them actually witnessing real events (such as trauma or injury) which can cause an emotional response from the viewer.

an example would be 'unlocking the cage'

Participatory Mode-

 The participatory mode believes that the documenter has to have a certain level of influence on the footage and facts. This allows a certain level of clear evidence on the documenters presence effecting events. The incorporation of documenter influence will essentially make the film entirely biased, as they will create artificial events to create a strong and evident argument.

An example would be The Man with a Camera.

Reflexive Mode-
The mode uses specific footage and information that will lead viewers to a specific outcome and therefore essentially make the decision of their opinions for them. The reflexive mode essentially highlights constructed scenarios and does not create the sense of realism intentionally to emphasise the point of the documentary. This can highlight extreme cases of events, but these will be considered normal by the unaware viewer. This extreme use of suggestion toward one view point, makes the documentary especially successful.

an example would be biggie and Tupac by nick Broomfield.

Preformative Mode-
 The preformative mode, which is often confused with participatory, engages the viewer in a story but can expose them to factual points during this process. This type of documentary focuses on the experiences of the filmmaker themselves, and is deeply personal to them. This mode is best suited to tell the stories of filmmakers from specific niche social groups.

Conventions.

1. Actuality footage-
2.  This may be a recording of an actual event which is documented with the real people involved and not actors. 
3. Voice-over-
4.  Unseen commentator who explains or tells a story during the documentary, as an audience we are encouraged to believe what they say and claim it as the truth.   Interview-
5. This allows people being filmed to speak directly about events prompted by specific questions. Interviews in a documentary give viewers a sense of realism. Interviewees generally answer questions looking at the interviewer, this is done to gain emotion, it is proven that a person will give far more emotion looking into the eye of someone rather than a camera.
6. Text-
7.  The insert of information, dates, time etc.. New programmes commonly use this to their advantage, it’s a quick way of conveying and reiterating information or can be used to give further information which may not have been previously presented.
8.  Sound-
9. This is used to give off a certain effect, for example in ‘Supersize Me’ they use childish music to undermine and degrade McDonald's as a business.
10. Dramatisation-
11.  This is the reconstruction of an event played by actors which is used to give the audience a further insight into the real event which occurred. 
12. 
    

Both documentaries even though they are about completely different subjects the techniques that are used are similar.

In the Biggie and Tupac documentary very reflexive style and he is very involved with everything to do with the filming e.g. he is filming and holding the microphone or someone else is filming and he is holding the microphone. In both documentaries they use voice-overs and past pictures and videos. also in both documentaries they both use interviews but in the biggie and Tupac documentary you see him and the person being interviewed in the shot and it is quite personal while in the aardman animations documentary it is more professional, with just the person being interviewed in the shot and you don't actually hear them ask the question, the person being interviewed incorporates the question in.

More in the biggie and tupac documentary than aardman animations do they show the person being interviewed, instead in aardman they start of showing them talking then leads to a voice over of them talking about the question.

The costume and makeup in both the documentaries is a big difference, in b&t nick broomfield is walking up to people in the street and just interviewing them there and then or in there house and you can see that they are not in studios with there professional hair and makeup done. While in aardman animations you can see that they are in a studio and they have professional clothes on. Along with this, the settings are very different while b&t being the interviewees house or just in the street while aardman animations is in a studio with aardman themed things behind them. The lighting in the documentaries again is very different with b&t because with that it is natural light or just normal house light while in aardman animations they use studio lights.

research on my idea

streaming is a fairly new thing. it used to be that you had to watch what was on TV and you didn't have a choice of what you wanted to watch.
in 1985 blockbuster appeared in Texas and that primarily started the rental of vhs tapes of films and TV shows but then progressed to dvds in 2001. this finally gave people a chance to choose what they wanted to watch. over time the company opened stores all over america and the world, in 2004 blockbuster had over 9,000 stores worldwide.
there were already other companies that were doing the same as blockbuster and had been there competition for years. but as time went on the competition adapted onto online services. the most popular service is Netflix that started as a DVD-by-mail and became online. now becoming one of the most successful  streaming services in the world with roughly 140 million users.
eventually in 2010 they filled for bankruptcy and now only two stores remain in the world. 
now came the rise of online streaming, more importantly Netflix. Netflix went from DVD-by-mail in 1997 then in 2007 moving to online streaming and are now a multi-billionaire company. Netflix offers thousands of films and TV shows for just £7.99. 
there isn't just Netflix that offers online streaming, now TV, Hulu and most importantly amazon prime.
amazon prime originally started as 'amazon video' in 2008 but in 2011 came out with a new site called amazon prime and a few years later shut down amazon video. amazon is much like Netflix where you can stream shows online but they are mixed in with films and shows that you can buy. but unlike Netflix, amazon prime has a lot more newer films and shows while Netflix has lots of older shows and films. also Netflix mainly promotes all its original shows and films rather than putting on new content. 
amazon prime also offers next day delivery on lots of items in there store, they also offer free amazon music and much more. many streaming services also offer student discount e.g. hulu, amazon prime. at the moment netlfix does not have student discount but for only £7.99 a month it is a good price. 

bingeing-

binge watching shows has only really just become a main thing these past couple of years with t44the box set and then after a couple of episode change the disc. now all you have to do is pick the show you want to watch and press play and the next episode will automatically go onto the next episode. the idea of it automatically going onto the next episode has increased the amount of time you binge shows for. back then you would probably watch one disc and then go to bed because you couldnt be bothered to watch shows. while now you dont have to od anything and people jsut think '




interview-

before i came up with my main idea. i was going to do it about if amazon prime or Netflix was better. i did an interview asking people about if they like amazon prime or Netflix better and why. the responses i got have helped me with my main idea because what they said for why they liked it i can elaborate on in my documentary. what i found out by doing my interview is that lots of people chose Netflix because they already knew about it and that it was the first streaming service they had and the just stuck with it. people also said that they liked the way that Netflix looked and the way it was presented to them while they didn't know a lot about amazon prime and they hadn't really heard about it. 

How creative choices affect our perception?

Perception is how we interpret the things we see. Film makers use creative choices to enhance a film for the audience with the use of editing, cinematography, sound and mise en scene. All these things play major roles in filmmaking.

Editing can do a lot for the film maker, for example if one scene is cutting to another quickly it can make it seem intense and if they are in a hurry or in trouble. It can also tell you what you are meant to see in a film and when after you have filmed.  

Cinematography can show you loads of different things about the characters, their personalities and also how they relate to the other character, for example in this scene from matilda, which is a comedy about a girl with powers, where

Miss Trunchball is looking at the boy and you can see that the camera is angled up and is a medium close up that shows you who she is looking at not just her face showing that she is superior to the boy.

Sound can quickly describe or change your emotion. You could watch the same scene twice, one where the music is sad and one where the music is happy and more likely than not the music you hear will describe how you feel about the video in front of you, changing your perception on what is going on. The use of sound effects is also key even the little sounds of something you would not notice can immerse you in a film. Showing that you are in control of what the audience is feeling when they watch the film.

Mise en scene can change your perception by what you see. If you saw someone wearing a tracksuit with the hood up stereotypically you will think it's a a teenager who might be a criminal. This shows that the filmmaker is putting them assumptions in your head. Another part of mise en scene is lighting, this can show lots of things but mainly light and dark equals good and bad. In this scene from harry potter which is a fantasy fiction, you can see that professor dumbledore is surrounded by a white light signifying that he is in ‘heaven’ even though you can not tell if it is or not because you can only see him and an outline of what is behind him. This can also make the audience believe he is a good character because white normally signifies good.

Another part of mise en scene is costume this can tell you about the character and if they are rich or poor, what job they have etc. For example lawyers would wear fancy suits, nurses would wear scrubs while someone who probably has less money or is homeless would wear clothes with holes in or dirty shoes.

In this medium shot from the kingsman which is a spy comedy film, you can see clearly the two different types of people and how the filmmaker has perceived them so that when you look at them you stereotypically know what job/ class they are. From just seeing this scene you can guess that the man in the suit probably has an important job and earns a lot of money. You could probably also infer that he is well mannered rather than the boy next to him who maybe is not as well mannered as him and might use a lot of slang who is dressed in quite casual clothes. A minor thing that people may pick up on is that the boy is wearing a hat in doors and it's well mannered if you take it of when you are inside. You can also tell from his clothes that he probably does not have a lot of money and doesn't have a good job or a job at all.

In conclusion all of the filmmakers creative choices does affect our perception on the way that we see films. If the filmmaker didn't make these choices then the films would all be in the same shot and you would not be able to infer if somebody is more superior than the other. If they didn't decide to add in sound effects than if somebody was to get shot for example you would not know know until you saw the person was shot or you could not notice at all.

All of these decisions make a film and helps us perceive a show, you could do one little change and the way the audience sees the character or whole film can change.