Evaluation

Trashed: Drinking and Destruction

Our documentary “Trashed: Drinking & Destruction” uses the traditional convention of an Expository documentary. Our documentary speaks directly to the viewer and throughout the programme, attempts to find the cause of alcoholism, and also to discuss and warn of, the effects of alcohol. A convention of an expository documentary is an attempt to persuade the viewer, and by the use of statistics, warnings, etc. “Trashed” attempts to change the opinion of the viewer as it portrays being drunk as somewhat dirty and unpleasant. We also attempt to develop from this convention, by aiming at a particular audience. We specifically tailored our documentary to appeal to the younger generation, and the people we are trying to warn and help. We attempted to do this by the use of relatable teens in our documentary, but also by comparing and contrasting their opinions with that of somewhat more experienced and knowledgeable adults, as a way to get across the seriousness of the message. The Archive footage we used showed intoxicated behaviour at its worst, violent and frightening; which should also appeal to our teenage audience as it is in some ways comical, but also communicates extreme cases.

The planning stage in our documentary was very important. We first analyzed documentaries by the famous film maker, Michael Moore. By doing this we where able to make notes on the conventions he uses and his non-stereotypical techniques which helped us inspire to his works. We then constructed deep research on our chosen topic to help us be enthusiastic about underage drinking when creating the documentary and use real life facts within it. We then watched different documentaries that conformed to the genre we had chosen, by doing this we where able to inspire from the ways they approached issues around the subject matter.

When filming we chose to keep the interviewer out of the camera shot, as we felt that their presence would be unnecessary and we could use a typical documentary convention of subtitles to introduce characters and interviewees. We used a variety of shots throughout the documentary, from low angles to close ups and even a video-cam. The video cam we constructed was of a teenage girl coming home from a night out, we decided to let her film herself as we could then get a real life snapshot of her disorderly state after a night out. We chose to display the time on the shot as well, to show the audience what time she finally made it home and emphasise the lack of sleep she will get. In contrast we then filmed her waking up in the morning, this scene I feel is the one in which teenagers will relate to the most, as if they are already drinkers they will know the feeling of sickness in the morning and will hopefully think again before bingeing, and for teens who don’t drink it will with a bit of luck scare them from consuming too much alcohol at a young age.

The combination of our ancillary task and our main product is effective, as they compliment each other. Our photography for out ancillary task is a way of grabbing the attention of the audience, denoted on the page is the shocking picture of a drunk young boy and is mirrored by the revelation of teen drinking in the documentary. The image of a younger boy of bellow thirteen connoted irony, we are warning the public of teen drinking and using such a young subject suggests what the future might hold if teen drinkers keep getting younger. We also shot the image in an alley way, as this relates to a specific scene in our documentary where in a reconstruction, a drunk victim gets abused. Using the same type of setting will hopefully help the audience make the link between drinking too much alcohol, and the disgusting places you can end up when you cant control your actions. The text that anchors the image attracts a different type of audience, the parents. We felt that parents should have the right to be aware of what their children could be succumb by at an older age. We deliberately wanted to make a potential viewer feel intrigued by the advertisement of the documentary, and want to watch it. Similarly, the double page spread from a TV listings magazine is also effective as reviews and advertisements from these types of magazines, are exactly what makes viewers aware of a program, and helps them decide if that is what the want to watch. Denoted in the middle of the article is a large image, which not conventional to a normal double page spread from a magazine, however we chose this image because it reflects exactly what we are trying to warn teens and parents about. The body language of the young teen has slight attitude of ‘not caring’, which emphasises the point of our documentary, that binge drinking can take over their lives permanently.

During the construction of this documentary we used iMovie to edit the filming. iMovie is available only on Mac computers, and as every member of the group has only used a Windows computer before, the Mac in itself was a new media technology. We used the Mac to upload the footage from the camera onto the editing software, to do the editing in the programme, and later on to burn the final edit onto disc. Therefore iMovie was a software programme that the group was also new too, we used the cuts and transitions to make cut or filming down to around 5 minutes, and to make our documentary flow, and to reflect the conventions of an expository documentary. When editing our film we made decisions as a group to move footage around which differed to our original storyboard. Our first decision was to remove our voxpop, we chose to do this as when editing it together, we found that it didn’t fit right with the rest of the documentary. As well as this towards the end of editing we discovered that our documentary was over the chosen time limit, which confirmed our decision to remove it fully from the film. We came across some difficulty when choosing music, as we needed something that would fit with our documentary genre but with limited lyrics in order to be able to hear the voice over, over the top. In the end we chose three different songs to fit in the beginning, middle and end. All of them where popular dance songs which have recently been in the charts, which conforms to our teen target audience.
Also, in our ancillary task, several members of the group were new to Photoshop, therefore we spent time to learn how to edit pictures, make full page magazine segments and put it all together to make something that you would find in a magazine. We decided to use a main and striking image in the middle of the page in order to grab the viewers attention. We then edited the text to face opposite ways, which made the page look more interesting and fun to read, which would help when attracting teens to the article. The other technologies we used included, search engines to help with research; a scanner to scan on print work; a digital SLR camera to get good quality images and television to view other documentaries.

As a way to gain audience feedback, we held a screening of our documentary, in order to record the reaction of our viewers. We opted to use a screening, instead of uploading our film to YouTube as the majority of our students said they did not have a YouTube account, which would make them unable to post comments and would leave us with limited feedback. The feedback we did receive was effective as we received constructive criticism as well as compliments from our friends. The screening was also useful as it allowed us, as a group, to view the documentaries of other groups. This was effective as it allowed us to see other characteristics of documentaries that we could have incorporated, and to compare and contrast each programme. The feedback we received was mostly parsing our reconstruction, one comment from a younger girl stated: “ the reconstruction was good to see what it was really like for the victim being alone and scared” followed by some older students telling us that: “We never truly know the danger we’re in when we are in a night out, and if we don’t remember, how are we meant to know if we where attacked or not?”. After hearing these comments we where glad to see how we had made an effect on some teenagers decisions to drink. The students also took notice of the important information, as one fellow student stated: “I was interested to hear what teachers and nurses had to say about teen drinking, normally in documentaries like this you just see drunk individuals with no meaning, it was a nice surprise to actually learn something”. Some teachers that where also at the screening told us that they where surprised at the level of stupidity the girl, Ellie Holden, had for her knowledge of the damage alcohol can do, and told us they will try and put more emphasise on it during lessons. This positive feedback made us feel confident that we had met the needs of our target audience.

Ancillary task - Double Page Spread

Ancillary task - advert

Script

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Shot Locations - Hove Park Sixth Form Common Room

Here is where we would shoot the Vox Pop of students expressing their feelings about drinking and its effects.

Shot Locations - Class Room, Hove Park Sixth Form and a Brighton Alley

We decided to use a class room to interview Suize Bonaldi, a victum of a drunken attack, to emphasise the fact that she was still in school and underage. Here is also a shot of the alley inwhich we filmed the reconstruction of her story.

Shot Locations - Teachers Office, Hove Park School

Here is where we chose to interview a teacher, we thought that using a white background would put more focus onto the teacher and made it look professional. We asked him why teens are drinking so young and he explained the social issues and how schools can help.

Shot Locations - Nurses Home.

We interviewed a nurse at her home in Hove and she told us about the health damages alcohol can cause and the dangers it produces.

Shot Locations - The Quadrant pub, Brighton.

Here is where we constucted and interview with a bar maid, she spoke about using fake identity and its consequences.

Double Page Spread Plan

Advert Plan

Here is a rough sketched plan of how I will consruct my newspaper advert. I will be designing and editing it on Adobe Photoshop and will use my own origional images.

Shooting Schedule

Story Board

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Advert Analysis

Here I have analysed an advert for the television programme 'Two and a Half Men'. I will find it helpful when creating my own newspaper advert and will be inspired by the conventions it uses.

Mission statement

We have chosen to name our documentary Trashed – Drinking and Destruction. It will be aired on a Tuesday on Channel 4 at 9pm. The theory behind showing the programme on a Tuesday will be that more teenagers will be watching TV Friday or Saturday night, with not having school or college in the morning and therefore this will broaden the shows audience numbers. We have chosen Channel 4 for the broadcast of our documentary, as it is a more lowbrow channel compared to the BBC and therefore will conform to our target audience better. This channel is also useful as it provides an online catch up service called 4 on demand; this essentially means if viewers missed the documentary they can watch it online which will again create a wider and larger audience. We have chosen for the documentary to be aired at 9pm, after the water shed, as this enable us to include footage which would not be suitable for a younger audience. The reason for this is that our topic will have a higher impact and effect on the audience by using more shocking clips.

The target audience for the documentary is teenagers and young adults as our documentary will attempt to persuade them not to drink underage or irresponsibly. However the documentary will also be aimed at parents to show them how much teenagers are drinking on the streets, and to warn them of their own children who could be consumed by 'binge drinking'.

In the documentary, Trashed – Drinking & Destruction we set out to investigate why youths are drinking so much and the effects it will have on them in the short and long term. The documentary includes interviews with students and victims of binge drinking as well as nurses and a teacher to find out if enough is being done to help and prevent underage drinking.

Other documentaries that can relate to ours include Brighton Beach Patrol, shown on Channel 5 at 8pm and Underage and Pregnant shown on BBC3 at 9pm. These shows also cover the topics of underage and binge drinking. Underage and Pregnant relates a lot to our documentary as it also investigates why the younger generation are determined to grow up so quickly.
We have chosen to use various places to shoot our documentary including a local college, at a nurse’s home, a Brighton Bar and 'Danger spots' for drunk and venerable youths. We have used cameras, a tripod and editing software to create our documentary.

People should watch our documentary as its not only informative but also entertaining with reconstructions and interesting interviews. We tell the trouth about how drinking can damage the younger generation in many ways and how it will affect their future. Teenagers will learn from it and parents will realise the dangers and can act to protect the future of their children.

Underage Drinking Article

Research Into Our Final Idea Continued

As much as parents may not like to think about it, the truth is that many kids and teens try alcohol during their high school and college years, long before it's legal for them to drink it. Research has shown that nearly 80% of high school kids have tried alcohol.
The Images above show a car crash caused by drink driving and a damaged liver due to excessive alcohol consumption.


The Effects of Alcohol Abuse
Alcohol interferes with a person's perception of reality and ability to make good decisions. This can be particularly hazardous for kids and teens who have less problem-solving and decision-making experience.

Short-term effects of drinking include:
•distorted vision, hearing, and coordination
•altered perceptions and emotions
•impaired judgment, which can lead to accidents, drowning, and other risky behaviors like unsafe sex and drug use
•bad breath
•hangovers

Long-term effects include:
•cirrhosis and cancer of the liver
•loss of appetite
•serious vitamin deficiencies
•stomach ailments
•heart and central nervous system damage
•memory loss
•an increased risk of impotence
•high risk for overdosing

Research Into Our Final Idea

Underage Drinking
It is possible to drink legally and safely – when you're over 21. But if you're under 21, or if you drink too much at any age, alcohol can be especially risky.

Many children begin drinking as early as middle school or even sooner. This is dangerous. Kids who drink are more likely to be victims of violent crime and sexual assault. They are more likely to have serious problems in school. They are more likely to be involved in drinking-related traffic crashes. They are also more likely to develop problems with alcohol later in life.

Young teens often begin drinking to look "cool" or fit in with their peers. Parents can do many things to help their kids avoid alcohol problems. Get help for your child if you suspect a drinking problem.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/underagedrinking.html


A study, by the World Health Organisation, will show that more young people in Britain have been drunk at a young age than in most other developed countries.

The figures, published every couple of years and to be released on Wednesday, look at the intake of alcohol and drugs, and the sexual behaviour, of young teenagers in 41 countries across the world.

They are expected to show that Britain has the fourth highest levels of underage drinking among 15-year-olds.

The ranking is a slight improvement on the last publication of the report, in 2001, when Britain's teens were placed second behind only Denmark as the heaviest consumers of beer, wine, or spirits.

That study compared the number of 15-year-olds who admitted that they had been drunk at or before the age of 13.

Last month ministers announced new plans to target the problem, with a multi-million pound advertising campaign highlighting the dangers of underage binge drinking.

Official figures show that there has been a 37 per cent increase in the number of children being admitted to hospital because of alcohol since 2001.

In 2006-7 there were 8,072 cases, up from 5,885 in 2000-1, the figures, obtained by the Liberal Democrats show.

The WHO report is also expected to show that young people in Britain have among the highest cannabis use in the world.

British teens are also using more condoms than in previous years, the study, which concentrates on the behaviours of 11, 13 and 15-year-olds, will show, possibly as a result of safe sex messages.

Frank Soodeen, from Alcohol Concern, said that a radical change was needed to tackle a culture of underage binge drinking among Britain's young people.

He said: "The new WHO figures confirm what earlier studies have already established. British teenagers are simply some of the heaviest drinkers in Europe.

"While the new youth alcohol action plan shows that government is acutely aware of the problem, there are widespread concerns that it doesn't go to the heart of why teenagers are drinking heavily.

"Not only do many of these children grow up in challenging social environments but they are bombarded with hundreds of millions of pounds worth of advertising telling them that drinking is a completely natural, and safe part of life."

Scotland's ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) is set to announce plans to raise the age at which young people can buy alcohol in off licences and supermarkets from 18 to 21.

Although under-21s will still be able to drinks in pubs and clubs, the SNP believes that the move will have help to curb problem drinking among young people.

The Association of Chief Police Officers warned earlier this year that 50 per cent of young drinkers were getting alcohol from their parents.

The WHO plans to draw up a global strategy to tackle binge drinking among young people and other forms of harmful drinking, which it blames for 2.3 million deaths across the globe every year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/2140278/Underage-drinking-in-Britain-among-worst-in-the-world.html

Documentary Questionnaire Results

What we found out:

After creating our documentary questionnaire we gathered up all the information and used the statistics to help us decide what type of documentary we should create and what it should be based on. We found out that a shocking 40% of people we asked had entered a bar or club under false identity, which led us to the decision that we would focus our documentary on underage drinking. We also found out that a wide range of people preferred health documentaries to others, so we also chose to include interesting facts on how underage drinking can affect your health later on in life. We decided our target audience would be teenagers and parents, as we discovered that it was teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18 who where using false identity and drinking underage. We decided to direct our documentary to parents also because we feel that they should be informed on what underage drinking have been getting up to. Overall our questionnaire was very helpful and gave us positive results on what we could create our documentary about.


Results:

- 40% of teenagers between the age of 16 – 18 have used a fake I.D
- 10% of teenagers asked of the age 16 and under had consumed alcohol underage
- 60% of everyone asked preferred health documentaries
- 30% of everyone asked had watched a documentary about alcohol effects before but only 20% enjoyed it.
- Favoured conventions of documentaries included real life stories and interviews
- Adults between the ages of 19 and 21 are still drinking over the recommended limit and in some cases every day.

Questionnaire

Initial Ideas

Michael Moore Articles

Micheal Moore has brought the genre of documentaries into the mainstream through techniques and controversial issues, discuss.

Michael Moore’s documentaries have fascinated people around the world. They include conventions of a typical documentary such as they contain a good story, contain dramatic suspense and contain confrontation. However it’s the more different techniques he uses that makes his documentaries the most recognisable and popular.

Moore creates typical expository documentaries in which he talks to the audience directly, they offer a particular viewpoint and uses persuasive techniques to influence the audience. Moore’s documentaries have come across as controversial particularly in America, this is because of how he presents them to the extreme, using imagery and theories that could shock or interest his audiences. For example in Fahrenheit 9/11 he openly questions the innocence of the US government and in Bowling for Columbine at one stage subtlety contradicts the Constitution.

Moore’s use of footage and editing is also considered to be innovative, for example, in Bowling for Columbine, Moore uses two contrasting scenes back-to-back, one, and over the top politician claiming Marilyn Manson and everything he stands for is a direct cause of the catastrophic evens that happened in Columbine, juxtaposed with shots of Manson himself, presented with normality, with a large amount of sympathy for the tragic event. When asked what he would say to the students of Columbine, he replied with: “I wouldn’t say a single word to them; I would listen to what they have to say, and that’s what no one did”. The way Moore edited this sequence was very clever, he used the Politician to symbolise the US government, trying to persuade the audience to believe they where trying to push the blame away from them.

Similarly, the “Wonderful World” sequence in Bowling for Columbine directly after an interview with Evan McCollum, in which he states that the vast amount of weapons of mass destruction that where built near Columbine for the purpose of defending the US, Moore shows a montage of the American foreign policy decisions in which the US is the obvious aggressor. For example when Clinton bombed what he believed was a weapons factory in Sudan which actually turned out to be a factory for making aspirin. This sequence is then juxtaposed with the song “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong playing in the background. This scene emphasizes Moore’s views on the US government and uses the key convention ‘the shock factor’ to help the audiences approve of his perception.
Other uses of the ‘shock factor’ includes a scene in which Moore himself gets his hands on a free gun, extremely easily from a local bank, at the same time as showing statistics of US gun-related deaths of 11,127 per year contrasted against Japans 39.

In his recent documentary Sicko, Moore uses a technique in which he shows his audiences real people who cannot afford the treatment they need in the US. He takes them to Canada and the UK where they are given free treatment and cheap medication, the reaction of the group of people he took was the shock factor of the film. They were in tears and disbelief as they realised how poorly treated they had been back home.

Moore’s films contain a large amount of dramatic suspense, making the audience feel different emotions and reactions to what he is presenting on screen. For example at the beginning of Fahrenheit 9/11 Moore introduces his film with a black screen, to emphasize his use of sound; screams, sirens, crashes and people in despair - the sounds of the 9/11 attack. This opening sequence was used to extract the audiences deepest emotions about the event, this makes Moore’s documentaries different and innovative, using extreme footage, sound and editing to attract his audiences into seeing his point of view.

In conclusion although Moore has been criticized for his documentaries being too one-sided, personal and graphic, it does not change the fact that the styles he uses make the documentaries popular in the mainstream, and are very innovative. His films are more eye catching than the normal documentary as he tells a different side to the story, speaking the unspeakable.

Michael Moore Documentary's

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
- Interesting use of interviews.

- Archive footage opening.

- Michael Moore’s voice over narration

- Moore uses a black screen during his documentary with just sound effects of screaming victims of 9/11. This builds tension and emotionally effects the audience.

- Use of archive footage of George Bush to influence the audience to address his point of view.

Sicko (2007)
- Michael Moor’s voice over narration.

- Juxtaposition of conflicting narrative view points.

- Use of archive footage.

- CCTV footage used for proof and evidence.

- The use of mobile phones and showing victims voices helps make the audience sympathise with the citizens of America who cannot afford health treatment.

- Michael Moore expresses his personal beliefs, which makes his documentary’s different from any others.

- Here is an example of an interesting interview showing Michaels supprised reaction to healthcare in the UK. It works well because Moore shows genuine emotion within the interview. It is also interesting because it cuts between the interview and clips of the doctors home and lifesyle.

BBC Documentary - Joe Swash “I believe in Ghosts”

- Lowbrow documentary.

- Shown on TV at 9pm; after the watershed.

- Voiceover has been used.

- The use of interview to gain information to support his argument.

- Night vision was used to create atmosphere.

- The use of subtitles to introduce someone, or when whispering is used.

-The Mise-on-scene of the first shot is Joe Swash introducing his documentary, with Scooby-doo toys and a ‘Scream’ mask in the background. This use of symbolism reflects what the documentary will be about and that it will include a scare factor.

- Symbolism is also used throughout the documentary to scare the audience and persuade them to “believe in ghosts”.

- The sound track that is played in the background is chosen to fit with the dialogue.

- Use of reconstruction used in black and white.