Sunday, 12 October 2014

Factual TV Rules For Beginners

Accuracy

Accuracy is how close something is to being the truth, for example if a book stated that penguins can't fly, its completely accurate as penguins can't fly rather as if the book said penguins can swim at the speed of light, that's not accurate as no penguin can swim that fast. This is important to the producer as if the movie they are trying to product is based on a true story but not accurate, it would not be watched or liked as it is not the same. This is important to the audience as being accurate can create trust which allows them to show the audience what in important.



An example in which the accuracy is followed is a show called How its made, It's a series that follows the conventions of documentaries while showing how products and or objects are being made, the voice over and camera follow the steps of creating the product/object till its finished. The shows is a good example of this because it is completely accurate as the camera doesn't miss anything out as the product is being created.



An example that isn't every good is the documentary based on Adolf Hitler called 'Adolf Hitler: The Greatest Story Never Told,' as the any footage is really old as it seems like it happened around the 1930 - 1945 as most of the footage capture, the reason I think that its a bad example of accuracy is because no matter how far anyone digs to find evidence, there isn't enough to be accurate on what is happening as we didn't live in that time and therefore can't know what exactly is happening.



Balance
Balance is where is a fair line between the for and against argument. This can be important to an audience as it can not only add a layer of trust for them but also show them that there's two sides to every story. The producer uses this to show everyone the good points and bad points of the subject of the documentary.

Zoochosis is a good example of balance of for and against which is relevant to the video which is about if animals should be kept in captivity. The video shows the idea that the animals can be kept locked up in zoos but shouldn't be. Having for and against in the video allows the audience to make up their own minds instead of having it there for them.

A not very good example is judge rinder which is a British version on the court show Judge Judy, The reason i think this show isn't a balanced show is because the show has the judge already having a bias opinion on what is happening as the court case goes on. This can lead to bias verdict, which isn't balanced.
Impartiality
Impartiality is the same thing as balanced, a fair line between the for and against argument but the difference on between impartiality and balance is that in impartiality, the presenter's opinion isn't given or shown. This is done so that the audience has a completely opinion-free idea of what is happening.
An example that does this is the documentary titled,
"India and Pakistan documentary on war and hate between the divided people, " In this documentary it doesn't show any favoritism to India nor Pakistan which is following the rules and the presenter doesn't say his opinion throughout the video.

A bad example is the documentary, zero which uses the stereotype that someone Asian decided to do this when it could have been anyone. If anything like this is stated this can have a very negative affect of this which would leave the audience freaked out over a different race.


Objective and subjective
Objective is a statement that can be proven while subjective is a statement that can not be proven.
Objective is used to show the audience the undeniable truth about the subject while subjective can' t because it can't be proven. Objective is important to the producer as they can't go wrong if they are telling the audience the truth about the subject in which the video is being done on. Subjectivity is important to the producer as they can't know everything that happens when they are recording something so they have to either make it up or lead the audience into a rhetorical question regarding the where about of the subject.


I have chosen Parrots: Majestic Bird as the good documentary as almost everything stated in the video is undeniable true as this happens on camera in front of the audience allowing them to believe it and the footage allows the audience to watch what the presenter is talking about first hand.











An unclear example of subjectivity is Extreme Dinosaurs it is all speculation about the dinosaurs and not much can be proven from simple bones and rocks. The video is mainly subjective as again not much can be proven. This leads the audience into finding about what the animals might have looked like, sounded like or acted like.

Opinion

Opinion is a view that is formed about someone, somewhere, or something without normally being based on any fact or knowledge on it. This can be used to pretty much tell the audience the creator's views without it being having to be fair to the different sides.
The rule is important to the producer as it can allow him to express what he or she thinks without having hard facts about it.

Good example
A good example of this is the documentary, The land of whispers which is a documentary about north Korea and how the presenter tries to connect with some people in north Korea and what it is like in north Korea but a very detailed version which has information on places like Chongjin or Wonson . This is a good example of opinion as presenter constantly reminds the audience that this is backwards and the place is a bit mad. He stats at 1:32 that one of his friends had gone to North Korea and then she says that it was crazy at 1:33, this is her and most of the world's opinion as the people in north Korea don't think they are crazy and it is not based on facts but on opinion. Later in the video at 15:14 there a tour guide says "this is the historic place where our great leader Kim Jong II was born and spent his childhood. The word 'Great,' can be both opinion or fact based on who you are asking it it, as the tour guide lives there and is also being recorded she says Kim Jong II is great while if someone who did not live in North Korea was asked they would most likely say that he was not great.

Bad example
This is which is future earth a movie based around the events that couple possible happen by the time a bad example of opinion as it takes the idea of not actually using any ideas or even having a bases for what they might think happened as it is too reliant on opinions. During the movie the presenters and experts talk about what could possibly happening at the time 2050 and fuels.
Bias
Bias is the idea that the presenter thinks that one idea is better than the other which leads to the audience not understanding which side is better, this way is unfair as it does not show both side's arguments.This is important to the presenter as it is a way of getting their point across quicker than showing both sides to the audience. The audience finds this important as it is a way to find out the facts about 1 side quicker than hearing both side's argument.

Good example

A good example is zero hour, as it
Zero Hour- The Massacre at Columbine High which is about the April 1999 killings that happened that year this has a clear bias towards the most clear side to the argument. As they did create this tragic event the creator has a bias straight against what the kids did. This is useful as then the creators can invent up new ways to make the students seem even worst.






This documentary is smoking and how to the industry has changed. This documentary uses experts and a voice over to describe to the audience what is happening and why. This follows the conventions of this type including being more against smoking as they stat at 0:40 they even say that one pack of cigarettes are now $12 as apposed to being $6 before this shows that because of this one scene I can tell the video is going to be about the negatives of smoking which then makes the video feel bias but yet after watching about 20 minutes into it, the video becomes quickly balanced as it has reasons for and against smoking.



Representation

Representation is a type of rule that they only select some facts around the factual tv. This is important to the audience the rule allows them to not only get the facts but also hear and see it going on recreated as a story which would be on screen. This is good for the presenter as it allows him/her to once in a while stop speaking and take a break and rest his/her voice.

Crime watch is a good example of the best way to show representation as it acutally shows the recreation of most of the events that happen.
This can be very good for the views who were either can't hear well or were just not paying attention. An example of this is at start 0:06 where a recreated robbery happens, this is a good way of showing the recreation as the audience can follow along with what is happening.










Bad example
Happily never after is a bad example of representation as it does not follow every piece of evidence they get and can make very far fetched links between evidence and the show lies on friends and families' witness statements. Like this show has moments where the characters pretty much always leave a clue but most criminals know not to leave one.


Contact with viewers

Contact with viewers uses the idea that the documentary maker has to keep a contract with the audience that he/she will show the complete truth throughout the video will not lie or make it up. This is important to the producer as it is best way to show the audience that there are no lies in the documentary. This is important to the audience as it builds trust between the producer and the audience which will make them want to see the other stuff the producer has made so they think he/she is a good person. 


Jamie's kitchen is a show based around the presenter as he tries to train 15 young people who help them complete a course and be offered jobs at a new restaurant if they do complete the course. The Show has a contract with the viewer and it seems like it keeps it by actually showing everything and even showing scenes that most shows wouldn't like 16:55 where Jamie, the presenter/expert actually picks the fruit and vegetables himself which shows the audience this is whats really happening and there is no fake footage.




bad example
This show, big brother is a bad example of contract with the viewer as the people put in the house are not the only people there as they most likely get help for most things like cooking, cleaning and free clothes,sheets towels etc, off camera. This is a bad thing as the show is meant to be based on these people living in a house without anyone to help them and is meant to be real but it comes off as fake.
big brother

Access and privacy
Access and privacy is what is shown on the factual TV, for example if the show has full access into the life of someone, the camera crew would follow them to certain points, and wouldn't follow them to places like the bathroom etc. Breaking this rule is bad for any show or documentary as it would show something that isn't allowed on normal TV. This is important to the audience as if the rule is broken it can show something that they were not meant to see but if it isn't broken they can see watch it and would be able to see again later on. This is important to the producer as it is a way to show the audience that the show is all real showing real emotion and real reactions.


A good example of access and privacy, Tia and Tamera this show does not show scenes that are not for the viewers to see such as one of them was worried she was pregnant she has a pregnancy test and while this happened the camera focused on her sister and then skipped the rest of the scene this is good because if that had been shown that would have ended up forcing the show to be canceled or just getting that episode banned from being aired.





This is a bad example of access and Privacy as this show takes the rule and just over does it as it continuously records everything that happens no matter what or who is on camera at the time, including when someone is weeping because of something bad.

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