Assignment 2

Issues Related To Factual Programming

There are lots of different types of factual programs such as chat shows, talk shows, (This Morning), magazine shows, reality TV (TOWIE), documentaries, (Supersize Me) and TV News.

They are also broadcasted and consumed in a number of different ways. They are broadcasted on TV, released in cinema and on DVD and shown on the Internet.

The focus on this essay will be about film and television documentaries and on TV News programs and the conventions of each of these different sub-genres. For example TV News programs need to have a certain mode of address, actuality footage, studio newsreaders, field reporters, links to studio, interviewing, experts and witnesses and report structure.

Whereas documentaries are slightly different – they all use facts to persuade the audience of the filmmaker’s point of view, but they are also split into different types of documentary:

An expository documentary is where the narrator directly addresses the audience, images are used to illustrate the voiceover, assembles a variety of footage and it attempts to persuade the audience of a particular point of view. An example of this would be Supersize Me.

An observational documentary uses handheld cameras, and direct sound recording, there are no interviews and the filmmaker is hidden from the documentary and the subjects pretend they are not being filmed. An example of this would be The Chicken Shop.

An interactive documentary is where the filmmaker and the crew interact with the subject. Interviews dominate the whole documentary, questioning the subjects as they are on the run. An interactive documentary uses archive materials such as stills, new footage, newspaper headlines and letters etc.

These types all present the facts to audiences differently, they do of course, all aim to present a ‘realistic’ film/programme, but also like fictional programmes/films create a narrative, with a beginning, middle and end, to tell a story to the audience.

There are a number of issues we need to consider when watching and making factual programmes – there are:

Accuracy:

Factual programmes should be accurate and truthful in order to be ethical and to not discriminate against a specific subject. Viewers expect documentaries to be accurate and truthful and they are not misled. This requirement applies to all types of programming. They all must respect truth and accuracy. In Supersize Me, Morgan Sperlock gives loads of his own opinions, so he is not being truthful and definitely not being factual.

Objective, Impartiality, Balanced:

The audiences expect factual programmes to be Objective, Impartial, and Balanced because shows do not want the public to give them bad reviews. They must inform the correct and most accurate information. Evidence for this is BBC News at 10, it is all factual with no opinion, they use raw footage and all the stories are balanced.

Subjective, Bias, Opinion:

Actually, all factual programmes are subjective as they are expressing the opinion of the filmmaker. Filmmakers also use facts and opinions to make them seem less bias+

 Other filmmakers such as Louis Theroux use participatory and observational techniques to void his opinions.

Different News Channels have different types of audiences, this all depends on the type of presenters, the time the programme is on and what channel it is on.

BBC News at 10: This programme has given the impression to be for middle class, middle age men. Because there is a middle class, middle age man presenting the programme. This programme presents information and news in a very formal way. The news given is mainly about politics and crimes in the UK.

BBC3 60 Seconds: This programme on the over hand, adopts a very different approach as it targets teenage boys and girls. The topics have to be short and snappy as there is only a minute. Most of the topics are about celebrity lifestyles. The presenters are very casual, more laid-back and mainly dressed in t-shirts and jeans. There is a very colourful feel to the programme so it welcomes teenagers.

Newsround: Newsround targets the youngest audience out of the three. I think it targets children aged from 10 - 15. Having said that. Out of the three that i watched, I was enjoying Newsround the most. I think that Newsround is mainly aimed at boys because it has topics on football and other sports. The presenter is very casual with an upbeat personality and voice to welcome the viewers. 

The three documentaries I have studied in class is 'Most Hated Family In America', 'Supersize Me', and Michael Moore's 'Bowling For Columbine'. Each of these documentaries have a set of Codes and Conventions that differ from one another. The Most Hated Family In America, in my opinion seemed to be balanced, having both subjectivity and objectivity because even thug mainly we saw what a horrible family they were. We did see some signs of them being generous. They said that they were trying to help people. Supersize Me was also objective as it gave both sides of the argument, bowing how bad McDonalds is to our bodies but also supporting them. The presenter interviewed lovers and haters of McDonalds which let us use the 'voice of God' to try and form our own opinion. Bowling For Columbine is a subjective documentary because it uses a lot of juxtaposition editing to keep on changing the audiences views. Michael Moore uses very a sarcastic choice of words to turn how the interviewee feels. Moore also uses leading and bias questions to try and get the most out of the interviewee.

TV News is generally objective and documentaries are generally subjective. News needs to be true, accurate and impartial more than a documentary because they need to make sure we believe it. I think every documentary tries to be balanced but sometimes fails. It is very hard to have balanced opinions on the chosen subject. Of course we like to see arguments and clashes which means the presenter has to be subjective to challenge the interviewee. But when it comes to the News, stories have to be kept balanced in order to maintain a good reputation.