CODES AND CONVENTIONS IN FACTUAL PROGRAMING INTRODUCTION I

CODES AND CONVENTIONS IN FACTUAL PROGRAMING

INTRODUCTION • I will be discussing the conventions and formats used on news programs and the six modes of documentaries in the following presentation. • I will start with discussing news formats and go into detail about the conventions used on these shows. • I will then discuss five of the modes of documentary.

STUDIO LINKS • The studio reporters and field reporters both present the news live to the audience. • The studio reporter will explain the news story and then they will get a field reporter to talk about the news story from the location it is taking place. • News programs such as RTE News use two presenters to say the news in the studio. • The studio part of a news program allows the audience to become familiar with the news program. This means that the news program is instantly recognisable when the program comes on the tv.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FIELD REPORTERS AND STUDIO READERS • The script the studio presenters use is precise and read from an autocue. Field reporter have a very lose script and mainly decide what they will say by getting cues from the studio reporters. • The studio also makes use of multiple cameras to keep the viewer engaged. Field reporters usually use a single camera for practical reasons. • Studio presenters also speak and dress formally but the field reporters dress properly for the location. • The Field reporters tend to be more animated than the presenters in the studio because they report from the location that the story is happening on.

NEWS READERS WITHIN THE STUDIO • The news is presented by one or two presenters. • They sometimes discuss the story with an expert with the issue at hand. • The program also cuts to the field reporter on the site of the incident. • After the news stories have all been gone over, before the program finishes the program cuts to someone giving the weather forecast. • This is sometimes done as a separate program after the news.

ACTUALITY FOOTAGE • This is when the program uses live footage from the location of a story. • This gives the audience the impression that they are on the scene which makes the story more engaging. • An example of actuality footage is of 9/11 when multiple news stations broadcasted live footage of the Twin Towers on fire.

EXPERTS AND WITNESSES • Experts and witnesses are used in a news program to give the audience a more detailed report on a news story. • Experts are used to give a professional perspective on the story. • Witnesses give a first hand perspective on the events in a news story. They give a first hand perspective that reinforce the facts told by the presenters.

INTERVIEWING • Interviews allow the audience to hear from someone who is the middle of a news story. • Interviews can be anyone from a politician in the centre of a news story to a victim of an accident. • Interviews can be done on the field or in the news building depending on the circimstances.

MODE OF ADDRESS • This is how the media speaks to the audience. • On news programs the mode of address is very formal and very factual. • The studio presenters dress very formally and speak with a regional accent to make the viewer comfortable and trust what the presenter is saying.

REPORT STRUCTURE • News programs use a very defined format for presenting the news. • The programs usually start with the news readers presenting the headlines which is followed by going through the headlines in more detail. • Field reporters and experts are also used at this point depending on the nature of the news story as well as pre-made reports consisting of a voiceover and cutaways. • Throughout the program there is background music that • This report structure ensures that news programs are instantly recognisable as soon as a viewer starts watching.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS IN DOCUMENTARY • I will be discussing elements used in documentaries as well as the five modes of documentaries.

DRAMATIZATION • This is when documentaries use actors to recreate events for the documentary. • This makes the information shown on the documentary more compelling and therefore more engaging to the audience. • An example of dramatization in a documentary is in Making a Murderer where events told in the documentary are re-enacted in scenes.

NARRATIVISEATION • This is where the documentary follows a story. • This means that as well as being a factual program that presents facts to the audience it also follows a plot of what happened to a person. • Depending on the documentary this can act as an essential theme of the program or as a technique to reinforce the facts being presented.

EXPOSITORY • This type of documentary is told by a narrator who directly talks to the audience. • When the audience only hears the voice of the narrator he is known as the voice of God. When the audience sees and hears the narrator he is called the voice of authority. • Images and videos are used to add another dimension to the storytelling in the documentary. The images can be used to both empathise and contradict the narrator. • The documentary mainly consists of materials such as footage, pictures etc. • An example of an expository documentary is ‘An Inconvenient Truth. ’

PARTISITORY • This mode of documentary is when the documentary maker and crew take part in what the documentary. • The documentary makes heavy use of interviews usually including the documentary maker. • There is a lot of use of handheld camera footage and long shots as well as a lot of diegetic sound. • As well as taking part in the documentary maker also does a voiceover. • An example of this mode of documentary is Supersize Me.

OBSERVATIONAL • This type of documentary is shot on the location. • The participants either do not know they are being filmed or they ignore the camera. • This mode of documentary usually makes a lot of use from long takes and diegetic. • The documentary maker does not take an active part in the documentary. • An example of this is ‘Natural Curiosities’ by David Atonborough.

REFLECTIVE • This type of documentary is designed to get an emotional response from the audience. • The voiceover is questionable and is not authorative. • The documentary using this mode makes constant use of reenactments as well as dramatic music. • The documentary depends on the suggestion of an idea instead of depending on facts. • An example of this type of documentuary is ‘Cathy Come Home. ’

PERFORMATIVE • The documentary maker takes an active part in making the documentary and this forms a central part in the documentary. • The documentary follows the progress of a project that the documentary makers have a central role in. • The audience a directly told by the documentary makers what is going on. • Most performitive documentaries are about a research projects or about someone's identity. • An example of this type of documentary is ‘Nuit Et Brouillard’ which is about the Nazi concentration camps.