final evaluation

From the offset I decided that I wanted to create an expository documentary. The purpose of an expository documentary is to inform the audience about an event , topic or some issues. The approach they take is to investigate or to entertain people. Facts , figures and statistics accompanied by some narration. This is also referred to as a voice over. Expository documentaries are heavy with establishing master and wall paper shots. They contain interviews and have direct piece to camera address. Video and images are used to illustrate and also a voice over to accompany this along with a variety footage again including interviews and still material. These codes and conventions are all things that I have followed throughout my documentary. I have used a variety of establishing shots of retail stores in Manchester and also in and around the stores as well.

I am interested in fashion myself which was the initial driving force for my idea on doing a documentary on careers in Fashion. I am interested in the fashion industry and also other small businesses within the industry that are trying to grow. I wanted to know whether it would be an interesting topic to discuss on a platform like Instagram. In order to create the basis of my factual programme and form a structure for the potential voice over of my narrative piece., it was crucial for me to carry out some research on the fashion industry and the different aspects within the industry , for example employabilty. What is the Fashion industry ? How important are fashion shows within the industry ? How many people are employed in the fashion industry in the UK and how much is the industry making ? what are the top companies on the market ? how has fashion changed over the years in terms of manufacturing , fast fashion , seasonal fashion ?

As an additional part of research , I watched a recent documentary called Breaking Fashion based on a new popular fast fashion brand. This enabled me to get some inspiration for the style I wanted my documentary to be in. The documentary I watched gives people an insight as to how fast and competitive fast fashion can be. The rise in fast fashion has effected the biannual seasonality that has always structured the Fashion industry. The key aim for me and my documentary was to show people that although fashion is so competitive and difficult to get into you can , I looked into this from the point of view of a small growing business in Bolton. I wanted people like myself who want a career in this field , to be made well aware that you can make it in Fashion if you are dedicated and willing to work hard in order to get there. It is clear in my interview that took place that my interviewee is extremely passionate about fashion , he has worked hard and he also has a love for fashion that has certainly helped him get where he wants to be. Another documentary I looked at by Tiffany&co helped me get an idea of how long I wanted the shots to be in my documentary and how I wanted to edit it. The shots in this documentary where no longer than 3-4 seconds long . I took inspiration from this and had my shots and editing to be the exact same way. The reason I did this was because I wanted to ensure that the engagement from my target audience was maintained throughout. I felt that having constant change , would do this.

I certainly showed this in my post production process. The majority of my shots were no longer than 3-4 seconds and they were very fast paced. Following on from the codes and conventions of an expository documentary , the shots were varied throughout and were accompanied with a voice over full of facts and statistics do with the fashion industry , all of which where discovered in the secondary research I carried out previously.

To conclude my final evaluation , again going back to the Reception Theory by Stuart Hall and the initial intentions for my documentary. The reception theory , developed by Stuart Hall asserts that media texts are encoded and decoded. The producer encodes messages and values into their media which are then decoded by the audience , However different audience members will decode the media in different ways and sometimes not in the way the producer intended them too. I wanted my audience to adopt to the dominant and preferred reading method. The Dominant and Preferred reading method is how the producer wants the audience to view the media text. My factual programme piece is about careers within the fashion industry , I wanted my audience to take from my documentary that although the fashion industry is ridiculously competitive you can make it if you work hard. I wanted to help give them an insight as to how competitive it is and what it is like being a small business amongst others and wanting to grow. My aim was to ensure that my audience saw my documentary in this way.

In conclusion , it is clear that I achieved my goals due to the evidence within the survey I carried out. 100% of my target audience stated that the documentary had a positive effect on them and the message they gathered from watching it was that Fashion is a competitive , difficult industry to be in but you can make it if you work really hard.

audience feedback

I now need to gather some audience feedback based on my documentary. I want to know whether I achieved my true intentions in terms of whether the audience liked my documentary , was it interesting , would it make someone who wants to work in the fashion industry feel positive about it and if there is any where I can improve, how can I do this ?

I am going to gather the feedback and reflect on this comparing it to my initial research . Previously I looked into research on the reception theory by Stuart Hall. The reception theory , developed by Stuart Hall asserts that media texts are encoded and decoded. The producer encodes messages and values into their media which are then decoded by the audience , However different audience members will decode the media in different ways and sometimes not in the way the producer intended them too.

With this theory in mind , I took from this that when producing and making documentaries , often people decode the media in different ways than the producer intended them too. In terms of applying this theory to my documentary , I feel as though my target audience will have adopted to the dominant / preferred reading method when watching the documentary. The Dominant and Preferred reading method is how the producer wants the audience to view the media text. My factual programme piece is about careers within the fashion industry , I want my audience to take from my documentary that although the fashion industry is ridiculously competitive you can make it if you work hard. It will give them an insight as to how competitive it is and what it is like being a small business amongst others and wanting to grow. I want my target audience to view my factual piece in this way and this will of course happen if the message I am aiming to put across is clear.

In the survey I have put together , I am asking my audience what their initial thoughts were on the documentary ? Where they engaged through out ? Did it help that the shots were quick and short ? Was the message put across a positive one ? If there is anything I can improve how can I do that ?

In response to the question , what were your initial thoughts on the documentary , overall the documentary was seen as very professional well filmed and most importantly the commentary was insightful and education which is the sole purpose of a factual programme. I wanted the documentary to be informative in terms of making people aware of facts about the fashion industry. A member of the target audience said that there was clear evidence of research throughout.

I asked the question were the audience engaged throughout ? 100% of the audience said that they were. This was a key aim for the purpose of my documentary and it was important that they were engaged throughout. This also comes from the platform I had chosen which was Instagram. As discovered in research , Instagram has the highest average engagement rate above any other social media platform and their users are known to be more engaged than others. The fact that all of my audience were engaged supports this research and the varying visual elements helped this massively. When completing my analysis inspirations , I wanted to keep the shots no longer than 3-4 seconds to help keep the audience engaged. I asked my audience if it helped that the shots were quick and short. 100% said yes. The constant change helped to maintain the audience being engaged and the fast pace worked well along with the choices of clothing and shops that I decided to shoot. Furthermore this helped show how fast the fashion industry. This supports my intentions and shows that short and fast shots keep the audience engaged throughout and my decision to do this certainly worked.

In response to the question , do you think the documentary was positive ? 100% of my audience said yes. Going back to Stuart Halls Theory , my intention from the start was always to ensure that my documentary had a positive outcome on my target audience. I wanted the audience to be made aware that although the fashion industry can be harsh and difficult , you can certainly get there in the end and once you do, it can reap large rewards.

I wanted to ensure that my audience de-coded from my factual piece , the intended message that I was putting across however this will have only happened if my messages were clear. In order to get a clear idea of what the audience were thinking after watching my documentary , I asked the question what message was put across ? Every member of my target audience who answered the survey all said what I wanted them to take from this.

The key response I have been getting from my audience is that although Fashion is tough , you can get there and there is lots of room for people who want a career in Fashion. This fully supports my intentions that were decided when conducting research on the reception theory by Stuart Hall .

Like anybody would , although I got such positive feedback from my target audience , I wanted to know whether there was anyway at all I could improve my factual programme. One member of my target audience suggested that I could perhaps of got the interview filmed in a slightly better place and at a better angle , however I filmed it this way to get it as close as possible to an ‘IGTV’ style video. Other suggested possibly a second interview which is certainly something I could look into. Another suggestion was to have an opening title page and possibly an outro title sequence as well as this. I could certainly look into this in order to improve and also please my target audience further , however the large majority of IGTV videos don’t include these features. It was also suggested that my voice over could maybe be re-recorded due to some stuttering. This is something I could definitely do if needed .

Presentation platform

The platform I have chosen to use is Instagram. Instagram has the highest average engagement rate above all social media platforms including Facebook and twitter. Instagram is one of the most used social media sites amongst the ones that are out there. More than 60% of its users log on on a daily basis. It is an app where you upload content and share photos.  It is almost like a simplified version of Facebook but with more emphasis on mobile use and actual visual sharing. I found out that there are at least 1 million advertisers on Instagram and also , posts that include a hashtag gain 12.6% more engagement. Gabriel, M. (2019). 30 Insane Facts About Instagram | The Fact Site. [online] The Fact Site. Available at: https://www.thefactsite.com/instagram-facts/ [Accessed 29 Mar. 2019]. Because of Instagram’s visual nature , it holds massive opportunities for businesses that are looking to showcase their products and having a good visual presence. I also found out that Instagram users are more engaged than the average social media user.  Later.com. (2019). Instagram Marketing: The Definitive Guide (2019). [online] Available at: https://later.com/instagram-marketing/ [Accessed 2 Apr. 2019]. 

I am going to be looking into careers in fashion and telling a short story of someone who is running their own small business within retail. Visual messages and Instagram together , are a perfect way of letting people know exactly what you are about and what you have to offer with your audience. Since Instagram beats Facebook and Twitter with the highest engagement rate , I think this will be the perfect platform to upload my documentary.

Five years after Instagram launched videos them self , they introduced a new future called IGTV. They re envisioned mobile video through using a new stand alone surface that allows people to watch longer videos in a vertical format , on the go. I am going to be filming my documentary portrait instead of landscape to ensure that it fits in with the way IGTV works. These days , people watch less TV and more digital video. By 2021 mobile video will account for 78% of mobile data traffic. IGTV is built for how people actually use their phone which is vertical and upright. Longer , vertical videos on Instagram make it a lot easier for people to engage with an audience. I want people to feel inspired to get their foot in the door in the fashion industry through watching my documentary.

Uploading my documentary in this format gives me a whole other opportunity to share the content I create to a larger more engaged audience. It is also very easy and there will be no interruptions. Instagram has definitely upped their game in terms of keeping up with competition and now that IGTV has been set up , I think that it will be a definite competitor. Studies have also shown that online video viewership is steadily increasing, with a projected number surpassing 236 million in 2020. — this means that IGTV can go a long way in helping businesses extend their social media and video marketing effort and reach. IGTV combines the power of Youtube and Instagram into one. Instagram is an excellent platform that has no signs of slowing down

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B5Xh4Q0hbQ0/?igshid=q7htrfoa9max

Here is the link to my factual programme

third edit / voice over

Today I began the final stages of the editing process. This involved uploading music , recording a voice over and also uploading this into my factual programme. I now need to upload the finished factual programme onto my chosen platform which is Instagram , I am using IGTV to do this. I chose Instagram as a platform because it has the highest average engagement rate over all other social media platforms , as discovered in my research.

I recorded my voice over using a H1n handy recorder with a micro SD inside. When recording the voice over , I discovered that the script was too long by about 10 seconds , therefor I cropped some parts out of the script , and rearranged them into an order that suited the flow of my documentary better.

As well as the voice over , I also uploaded some background music to go alongside the voice over. In an expository style documentary a voice over is heavily used as well as a variety of different shots including an interview.

As you can see here , the voice over is broken down. This is because of things being taken out and re-arranged. This has definitely helped the flow of my documentary better rather than the voice over not stopping at all and not fitting with the shots that are shown.

As a result of the voice over changing , I also moved some of my shots around to be more in-keeping with the voice over.

The music ran throughout the documentary along with the voice over , apart from during the interview. I haven’t used a title page in my documentary due to the fact it is an Instagram video and will be uploaded on IGTV. They don’t tend to have title pages and I wanted this to replicate something that would appear on Instagram.

background music

I am now in the process of choosing the audio to go alongside the voiceover for my factual programme. Music for some , is integral for amplifying emotion or moving a narrative along.

When deciding on a choice of music , the first thing that I asked myself was where I want the music specifically to be within my factual programme and how It could possibly make the audience feel or affect their engagement. The main thing for me to keep in mind was the reaction I always intended to try and create from my audience. Relating this back to the research I did on the reception theory by Stuart Hall. , I always knew that I wanted my audience to follow the dominant method of de-coding information from my factual programme. However , this only happens when the message is easy to follow , and the themes are relevant to the target audience , therefor , it is important that the music I have chosen is fitting to what I want to portray.

My documentary has always had positive intentions. I always wanted to put across the message that although the fashion industry is crazy competitive and fast paced , you can get there wether its starting a small business , or getting your foot in the door with a larger one and working your way up. To reflect how the fashion industry is constantly moving , I wanted to find an upbeat and positive soundtrack that co-insides well with the message I am putting across to my audience , but also the fashion industry itself.

second edit

Moving on to the second part of the edit for my factual programme , The key aspect of this was including my interview as well as the other shots I got of the shops.

This was where I got up to last with my edit , I put together around 30 seconds worth of content that I shot in and around Manchester , all of which I planned and intended to get when it came to putting together my shot list. At this stage , I am discussing in the voiceover facts and statistics about the fashion industry and the number of employers in the industry. I am then moving on to discuss what it is like working in a small business amongst others that are larger , following on from this is shots inside the warehouse of my interviewee.

Here is a closeup of the logo of his business , The Wardrobe Outlet. I included this shot because I felt it was the most fitting to what I was discussing. I felt as though it sets the scene for my audience and they know exactly what his online retailer is called from the offset. It is a bold and clear shot and it is introductory of what the interviewee begins to talk about.

Here is the shot of my interviewee. As shown in my analysis of inspirations , I always wanted to use a coloured backdrop in my interview. I decided to use green. The style of the interview shot is different to that of a standard shot due to the platform I am putting my factual programme onto. Because it is being shown on instagram , The shots (including the interview ) are all landscape , fitting to the way you would hold your phone normally. Films on IGTV are also much more close up and personal which explains why my interviewee is very close to the camera. I feel as though doing this , the audience connects with the film better and you get real engagement.

I took the key parts and what I know from primary research , what my audience wants to hear from interviewee. I here have detached the audio from the video , so that I could have the audio still continue to play , over different shots of the warehouse. It is in keeping with what the interviewee is telling the audience and I love how it has turned out. In expository documentaries , interviews , establishing shots and video and images are used to illustrate with voiceover to accompany this.

The final stage of my editing will be recording my voiceover , inserting this over the variety of footage of shops and items of clothing. Furthermore I will be including music in my documentary alongside the voiceover. Music is used in other expository documentary and also the previous fashion documentaries I have looked at for inspiration. Using music amplify’s what is being put across through the visuals. I want to ensure that I get across the message intended to my audience , discovered through the reception theory I looked into previously. This is that you can make it in Fashion , but it is going to be hard to get there. I want the music I use to have a positive but also busy tone to co-inside with the message I am putting across and also the style of my documentary.

production schedule update

There are a few things that have changed within my production schedule and therefor I am going to re-update this.

The day I was originally filming my interview was the 6th of November however this was re-arranged to the 13th of November instead. I did this because I wanted to film my content in the order as the sequence I want to edit it in. Through doing this I have also changed the times I am going to be editing and when I am going to record my voice over and insert the music to accompany it. I am also arranging to go into Manchester and do my final bit of filming on the 19th of November. This will make up the final minute of my factual programme piece. After doing all of this , it will be time to upload my factual programme onto my chosen platform which is of course Instagram.

The First Edit

To begin with the practical stages of this production , I began putting together a the first edit of my factual piece. This has helped me gage a better idea of the lengths of shots I have and how they are all going to fit together for the rest of my factual piece. I uploaded the best of my shots and put these into a 23 seconds long edit. All of my shots are around 3-4 seconds long , this relates back to my analysis of inspirations and a previous documentary I watched also regarding fashion. I loved how this was edited and the fact that the shots were quick and sharp because this helped people to engage better with the content. I also asked my target audience whether they liked the style of edit and everyone agreed , therefor I wanted to replicate this in my edit.

For the first few seconds in my script I discuss that the fashion industry is a multi million dollar industry that has been around for as long as we can remember. I have chosen to put this shot of a Louis Vuitton store on New Cathedral street because I think it is an iconic brand and one of the first that I think of when I think of fashion.

Here is one of my favorite shots.

I also discuss how trends in fashion have been introduced , from the invention of the sewing machine, to the rise in ecommerce. Here I have placed some shots of garements in the store to symbolise how far fashion has come in comparrison to when it would take somebody weeks to sew one item of clothing decades ago. This emphasises the fact fashion is always going to be forward looking which is also something I am going to discuss in my voiceover alongside the shots I have taken.

A shot I really loved was a moving shot on escalators that captures somebody who works in the store attempting to sell an item of clothing to some customers. I think that the shot works really well with the facts and statistics I discuss about people employed in the fashion industry. One thing I realised that was that I probably don’t have enough content to go with the voice over , therefor I am going to prioritise another full day of filming in order to get some more shots. I need to update this on my production schedule.

script

I am now in the process of writing my script. This will become the voice over for my factual piece. My script has been pieced together from facts and information that I have found out previously in my secondary research . So far I have discussed what the fashion industry is , how new trends have been introduced and how they have been influenced by fashion icons , influencers and fashion bloggers. I have also mentioned the rise in ecommerce fashion and some facts and statistics about what it is like working in the fashion industry today. and In order to make my documentary engaging and appealing as possible , I have conducted some primary research in order to find out whether they think the information included in my script is appealing and what other information they would like too find out.

The majority of my audience stated that they would be interested in the topics I am discussing in my documentary. Some find fashion interesting and agree that it is never something talked about that often in the media , even though it is all around us. Statistics and facts are seen as a good idea in order to engage my target audience and the topics overall , are good decisions that I have made.

I wanted to know from my audience whether they had any other topics or information that they wanted to find out through watching my documentary. I received a lot of feedback and from this I can consider to talk about other aspects in my script, however I don’t want to go off the topic of careers within the fashion industry. For example some of my audience would like to know about the history of fashion and the fashion trends A-List celebrities have brought into the industry. One of the key pieces of feedback I received was that they would like to see some behind the scenes with a fashion Label , their product design process and how they go about gathering feedback from customers. This is something that is definitely going to be featured in my documentary. My interviewee is someone with their own menswear , retail brand selling clothes at discounted prices. I am going to go behind the scenes , into his warehouse and discuss the aspects of his job that he loves , how he got there and the validation process he went through. This feedback for me has clarified that my interview will be engaging for my audience. Furthermore , it has also given me an additional question to ask my interviewee when the interview takes place.

Here is my first attempt at doing the script for my voice over

Documentary Script

“The Fashion Industry, A multi – million dollar industry that has been around for as long as we can all remember. Decade after decade new trends have been introduced, influenced by pop culture, music and inspiring style icons. We are just as consumed by fashion icons, Instagram influencers and fashion bloggers as we were 60 years ago. From the invention of the sewing machine, to the rise of ecommerce, Fashion is always going to be forward looking and cyclical. But what is it like having a career in the fashion industry today?

Currently around 555’000 people are employed in Fashion, textiles and fashion retail in the United Kingdom. This sub-industry employs 75% with 414’000 people working in the retail of clothing. Owning your own small fashion business, or retail store within fashion, is a goal for many. Young designers rush into setting up a business, attracted by the perceived glamour and fun associated with the industry. But is it as glamourous as it sounds being a small business, amongst many others that are larger, and currently more successful.

Meet Mathew Donaldson, 20 years old and the founder of his own discounted menswear retailer, the wardrobe Outlet.

{INTERVIEW}

Today the fashion industry is a highly reputable , competitive and influential business and peoples commitment to fashion and wanting to work in the industry is still , if not more passionate. Getting your foot in the door of the Fashion industry is extremely daunting and there is certainly a harsh reality to fashion , but once you do , it can reep large rewards. It is an industry perfect for tenacious people who love a challenge. It takes a strong person to survive and you loose friends over samples , but the limits the industry holds , are endless.

filming day one

On the 8th of November I went into Manchester city center and did the first part of the filming for my factual program. Looking back on the shot list that I made I aimed to get around 11 shots in and around Manchester of different stores , items of clothing and the key buildings and streets associated with fashion. For the first 60 seconds of my documentary , I aimed to film a combination of establishing , low angle , still and moving shots in and around the city. I also loved the look of the store Selfridges as it was glass fronted and perfect for me to film.

As I got into Manchester , I realised that the Manchester Christmas markets had began. This affected the shots that I wanted to take massively as they ran right in front of the selfridges store and all throughout New Cathederal Street , therefor , I was limited to the width and the angles I could shoot at as I did not want the markets in my shots.

I took a photograph of selfridges from a far to show evidence of the markets in front of the store. This therefor stopped me from getting closer to the building and getting the ideal shot that I wanted and have shown as an example in my planning documentation.

I shot the first 60 seconds of my documentary at an angle not as wide and that is a lot closer because of this.