Second Game advert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVoQsKQrkxI

Audience feedback summary

Audience feedback summary

Question 1) How would you rate the success of the production in terms of following codes and conventions of a game advert?

 Excellent – Good – Average – Poor – Very Poor

100% of our audience gave us an ‘excellent’ for this question after viewing both our adverts and our print artifacts. This clearly shows the success and professionalism of our project.

Question 2) From the evidence you have seen on the blog, how well planned was the production?

Excellent 1    2     3     4    5 Poor

Once again 100% of our audience gave us either a 1 or a 2 for this question with 60% giving us a 1 for excellent and the remaining 40% giving us a 2 for just below excellent. This shows a small degree of improvement that we could try and take into account if we were to do the project again.

Question 3) Would you say the production showed evidence of: No Imagination, Some Imagination, Little Imagination or High Imagination & Creative Flair

85% of our responses said that we used high imagination and creative flair within our production. The other 15% gave us the next highest answer saying we used some imagination; this was probably because our game cover looked very similar to the existing game covers. We followed the conventions very closely which is why it looks the same but we did this to try and make the cover more recognizable for the audience.

Question 4) The following refers to the technical aspects of the piece. Please rate the following on a scale of one to five (1 being excellent, 5 being poor)

Shot composition, Mise-en-scene, Editing, Sound and music, Fonts and text.

60% of our responses gave us a combination of 1’s and 2’s for this question, this was very promising as it was a very positive overview of all the aspects of our project. 30% gave us a combination of 2’s and 3’s and although this was lower than the first 60% it was still pleasing as it was still fairly positive and also gave us a target to improve for our next production. The final 10% of the responses gave us a combination of 1’s, 2’s and 3’s which was also still pleasing as the majority were still all above ‘good’ on the scale.

Question 5) How could the production be improved?

The main consensus of our responses said that we could have left our information on the screen for longer to let the audience have more of a chance to read it. We left it on for the short time we did because it was the copyright information, we didn’t think many people would want to read it thoroughly but we had to put it in for legal reasons.  Another improvement was that we could have been more unique and less like other games, we chose to make our covers similar to that of a normal game advert to make it recognizable to the audience therefore making the game more popular.

Question 6) How well do the print artifacts tie in to the main production?

This was probably the most positive response out of the entire questionnaire as we received comments like ‘the game cover looks real’ ‘brilliant’ and ‘like a new released game!’.100% of the audience said positive comments about our print artifacts, which was pleasing as we spent a lot of time creating them.

Written by Josh, Dan and Ash

Storyboard

This is our storyboard for the first game advert.





Written by Josh, Dan and Ash

Script for the advert

Advert 1
For the first advert there is no dialogue as we only use the soundtrack of the song we used for the advert. 

Advert 2
This is the script for the 2nd advert which is a spoof of the original Fifa 12 advert. It has voice overs by Alex Barton and Ryan O'Leary. Our script is very short and relies mostly on different camera angles.


Rooney: 'Ayy Pique, watch this'
Pique: 'Olaaaaa Rooney.....Look at this' - Shows Rooney picture of Pique with Champions League trophy'
Rooney: Alright Pique calm down, calm down'

Below is a screenshot from the actual advert that we took inspiration from which include Rooney and Pique.

Written by Josh, Dan and Ash

Free Kick advert final idea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC9_tHQbmWI

How we created the Print Artifacts

Game cover summary

Front cover

The reason why we chose Alan Shearer to be the main character for our cover was because he is the top goalscorer in the English Premier League, which is perceived to be the best football league in the world. This was the reason why we decided him to be in the middle of the other two characters.
On either side of Shearer we had Zidane and Pele. The reasoning behind including Pele was because he considered one of the best finishers of his time. He scored 589 goals in 605 games for Santos and scored 77 goals in 92 appearances for Brazil. During his international career he won three world cups which is the joint highest amount won by only one player.
Zidane is one of the most famous players hence why he completes the three stars on our front cover. He is famous for his incredible goals he scored for Bordeaux, Juventus and more famously Real Madrid. Some of the public might remember him more famously for his headbutt on Marco Materazzi of Italy in the world cup of 2006. He received a straight red card and it was ultimately the end of his international career.

Back cover

We have based Fifa Legends on the well known game 'Fifa 12'. This is so the audience instantly recognises the game and from the success of the previous game, they will know  The main quote of our advert is 'Create your own legend', therefore we have incorporated this into our game cover and put it in a bold colour that stands out well on the dark background. We have highlighted the word 'Legend' so it gives the audience something to think about. Also at the top of the back cover we have created a short paragraph to sum up our game and what it offers to the the users. This should entice the audience and persuade them to buy the product. We have included a quote which we have made up to also help sell the product, and made it stand out so the audience knows that critics of the game think it is worth the buy.



Written by Josh, Dan and Ash

Print Artifacts

Creating the props (Evidence)

These images show the creation of the masks in which we will use for creating the second game advert.
These props were vital for the filming stage of the game advert and therefore I think it is an important part of our production.


Written by Josh, Dan and Ash

Risk Assessment

This our Risk Assessment we have produced

Production Schedule

Production Schedule

Filming session 1

Date 11/10/12
Where? - Edingale football pitch. We have chosen this location because it has goal posts and it is a suitable place regarding it's surroundings. (i.e. no buildings etc.)
Who? - Dan Getliff, Ash Bannister and Josh Bell, Paul Bannister and Ash Bannister's dog.
Equipment - Camera, tripod, dolly, football

Filming session 2

Date 18/10/12
Where? - Landau Forte Sixth Form Academy, Media Department - F08 We hve chosen this location because it has the green screen which we can use to give us more creativity in our advert.
Who? - Dan Getliff, Ash Bannister and Josh Bell
Equipment - Camera, Television, Green screen, X2 Xbox controllers


Written by Josh, Dan and Ash

Task 11: Final game cover

Analysis of game advert

Task 3: Mind Mapping

Task 9: Casting

Casting for our game adverts
Advert No.1 

Ash Bannister - Free kick taker
Ash's Dad - Man walking dog

Advert No.2

Alex Barton - Voice over and wearing mask for Rooney (Scouse accent)
James Marshall - Voice over and wearing mask for Pique (Spanish accent)












Written by Josh, Dan and Ash

Task 8: Project proposal

1. Working title
Fifa Legends

2. Channel for broadcast
ITV - Has lots of viewers during prime time periods. This will help us achieve larger audiences. Also the fact it has adverts in between TV programs it means we would be able to slot our advert into one of these time frames. In order to show our product to the largest audience we would have to study which type of programs get the largest audiences and put it in the advert of that particular program.
Sky Sports - It links with our target audience, and it shows live football linking with Fifa legends. If we put our game advert in between a big football match it would mean we would receive more viewers watching a game trailer.

3. Target Audience
Age: Teenagers, young adults. We chose this type of audience as older adults spend the majority of their time working or with their families. Elder people tend to have less knowledge of technology.
Social Class: C1, C2 and D - This is because the game will cost near to £50 so if we target this particular class, the working class, they will be able to afford the game.
Gender: Male and female but predominantly male. This is because football is more associated with males as the majority of fans are male.
Ethnicity: Everyone as it is a worldwide game used by almost every continent above the North Brandt line.

4.Genre
Live action sports game.

Idea 1

David Beckham's free kick against Greece. 
Our first idea is to superimpose the footage we have when Beckham scored a free kick against Greece. We will try recreate the goal he scored by using our own footage we have recorded and merge it with the actual footage of the goal. We will use this to create the idea of creating your own legend which subsequently links with the title of the game which is Fifa Legends. The purpose of recreating the goal is to show the ability of the 'legend' and combine it with the dreams of the nation after this specific event. The whole nation wanted to be like David Beckham once he had scored the goal against Greece and this reiterates the legend status Beckham has achieved and ultimately this is why we have chosen him for our base idea for our project.

We will aim to merge the clips so that we can cut bits of each clip so it fits accordingly into the timeline and edit both clips to give the impression that the tempo and speed is increasing when our character and David Beckham actually kick the ball. We will then aim to combine Beckham's real celebration with our characters celebration to complete the advert.

Idea 2


Wayne Rooney and Gerard Pique advert
For the second part to our game advert we will create a spoof of the original Fifa advert which includes Wayne Rooney and Gerard Pique playing against each other on Fifa 12. We will have two people and create masks of Rooney and Pique which they will wear for the filming. The two people we use to mimic Rooney and Pique will have to wear roughly the same clothes as it a spoof of the original. We will do the appropriate voice overs for Rooney and Pique so the audience will still understand what we aim to create. We will use a range of camera shots such as long shots, close ups and match on action to make the film look more interesting.

In this second advert we will include a logo and our catchphrase for 'Fifa Legends' so it looks professional and also meets the conventional code for a game advert. We will also include a good range of sound to the advert so it sounds similar to the original Fifa advert. This is important because if we are to try and mimic the original advert and create a successful spoof, then we need to get the camera angles, sound and editing spot on.
In the clip we need to add a small section of the gameplay so it adds to the evidence that we are advertising our game. We can do this by showing it on a TV screen and film an over the shoulder shot to show Rooney and Pique actually playing the game. This would help with the purpose of the advert as the aim is to sell as many copies of the game as possible. If the audience see's two of the biggest football icons playing our game, then the audience will mirror them, and subsequently our game advert will be successful.

Written by Josh, Dan and Ash

Task 7: Role Allocation

The roles in the group

Ashley Bannister - Editing. Ash will also star in our first game advert as the character who takes the free kick and tries to impersonate David Beckham's free kick against Greece. His other role is to integrate the archive footage of Beckham taking a free kick and the footage of himself taking a free kick and merge them together.
Dan Getliff - Camera Person. He will record the footage for the first game advert of Ash taking the free kick. His aim is to mimic the camera angles that were taken during the real life footage of Beckham taking the free kick against Greece. He will use a variety of equipment such as a tripod, a dolly and a video camera to get the best quality footage he can.
Josh Bell - Creating artifacts. My job in the production is to create a poster to advertise the game. It will be around the size of an A3 sheet of paper that would typically be found in a magazine. The other job I have to do is to create the cover for the game. This will have to contain the sufficient information required and follow the conventions of a game cover/sleeve.


Written by Josh, Dan and Ash

Task 4: Audience Research

Questionnaire

1.      What is your favorite football game?

             FIFA – Pro Evolution – Red Card – This Is Football – FIFA Street - Other Please State

2.   What aspect best sells a football game?

             Gameplay – Graphics – Team Selection – Player Selection – Other Please State

3What would you class as the average price for a football game?

4What should the front cover contain?

             Players – Stadiums – Managers – Football – Other Please State

5. What type of music should be in the advert?

             Rap/R&B – Rock – Orchestral – Pop – Incidental – Others Please State

66. What age rating would you give a football game?

3+   -   12   -   15

7. If you were to buy a game named ‘FIFA Legends’ what legends would you want in the game? 

8. What gameplay features would you want included?

             Build Your Own Legend – Real Life Scenarios – Normal Tournament Play –

             Legend XI V World XI – Others Please State

.  9. What colour Scheme would you recommend?

10.   Should classic teams be included such as the Real Madrid ‘Gelactico’ team? If so state a teams you would like to see.  

      

Results

1.      >8 FIFA / 1 Red Card / 1 FIFA Street

2.       >9 Gameplay / 1 Graphics

3.       >5 £40 / 3 £30-35 / 2 £20-25

4.       >9 players / 1 Football

5.       >1 Incidental / 1 Pop / 2 Mix of Genres / 2 Rock / 4 Rap and R&B

6.       >2 15 / 5 3+ / 3 12

7.       >Seamen, Di Matteo, Pele, Bobby Moore, Maradona, Cruyff, Gascoigne, Linekar, Cantona, Bobby Charlton, Zidane, Best, Shearer, Klinsman

8.       >3 Build Your Own Legend / 6 Real Life Scenarios / 3 Legend XI V World XI / 1 Build Your Own Dream Team

9.      >3 Any / 1 Black And White / 2 Red / 2 Gold And Silver / 2 FIFA Colours

10.      >Spain current team, Brazil 1970’s, Barcelona 2011, England 66, Brazil 2002, Italy 2006, England 90’s,

Summary
To summarise, the majority of the people we surveyed prefer Fifa. This means we have decided to base our game on Fifa as it is a recognized brand so would sell to the public as they are familiar with the game. If our product was to sell successfully then we would make a huge profit. Because of the massive target audience we can aim at, we will have to do a good job with the advertising because if it is good then we will have a lot of people who will want to buy our product.
90% of people think the game play actually sells the game, so we will aim to add lots of game play so it attracts to the majority of our audience. We wont have long to show the game play so we will have to select the best bits which sell the game the best so that the 90% of people will be impressed by the features and therefore want to buy our product.
The people we surveyed think the average price of a game ranges between £35-40. This shows the price they are prepared to pay for the game. If we sell our product at the higher end of that price range we will make more money than if we was to sell it at £50. This is because too many people would be put of by the price and therefore buy an alternative product, maybe one of our competitors product. The same applies if we market our product to cheaply. We might sell more copies of the game but we are making less money from each copy sold.
Once again, 90% of the people we surveyed say they would prefer to buy a game which has a footballer on the front of a game. If we aim to put a footballer on the front cover then it will show people that we have listened to what they want. If this is the case then they might buy the game as they think we have listened to what  features they wanted in the game.
For the question that states what kind of music that people wanted to hear in the game advert, we had a mixed response back. The majority of people wanted to hear Rap/R&B music. Some people also wanted to hear rock music in the game advert. This was a useful as it gave us a lot of options to consider for the soundtrack on the advert.
Most of the people we asked what age rating the game should be said it should be 3+. This is the same age rating as the current Fifa games. I don't think we will change this as we think it is a suitable age to play our game.
We tried to research what footballers people would like to see in our game 'Fifa legends'. We already had a good idea of who to include, but this question helped us as we gathered the customers preference which we hadn't thought about. We had responses such as; Zidane, Shearer and Pele. All of these names we received will be considered in greater detail.
The majority of people said that they would prefer our game to be real life scenarios, so basically matches that have taken place and have been considered as 'legendary' games. We also had a strong reaction to people wanting the chance to create their own legend. This would allow the customer to have a sense of creativity which might attract a different kind of audience. If we advertised the fact that we were going to include a creation center where the user can create their own legend, then we might sell more copies as is something different to the current games on sale.
Generally people weren't too fussed about the colour scheme they wanted to see which means we can create  something that we think looks exciting and energetic to attract a wide range of gamers.
Finally we asked people what teams they would like to see in our game. We got a response of what we expected as they are world famous teams throughout the generations of football. We can incorporate this into our game advert so that they are aware that they can play with famous teams as well as famous players. This might make people want to purchase the game, and might even make people more eager to play the 'unique' game.



Written by Josh, Dan and Ash

Analysis of 'A Very British Gangster' - Documentary

MES

The gansters are wearing suits which represents the gangsters known as 'The Mafia'. This shows that they are trying to copy their lifestyle. There is then a cut away to the main gangsters hands. This shows his jewellery which is a clear indication of his wealth and the fact he wants to show off to the public he is wealthy. This reflects on his personailty as he likes to show off his power. After the clip of his hands it then shows a clip of him whistling while walking. This symbolises the passing of time and could therefore reflect the passing of time when he is in prison. in the next scene the audience see's him in the barbers. This is known as iconography of gangster films. After this there is a montage of clips showing clippings of newspapers with the gangsters in them. This could show how dangerous they are as they have appeared in the newspaper for crimes. There is also black and white CCTV footage of him which is good archive footage of him. This shows that he is under surveillance from the police which reiterates his power and also his past.


Camera angles

There is an establishing shot of Manchester at the night time. This is a connotation of danger and represents the fact that bad things happen at night. The juxtaposition of the biggest gangster in the middle is important because it shows which one of them has the most power and autority. There is a low angle shot of the gangsters in Manchester which not only shows who has the power in the city, but also it shows the perspective of Manchester and how they fit in with the environment. There is a close up of the main gangsters face which shows his expression and gives an indication of how he is thinking. Another shot used in this documentary is a crane shot. This shot isn't really conventional in a documentary.

Sound

In the opening scene there is a sound bridge. Following this there is street gang music. There is also hip hop in the background which represents urban. As well as this there is also the ambient sounds of Manchester which is sounds such as; cars moving in the background, people talking. This gives a clear indication to the audience of what Manchester is like at night. There is some dialogue in the opening scene of this documentary too. This breaks the 4th wall as one of the gangsters is talking to the audience while the scene and location is being set.

Editing

The titles at the beginning of the documentary fade in and out. This could symbolise the gangsters as they dissapear slowly and appear quickly.



Below is the trailer for 'A very British gangster'

Analysis of 'Dead Island' - Game adverts

The intro of the trailer is like a film as it has the logo's at the start of the film. The logo at the start of this particular trailer is 'Deep Silver'. This is presented in the same way as a movie logo too as it has a slow animation for it's entrance and it also has sound too. There is also evidence of a zoom into the logo. The logo is black and white which makes it stand out very clearly. It also gives a sense of professionalism to it.
The titles that appear before the trailer starts fade in and then fade out. These are all good editing techniques which give the trailer that bit more quality. This is important as it reflects what the actual game will be like when it is released.

The trailer footage starts with an extreme close up in a characters eye which slowly zooms out while turning clockwise. This is similar to a scene in the film 'Physco' which uses this same effect. There is some debate to whether this game trailor is linear or non-linear. The trailer looks to be played in reverse rather than having fast cuts to events before. This effect is good as it makes the audience want to know how and why the character is thrown out of the window. The only way to find out is to watch the whole trailor as it shows how the young female character is thrown out of the window. By watching the whole trailor it means that the company that made the trailor has achieved its objecive by making the audience watch the whole trailor.
A clever technique that is used in this trailor is the fact that it doesn't actually show how the zombies came about. It only shows the effect of the zombies. This creates mystery, or an anigma, By not showing how they came about it means that the audience wants to know more and the only reason they can find out is by purchasing the game. If this is done then it means the trailor has achieved it's purpose which is to sell copies of the game and ultimately make money.

Craig Dean Divine - This is the life (Analysis)

MES

The main character is Dean which is the middle name of the producer of the film. This could mean that the short film symbolizes his life or a past chain of events which have taken place. The opening part of the film is set in a working class area. We know this because of the houses in the background of the opening scene when Dean's dad returns. We can tell that the family which Dean lives with are more than likely in the D class of social society. This is because of the age of the car that Dean's dad is driving. Also the fact that the family are eating their tea on trays in the front room suggests they are in the working class, because the upper class tend to eat at tables in dining rooms. The uniform that Dean is wearing also suggests that the family are working class because it looks scruffy. Dean is also wearing trainers which either symbolizes he is lacking a fatherly figure in his life or the fact his school don't care about the appearence of their students.

Dean's sister takes a motherly role in the family. We can see this when she does Dean's tie. She also collects him from school. The reason for this could be because Dean is lacking two parents and his Mum needs help with basic everyday jobs. This is emphised when later on in the film the Mother says "I thought it would get easier now he is back".

We also know that Dean's Father has been in jail. This is confirmed by the fact that he is in an office claiming his innocence and revealing he is fed up with talking to lawyers. This backs up different bits of evidence throughout the film suggesting he has been away for a while. Some of this evidence includes when Dean's Dad tells Dean he has missed him. This is done a few times in the film as it shows repetition and shows how sincere his Dad is. It also makes the audience remember that he has been away for a while, almost as if it is a huge significance to the plot.

Camera Angles
The maority of the film is shot with a hand held camera. This is clever as it shows a sense of realism. It also gives the film a documentary style to the film which shows a view point of Dean's lifestyle. Another camera angle which is used is a shot reverse shot which is good in the scene when Dean meets his Dad again becuase it shows the contrasting emotions in each characters face. This is important as it sets the mood of the scene as we can see the happiness in Dean's Dad's face and the confusion in Dean's face. We can also see the emotion in the face of Dean by the use of an extreme close up.

Sound
There is quite a lot of evidence of incidental music in the short film. On more than one occasion there is a gradual build up of someone playing the acoustic guitar which sets the mood of the characters in the particular scene. There is also diegetic sounds such as ambient sounds which include; cars passing, wind in the background,

Editing
Seemless editing is present in some scenes. However there are some cases of a fade in scenes which shows the passing of time. There is also a fade in the titles at the start of the film.

How to structure a short film

A short film is different from a feature film because it needs a beginning, a middle and an end.

What kind if movie?
Experimental
Genre

Length
Should be around 4-10 minutes
A feature film is classified as a film over 30 minutes long

Plot
Not a complete plot
Beginning, middle and an end. There should be no lead up to story. It should go straight into the action
Characters - Who are they? What is their problem? How will the audience recognise this?
Think of a world a character and a problem

Overall
Many short films can be made into a long film
Keep it simple

Research
Use existing short films for inspiration, not only for the plot but for the structure of the film too

Analysing music videos - Hurt by Johnny Cash

The video starts with the opening location set in a big house. The next few shots shows Johhny Cash's wealth by showing statues and valuable features in his house. He is wearing black because he is known as the 'Man in black'. He is looking into the distance which represents that he is recalling past events. (He is looking into the camera). Artificial lighting highlights the main features in the shot such as his face and his guitar. The next shot cuts to his museum which shows his level of success. It is closed to the public which could show his fame has dissapeared slowly.

When the word 'I remember' comes up, the flashback occurs and archive footage is shown to the audience. The footage is likely to be documentaries about him and home videos combined. This shows his economic wealth as he could afford a video camera in the 1960's. It goes from close ups of him to flashbacks of him. After the line 'Everyone I know goes away', the shot cuts to his Mother passed away. There are shots of live performances as he is recalling his past. The museum is empty which could link to the fact he is empty inside. This could symbolize his life, and that he is old and not remembered any more.

There are broken records in the museum which are quite valuable. The artifacts of the museum have being brought back to his home. His wealth is highlighted by the fact he has posh food on the table that he hasn't even. This reinforces the fact he doesn't care about his wealth. - 'My empire of dirt'. He sees his wife when he says 'My sweetest friend'. He pours red wine on the food which is a connotive of blood, which ultimately shows his past. He purs the wine (blood) on the food which could represent his last supper whcih also refers to the fact he was pretending to be a Godly figure in his time of fame. - 'I wear this crown of thorns'. He was a religious man but is reflecting on the negative points in his life. At the end it shows lots of scenes of when he was young. - His first live performance. At the end the lights go out which symbolizes the end of his life. He then shuts down the piano lid whcih also signifies it is the end of his music career and possibly his life.

Documentary - Codes and conventions

Tips

• Opening must capture the audiences attention as quickly as possible
• Central question of the documentary has to be posed at the beginning in order to communicate to the audience what the programme is about. (e.g. Will we survive a double dip recession)
• Some quick snippets of interviews with good resposnes can draw audiences in
• Incidental music or evan a soundtrack, relevant song should usually accompany the opening sequence during some visual montage. The music however shouldn't override the voice over.

Actuality - Filming real events as they happen is a n example of a convention in a real documentary, but this could prove difficult with certain things like trying to film a hurricane or an explosion in Iraq and thus you need archive footage.






Fly on the wall - This is when you film real people as they do real things focusing on their lives. In terms of your documentary you may be able to film things like people having a genuine conversation about an issue relevant to your topic, a live sporting event, following an individual around as they do a job etc.






Voice over - Most documentaries have a voice over, a narration of what the programme is about, giving key information and introducing the topic of debate







Graphics - Documentaries often used graphics with written text. Maps, drawings, still photographs can be incorporated into the opening sequence through Jpeg files. Graphics should also appear as a banner at the bottom of the screen when showing who your interviewee is and what they do for a living.







Interviews - An expert interview with someone who has ample knowledge of your topic and can give a clear insight into issues is vitally important. This could be a real expert, parents, students etc.

Vox pops - This is more of a random interview with ordinary people on the street with a hand held camera, with a microphone popping up asking people what they think about your topic.






Talking head - A shot of someone talking directly to the camera as a presenter of the documentary could also be used. This is called 'talking head'. The talking head is the authority figure and presents the fact.







Music - Music is critical for the opening sequence but the sound of the song or music should not dominate and override the sound of the voice over. You need to balance sound and images very carefully and fade them in appropriately.

Analysing Louis Theroux - Behind bars

MES
The opening of the film shows that a man has to serve 500 year prison sentence. This enices the audience so you want to know hat he has done to deserve that lenghty sentence.
Louis Theroux puts on a knife proof jacket as he prepares to go into the prision. This indicates how dangerous the prison is and emphasises the danger of San Quintin prison. It also alarms the audience that this documentary is serious.
Camera Angles
The first shot is an establishing shot, this sets the scene and it is a long shot view of San Quintin prison.
The start of the clip which shows Louis Theroux going into the prison is filmed in a hand held style. This shows uneasiness and the reality of the documentary. The prisoners are locked in prison for 23 hours of the day which outlines the fact that there is no freedom in prison.
Sound 
There is a soft incidental music over the top of the opening few scenes which is important as it doesn't drown the narration by Louis Theroux.
Editing
The logo that appears at the start of the documentary is the BBC logo. This shows that it is independent and indicates a stamp of quality. It also reinforces the fact that the documentary the audience is about to watch is a quality and professional piece of work, which entices the audience to watch the documentary.
There is a montage of prisoners which is a good piece of editing. It also Shows Louis Theroux watching over the prisoners, almost like he is superior to them as he is a free man.
After about 1 minute in to the documentary, it cuts to the titles. The titles are animated. At the end of the first scene where Louis Theroux is in the prison it fades out. This shows that there is a new day and it represents the fact that every day can be expected as your last if you are facing the death penalty while in the prison.

Task 2 - Researching into Existing Products

What is a documentary film?

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record. A 'documentary film' was originally shot on film stock — the only medium available — but now includes video and digital productions that can be either direct-to-video, made as a television program or released for screening in cinemas. "Documentary" has been described as a "filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception" that is continually evolving and is without clear boundaries.

Source: Wikipedia

Cinéma vérité

Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking, combining naturalistic techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.
There are subtle yet important differences among these terms. Direct Cinema is largely concerned with the recording of events in which the subject and audience become unaware of the camera's presence. Operating within what Bill Nichols, an American historian and theoretician of documentary film, calls the "observational mode," direct cinema is essentially what is now called a fly on the wall documentary. Many therefore see a paradox created by drawing attention away from the reality of the camera and simultaneously declaring the discovery of a cinematic truth

Source: Wikipeida

GPO = General Post office

John Grierson

1933 became director of GPO documentary film unit.

1) What TV channel is it broadcasted on?

2) What is the title of the documentary?

3) What type of documentary is it?

• Historical
• Biographical
• Investigative
• Artistic
• Wildlife
• Political
• Drama Documentaries
• Reality TV
• Celebrities
• Scripted Reality

4) What style of Documentary is it?

• Narrative structure
• Editing
• Voice-overs
• Archive footage
• Graphics
• Text

5) What is the subject matter/content of the documentary?

6) What are the messages and meanings behind the documentary - What is it trying to communicate to the audience?

Analysis of a very British gangster by Donal MacIntyre

·         Establishing shot of Manchester at night time – Connotation of Danger – Bad things happen

·         Sound bridge

·         Juxtaposition big person in middle

·         Wearing suits – Stereo typical representation of gangsters – Mafia

·         Breaking 4^th wall – talking to audience

·         Street gang music – Hip Hop in background – Represents urban

·         Low angle – Perspective of Manchester and how they fit in

·         Titles fade in and out

·         Slow motion

·         Black and white CCTV – Under surveillance by police

·         Cut away to his hands – Shows his jewellery – show a sign of wealth

·         Close up of his face – Shows his expression and gives an indication how he is thinking

·         Archive footage