Codes and Conventions

Documentary - George III the Genius of the Mad King

George III the Genius of the Mad King is a documentary produced by the BBC and explores newly published personal letters from George III. The purpose of this documentary is to allow a greater understanding of the monarch and to get rid of the misconceptions of what type of person he is and what his reign was like.  The format of the documentary is expository as it has a voice of God narrator who speaks directly to the audience without appearing in the documentary. Throughout the documentary experts would come in and explain in detail about whatever the narrator said. Also as the letters and photos are shown on screen the narrator’s talks over what the footage is about.

The documentary also has elements which make it a dramatizations as the letters sent between George III are read by actors there is also re-enactments of events which have taken place. Another convention of this type of documentary is having expert opinion throughout the documentary an example of this in the George III the Genius of the mad king where you have historians who provide additional information. Another conventions of this type of documentary is having text appearing on-screen, an example of this from this documentary is when professor Andrew Lambert appears in the documentary appear his name as well as which university he works out this was done to tell the audience who the expert was.

George III of the Genius of the Mad King features another convention from this type of documentary which is re-enactments. The purpose of this to make the programme more engaging and more interesting for the audience to watch. Also it also gives a visual representation of what is being said to the viewers by the narrator. By having re-enactments it also makes it a dramatization which is when events are recreated using actors. This documentary falls under realism as it based on a real life events.

News - BBC news at 10

The BBC news at ten is an evening news programme which is shown on BBC One and is a roundup of all the day’s events. It normally consists of political, finance, sports, and weather as well as court news.  One convention of a news programme is a news reader, the role of the newsreader is to inform the viewers of the different stories. They normally present in a news studio however in some instances they present from a different location. An example of this is the 2015 General election where the BBC news at ten broadcast took place at the Houses of Parliament.

The role of the newsreader is to carry out research and select stories which would interest the viewers. They also conduct interviews whether in studio or on location, they also have the role of aiding the production team with the script. The newsreader must be able to communicate effectively, speaking in a formal manner and clearly so that the viewers are able to understand what is being said. The newsreader would also have to be fully aware of the legal and ethical issues which face a journalist as well as having editorial knowledge. Another convention of a newsreader is making sure they are presented formally, an example of this comes from the BBC news at ten where the newsreader wore a suit with his hair done immaculately as well as being clean shaven. This is important as the appearance of the newsreader connotes an image of professionalism to the viewer and makes it more trustworthy.

A common convention of news programme is having a field reporter who is at the scene of the news story. The role of the field reporter is to inform the audience of what is happening at the   scene, the reporter may have a pre-recorded clips as well as live reporting. The field reporter usually takes part in the interview with the newsreader where the field reporter tells the newsreader information from the ground. The field reporter may also interview someone who is on the ground to a gain a perspective on the events. An example of this from the BBC news at ten was from a reporter who was in Washington to report on the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States of America. During the transmission they were highlights of the events as well as pre-recorded interviews with members of the public who expressed their opinions. After that aired the anchor had an interview with the field reporter.

Normally the structure of the report piece to the camera, cut away, voice over, interview, voice of the people and graphics. The news report from BBC news at 10 started off with highlights of debates from British parliament, it then cut away to a graphic which displayed the amount of refugees which Europeans have taken in since the conflict began. It then cut to an interview with an MP with the newsreader, this is conventional of a news programme as interviews take place with experts. This news segment also included an actual footage from the conflict in Syria this allows the viewer to see what is really happening. This is another convention of a news broadcast.

Documentary - Reggie Yates extreme South Africa

Reggie Yates extreme South Africa follows the presenter Reggie Yates as he explores the contrast of living in South Africa compared to the UK. The purpose of the documentary is to inform the audience about the living standards of South Africa and different their society is. This an interactive documentary as the presenter acknowledges the camera as well as the film crew and the documentary features a lot of monologues as well as dialogues.

In the documentary Reggie Yates conducts interviews with people from the documentary e.g. he talks to the pastor about whether he is taking advantage of his congregation by prosperity preaching. After the interview Reggie Yates gave his own opinion of what he thought of the interview. This is conventional of the style of documentary as this type of documentary is heavily reliant on interviews.

Another convention of this type of documentary is presenting a balanced argument so that the audience can decide which side of the fence they fall on. An example of this a when Reggie Yates interviewed one member of the congregation who believed in the Pastors methods and another person who felt that the pastor was conning the audience of the money.

This documentary is a narrativization as the host Reggie Yates narrates over archived footage which is another component of an interactive documentary. Yates does this as he moves to different locations and informing the audience of what he is doing or what he is about to do. Yates also directly addresses the audience, throughout the documentary Yates provides opinions alongside the facts and is the centrepiece of the documentary. This makes the documentary makes it more engaging for the audience as it allows them to form their own opinion.

The documentary also features a lot of monologues, an example of this is Yates at the end of filming discussing whether the Pastor was having positive effects on his congregation and whether he is right in his methods. The structure of the documentary follows Reggie Yates as he arrives to South Africa and follows his entire journey to Africa. The documentary structure provides both sides of the argument before leaving the ending ambiguous for the audience to decide.

Jermaine Jenas War with Knives

Jermaine Jenas with knives follows former professional footballer Jermaine Jenas as he investigates the rise in knife crime in his native Nottingham. It is an interactive documentary as it follows the filmmaker who directly addresses the audience. It also views the argument from different viewpoints. An example of this is when he meets a gang member who carries a knife, while also meeting a policeman and a family who are victims of knife. This is important as it would allow the audience to see different perspective on the impact of knife crime. Another one of the conventions from an interactive documentary is featuring monologues this takes place in the documentary whenever Jermaine finishes interviewing someone he has a monologue to summaries his opinions what had been said.

Another convention from this type of documentary is having a clear narrative, in the documentary we follow Jermaine from when he arrives to Nottingham and finish when he leaves. The documentary is a narrativisation as there is a clear narrative as we follow one certain gang member who Jermaine is trying to reach out to so that he can change his life for the better. Realism is representing something which is true to life.  The people who have appeared in the documentary are shown how they would be like in real life. An example of this is one of the kids brings a knife to the interview with Jermaine, this is realism as it would be something they would do in their actual life.

Another convention the documentary follows is an interaction with crew, in the documentary Jermaine talks to the crew when he is concerned for the safety of one of the gang members featured in the documentary. The documentary also leaves an open ending for the viewers at home to decide whether they will be a change in the amount of knife crime which would take place. It is also edited to show how he spent his week in his area which also makes it narrative. This is important as it allows the viewers to see a structure of the show.