Research

Codes

with the codes there are 2 main sections Technical and Symbolic and these can either be found severely or together they can both be found in music and they are basically a system of signs which help create meanings in a media text for example Camera angles in film and TV.

An examples of technical code are lighting,editing and camera shots and some examples of symbolic codes are character expressions, mine en scene and setting.

Conventions

They the accepted ways of producing something and that its closely connected to an audience expectation of a media product and are split into three types of conventions.

• Story convention: common narrative or structure and understandings that are common in storytelling.
• Genre conventions: common use of tropes, characters, settings or themes in a particular type of media
• Form conventions: the certain way we expect codes to be arranged 

Purpose of a documentary by Michael Renov

Documentaries should 

• Record, reveals, presents
• Persuades or promotes
• Analyse or interrogates
• Expresses emotion

Blackfish Analysis-exspository documentary

Blackfish is a documentary about a killer whale which killed a number of people through the years of torture as it slowly reveals the practises used to hide vital information from the trainers of the whales just to make money and endanger their safety.

                                                                    Techniques

The techniques used in Blackfish include the use of Voice over narration and mainly uses archival footage of  some of the attacks and testimonies of the ex-trainers at sea world and also include plenty of interviews from the same ex-trainers of sea world and witnesses to the multiple attacks that the killer whale Tilikum caused to the trainers.

The interviews previously mentioned in this analysis where mainly confessional monologues  and confessional duologue's as they usually confessed about what they knew about the practises of capturing whales or their experiences working with Tilikum and the other whales or what the witnesses saw during these attacks on trainers and spectators.

An editing technique used in this documentary was Frankenbiting this is present at the start of the doc  as you can hear parts of emergency calls going out about the attacks which helps set the tone for the rest of documentary that being of terror and mystery.

                                                             Unsolved:Tupac and Biggie

Unsolved is a episodic docudrama about the murders of notorious rappers Biggie smalls and Tupac Shakur from a group of detectives some 15yrs later still trying to find the murderers and to solve this case while jumping back to events crucial to the murder of these rappers.


                                                                      Techniques
The best thing about this documentary is the fact that its actually a docudrama and this is a great technique that I personally think should be used more in documentaries as it helps present the information to the viewers of the doc but also helps us see into the lives of Tupac and Biggie such as their strong bond and friendship to other violent encounters with gangs and other rappers and political figures in their lives another techniques used is interviews from friends of both rappers which then get turned into scenes so we can get a good look at the people surrounded and affected by both Biggie and Tupac.



The link both of these documentaries share is the use of archived interviews and images and film but the way they both use them is different as blackfish uses the footage and recordings just as they are and by using these archived recordings conduct interviews on the subject which helps shed light on the subject but unsolved uses the footage, recordings and interviews and recreate these events to help the viewer step into the shoes of the rappers and of their friends and enemies

Types of documentarys

There are many different types of documentaries present in the world of cinematography so here are a few that you need to know.

Expository Documentary-this type of documentary is one of the main form as its main purpose is to expose a person or a topic with the use of narration and associated footage and archival recordings which are linked to the subject being talked about by the narrator an example or a expository documentary is Americas most wanted.

Poectic is used to associate images and patterns of a historical theme to help the audience `to understand the topic on an emotional level by using art and depictions of events

The observational documentary this type of documentary is used to show events in history the way they happened as if there were no film crews no narration or any other editing done to the video to help keep the realness of these events as the actors used behave as if there was no film crew.

the participatory mode is where the film maker is able to address the audience or fellow actors during certain circumstances as they are able to talk about the film or a subject or interest a little bit like a behind the scenes on a DVD basically when the film maker narrates actions during a film or subject.

The reflexive mode okay this mode can be used in a few different situations.

• it can be used to show our assumptions and expectations on the documentary form itself.
• it can be seen politically as it shows our assumptions of the world around us 
• both of these techniques are used to sever our connection to the film and question the filmmaker itself the techniques mainly used in this mode is the voice of god narration technique and expository form and images and doesn't only speaks about the historical world but the issues of representation.

The preformative mode 

this is used to show the emotional effect of a subject on the workplace and life itself as it stresses the tone and mood as well as arguments and evidence of events to show the emotional factor of these events and by using that emotional complex it helps the audience want to learn  more about the certain subject and the way you feel about the subject is by how the filmmaker feels about the subject

Representation and semiotics

Representation
The representation in the media industry is the way that Groups, people and events have been represented in the media industry and that when a narrator of a documentary such as David Attenborough doing a documentary on penguins they don't present the reailty they re-present it in their own way.

Anything that is represented in a media goes through a process called mediation the process of mediation goes as follows Reality, Mediation and representation of reality. This process helps create the shows and documentaries that use reality and historical events and people to get the a proper representation in the media industry.

Semiotics
Semiotics is the study of signs int he media industry and how filmmakers make meanings in film throughout the creation and interpretation of signs.