Culture in the
digital age

I am making a documentary for the BBC 3 Northern Voices
campaign about the impact of technology on culture. It will be aimed
at 16 to 24 year olds. The purpose of the BBC is to inform, entertain
and educate so this is what I will do with my product.

Existing documentaries – The Like Movie
From watching the trailer for this documentary, I noticed that it
uses a lot of interviews. Interviewing many different people is
common in a lot of recent documentaries and it gives the viewer
the opportunity to hear different experiences and come to
their own conclusion. It also makes the documentary feel more
personal instead of someone reading a script for the voiceover
which can feel disconnected from the rest of the documentary.

Existing documentaries – The Social Dilemma
This trailer uses various codes and conventions. I would say
that it uses two step flow theory because the film makers went
out and found the experts and people who actually created the
things that are discussed so the audience is more likely to
believe what they say. The way they have used music creates
a mysterious vibe as you're finding out all these secrets about
the true impact of social media which makes viewers intrigued
and want to keep watching.

One thing I noticed about both of these documentaries is that
they have a negative view about the effect of digital technology.
I am going to subvert this and try to not be biased. Instead I will
explore both sides and let the audience come to their own
conclusion. However I want to replicate the personal feeling
that you get through interviews because this was so common
in my research and I think it will appeal to the target audience
of 16-24 year olds.

My idea
My idea for my documentary is to explore how digital
technology has made it easier to keep in touch with friends and
family. I want to add elements of my favourite kind of
documentaries which is historical ones, so I will investigate the
history of communication leading up to the modern day, and
see the impact that technology has made on modern society,
for better or worse. It will have interviews with people to find
out different opinions.

Target audience
As it says in the brief the target audience is 16-24 years old. I
conducted a survey of people in this age range to find out if
they would be interested in my documentary.

Ages in my survey

50/50 M-F ratio so the documentary should not
be targeted at a particular gender

The responders used technology to
communicate on average 6 hours a day. This will
be referenced in the documentary to show the
impact digital technology has on our lives.

2/3 of the responses watched BBC products, half
of them watched on normal TV as well as online.
This means the documentary will be successful
at reaching the target audience by being
broadcasted on the BBC 3 channel.

All the participants watch documentaries so that
means my documentary will be very appealing to
the target audience.

All the participants were interested in the first
part of my idea.

Same with the second part.

Slightly more participants thought that social
media had a negative impact on the world.
Clearly this is a contentious issue in this
demographic which is why I will explore it in
my documentary.

Why my campaign is superior
As you can see from my research, there is a huge demand for
this documentary among the 16-24 year old demographic.
It would create a lot of engagement with the BBC 3 channel by
attracting younger viewers. It will be suitable for the BBC
because it will deliver information and educate the viewers on
the topic whilst also being entertaining and fun to watch.