1. How effective is the combination of
your main product and ancillary
texts?
By Jordan Cella
2. Final Product
Our documentary was based upon the theme of
remembrance, which was connoted through the use of
poppies and the title; ‘The Forgotten Memory’.
In order to maintain the theme of war and to ensure
that the audience were aware of this being the focus,
various iconic items and images were used repeatedly.
For example, the use of the poppy.
3. Final Product
Between the print works and the actual documentary, there
aren't many links. This is due to only the first five minutes of the
documentary being filmed. Had we needed to lengthen the
production, there would be an increase in the amount of
iconography. For example, there may be use of the gun and the
link between medals/necklaces gained through war.
The main links are between both print works and how they
relate to one another, as well as the documentary.
6. Print Work
For the print work, I researched documentaries which were similar to that of
our own, this enabled me to recognise iconography of war documentaries and
how they had been commonly promoted.
Through this we were able to focus our work and ensure that our target
market were the central focal point. It also helped us to know what sorts of
costume and lighting, etc would be used, helping us to enhance and embrace
as much professionalism as possible. It also helped us understand the mise en
scéne of the documentary, and what we needed to do to be in keeping with
the style of our chosen channel; BBC One. When researching about BBC One,
we discovered that Radio Times, their magazine, heavily promoted television
programmes or radio shows that were being aired and created by the BBC.
This was one our main reasons behind our ancillary texts being focused upon
Radio Times’ specifications.
The use of a repertoire of elements was extremely helpful as it enabled us
ensure that all of our work was interlinking with one another through
iconography and stock elements, such as setting and characters. It also made
sure that our mise en scéne was consistent and reflective of our war focus.
8. Research
To convey our research we used a repertoire of elements grid. This
was a useful tool as it meant all of our key influential material was
in one place, and that we were able to cross compare things at the
same time. By doing this we could ensure that everything was
interlinked with one another and that the mise en scéne
requirements were met.
The point of the exercise was to make ourselves aware of the basic
codes and conventions of a war documentary. These were then
stretched or completely ignored when we created our own,
however we found that most of the things that we did within our
five minute documentary extract were to the guidelines set out by
the repertoire of elements. We did not want to create a generic war
documentary, however felt that using the repertoire of elements
correctly and as a stimulus, we were able to create the best text
possible.
9. Research
This was my original idea for
The Forgotten the layout of the poster. I
Memory
completed this within the
research time so that we were
able to have something to look
War scenery/Veterans back at and as a template.
Poppy
(In
Originally I had planned for this
to advertise our documentary,
Foreground)
Time/Date
and was to have all of the
BBC One information (time and date of
airing) just below the image of
the poppy.
10. Research
This is a comparison of the layout that I created and our finished product.
Within our finished product
there is high quality
The Forgotten photography, taken by Matt,
Memory which demonstrates and
clearly connotes the theme
of war through the gun,
bullet and the chain.
However, the poster does
not detail the airing time of
War scenery/Veterans
the programme as originally
planned, nor does it convey
Poppy our main theme and
(In
Foreground)
stimulus of remembrance
Time/Date which was originally to be
shown through the poppy.
Through the lack of this, the
BBC One poster does not advertise
our documentary and
simply connotes the
documentaries theme.
11. Radio Times
When researching later on, I was able to find a website known as
Specle, which contained all of the measurements and
specifications of a double page spread for the magazine.
12. Radio Times Double Page Spread
I also searched for images of other double page spreads which
had appeared in the magazine. This was so we could remain as
true to the original identity of the magazine as possible.
Similarities between both are:
•The use of one image, which takes up the whole of
the two pages. This was used to connote to the
receiver the main focal and importance of the article,
in the original example this would be the band The
Vaccines.
•Large font for the title. I was able to discover that
Radio Times varied its font from article to article. For
example, the lettering used for the font of the original,
is the bands branding.
•There is a subtraction of bright colours such as
oranges and pinks in both of these DPS’s, however
they both have one colour which is brighter and stands
out in comparison to the dull darkened colours of the
rest of the text.
13. Newspaper Advertisement
For the newspaper advertisement we used our
research which had been gathered from Radio Times.
This was to help us decide on the dimensions and the
layout of the main advertisement. As a group we chose
to have one main image, and only use simple lettering.
This is because we had rarely seen posters or
advertisements similar for any BBC programmes,
creating a bit of an issue for us when it came to
creating the poster. Eventually we were able to find
some poster designs which helped for our idea to
become a reality.
14. Advertisement
To research newspaper advertisements I found images of similar
ads, these were to help us compare and make decisions which suit
the existent advertising materials.
Similarities between both pieces of advertising:
•They both have the logo of the specific BBC
channel that they are going to be aired on
•On the existent advertisement there is a tag line,
on our one there is the title of the programme.
Although these are different, the programme in
the original may be more well known and
therefore does not need to be shown explicitly,
unlike our own new documentary
•Although the advertisement which I have got for
BBC is of the channel, it still has similarities with
that of our advertisement, neither declare times
of viewings. For our advertisement this is a
downfall as we should be promoting and without
this information, the promotion is not completed
correctly.
15. To ensure that all of our work links together and compliments one another we have
tried to remain consistent with photography and the articles present.
To link the DPS and the
newspaper advertisement,
The article details the same metal objects
the an overview were used, just
photographed at different
of the
angles and with different
documentary and lighting. In both, there is
the main subtext. DPS
the inclusion of a metal
This was to be lighter, bullet, gun and
presented in The necklace. These objects all
Radio Times portray war imagery and
magazine as a link to the theme.
part of the
promotion
process.
We certified that the poppy was the focal point, as
it helps to promote the key and main focus of our
documentary, Remembrance and Remembrance
day. This helped remain consistent with both the
theme and the shots of poppies being washed
upon the shore in the opening of our documentary
extract.
Points where the poppy appears in the documentary, are
screen grabbed here, so that the links can be made
16. Relation Between Print Work and
Final Product
Within both pieces there is a clear link through the use of
iconography; the main piece being the poppy. In the
documentary, within the first few seconds, audience members
see a poppy which is washed upon the shore. This creates
connotations and links to the theme of remembrance, the main
theme of the documentary. In the DPS we made sure to include
the poppy, which was saturated more in comparison to the rest
of the image, as this is the main iconic link between both texts.
