Newcastle United Short Documentary

Evaluation: Question 4) How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Evaluation: Question 3) What have you learned from your audience feedback? (Overall conclusion)

The main things that I have learnt from my audience response are:


positive:

• The interviews were well received by people watching the documentary. They liked hearing the views of a former player, as well as those who are connected with the club.
• The information provided in the voiceover was very useful to the viewer. Due to the fact that I asked a range off different people to give their response to the documentary it allowed me to see just how effective the voiceover was, and the general consensus was that it was very good, allowing people with not a great deal of knowledge about the club to still be able to watch the documentary.
• The mix of facts and opinions struck a good balance. Viewers didn't feel that our opinions, or those of the people taking part in the documentary, were forced upon them and the factual information we included backed up what was being said.

Negative:

• The documentary lacked in archived footage. There was areas where people suggested we could include some but unfortunately due to restriction on found footage this was not possible.
• The interviews could have went on for longer to give more information or they could have been broken up a bit, rather than having Joe Allon talking for a minute at the beginning and then no more of his interview being shown anywhere else.

Evaluation: Question 3) What have you learned from your audience feedback? (Video response)

Evaluation: Question 3) What have you learned from your audience feedback? (Open questionnaire)

A selection of answers given to the questions asked in the open questionnaire:


Did you enjoy the documentary? Please give an explanation for your answer.

• Yes I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary because I felt it gave a great insight into what is happening at the football club.
• I thought the documentary was really good, the amount of information put across was brilliant.
• I didn't particularly enjoy the documentary but that is because I don't support the club in question, however I still thought it was well put together.

What was your favourite part of the documentary and why?

•   The section that I enjoyed the most was the interview with Joe Allon as it was really nice to hear the view of a former player.
• I liked the voiceover as it gave a lot of background information about the club that I did not previously know.

Did you feel the documentary was easy to follow?

• Yes very much so, it followed a clear structure and was well presented through the voiceover.
• I think that it would have been better had there have been someone actually presenting it, rather than a voiceover all the way through.
• Yes, the documentary was easy to follow, the voiceover gave all of the information that was needed before the next section started.

Did you learn anything from the documentary? If yes, what did you learn?

• I learnt quite a bit of background information to the club that I was not previously aware of.

Would you recommend this documentary to others? Please give a reason for your answer?

• Yes, I would certainly recommend it to other fans that I know as I think they would enjoy hearing the views of the 3 people interviewed.
• Yes as I feel this documentary would appeal to any Newcastle United fan.

Evaluation: Question 3) What have you learned from your audience feedback? (Closed questionnaire)

Evaluation: Question 2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

Evaluation: Question 1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Finished Poster

This is my finished poster for the ancillary task.

Finished Magazine

This is my finished magazine article. Since the last post I have included the brief description underneath the image, which is something that I came across in my analysis of a Radio Times piece, I have also added the page numbers and I will now move onto creating the poster, which will complete the ancillary task.  

Magazine rogress 2

This is my magazine article as it stands at the minute. I have decided on the image shown above, as well as putting the title on, which is in the same font and colour that I will use on the poster. I don't have much else to add now, other than page numbers and maybe a brief description of what the documentary is about, which will go under the image.

Magazine Progress 1

This is my progress so far on the media article, I have inserted the text on one side of the double page spread and I will look to get an image to be placed on the opposite side.

Magazine Article

I have begun work on creating my magazine article, by writing the article itself:
Newcastle United is one of the biggest clubs in the country. Yes, they may not have won any silverware for over 40 years but they possess the third biggest fan base in the country, whether they are winning or losing they still manage to attract 50,000 Geordies week on week. The North East is a hot bed off football but recently things have gone from bad to worse. The documentary ‘Talking Toon’ will take the views of former player, Joe Allon, a respected journalist in the area, Neil Cameron, and the head of the clubs fan forum, Steve Wraith. Today we’ll be chatting with the two men behind the scenes, directors Liam Donnelly and Ryan Batey.
The two lads are from the area and have both supported the club since they were kids, they still have season tickets with club and have seen the next disaster that has hit the club first hand. “We felt that somebody needed to highlight the problems that the club is facing at the minute, it’s not right that to many media outlets are covering over the cracks and trying to stay on the side of the club” Stated Donnelly. “Where just like everybody else, where fans of this club and want it to succeed” said Batey.
The pair aren’t attached to any media company which they felt allowed them to speak their mind. The documentary certainly does highlight the problems at the club through three fantastic interviews that give a real insight into what exactly is going wrong, it takes a look back at the relegation and the struggles they have faced since they arrived back in the Premier League.
“We wanted to show the difficulties that the club has been through but it wasn’t all about slating the way the club has been run, we wanted to show just how good the fans are and how much they go through for supporting the club they love” argued, Donnelly. He continued, “It seems that the fans of the club are often forgotten about in all of this and we wanted to give them the exposure that they deserve.”
‘Toon Talk’ airs on BBC Look North on Wednesday; the pair certainly couldn’t believe their luck when the phone call came to say that the BBC wanted to show it. “We were really shocked, the whole idea was to post it onto YouTube and just see how it went from there but a few clips from the documentary leaked onto Twitter and they must have gotten hold of it, where just so excited to see what people think” said Batey.
There’s no doubt that the passion runs high in the North East and the pair want to show that in the documentary. A clip with Joe Allon where he discusses what it is like to score in that famous number 9 shirt is something that all fans of the club will want to see. “This club certainly does mean everything to the fans, it’s the first thing they think of in the morning and the last thing they think of at night, it’s not just a football club it’s a way of life” said Batey.
The clubs fans have often been criticised for the expectations they have of the club and their views on the current ownership but as this documentary shows it is certainly a club that should be aspiring for much more than mid table.
“We want fans of other clubs to understand what it is like to support Newcastle United and to understand why it is impossible for us to just walk away from it” said Donnelly.
He continued, “The interviews with Joe Allon, Steve Wraith and Neil Cameron are truly magnificent if I do say so myself, they are an insight into a club which very rarely, in fact recently never speaks to the fans. These are people who are involved with the club day in day out and to be honest at times we forgot we were interviewing them, what they had to say was so interesting and I just hope everybody who sees the documentary will agree. “
Batey followed up, “it really is a magnificent club and to be honest it is a mystery to me why it hasn’t been challenging for honours. All the fans want is a bit of ambition to be shown by the club and I don’t think that is asking much, I would hope in the future I will be able to see my club win something, here’s hoping.”
It’s clear this is something close to their heart.
Catch the documentary when it airs on BBC Look North, Wednesday at 6PM. It really is a must see.

 

 

 

Starting Work on Ancillary Task

Now that work on my documentary is coming to an end, I have begun to look at the ancillary task that I need to complete. For this I will need to create a poster and magazine article that will act as media material to distribute my work.

Narrative Theory

The film that I have chosen to look at to compare the narrative theory to my documentary is Shrek.

The first thing that i would look at when considering the narrative theory of Shrek would be that it follows a clear structure regarding the characters.

• Shrek is the hero
• Fiona is the princess
• Donkey is the doner or helper
• Lord Farquaa is the villain

It also follows Todorovs theory of conventional narratives being structured in 5 stages:

• State of equilibrium at the start - Shrek in the swamp
• A disruption to the equilibrium - His swamp is taken from him
• A recognition that there has been a disruption - Goes to see Farquaa
• An attempt to repair the disruption - Journey to save Fiona
• A reinstatement of the equilibrium - Back in the swamp with Fiona

It is quite difficult to talk about narrative theory for a documentary as there arent any character etc. but it could be said that it follows Todorovs narrative structure in some ways:

• State of equilibrium at the start - There is an overview of what has happened at the club
• A dsiruption to the equilibrium - Actions of Mike Ashley
• Recognition of the disruption - Interviews