Creative Media Production: Primary Research (My Documentary)

Primary research is a form of analyzing which consists of various methods. The forms primary research I will be studying for my documentary will be the audience, voice-overs and archive footage. I will explain the advantages and disadvantages in this essay.

• The Audience
• Voice-overs
• Archive Footage
• Interviews

The Audience can be used as a form of primary research. A Television researcher would study a certain audience to understand what their response was to a program. They do this by creating focus groups or airing pilots onto a network. An advantage of an audience is that you can see the response before you air a program. This means that the researcher can make changes to improve to program. A disadvantage of an audience is that the show's subject may only cater for a certain's persons interest. This could mean the programs strengths could be ignored.

A voice over is used in many television programs. A program would uses voice overs to explain information over video footage without being part of a narrative. An advantage of a voice over would be that it may be spoken by someone who appears elsewhere in the program. And this can also create a dramatic effect for the show. A disadvantage of this would be that without seeing the presenter, the audience may be confused and may not know who is talking.

Archive footage is a form of primary research which involves seeking out and extracting evidence from it's original source. An advantage of this would be that it saves filmmakers from shooting new material. A disadvantage of this would be that they are a number of companies that own the copyrights to this footage and they can charge the filmmakers for using it.   

An interview is a form of primary research which is used in several forms of media, including newspapers, radio, television and film. An advantage of an interview can give the researcher a chance to use open questions and ask the interviewee to expand and elaborate on their answers. A disadvantage of an interview could be that the interviewee can give unnecessary or irrelevant information.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I have discovered several other shows that follow a similar format to what I want to create. 

• Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder.
• Crimewatch
• Most Evil
• Born To Kill

Creative Media Production: Documentary Research

The Murder at Gorse hall

I have read a Wikipedia article about my subject, and I am using it as my first form of secondary research. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_George_Harry_Storrs

The wikipedia articule informes me by using facts and historical evidence. It also gives me a list of petensiol susbects.

"

Who committed the crime ?[edit]

As the two trials resulted in two acquittals, no-one knows for sure. However, there are quite a few suspects :

• James Worrell worked with knives and guns, but had no reason to murder his master.
• Some people felt that James Storrs and/or Maggie Storrs hired a hitman. While James had no real motive, Maggie probably did know about Maria's baby.
• Cornelius had no alibi, but again, had no real reason.
• Mark Wilde had a compelling case against him, even though his mother had given an alibi for him. He suffered from mood swings, possibly caused by syphilis. Although he and George were enemies, Julian Fellowes feels he wouldn't have done it.

A year after the murder, Mrs Storrs had Gorse Hall torn down."

  

    

I have discovred a online video of an educational tour about the Gorse Hall mysetry. I am using this as my first form of Primary Research.
This video has been posted onto youtube. I have posted a link and a screenshot below this text.
Gorse Hall Unsolved Murder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC_HQwFfoAU

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I have found a local website specialising in the history of gorse hall. The following images are screen shots of the website. This is my second form of secondary research.

This is another historical website. It is simulair to the local site expect that this was a national site, so it only featured one page of information.   

I have contacted the website using their email service.

This is a screenshot from the website. This message appears when you click onto their 'contact us' link to their email address.

I have created a Polljunkie account and I have uploaded my questionnaire onto the polljunkie website.

I have added a link to the results underneath this text.

http://www.polljunkie.com/poll/zgxatw/primary-researchquestionnaire/view

I have uploaded a link to my pulljunkie questionnaire on the social networking site Google+.(Above)

I have also uploaded a link to my pulljunkie onto the social media site, Twitter. (Below)

I have created a Prezi online, this presentation is used to tally the results of my questionnaire. I have pasted the link is below this text.

http://prezi.com/-yf5_nrweg5t/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Panorama: Episode Analysis

Panorama is a expository documentary. A documentary such as panorama includes voice overs, explanations, music, facts and opinions.

Before the title card shows up on-screen there is a moving montage of close up shots and a informative voice-over. This is intended to grab the audiences attention. This is also know as "the hook".

During the main feature they are presenters describing the situations and conflicts in Syria. When danger is discovered the shots become out of focus and music increases it's tone rapidly. When the more dramatic scenes take place the music is softer, but becomes louder and over rights the rest of the audio.

In this expository documentary they are several issues that are covered such as, War, Lifestyle, heath care and politics. This documentary also covers elements of a journey documentary because the presenter discuss her opinions of the war since she has been in Syria.

The presenter uses an emotional one-to-one approach to get the important message across to the audience from her own perspective. This is used as part of a fly-on-the-wall method because the viewer is seeing the presenters experiences for themselves.

Despite this being a expository documentary, all the information told about the Syrian War is one-sided; the side being the general public. The governments decisions are not explained and their reasons remain untold.

This documentary does not use many interviews, but when included the interviewer uses a semi-structured format, this is so the interviewee explains there life and experiences in the Syrian war.

All these are parts of quantitative and qualitative research and help turn this into a deep insight of life in war, and is what makes panorama a successful expository documentary.

Comparison Of The Audience

The Audience: BBC's Panorama, has a target audeince of people aged 30-70, but is targeted for both genders, the classes targeted are skilled working class up to upper middle class, I have calculated this by using the 'National Readership Survey's social grade scale. The target audience would also be people who had grow up in a simuler culture, This makes the program relateable.  This program may also be targeted for modern historians, health care workers, and politicians.

B.A.R.B: is an organisation that calculates audience measurement and television ratings within Britian. The viewings for 'BBC's Parnorma: Syrian Crisis' speical were 5.14 million and was rated 16 out of the weeks top 30 most viewed shows. This was a great sucusses for the BBC, considering having a smaller target audeince than other programs and achiving four times as many views as rival programs such as Channel 4's Dispatches, which achived 0.98 million views and ITV's exposure with only a disappointing 0.68 views.

Critical Reception:  The critical reception for this epsiode of panorama was generaly posative, the Telegragh gave the episode 4/5 stars and commented 'A a disturbing, but powerful edition of Panorama . While the reception was mainly positive the guardian criticised it, saying ' she finds out that Syria is a secretive, dangerous place. Now I'm no expert but I think we knew quite a lot of that already. Still, it's not a bad time to be reminded.'

Qualitative

Qualitative- research can be used in a primary and secondary forms. Qualitative research uses more detailed methods of analysing people opinions. They are several methods of qualitative research such as observations, filed notes, reflective journals and structured interviews, all of which, I will explain the advantages and disadvantages of these methods.

• Observation
• Filed notes
• Reflective journals
• Structured interviews

One method of qualitative research is observation. A researcher would use observation to speculate an event from a first person perspective. An advantage of a observation would be that the researcher is getting their own viewpoint on a event, so it is easier for them to judge it themselves.  A disadvantage of this could be that their vision or memory could be obscured.

Another method of qualitative research is filed notes, A researcher would use filed notes as a reminder of the information they have observed. An advantage of a filed note would be that the researcher has the information ready for future reference. A disadvantage of this would be that some of the information may not have been written down by the researcher.

Furthermore another form of qualitative research are structured interviews. A researcher would use a structured interview to understand a persons opinion on a subject. An advantage of this would be that you can archive a straight forward answer from the interviewee. A disadvantage of this would be that the interviewee could avoid the question and give out unnecessary information.

In conclusion quantitative research means the information is more opinionated and observed from a first person account.























               

Quantaive

Quantitative -research can be used in primary and secondary forms. Quantitative research uses more detailed methods of analysing such as surveys, viewing figures, readership figures and website hits.  A researcher would use quantitative research to get accurate mathematical results.

• Surveys
• Viewing figures
• Readership Figures
• Website Hits

One method of quantitative research are surveys. Researchers use surveys to separate people into a certain audience. An advantage of a researcher using surveys would be that the researcher would achieve facts and percentages without any unnecessary information.  A disadvantage of a survey could be that that they are no results or explanations, just a set of results.

Another method of quantitative research are readership figures, researchers use readership figures to measure the audience's answers. An advantage of this would be that researchers can recieve factual documents, which are easy to calculate into numbers. The disadvatage of this would be that the researcher has to ask closed questions.

A third method of quantitative research are website hits. A website hit would help a researcher measure the popularity of a post from around the world. An advantage of a website hit would be that the researcher would know their target audiences by looking at the area's with the most views. A disadvantage of this would be that the researcher would not know the persons reaction to the post.

In conclusion quantitive research means the use of numbers and percentages, quantitive meaning a large number for value.

Secondary Research

Secondary research is a form of analyzing which consists of various methods. Such as Internet searches, books and specialist websites. As within all forms of research, Secondary research has advantages and disadvantages. Which I will discover in this essay.

•   Internet Searches

•   Books

•   Specialist Websites


Internet searchers are a form of secondary research which can give the a researcher instant information. An advantage of a internet search would be that the information is given in a quick amount of time and is often relevant. A disadvantage of an internet search would be that anyone has access to add information to the web, this can result in incorrect research. 


Another form of secondary research is searching information from website specialists such as Wikepedia and Google Scholar. An advantage of these websites are that we can find relevant information in a instant time with a reliable sorce. A disadvantage of this would be that all the information that you require could not be available.

Books are also forms of secondary research. A researcher could use a book to find academic information based on a subject. An advantage of a book is that they are reliable and have credible sources. If you rent one from the library then it is usually free of charge. A disadvantage of a book could be that they can be time consuming and the information may not be direct. Books can be out of date and can be lost.

They are several qualitative and quantitative elements in secondry research such as surveys that are found on websites, Website hits. and an authors redlective journal.