Unit 27: Task 1B- Codes and conventions of factual programming

NBC news report

The news report I have chosen is an NBC report about the Supreme Court making same sex marriage legal in the fourteen states that it is currently not, this took place on the 25^th of June 2015. At the beginning of the report the two studio reporter’s matt lower and savannah Guthrie appear on screen and start to talk about the event that is happening.

Both news reporters have a serious facial expression, dressed formally and are keeping eye contact with the camera. This makes the news channel look more serious and informative as well as making the audience feel like they are being spoken to directly.

The field reporter Pete Williams is also dressed formally, has a serious expression and is looking directly at the camera not getting distracted by his surroundings giving the right impression to the audience.

Pete is in an area which is distanced from the Supreme Court enough for him to be heard clearly this is important because if they audience cannot hear him they will most likely change channels.

When the field reporter is live on a certain part of the news makes the audience feel more involved. An example would be when Pete is talking about the legalisation there is cheering in the background the screen splits to show supporters celebrating.

It is important to have links to the studio because it has a positive impact for the audience making them feel more involved and gaining more information an example of this is during Pete’s discussion about the twenty four page conformation means the studio reporters give there input and ask questions.

When the news report starts with a message saying “special report” this shows the audience that this has a sense of urgency. Many news channels have a routine which this report does, this routine makes the audience comfortable because it is something familiar.

Interviews are an important role in the media industry. They are used to obtain information about certain topics or finding out people’s options. An example of this would be when the studio reporters introduce peter alexander asking for additional information about the political conversation about the legislation of gay marriage, this also gives the audience additional information about the political side of this topic. This aids the audience to have their own opinion to.

The invert pyramid is the model for newswriting. It meant that the most important information should be at the beginning and the least important should be at the ending. This news report does not follow that structure due to the important topic. The beginning of the news report introduces the subject then the announcement legalising gay marriage happens and ending the report is some words from president Obama and peter Andrews.

The footage that is used is recorded live to give visual information which back up the points and gives them a better idea of the story. An example would be when the announcement is made the screen splits to show the community celebrating.

Documentary- Paris is burning

Paris is burning is a prize winning documentary, a portrait of the 1980’s Harlem drag balls filmed from 1980-1989 released in 1990.

The documentary achieves realism because they use actual footage filmed in the 1980’s as well as interviews from the famous drag queens from that era such as pepper LaBeija and Dorian Corey.

There is no dramatization within this documentary. The footage is all from the 1980’s and all the drag queens are real.

The narrative is made in the voiceovers explaining the events that are being showed an example is when pepper LaBeija talks about what drag balls are.

Documentary- The Krays: the myth behind the legend.

Rivals and other contempories discuss Ronnie and Reggie kray, the notoriously violent gangsters who ran London’s east end in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

The documentary uses archive footage and interviews to give it a sense of realism as well as going to some of the locations that are mentioned by the people who were interviewed. An example would be when the presenter revisits the blind beggar pub in Whitechapel, where Ronnie kray shot George Cornell.

There is no reconstruction of events in the documentary due to the style of documentary. The narrative of this documentary is justified by the interviews of known associates of the Krays as well as archive footage.