7Textual Analysis of Student Work

By Hol ly

This slideshare will consist of a textual analysis of the final production work on A2 students, Gee, Daniel and Alex on their documentary called One Force One Leicester which gives insight into the work on the Leicester Police Force.

12 slides.

Ana lys i s o f S tudent Work - Poster

Writing is plain and easy to read.

Channel Four symbol is visible and given a vacancy around it.

Cleat associations with different production companies.

Attention is conventionally drawn to the centre, giving focus on the image and therefore a more impactful, memorable image is given.

However, the policeman’s face is darkened, loosing its interest and impact slightly, however this could of be done purposely to connote a seriousness and danger through his darkened , sinister expression– though I think the policeman should be been presented more positively and the documentary promotes them in a positive light and their hard work.

The police officer and locations and use of the clock tower conventionally link, using brands, with the documentary, adding to its professionalism through its conventionalism.

Mise – en – scene represents the location of the documentary, an image of Leicester given a blurred , ripple effect to possibly connote the continually fluctuating safety situation in Leicester from day to night which the documentary gives insight on.

The poster is given a dark colour scheme top link with the night scenes in the documentary, while the text is made simple and white to stand out.

The Title however could have been made bigger and more impactful , of focus, as the title is important for the audience to remember.

Not too much text, so not to reduce interest as the documentary itself will have the text needed, this also gains the documentary interest as not revealing too much is enigmatic.

Life in Leicester footage is under-cranking in the beginning of the clip, connoting the fast-pace lives of the Leicester people and how quick the day goes. This is suitable as in the beginning the documentary introduces Leicester and its inhabitants as a whole (which the next few shots illustrate) then introduces the police force that protect it.

The documentary then conventionally brings in the title in the beginning of the clip. The title is given a typewriter effect, this effect and its sound create connotations of a ‘high-tech’, technological and practical documentary. The shot here could be the producers using ‘extra’ footage. We will most certainly be collecting ‘extra’ footage as well to always stay prepared if there are problems with other footage or the documentary isn’t long enough– hopefully with organisation this won’t be the case.

To help anchor the documentaries structure and narrative, some text is introduced in a credits form. The text gives basic details on Leicester, connoting the main location focus of the documentary will be Leicester. It is very conventional for statistics relatable to your topic to be presented, and we will be doing the same in our documentary and conventionalism can drive the documentaries professionalism and realism.

The blurring of the night club could connote the state of intoxication and hazy eyesight of the people surrounding and enjoying themselves at the club that the police force have to encounter at night.

From 0:50 to 1:00 the documentaries presents footage within the over-crowded night club, cutting quickly the numerous shots connoting a sense of disorientation that a police force would often encounter and have to handle.

There is an under-cranking of footage from one location to another, connoting how quickly the situation can change for the police force and the pressure of how quickly they may have to from one location to the next to ensure safety.The text here conventionally helps anchor the documentary, giving insight into the name of the event they are at in Leicester and date.

From 2:19 onwards there are a series of very conventional interviews of the police force they have been documenting. The interviewee’s name and profession are also conventionally displayed, adding to the sense of realism through conventionality. The medium close-up and placement of the camera to the left allows for the background to be of some focus, showing the interviewee in his police environment, connoting that his work is always in the back of his mind and he is constantly surrounded by this policed environment because of his job so much that is has become a part of his background/life.

One Force One Leicester have managed through organisation to keep a quality lighting, sound and a clear picture which from our Form Research we have touched upon and will develop on through practise, and organisation which is greatly stressed. The background noise does sometimes drown out what the interviewee is saying, however with great organising of location and securing a quiet location, which Form Research has encouraged, we hope to avoid this problem.

There is then footage of the police force at work and in their environment. The use of the hand-held cameras to film this footage adds to the sense of realism documentaries aim to achieve. The hand-held movie camera first saw widespread use during World War II, used in the heat of battle, so here its usage could connote the police force in a sense in battle for safety with the Leicester night scene. Hand-held cameras also help to create the ‘fly one the wall’, observational documentary mode which helps to create realism through its aesthetic effect which took a while to develop is mainstream Hollywood.

The documentary ends then with conventional credits to the producers and police force and the music comes to an end in unison with the documentary to further connote finality. A simple, big and clear white text is used against a black background to stand out. The background being a standstill shot from the documentary footage just shown to hold it in the audience’s memory further.