Critical Reflection

How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions? 

I found that a common trend among environmental documentaries was that most of them set out to reveal the truth and expose the problems faced in our society by a given environmental issue. Documents I researched that did this were "An Inconvenient Truth" and "SeasPiracy" however, some youtube documentaries primarily set out to inform and not challenge. From my research as a whole, I decided to challenge the idea that plastic is being recycled and reveal that recyclable schemes aren't as good as they seem and that big corporate industry prioritises profit over the wellbeing f our planet and preserving the future. I found that among the documentaries I had watched most had parts of high tension to highlight a sense of urgency to the problem contrasted with slower more peaceful moments in a piece to create a more thought provocative atmosphere for a viewer to reflect on the information they have been given and the questions posed to them about planet earth. I have decided that I would like my documentary to incorporate these general codes and conventions as I believe it will heighten my piece and make it more dynamic, engaging the audience's emotional response.   

How do your products represent social issues?

I set out to produce a documentary that tackled the issue of plastic pollution thus why I chose to create a documentary on the life of a plastic bottle. I honed in on the plastic bottle as it is one of the largest contributors to plastic waste and I found out through research that the general population is misinformed on how much is being recycled. I intended to ultimately spread more awareness through my coursework documentary, magazine and social media page. 

When producing my documentary I had initially viewed other environmental documentaries such as An Inconvenient Truth, SeasPiracy, There's something in the water, takeout, before the flood, Chasing Ice and Kiss the Ground. I grasped a clear element of urgency and danger through the use of tense, quick-paced diegetic sound as well as quick cutaways between scenes showing the impact which has been caused by the given topic. My initial first draft was styled to be more peaceful and calm which I then changed to be more elegant, spreading a sense of urgency and that this is an issue that could cast a shadow for generations however, I decided to ease into a more settling throughout provocative ending in the respect that I had covered the issues and now what our planet could be like. I accomplished this effect by using slower-paced, gentle, piano diegetic sound and included cinematic shots of the natural environment as opposed to the destruction of the environment. 

My social media page is filled with posts that are bright ranging from a variety of different pallets, from greens, reds, blues, to yellows, pinks and browns. I used this vast colour range to represent the issue of plastics as they come in all different colours, textures and packaging. I then, however, posted images with a natural colour pallet of greens and blues to contrast with the other bright coloured posts to represent a growing issue that can be resolved and help the natural environment. The combination of both types of posts was that they could contrast one another perhaps creating a jarring effect as not all posts followed the same style. 

The magazine article represented the issue on more of a personal level which would create a more personable response to the topic attracting audiences who hold the environmental issue close to their heart.

On my Instagram page, I have a post that asks the question of what would you choose for our future which helps to represent the issue as one that doesn't get thought of a lot and a question that needs to be addressed more often. The Instagram page features plastic bottles in different colour filters representing that they are everywhere. 

How do the elements of your production work together to create a strong sense of branding?

Throughout my production, I have kept a range of naturalistic mise-en-scenes to reinforce a strong affiliation to nature. when addressing the crisis at times I have included footage of LEDCs where there are mounds of plastic waste that have scared the lands around them. This helps support my branding in the way that it reinforces the point that this issue is global and my documentary is aimed at a global audience. My Magazine and Social media page follow the pattern of using san-serif font forming a bind between the appearances, ultimately forming a stronger more united brand identity. The sans-serif font furthermore inforced the idea that my brand is modern and innovative. 

How do your products engage with your audience? 

When writing the magazine article I decided to write about my influence in producing the documentary as I believed that as a journalist it would be integral to include this as readers can relate and form a closer connection to the issue at hand. When forming my social media page I ensured that it would be important to tackle the issue by asking my audience question about the world around them. I did this by forming a post asking the question "What would you choose for our future?" this would have given my audience a voice encouraging them to share their views and form a closer community. I included a post asking a question on who could guess "how many plastic bottles are used every week globally on average?" I believe that this post provided an opportunity to engage with the topic more and learn more about the scale of the issue at hand. I posted a post of myself collecting bottles which would have engaged my audience in the way that I will be appealing to the people who are eco-activists. My Instagram page also includes posts offering advice to people who want to film documentaries about the environment. This ultimately encourages people to spread awareness by producing documentaries. The main reason my documentary engages with audiences would be Blumler and Katz uses and gratifications theory of information and education where the viewer wants to acquire information, knowledge and understanding by watching the documentary. By thinking carefully about every aspect of my documentary presentation I have Encoded messages which would be then decoded by the audience, engaging the audience's understanding and reasoning.