Editing in Premiere

Now that I have finished filming my footage, voice overs and any other images which will be included in my documentary I will start putting it all together in Adobe Premiere. Before editing, adding effect or backgrounds I cut the footage I took into different sections to divided them and remove any unwanted footage.

Green Screen
For the green screen background I decided to place the users own privacy settings. 

Example of what it looks like in the video, I placed the interviewees on one side so that the viewers can see the option that they selected for their privacy. 

Interviews
In my documentary I will use the interviews I carried out in the studio, I will cut the interviews into smaller clips and group them according to the question that was asked. Instead of having my voice in the interview asking the questions I have decided to cut myself out.

Music
Apart from my voice overs I am also using music in the background. Instead of using songs with lyrics I will be using instrumental versions of them in order to not distract users from the voice overs or the interview answers.

Song
The Darkness- I believe in a thing called love Instrumental Version Fedjudas Mix 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw_7gWqsk7c

I decided to only have one song as I didn't want to combine two songs which did not go together therefore once the song had finished I copied it onto the audio track again using a fading technique in order to blend it in with the rest of the song. During my documentary I had the music fading in and out depending on the section of the video. The parts where I just had images displayed I had the music playing loud although I would fade it out when any voice overs or interviews were playing.

Voice Overs
I imported my voice-overs onto Premiere unfortunately many of my files couldn't be used as my pronunciations on somethings weren't correct such as the letter P. When I would pronounce the letter P it would form a popping sound. I therefore had to go back and re-record some of the voice overs again.

Before re-recording my voice-overs i had a look for tips to avoid having the same problem again. Below is the website I had a look at:
http://blog.timcurran.com/?p=208

Some one my voice overs weren't very loud so I amplified them in audacity to make them louder. I also changed the speed of them as most were too slow in pace.




Effects
I didn't add many effects to my documentary only just the audio and film transitions from one clip to another. For the audio I used the Constant Gain audio transition all throughout, this blend my music sections from louder to softer or from softer to louder. The video transitions had some different effects most clips had the film dissolve. At the beginning of my documentary I used a page flip on the Facebook logo followed by the page peel on the images appearing during the voice over introduction. 




Audio and film transitions:

Film Dissolve from one clip to another:

Images
In my documentary I've added images of statistics backing up my voice overs.
Facebook Timeline Features:
http://files.www.pr2020.com/Facebook-Timeline-Features-process-s650x488.jpg

Identity:
http://i-cdn.apartmenttherapy.com/uimages/unplggd/042611identity2.jpg

Regretted Posting Content chart:

http://turnstylenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/chart-1.jpg

Privacy Gender Gap:

http://marketingland.com/wp-content/ml-loads/2012/02/Profile-Privacy-600x354.jpg

Facebook Users Grouped By Age

http://60secondmarketer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/FacebookUseByAge.001.jpg

End Credits
Since I didn't know how to create end credits I looked up a video on www.youtube.com to guide me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88QYkLXicVY

I decided to create my credits with a white background instead of black as most of my images have a white background. I displayed the interviewees names, the song that I used and my details.

Exporting

Once my blog was complete I exported it out of Premiere. I clicked on file, export media and the window appeared with all the exporting options. Below are the exporting options that I had chosen for my project. 

Format: H.264

Preset: Pal DV

Multiplex Tab: MP4, Standard

Video Tab: Pal

Frame Rate: 25

Field Order: None

Aspect Ratio: Widescreen

Filming, Interviews, Voice-Overs

Interviews
I filmed the interviews in the AV studio where I used the green screen in order to then be able to add a separate background instead of the original background where it was shot at. My intentions where to have a Facebook privacy settings page set out behind the person being interviewed although seeing as the information gathered in the interviews are about the individuals profile I might either display their own privacy setting or their Facebook profile.

Voice Overs
I used the studio in order to record the voice overs using a gun microphone. I placed 2 boards forming a triangle shape with a chair in the middle for the person talking into the microphone to sit on. This was to block any other sound which the microhone might pick up on. I recorded them using Audacity as one whole file and then edited them into small ones to then be able to palce them separatley in premiere. Before I exported the files I increased the volume as some of the clips werent very loud.


Gun Microphone:
Below I have displayed an image of a gun microphone which is what I used to record my voice-overs. 
http://www.mveducation.com/assets/products/9370_l.jpg

Voice Recording:

Below I have displayed a diagram of how we set out the studio to record our voice overs for our documentaries.

Audacity:

Below is a screen shot of Audacity and some of my voice recording after I amplified my voice recording to be louder.  

Now that I have completed my filming the next step is to edit all the footage and create my documentary. 

Cyber Bullying

Even though I have researched Facebook and its privacy settings I have also looked at cyberbullying which is one of the dangerous aspects of exposing yourself on the web. Cyberbullying is referred to bullying carried out through technological devices either being the web, phones, ipods; this can consist on written messages to deliberately threaten or hurt someones feelings. This type of bullying can also consist of photos, videos, emails, blogs etc... Rumours are also spread this way in order for more people to find out and dislike this person which in many cases leads to all of them ganging up on them. The use of of social networking sites are great to share events in our lives with friends and family members but exposing yourself in these sites is very dangerous. Many people don't realise how dangerous cyberbullying is in some cases it has lead to deaths.

Forms of Cyberbullying

There are different forms of cyberbullying theses are explained below:

• Instant messaging

Threatening messages are sent from this form of communication sometimes people don't realise how bad they are as they are not actually being said in person just by a technological device.

• Logging into someone else's account without their consent

In many cases users have given out their passwords to friends, family members etc... This results to people logging into their account and pretending to be the other person, they tend to insult people and post inappropriate comments, pictures etc... Giving out passwords to other uses have resulted to people being blocked out of their own accounts as their passwords have been changed or the inappropriate content has resulted the website into disabling their account.

• webites, blogs

These forms of communication have been used to bully people as it has a very wide audience and therefore many people will see what is being posted not just a minor amount. Facebook pages have been created to insult other people, personal information along with pictures to identify the person are posted this is also a form of ruining their reputation and getting more people to hate them.

• Using emails and phones to send information

These forms of communication are normally used to contact people although it is also used to send inappropriate pictures, videos of people they may know in order to embarrass them. Unfortunately methods of communicating such as these can be sent to hundreds of people and they can then themselves resend the message to more people resulting in everyone seeing it. Many of these pictures aren't posed with the intent of having them sent to everyone in many cases people are in locker rooms or their own homes when predators are looking to capture them at their most personal time. These forms of communication are even used to send hacking software and virus codes to victims. Programs such as the Trojan Horse allow bullies to control their victims computer information or even the stuff they do.

• Interactive gaming online with games consoles

Many devices nowadays such as the PlayStation 3 and X-box live have the ability to allow users to play against others online. The even allow the 2 gamers to communicate to each other online using the chat facility or the Internet phone which tends to be a headset you wear as your playing the game. Unfortunately with gaming users are very competitive and tend to insult and be verbally abusive to the other players.

Prevention

In order to prevent cyberbullying people need to be told about the consequences that will occurr if they aree involved in cyberbullying. They should also be taught to not tolerate bullying and help prevent it if they personally see if on something such as their Facebook homepage. 

Resources

http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/

Research On Facebook and its Privacy Settings

Here I will look at research on Facebook's new layout and privacy settings as its something that has been on the news quite often.

New Facebook Layout (Timeline)

Facebook has now updated their user profile layout to what is known as a timeline. Unfortunately by updating profiles to timeline privacy settings have changed. I've noticed that there are less options to making specific areas of your profile private. Now users can upload a cover photo apart from their profile picture, this image cannot be set to private therefore any Facebook user will be able to see it even if your not friends with them. The timeline is purposely to be able to go back in time and see the users interaction within days, weeks, months and years ago. If this isn't limited in the privacy settings people can track what the user has posted and been tagged in the past. The previous Facebook layout was very simple; posts, images where displayed underneath each other therefore users would find them easily. The new timeline displays things next to each other, they also tend to group things which leads to users being confused as the most recent posts on their profiles is displayed all over the place. I personally have experienced this I sometimes find it hard to find posts displayed on my profile sometimes I'm not even notified that I have a post.


Below is a link on an article of someone who changed their Facebook privacy settings due to their job and invasion of privacy by people whom he knew professionally. In the professional world Facebook is used to judge how people behave therefore people who have their bosses or work companions need to be careful on what they post on their profiles as it can have an affect on their job opportunities. 

• http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/13/how-to-effectively-manage-your-facebook-privacy-settings-with-l/

Privacy Settings

Below are Facebook statistics gathered in 2010 and 2011:

• Facebook had 500,000,000 users who are logged onto their profile at any given time.
• Average Facebook user will have around 130 friends or more.
• 40% of 18-34 year old Facebook users will check their profiles in the morning mainly when they wake up.
• 28% of these users check their profiles before they get out of bed in the morning.
• 74% of Facebook users are 18-24 year olds.
• 30% of Facebook users are 35+ years old, this percentage is increasing. 
• More than 700 billion minutes are spent on Facebook per month.
• 20 million applications and games are installed daily.
• More than 200 million people use Facebook on their phone.
• 48% of young users use Facebook to find out news about anything.
• Within 20 minutes Facebook has around 1 million links shared, 2 million friend requests accepted or declined, around 3 million inboxes or posts are sent,1,484,000 event invites, 1,851,000 status updates, 1,323,000 tagged photos, 2,716,000 uploaded photos, 1,587,000 wall posts, 10,208,000 comments.
• In 2010 there were many changes in relationship statues: 43,869,800 changed to single, 3,025,791 changed to it's complicated, 36,774,801 changed to married, 28,460,516 changed to in a relationship and 5,974,574 changed to engaged. 

I've researched different websites on Facebook's privacy settings from the researched gathered I found several facts generated from studies carried out:

• 11% of Facebook users have regretted posting several content on their profiles or others (i.e. friends). 15% of males regret posting content compared to 8% of females.
• Around 48% men in 2011 seem to have public profiles whereas 67% women have private profiles. 
• Younger generations tend to keep their privacy settings up to date whereas older generations don't, this could also be due to not using Facebook often.

Resources

• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/20/social-media-privacy-infographic_n_1367223.html
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14633427
• http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/facebook-statistics-stats-facts-2011/

Research on Adobe Premiere

During Class we covered several features of Adobe Premiere although we didn't cover things in depth therefore I have researched into it further.

Exporting

There are several types of exporting methods in premiere depending on the method used to allow an audience to view it. This also depends if any further editing that needs to be carried out after premiere. 


Some of the different types of exporting have been displayed below:

• Exporting a file with intention to edit them further: files can be edited using other software programs. Premiere pro allows users to directly export their project to Adobe Media Encoder which renders the files.
• Exporting for Blu-ray, DVD and SWF: any project created in premiere can be sent to Adobe Encore to then be able to be converted for DVD and Blue-ray use.
• Exporting projects to other programs/systems: projects can be exported into EDL files which allow other programs to editing the project. 
• Exporting projects to hardware (videotape): projects can be exported on to tapes with a supported VTR, this allows users to have edits for screening using VTRs. 
• Exporting to different types of devices and electronics: projects can now be imported on websites and devices such as mobile phones, HD TV, iPods etc...

Videos

Looking at different learning styles, I learnt best by watching tutorials and then carrying them out therefore instead of looking at so much research in text format I watched several videos on Adobe Premiere and exporting.

• Basic Features of Adobe Premiere: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxwPfvQPMDM&feature=related
• Exporting Projects: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq04bVm7Uj8
• Editing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfXtSaDRydA
• Adding Effects with a green screen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxmq-QJFJec
• Adding Effects: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4PboMzAHIE&feature=related

Resources

• http://help.adobe.com/en_US/PremierePro/4.0/WSF39C063F-6168-40ef-B854-6853E88AF1B5.html
• www.youtube.com

My Storyboard

Below I have displayed a storyboard of how I want my captions to appear in my documentary. In my first caption I will display the Facebook logo with music in the background in order for the audience to have an idea of what the documentary is about. The second caption will also have music/ voice over playing as a user is looking at their Facebook, here the audience will see the notifications etc... The third caption is the users privacy settings and the options the users have on what they want to keep private or public. This is then followed by the interviews (captions 4 and 5), the questions will be displayed on screen with either a voice over saying the question or music playing. This is then followed by the interviewee answering the question with their own privacy setting displayed as a background. I will have several people being interviewed in order to obtain different opinions. In the sixth caption I will have a user on their Facebook but this time showing an example on how to block a person/post etc... More interviews will be carried out in the structure I explained previously. Caption 7 and 8 will display an example of a private and pubic Facebook profile with a voice over them. Caption 9 will be another set of answers from and interview this time instead of having the interviewee in focus they are out of focus and the background is in focus. 

Caption 10 will be showing the users information page and how much personal information they expose on their profile, this will have a voice over running in the background. Caption 11 will be the interviewees making a statement in order to make people aware of privacy on Facebook. Caption 12 will have the Facebook logo with a bold statement displayed. 

Planning

After looking at storyboards I looked at planning and the things I should consider before actually filming my documentary.


Below is a list of elements that will be essential to include in my documentary:

• Title
• Names
• Credits
• Copyright
• Graphics
• Video footage- long shot, close up's etc...
• Lighting- 3 point lighting, bcd light etc...
• Audio- voice over's, sound effects, music, different microphone techniques

Tips when filming 

Below I have displayed tips and methods I found which will guide me in making my documentary look more interesting and appealing to viewers. 

Camera Focusing

Focusing on several aspects of the subject matter will make your documentary look more interesting to the audience. Areas with a lot of detail (i.e. eyes) should be focused on using the zoom option. Avoid using the auto focus in cameras as it gives you less control on what you would like to focus on as instead on focusing on your subject the auto focus seems to focus on other areas of the shot. Macro setting in cameras are useful for focusing on objects up close or even small objects or areas. Also shooting out of focus will cause a blurry effect and this can result in the subject coming across as mysterious as you can't see the full detail of the caption (i.e. facial features). 

White Balance

White balance is important as it analyses the colour temperature of the light and then finds the right balance for producing the best result. If a caption, image etc has not been white balanced properly will result in an image not having the right shade of colour and light. 

Keeping your camera steady

Avoiding movements in the camera (i.e.shaking) is essential as movements in footage will distort images and make it seem unprofessional and amateur. A tripod is an ideal method for placing a camera and producing a steady shot throughout. 

Resources

http://www.sotherden.com/video101/storyboard.htm

Storyboard

What is a story board?

A storyboard is a group of images (also known as illustrations) which are displayed one after the other in order of how a caption/animation will appear once it's been created. This is a form of seeing how a project will progress and it's a plan of how things will be shot (i.e. use of lighting, zoom etc...). Disney films are know for their story boards as the Walt Disney Studio developed it in the 1930's, this method is very useful and therefore still used today. 

Planning a story board

When creating a storyboard its best to consider and include what is known as the 5 W's (who, when, what, where and why). This will make it easier to come up with a storyboard especially the main section. Apart from these elements you also need to consider the plot, setting, introduction, dialogue, narration, any points of view, the protagonist and antagonist. 

Plot

A plot is a group of events which provide information/idea it is not a story even though many people refer to it as a story. It is also known as the "spine" without a plot there are no actions in a story. A story portrays emotions therefore combining a plot with a story adds actions and emotions. Plots tend to be actions or choices that the characters have made which leads into events occurring. In linear plots there is a beginning, middle and end which was first set by Aristotle. Even though there is a linear structure plots don't need to be linear nowadays many films have the end of the film at the beginning and then travel back in time to the rest of the film. Plots tend to be set using a timeline this is to help see where events occur. 

Below are 5 important aspects of a plot:

• Introduction: This is the start of any plot where the situation is introduced and the audience are given an idea of what the film, play etc is about. 
• Rising Action: This refers to events just before the climax, here you can see the struggles and problems of the character(s) (mainly the protagonist)
• Climax: It is mainly the most interesting section of a narrative as the protagonist changes their point of view and decides to do something about the situation. It also makes the audience wonder what the outcome will be in the end. 
• Falling Action: This is where the end result is doubted mainly because the protagonist and antagonist confront each other and resulting in one of them winning. 
• Denouement: This is the end of the film with the events of how the plot ends. 

Setting

Setting is the time and location in which the events of the plot occur. It is an essential part of a plot as it determines the atmosphere of the event taking place. Within setting aspects such as the weather or any social conditions are also important. 

Points of view

This refers to the way a narrative is portrayed and how it is seen by the audience. There are points of view used in films, plays etc...

• Protagonist (first person): The narrative is told either by the protagonist which the story is told through their eyes and we see what they are feeling thinking etc...
• Stream of consciousness: The narrative is portrayed in such a way that it makes the audience feel like they are in a characters head (they can experience and see their thoughts and reactions, opinions etc...).
• Omniscient Limited: The narrative is told using the third person with pronouns, this form of point of view only tells the audience what the character knows and nothing else. The audience will be able to see the characters thoughts, feelings, actions etc..(only if the author allows the character to do so).
• Omniscient Objective: The narrative is told using the third person the camera only records what the character sees or hears. The are no comments or voice overs explaining what is occurring therefore the audience interprets what they are seeing in their own way.
• Innocent Eye: The narrative is told by someone innocent normally a child as their opinion and judgements would differ to an adult. 

Examples of storyboards

Below I have displayed examples of storyboards used for films, TV series, adverts etc...

Resources

http://illustrations.greghigh.com/nosecond_storyboard.jpg
http://business901.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/kiaboard.jpg
http://www.sotherden.com/video101/storyboard.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storyboard
http://www.tameri.com/write/plotnstory.html
http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/engramja/elements.html
http://contemporarylit.about.com/cs/literaryterms/g/risingAction.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climax_(narrative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramatic_structure

Practise

Practise of Lighting in the studio

In order to be well prepared for when it comes to shooting my documentary I used some of my study time to practise lighting in the studio. As a group we practised 3 point lighting with the use of blondes and reds, one of my classmates stood in the middle of the lighting to allow us to then use reflectors to bounce the lighting and create a soft effect and remove any sharp edges or shadows. We also practised other styles of lighting to create different moods i.e. mysterious.

Practise of Green Screen

In a group last week we practised carrying out interviews in the studio using the green screen in order to have an idea when it comes to filming our documentaries. We also practised our lighting skills and the use of reflectors as we needed good lighting in order to record our interviewee's. 

Narrative

What is a narrative?


A narrative is not a story (beginning, middle, end) it is a passing or flow of information which can have a beginning, middle and end but it is not necessary as they do not need to be linear. They incorporate a set of episodes/ events which are linked to each other in order to create a story.  
Narratives are normally portrayed from a persons point of view of (i.e. writer or director). They include plot, setting, characters etc... This is similar to stories and therefore people find it hard to separate stories from narratives.They don't have to be set in a linear structure like in stories and therefore can have the ending at the very beginning. 

I have displayed an example of a narrative below:

Anything can have a narrative such as a process of buying a product. 


1. The customer will look for the product 
2. They will purchase it
3. They will receive it
4. They will use the product 




References
http://hercules.gcsu.edu/~mmagouli/narratives.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative
http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/pd/instr/strats/narratives/index.html

Proposal

For my audio visual assignment 2 I am required to create a documentary focusing on a subject matter which I feel is interesting or important. The documentary has to be up to 3 minutes long, therefore I have to make sure that I include the most important bits as the time frame is very short. Creating this documentary I also need to take into consideration the fact that I can't incorporate my own opinion on the subject as the audience has to be able to determine this decision for themselves. 


I have chosen to focus on social networking but mainly Facebook as it is the most used (popular) social networking site. I wanted to focus on why people post their personal details for the world to see as they wouldn't go round the streets telling strangers these things. I also want to look at how effective the privacy setting are on Facebook and if user make use of these features. 


In my documentary I would like to include the following:

• interviews with Facebook users in their own homes and some in the studio to show a contrast
• display a preview of Facebook's privacy settings
• positive and negative aspects of these settings

Now that I have set my proposal the next stage is to plan my documentary, practise using the lights and video cameras and further my research in order to produce and interesting piece. 

Lighting

Lighting

Lighting is important in photography, films etc... The way the lighting is placed will also determine the mood of the documentary. The types of lighting used all depends on the what is actually being filmed and the mood they would like to set it 

Hard and Soft Lighting 

In lighting there is hard and soft types of light which are used depending on the topic, location etc...Here i will look at the differences between hard and soft lighting. I will also look at when these types of lighting are used. 


Hard Light
Hard light shows shadows as it is normally a bright light directly pointing at the person, object, location etc... The reason for the shadows is that there are no light reflectors used to bounce the light therefore the images which appear have a contrast of light and dark. It also creates hard edges which defines objects unlike soft lighting. 

As you can see from the image above hard light is when the light is smaller than the object it's targeting therefore it creates dark shadows with sharp edges. 




Soft Light
Soft light is the opposite to hard light as this type of lighting doesn't create any shadows in the images. The light used is bounced around in different directions therefore it is not directly hitting the subject matter. The edges of this type of lighting are very soft even in the shadow areas as this will depend on the distance and the size of the light being reflected. An example of soft lighting is the sun, it's light is reflected through the clouds and therefore creates a soft light.

As I mentioned previously soft lighting is created from bouncing a light in different directions in order to not shine directly on the person, object, location etc... Light can be bounced by using reflectors these reflectors have a silver and white side in order to bounce lighting differently and produce a variety of soft lighting. Light can also be bounced by white walls or ceilings anything white for example during the summer months people tend to wear white clothing in order to bounce of the light and heat of them. 

As you can see from the image above soft light is created when the light is larger that the object being reflected. The shadows aren't defined therefore edges appear softer than in hard lighting.  

3 Point Lighting

3 point lighting is used in photography, films and documentaries in order to add light to the shots and create a mood whether it is positive or negative. This type of lighting consists or lights placed in three positions around the room. The light used directly on the person or object is known as the key light, this is the main light of the entire shot as it is the strongest out of the 3. It is placed on one of the sides of the subject which creates shadows on the person or object.

i.e. the sun is used as a key light when shooting outdoors during daytime 

The fill light is another light used in the 3 point lighting which lights the person or object, it is placed opposite to the key light. This light tends to be set at a lower height than the key light. The purpose of this is to be able to illuminate the areas where the key light has created shadows and therefore fills them with more light to create a softer effect. The use of the fill light makes the lighting look more realistic as the hard edge shadows from the key light are illuminated and therefore appear softer. 

The back light is the other light used in 3 point lighting, this light is placed behind the object or person. It doesn't focus so much on lighting the person or object but rather defining and highlighting their outlines. This also separates the person or object from the background used.

Below is an example of 3 point lighting:

Below is a 3 point lighting simulator which shows how the object or person would look if one of more lights would be switched of.

http://www.mediacollege.com/lighting/three-point/simulator.html

Resources 

Below are sources which I have used to research this topic area:

• http://www.illustratedphotography.com/basic-photography/hard-and-soft-light
• http://www.shortcourses.com/tabletop/lighting2-8.html
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/3_point_lighting.svg/729px-3_point_lighting.svg.png
• http://www.mediacollege.com/lighting/three-point/

Tuesday 7th February- Lesson 1

For my second Audio Visual assignment I'm required to come up with a documentary regarding an issue which I believe is important. 


Even though i'm at the early stages of thinking about the topic for my documentary one of the areas which I might focus on is social networking. I would like to document on how people expose themselves on the internet for everyone to see. I would also like to raise the question-"Would you tell a stranger on the streets about your life?? Then why tell the world through Facebook! People won't go around the streets telling strangers about their life and exposing themselves therefore why do it in the internet where you target a very large scale of people who are capable of harming you. 

Documentaries


What is a documentary?

They are films based on factual events and issues going on around the world, these films inform viewers and record important issues giving them a visual experience of an event or life story (biography). Even though documentaries aren't scripted they still select scenes carefully and put them together. 


Documentaries contain sound such as voice overs these are played in the background of the documentary, it's mainly a person informing the viewer on what is occurring in the footage or where the footage has been recorded etc...Even though voice overs are facts about the issue or event being discussed the footage displayed sometimes says it all as viewers are getting a visual experience.


Interviews are used in documentaries, these interviews allow victims of the event to describe what happened to them, their families and how it's affected their lives. These people aren't actors just people who had experience the event and were willing to share their life story.  


Stock or archival footages are clips gathered from other sources which are also incorporated into the documentaries. This avoids having to film new material and also adds extra sources to documentary. 


Expositions are used in documentaries this is were the narrator providing the voice over describes what is the documentary is about, theme, location etc...

How documentaries have changed over the years?

The earliest documentaries which were first recorded were news, current events etc...These had no narrative or voice overs (explaining what was occurring). They consisted of single camera shots of events of very simple things. Other forms of documentaries which were first created were for propaganda i.e. Leni Reifenstahl film- Triumph of the Will. This documentary was about Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party's influence on Germany. It has extracts of speeches made by the party. Hitler was even an unofficial producer therefore what was displayed in this documentary was the events that he wanted people to see. 

Nowadays anyone with technological devices can record a documentary, you don't need a video camera or recorder as many small devices have the ability to record i.e. mobile phones (smart phones), digital cameras, iPods etc...Due to this factor this period in time  can be referred to the documentary age as anyone with some form of equipment can create a documentary. 

Technological advances have helped to improve documentaries as cameras and equipment used are better quality than they were previously. Film recorders are more practical and can therefore be placed in different areas to capture elements which are hard to capture from a normal angle. Also other equipment such as camera stands can be used to hold cameras in places allowing the footage being recorded to be stable and not have any unwanted movements (i.e. camera shaking). Cameras also have the ability to shoot footage at night time as many technological devices have night vision software, this allows people to record events that happen at night time. Security cameras can also be used to record events especially unexpected ones as these cameras run 24/7. 

Drawbacks of documentaries

Documentaries have progressed over time and are very interesting pieces of footage because of the fact that they are real and not biased. Although there are some draw backs to these factual films.

Even though documentaries tend to be quite factual a lot of times the opinions of the author of the documentary is incorporated. This can lead the film to be convincing viewers of someones opinion on the issue being discussed instead of the factual elements. Even though factual events are being displayed on screen in many occasions things have not been included on order to no inform people on how bad the situation was, this therefore is giving a false impression of the event, issue etc...

Resources

http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/what-is-a-documentary.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film