Thursday, May 14, 2020

Generic Research: Language and Digital Convergence

How do media producers use language to communicate meaning?
Background music is very popularly used in documentaries. It can build on the drama and even emphasise something. For example, many documentaries have some background music with narration, which I plan on doing in my documentary too. This is done in both of the documentaries that I previously analysed. They have wide scene shots, with music building up and they give statistics and explanations. Slow paced editing goes really well with this. It communicates meaning by allowing the audience to really hear what is being said in the narration as they don't have much else to focus on when watching.
Media producers also communicate meaning through the mise en scene. It is very common for the people making the documentary to shoot in multiple locations. In my opinion depending on where it is, it can really effect the tone of the scene and how they want the audience to be responding at that exact moment. For example, if they wanted to increase the emotional climax they might have the scene with the person who is upset or struggling on their own, maybe with close up shots and background music. This would be effective in the audience feeling like they are either with them, or feeling sympathy. Also I think that the colour palette and lighting of the scene will emphasise on the meaning too. For example, having warmer brighter tones will give a positive representation and almost lighten the mood, whereas darker lighting will do the opposite and it may seem like a sadder scene. I have noticed this being used for example when looking back in the past. Often the subject is looking back at a sadder time when they may have been struggling, and the lighting drops. This immediately shows the audience that they aren't trying to portray this in a positive way, with the colours emphasising that and communicating this meaning.

How do media producers use digital convergence to link their products?
If we take Jesy Nelsons 'Odd One Out' as an example, there are many ways that the producers use digital convergence to make links. Firstly, on the webpage for the documentary is easter eggs linking to other parts of the page. As this documentary was specifically made for BBC 3, they still want to promote the BBC as a whole. For example, you can see the 'Last on' section, which is quite large and right next to the main documentary image which contains an Easter Egg. Although it is only discrete when you click it, you are taken to the main BBC One page. This could encourage the audience from Jesy Nelsons documentary, to now see some of what they have on BBC One, and take an interest in that.
 

Brand identity is also very prominently used by producers. Even from the example above we can see brand identity being created through the colour palette. Red is the colour many people associate with BBC One and not only is it in the logo, but they also used it in the web page as the background. This is again done with BBC 3. The BBC use these different colours to differentiate the different channels, and BBC 3 is Pink.


We can see that the Pink is used on the background of this page. When you scroll down, there is a hyperlink to BBC 3's main page. This is another way that digital convergence is being used. Looking at this further the brand identity can still be seen on this page as even though it is mostly grey, the play buttons are still clearly pink.


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FINAL PRODUCT

 Final documentary link https://vimeo.com/535582659