Olivia Pridgen AL media studies project

Film festivals are events often hosted by private media companies and non-profit organizations held in convention centers in major cities. Film festivals are organized to encourage filmmakers to showcase their recent products to potential audiences, critics, and professionals within the industry. These festivals expose media creators' content to major figures within the media field which could lead to later horizontal integration.  One of the most notable benefits of film festivals is the potential to gain sponsorship and financial aid. By displaying or screening a sports documentary to a large audience, highly ranked officials from media distribution platforms such as YouTube may see this content and hope to develop a deal with the producer. This deal can ensure proper and quick distribution of that product. In return, the documentary will reach its target audience and potentially other creators that are interested in horizontal integration. This would help me immensely as I am a ...

 Editing software is more significant to producers than many may think. A strong, reliable editing app acts as the final glue for a film. Using apps such as Capcut allow producers such as myself to apply transitions and make cuts to shots that are essential to develop the intended meaning. This is especially significant to production companies like Pridgen Productions who create sports documentaries because sports documentaries are heavily reliant on editing techniques. Common editing techniques consist of jump cuts, cross cutting, and match cuts. The editing software I chose to use is Capcut. Capcut allows me to utilize all of these techniques with ease. The app offers premade transitions such as fade in and out which allows production companies to save money that would otherwise be spent on an editor. This app also provides watermark free content. This means that a Capcut logo is not stamped onto any content made with the app. This allows full originality to be expressed to the a...

 Attached below is a voice over presentation that I constructed to present ideas regarding how location and cast are deeply connected and allow a producer like myself, to develop meaning. 

 Budgeting and funding is a significant step when trying to plan for a production. Production companies may do things such as fundraisers to ensure there is enough money to fund the film. In this blog we will dive deeper into how funding and budgeting work so that Pridgen Productions is aware of the techniques used to successfully budget.  SkyDance Sports is a well-known production company that produces sports films and docuseries that are backed by a "parent" company. To produce these successful films, funding and budgeting had to take place, and this is how they did it.   SkyDance sports collaborates with major companies such as Netflix and ESPN. This collaboration ensures proper funding because these major companies are willing to invest large amounts of money into quality content. This provides a sense of security for SkyDance because there is no cloud looming over producers regarding money issues. Because of this, they can focus on other important aspects such a...

 Magazines are used as an advertisement tool within several production forms. Sports documentaries rely heavily on magazines for several reasons. One of these reasons is because it allows for visual storytelling. Visual storytelling enables audiences to connect to the product emotionally because the images being shown tell them what to feel in a way by showing facial expressions or body language of a character. Another reason is because magazines have a long-lasting effect. magazines are often readily available at everyday locations such as the grocery store which allows the information to reach a large amount of people Providing magazines will be around for a long time which is why producers choose to advertise through magazines. A third reason may be because they create anticipation. They get readers of the magazine excited to see the product being advertised, which may lead to the spread of information, therefore, reaching more people. The final reason is because magazines creat...

 David Hesmondhalgh strongly believes that overtime, people have become passive audiences due to an immense amount of access to content across several platforms and devices. This is also known as technological and cross media convergence. technological convergence is when several platforms can be accessed on one device. For example, a smart phone contains a camera, games, music streaming apps such as Spotify, etc. Cross media convergence is when a piece of content is accessible on several platforms. For reference, a movie being available on TV, online steaming, and social media. David Hesmondhalgh believes that by increasing the amount of convergence in the media realm, people have become passive audiences. A passive audience is when a group of people unintentionally consume media with no purpose of gaining information, reflecting, or connecting emotionally.  Although Hesmondhalgh believes a wide variety of access has lessened creativity within the media field, I believe it ha...

 David Hesmondalgh's theory states that producers should maximize audiences at a minimum price. They may do this by producing content that has insignificant risk rates. Specifically, in sports documentaries, this means that producers will explore content that is familiar to audiences whilst incorporating deeper themes to make the product more appealing.  David Hesmondalgh's believed that familiarity is heavily relied on and sports documentaries use this strategy often. They use familiar plots such as those demonstrated by Todorov's theory. This structure follows equilibrium, disequilibrium, and new equilibrium. In sports documentaries this often follows an athlete doing great and performing to their fullest to then follow them through something tragic or a downfall and finally to watch them pick themselves back up and reach peak. By following this common plot structure production companies increase the appeal to target audience but limit creativity because of how common thi...

 Developing themes is essential when trying to construct a successful documentary. In my documentary excerpt, I will communicate themes regarding the importance of sports as well as the impact they have on high school athletes, specifically cheer.  The main theme being developed is the idea that high school cheer allows athletes to find inner peace and happiness. To express this idea, I will interview athletes who have been on the team through thick and thin. By doing this, I will be able to capture pure and genuine opinions and emotions that have been felt throughout the seasons by the athletes being interviewed. They will be asked questions such as, "has cheer brought you new and healthy connections." This question is significant because it will provide me with valid reliable information from primary sources. This allows my company, Pridgen Productions, to communicate the idea that school sports have a positive outcome on athletes.  From a personal standpoint I can conc...

ESPN films are a well-known production company that produces sports documentaries. They focus heavily on digging deeper into sports and explaining the depth of sports to large audiences across the world.  How they started: ESPN started as a 24-hour sports broadcasting network where they first streamed a football game. They then expanded their company by signing a contract with NFL broadcasting, and then many years later became a part of ABC and then Disney. When they began to create documentaries, they started by slowly integrating broadcast programs consisting of important sports figures with an interview-like style. During this time period they became extremely popular because they were one of the only companies producing this content, which motivated them to produce their very own sports documentaries. The most notable documentary was titled 30 for 30.  30 for 30 was a sports documentary made to celebrate the 30 anniversary of ESPN. Within this documentary, they showcased 3...

In the following shots, I practiced different camera techniques as well as composition within those techniques. Composition is the placement of characters and objects in a shot. Understanding composition is important because it allows your shots to become more appealing to audiences.          In this shot, I utilized rule of thirds. By placing my interviewee to the left of the frame, the audience's attention is drawn to her and the words being spoken. This is a technique that I will utilize in my documentary when filming interviews to ensure that my encoded meaning is decoded dominantly by viewers. This practice shot expressed my understanding of composition thoroughly. However, when I use this technique in my final production, I will ensure that the placement is exaggerated and stands out much more.   In this shot, I utilized mid shot which is a camera technique often utilized in documentaries. These are used to highlight a character's body language. ...

 Previously in my last blog, I discussed the significance as well as different types of lighting which is a category under mise en scene. In this blog I will be researching and discussing the significance of props and costuming which are mise en scene. Under the umbrella of documentaries, there are several types of genres. There are crime documentaries, sports documentaries, nature documentaries, historical documentaries etc. Each of these types of documentaries utilize different mise en scene.  Mise en scene techniques are specifically used during interviews. This can be identified by locating any background prop typically relating to the topic being discussed. For example, in sports documentaries, the background of the interviews is often a trophy case highlighting a team's success. This is a typical genre convention that I will be utilizing within my excerpt. Whilst interviewing Coach Hatcher, the background will consist of a trophy case with key light to enhance its signif...

 Mise en scene is all props as well as lighting. There are several mise en scene techniques that stand out within documentaries and allow a vast amount of meaning to be constructed. A list of lighting techniques is given below.  Low key light- Creates a dark mysterious atmosphere usually containing lots of shadows High key light- This is the opposite of low-key light therefore creates a bright happy atmosphere containing a lack of shadows Chiaroscuro- This lighting technique highlights the main subjects whilst creating deep shadows surrounding them.  Natural light- The usage of pure naturally created light through the sun or lack of sun Back light- This gives a glowing effect on the subject whilst also separating it from its background Key light- Acts as a spotlight to highlight a subject Practical light- Using real objects that give off light such as lamps to create the lighting in the shot Within my production, I plan to utilize high key light, practical light, natu...

 Media Marketing is a major component when trying to advertise a documentary. There is no right or wrong way to advertise and because of this, there are a variety of options to choose from. The most common way is through social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube.  When advertising on Instagram, there is a list of steps that will guarantee success. The first step is to ensure a theme is developed to construct a strong foundation for your production. For example, if you are producing a true crime documentary, you may use things on your posts such as red letters with a dripping effect on your font. This simulates the idea of blood, which is a common convention amongst true crime. This connects to Roland Barthes' semiotics theory which states that colors and signs can signify things of deeper meaning. In my media posts I will use bright colors such as pinks and reds to signify love for the sport being discussed, which is cheerleading.  The second step is to ensure ...

I conducted a short survey where I addressed 50 of my target audience members and asked questions regarding what they look for in a sports documentary. The following questions were asked... 1.) What type of elements allow you to fully decode the intended meaning of a documentary?  2.) Do you find scores to be engaging or distracting?  3.) In specifically sports documentaries, do you find intense scores or melodic scores more intriguing? 4.) Would in depth, personalized clips from practices and comps allow you to fully comprehend the intended meaning?  Conclusions:  After reviewing all of my survey answers, I was able to draw several conclusions that will allow Pridgen Productions to construct a successful documentary. From my answers, I have concluded that my audience highly enjoys scores. The majority of my survey answers came back with the results stating that "scores are engaging because they develop emotion". Because of this result, in the final production, most ...