Week 6, Monday - Lesson 17

We have finished our treatment and have successfully completed the design suite of our documentary task. After looking at all three treatments we are still undecided about which treatment we would like to mainly base our documentary off. We have all chosen to focus on body image and all of them are participatory types so this makes the process easier when deciding. Many elements of the other two will be taken and incorporated into the main one as all offer different strengths. Next lesson we will need to:

• Make a final decision on what treatment we would like to take as the base.
• How we want to incorporate the other two treatments into that one.
• Establish if there is lap overs to ensure we don't repeat ourselves.
• Produce a production schedule.
• Produce a script.
• Combine treatments to create a main one.

Once we have completed these tasks we will be able to commence filming. We aim to have all of our footage shot by this Sunday which will allow two lessons to edit for our rough edit to then be shown on Wednesday. We will then have another three lessons to edit, we will use this time efficiently so we don't have to do much outside of class time. This will then allow us five days to fix up anything before the final production of the documentary is due. 

Week 5, Friday - Lesson 16

I have decided what notes I will be pulling from the Mirror article. I have nearly finished my treatment and my three-column script, I just need to remove some words and decide if all is necessary in the treatment or if it can have the same effect in the three-column script. I will be working on this over the weekend as it is due Monday. The following notes is what I will be including in the documentary. I will be using a range of voiceovers as well as pull quotes as this will have a greater impact than just the voiceover.

‘Thinspiration selfies almost killed me’ (25/2/16) http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/thinspiration-selfies-killed-me-anorexia-5245488

India Edmonds, 17, developed anorexia at the age of 14 after becoming obsessed with ‘Thinspiration’ images, which led her to starving herself. She began making herself sick, cutting food from her diet and followed a demanding exercise regime.

After six months of dieting, India’s weight plummeted and she eventually blacked out.  India spent seven months in hospital from March – September 2013

(She said: “I love looking back at my pictures to see how my body was changing. My favourite pose was standing in front of a mirror and photographing my thigh gap and seeing how big it was getting.”  Chillingly, India received thousands of messages from girls who wanted to look like her at her lowest weight – skeletal.)

During a Mirror investigation, it found pro-anorexia Instagram pages, including 12-year old Anna who has over 2,000 followers predominately other sufferers, with some as young as the age of ten. Her profile consisting of tips and body goals to aspire to. She captions her images - 

(One like = one hour of fasting,” It has 27 likes.)

(“0 Calories today”)

These images and captions normalize these extremes to others, believing that this is acceptable and a way of living. This is evident through the comments on the images, with many of them contain shocking comments, these include:

(“WOW! How many purges?” asks on 13- year old user. “I wish I was that skinny.”)

Lucie Russell, Director of Campaign at Young Minds has dedicated her life to supporting teenagers with mental health issues. She states,

(“Seeing these girls connecting in this way is very concerning and worrying,” Russell says. “They are encouraging each other to get thinner and thinner and no one is there to stop it.”)

The majority of social media platforms require users to be of a certain age but there is no way of enforcing these rules.

A spokesperson for Instagram states (“Instagram is a place where people can share their lives with others through photographers, but anybody found encouraging or urging users to embrace anorexia or other eating disorders will result in a disabled account without warning.)

All social media platforms provide a report or block option but with over 70 million images shared Instagram per day, it is extremely difficult to control and monitor what is being shared on the Internet.

Week 5, Thursday - Lesson 15

In Today's lesson I have just been reading more of the article I had in the last blog post. I am just trying to decide what to take out of it to quote in the documentary. There are some points that are more prevalent than others that will have a greater impact on the audience. I will be going ahead with the pro-disorder websites as my source and will be quoting the article. I need to ensure that I cohesively link my participatory to this information so it flows well in the documentary. Reading this article and the comments of younger girls is shocking and I think this a crucial part of my research and documentary. I will be going through my draft tomorrow with Mr Andrews and the final is due on Monday. I am very excited to begin filming and editing the documentary.

Research - 24/2/16

'Thinspo' vs 'Fitspo"

I have been researching about how social media can make teenagers feel insecure due to the overwhelming amount of distorted and manipulated images of other people's appearances. Many will resort to dieting and unhealthy ways to obtain these body types which are unrealistic. These ways can lead to serious illnesses including anorexia and bulimia as well as others. It has become apparent that social media platforms are also perpetuating these conditions with blogs and journals of pro-ana and pro-mia sites where people view and obey. These communities are a place where sufferers can confined in one another, but they encourage and promote anorexia and bulimia. These 'safe' places include many commandments, tips and goals in order to stave oneself and lose weight. Many included 'thinspiration' images for others to focus on and aim towards.

Thinspiration:

Also known as 'Thinspo', is images of skinny women to motivate ones self to lose weight. It is strongly associated and promotes eating disorders.

After a quick google search, the first photo to appear was the following:

Another trending fad is 'fitspiration' - These images include people that are used to motivate people to get fit through exercise and substantial meals. 

The line between 'thinspiration' and 'fitspiration' is quite thin. As both show 'thin' people who aren't necessarily healthy so either can have a negative impact on teenager's perception of body image. 

Week 5, Tuesday - Lesson 14

I have completed majority of my treatment and have tweaked the changes that were critiqued on my draft. I was initially finding it quite difficult in picking a suitable source to find to comment on a certain aspect of how social affects the youth's perspective of their personal body image. I stumbled across alarming statistic that I have incorporated into my documentary as a voice over that states, "A People magazine survey illustrated that 80% of women who answered felt that images of women on television and in the movies make them feel insecure.” A large proportion of women feel negatively about their body just after viewing an advertisement on television on a movie, how do they feel after being bombarded with images all day? This social pressure can't be blamed on celebrities or those in the public eye, this pressure is coming from friends and family members due to the abudent amount of images shared on social media each day. These images distort one's personal view of their own body image as they are constantly being reminded or constructing a social idea of 'beauty'. These social ideas lead teenagers to photoshop and in a lot of cases, dieting. Social media perputulates dieting trends and eating disorders as people strive for unrealistic body goals. This led me to looking into pro-ana (anorexia) and pro-mis (bulimia) journals and blogs which promote starvation or unhealthy eating and exercise habits. I have just begun researching different blogs to understand the concept of them so over the next few days I will be looking at someone that I could directly quote, this could be a professional or a spokesperson, perhaps someone who has overcome their disorder and shares their experience to help others. As my treatment displays two women and one being under the healthy weight limit, this will cohesively link with the pro eating disorder journals. Although, this is a quite upsetting element of the effects of social media this is an extremely detrimental and accurate effect that social media has on teenagers which needs to be addressed. This will inform people about the effects as well as strengthen the argument of Social media has detrimental effect on young women. 
 

Week 5, Monday - Lesson 13

During today's lesson we discussed the importance of statistics as they are essentially going to support the entire documentary. Without them, it is quite difficult to portray the argument effectively as there is no evidence. When I receive my draft back I will be adding more statistics and tweaking or changing whatever I should to ensure that the planning process is perfect before starting my documentary. I will be working with Holly and Kartya for the group aspect and we will begin planning next lesson to work out what, when, how we should execute this task. We all focusing on body image and mainly with the participatory type which makes this process easier in the initial stages. The final writing section of the assignment is due on Friday and we aim to begin filming our documentary in week 6 and 7 to then be editing during week 7. The sooner we film our footage we can then spend time on editing to ensure that the message is effectively communicated to this audience. As documentaries tend to be bias and manipulated the editing process is crucial so we must ensure that we correctly do this.

Week 4, Friday - Lesson 12

The media treatment and three-column script was due today. Yesterday, I received verbal feedback on how I can improve my treatment so far. This was extremely helpful as it allowed me to change and critic some of the minor problems including what gender I was focusing on and how to appropriately set up my appendices. I am yet to add a credible source for the documentary e.g. a well known person who speaks on this idea of social media affecting body image, I will be looking at this over the weekend and add it to my treatment over the next few days and lessons. I will receive my draft back sometime next week and this will allow me to change anything I need to. I want to make sure that it covers everything so I can begin my documentary in the coming weeks.

Week 4, Wednesday - Lesson 11

I have completed my draft to hand in on Friday. I just need to finish off my 3-column script which I will do before Friday for drafting. I have been writing that I will be doing an observatory documentary but in fact this documentary will actually be considered as a participatory genre. Although, it is observing how people respond, it is participatory as the interviewer (myself) is involved in the filming element and may be in some shots.

I am finding this unit extremely interesting and I am excited to start and film and see what people's responses are to this hot topic. Media can easily be manipulated, especially if one is trying to portray a certain message or persuade an audience. If any of the girls end up answering differently to what is expected and needed to make the message work, there will be other girls that will answer the way the director needs hem to. As this is the case, some girls will end up being cut as during the editing process it is crucial to choose the people who answer to fit with the message.

Week 4, Monday - Lesson 10

Today’s lesson we explored our ideas for our documentary. I will be focusing on the effects social media has on the youth’s perception of body image. An observatory type would be interesting to see how social media has constructed an idea of the ‘perfect’ body or look. I would firstly like to interview a few girls in the senior school asking how they believe social media has affected their thoughts on body image. I would then like to find two images of girl’s bodies, one being an underweight, skinny girl and the other being someone of a healthy weight. These images will then be shown to girls in the junior school asking which one they believe is beautiful. As they are of a young age, they have not been exposed to, as much social media and hopefully this experiment will have them choosing the female of the healthy weight. It will be interesting how they react to the images. Then, many students from middle and senior school who are consistently open to social media will be able to answer the same questions and the responses will probably be different. This will be done to see their initial view of body image then to really put it to practice when asked who is beautiful? Or which one the prettiest? The comparison between the two will show how social media effects one’s perception of body image. I will now begin writing my treatment and 3-column script.

Week 3, Friday - Lesson 9

In this lesson I confirmed that I am going to be researching and delving into the topic of how social media affects the youth's perception of body image. This is broad but it needs to be to cover all elements of it's affects. The main part will be observatory so I need to continue brainstorming how I wish to execute that. Currently I am unsure but over the weekend I will continue to think how it will be possible to do this. I haven't started my treatment yet as it is quite different to our previous treatment as their is no characters and not a main plot. Next lesson I will be asking how to complete this correctly as it is due on Friday!

Week 3, Thursday - Lesson 8

Ideas - Documentary Assignment

I would love to do an observational documentary as it would be interesting to incorporate some sort of experiment or interview. Majority of the documentary would be expository with an element of observational as an entire observational style would not portray the message to the full extent.

The documentary I will be writing a treatment for will be exploring the implications social media has on the body image, particularly how the youth of today view the consequences. With the increasing amount of people using social media, it is becoming more apparent that these platforms are taking a toll on our lives.

I will be brainstorming how I would want to execute it. Currently all I know is that I will be taking the angle of body image for the assignment. Over the next few days I will be researching and taking notes as well as thinking of a creative way to include some sort of experiment to include the element of observatory.  

Notes: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800

• Social media is among the most common activity's of today's youth.
• It provides instant communication, social connection and even technical skills.
• The past 15 years have seen the amount of preadolescent and adolescent increased dramatically.
• The limited self-regulation and susceptibility to peer pressure, youth are at risk. These problems include cyber bullying, lack of understanding of privacy issues and sexting. 

Week 3, Tuesday - Lesson 7

Social Media Discussion

During our lesson today we discussed what everyone had found out about the different media platforms. Many of the answers were similar with cyber bullying/ stalking being the main negative of social media. Several of the answers were from a teenage perspective, it is crucial for the assignment that we look from other angles to answer the question to it's full potential. I am yet to decide what angle I would like to take for the assignment. I am interested in researching and reporting the effects social media has on a person's body and self image. It definitely takes a toll on how people view themselves as they are exposed to so much.

 Research on WhatsApp

WhatsApp messenger is a cross-platform client for smart phones. It has the ability to text message, images, videos, user location and audio messages. In February 2016, it was concluded that the app had up to one billion making it the most popular messaging application. In 2014, it was purchased by Facebook and rakes in a total of US$ 19.3 billion. As this is such a large platform it would be important to include some information or statistics for the documentary. 

Week 3, Monday - Lesson 6

Social Media

Instagram - This platform allows users to post pictures, videos either publicly or privately. This is

also used for direct messages. Instagram was created in 2010 and since then it has shared over 30 billion photos, now 70 million photos per day. It currently has 300 million active monthly users from around the globe. 

Positive:

• Privacy settings - these are quite secure as people who aren't following you don't have access to your account if your account is on private. Everyone who intends to follow you must send a request before being accepted and able to view your images/videos. This makes it harder for predators to gain access to their accounts. 
• An effective way to keep in touch especially with family and friends who are long distances away. 

Negative:

• Location tagging - while it may be interesting and appealing to followers with tagging where you are, this can also be extremely dangerous. Location tags make it very easy to find out exactly where one is. If they decide to use a funny location tag from their house, the address and exact location will be visible for a follower to find. 

• Explicit images - with applications such as snapchat rising in popularity other platforms have attempted to interweave similar elements including direct messaging. This can cause trouble as people will if not post, send explicit images to one another.
• It is possible to find out exactly what you're doing at any point of the day, where you are doing it etc.

Facebook- It was launched in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg which was initially made for Harvard students use only, this eventually grew over time and by 2006 you just needed to be over the age of 13 to have an account. This platform is used to stay in touch with friends, this is used to share status, photos, videos, events or private messaging etc. 

Positive:

• Instant connection - great way to stay in touch with family and friends. This is extremely convenient if they live long distances. This is generally a major pro for several social media platforms as this is the main reason they were originally created. 
• When you need a break from work or life - Facebook is a favourable option sought by many.
• Easy to use platform to post and share with friends. 
• Can be used for educational purposes. 

Negative:

• It can be distracting if it is not used within its limits. 
• Oversharing information can lead to people being in dangerous positions as it is possible for many people find out your entire life.
• Addiction - There are many cases that show that people have become addicted to their online account as it provides a sanction of safety.
• Accounts can be easily accessible and found unless the privacy settings are changed prior. 
• People can become obsessed with their self image online rather than their relationships and real life.
• People can become obsessed with their self image online rather than their relationships and real life.

Snapchat - This is a photo/video messaging application. All images/videos can have a time set on them to them "snap" to your contact list. After the amount of time set the image will delete. In recent time, people have been able to add to their stories which allows all contacts to view their image/video for a total of 24 hours and then it will be deleted. According to Snapchat in 2016 the app's users are sending over 7 billion photos and videos per day.

Positive:

• An effective way to keep in touch especially with family and friends who are long distances away for free.
• Easily accessible.
• If settings are private - easy way to talk to people who you want to speak to instead of having a large group of "friends" who aren't exactly close to you.
• Instant messaging.
• Find out important dates e.g. Three Kings Day 
• Live video call
• If hacked, nothing can be retrieved. 
• Funny effects.
• Effective way of promotion - geofilters & magazines for many different ages. 

Negative:

• As the image deletes because they are only set on 1-10 seconds it gives people the impression that because it's deleted, anything can be sent. This can lead to explicit images and sexting. This is dangerous as it is easy to screenshot or have another phone take a photo of the image which can put someone's reputation on the line and expose these images. 
• All images are stored somewhere.
• Anything can be screenshot. 
• Cyber bullying
• People can become addicted to it. 

Week 2, Friday - Lesson 5

To Sell a War

To Sell a War is a documentary that was made in 1992 by Martyn Gregory. It is based on the Free Kuwait campaign that was spun by public relation officers to gain supporters to commence the Gulf War. It exposes a ambassador Nijirah al-Sabah who places his daughter to falsely testify in court about Iraq soldiers removing babies from incubators and leaving them on the ground to die. This story was commonly seen throughout the media and was widely reported around the entire world. 

What are the differences in the documentary compared to other ones we have watched?

This documentary is in the style of expository as there is an omniscient voice that is used to directly engage with the audience. It also follows the criteria of aiming to persuade the audience of a particular view. Although, the major difference compared to other documentaries we have watched is that it aims to see both sides of the story whilst still attempting to persuade viewers one way. The other documentaries have been quite bias and only view evidence from one main point. It was interesting to see one that took the view point of both sides as it allowed the viewer to understand why they were trying to push one view instead of just doing it. 

What are the differences in the documentary compared to other ones we have watched in regards to the viewers emotional response?

This documentary, unlike others we have watched have taken an emotional attack with the use of the personal stories and the footage used of the teenager who is clearly upset about what has 'occurred'. This plays on viewers heart strings and people can easily relate and feel empathy for those affected. The other documentaries haven't used this technique except for a section in the Forgotten Silver where they used his 'partner' who began to explain their life together and how much she missed him. To Sell a War took a stronger approach as they used the death of infants which many, if not all could empathise with. 

Week 2, Thursday - Lesson 4

Was the documentary accurate?

Many parts of the documentary had important messages that are most definitely accurate. There are elements that are questionable and possibly false. If Spurlock followed his set rules at the beginning of the documentary which included eating everything on the menu one, super sizing if asked to do so and finishing the entire meal it is possible that the fast food could have an impact on his body the way it did. I believe that the fast-food industry continues to grow because people continue to purchase it and are slowly becoming addicted and reliant on the sugars and fats. The most accurate statement that is made in the documentary would be the last omniscient quote "Who do you want to see go first, them or you?" (Spurlock). If people continue to eat unhealthy and constant fast-food meals, it will have dangerous affects on the body.

Were there any problems/issues with the documentary?

There were a few issues with the documentary which included the amount of sugar Spurlock consumed per day during his diet and his large claims of fast-food industries, especially McDonalds being the main contributor to the ever rising obesity epidemic. The documentary itself is quite persuasive and after watching many would never want to enter a fast-food restaurant again. It is unknown if the statistic and effects on his body were completely accurate.

Were there any factual fallacies with the documentary?

There were many factual fallacies throughout the entirety of the documentary. These include:

• No one has even been able to produce the same results from completing the exact same experiment. Although each human body differs in results, basic math can conclude that his diet could not possibly consist of 5,000 calories a day. Tom Naughton's Fat Head states that "there is simply no way Spurlock could have been eating that much food if he was sticking to his rules." This is corroborated by a study that was conducted in a Sweden University where healthy young adults attempted a diet that consisted of eating 6,000 calories of fast food per day. All students studied did not run into liver or cholesterol issues. 
• Spurlock claims that fast food industries are one of the main factors contributing the obesity epidemic. Although, McDonald's is unhealthy there are many foods that eaten in masses can cause people to gain weight. Also, it is crucial that people take care of their body and exercise regularly in order to stay healthy. 

Morgan Spurlock (Director):

Morgan Spurlock is an American documentary filmmaker. He is most commonly known for his Supersize Me which depicts a McDiet that consists of eating three meals a day without any other food source for thirty days. The film's aim was to prove that the fast-food industry is a main factor for the obesity epidemic within America and the world. It exploits the danger with large fast-food company advertising techniques e.g. toys, playgrounds, happy meals etc as this promotes the wrong message to young children. The techniques can also be seen when salads are advertised as "healthy", it is known that some with the amount of dressing can have more calories than a big mac.

His girlfriend at the time, Alex Jamieson was a vegan chef who was currently writing a cook book. This was a subtle use of self advertising.

Week 2, Wednesday - Lesson 3

Supersize Me

We continued watching the documentary Supersize Me during the lesson. It consisted of the director eating only McDonalds for three meals a day for a month. We watched up until day 14 where he began to feel sick, depressed and put on an unhealthy amount of weight. The aim of this documentary is to see if the fast food industry is to blame for the increasing amount of weight people are putting on and level of obesity.

How did the director portray the fast food companies?

The director made the food companies out to be the main cause of the obesity epidemic that was and is still occurring in our world today. Many elements of McDonalds was exposed throughout the documentary so far including; lack of health information available in store, hair in foods and the amount of sugars and salts that are in their food items. Clearly, he is coming from a bias opinion as he is trying to prove that the fast food industry has detrimental affects to the body so they would be portrayed in a negative light.

How did the director portray the people in the documentary?

The director portrays people either as worried for his well being whilst he embarks on this three month McDonalds diet or as ignorant to what they're consuming on a weekly basis. He shows his girlfriend, mother and doctors concerned for how he is going to feel during this experiment. This continues throughout majority of the documentary. On the other hand, when he is speaking to strangers passing by he positions them to look ignorant. This is done as they are unaware of the affects of the food when asked "What calories are?" or their defensive responses when asked how frequently they consume fast food.

Did the director exaggerate? 

For a film to be successful, some elements are obviously exaggerated for the viewers. I'm sure he was feeling depressed and ill after eating many McDonald's meal but I'm unsure if some of what occurred was 'put on' e.g. vomiting etc. I'm sure there are elements that were exaggerated but it is done well, making it difficult to pin point exactly what is.

We will continue watching the documentary next lesson.

Week 2 , Monday - Lesson 2:

Types of Documentaries

There are six types of documentaries which include; poetic, expository, observational, participatory, reflexive and performative. While all of these have distinctive characteristics there are some documentaries and films that are a mixture of two or more of these. Documentaries and films are not restricted to one type to follow.

Poetic Documentary - A reaction against the content and rapidly crystallising grammar of the early fiction. The topic is usually close or related to the person creating it. They tend to be quite artistic in the way they are presented.

Expository Documentary - These speak directly to the viewer, often in the form of an omniscient or 'god like' voice. These films are rhetorical and aim to persuade the viewer. Images aren't particularly used unless it is to support the argument.

Observational Documentary - These documentaries attempt to observe the life lived with a minimum of intervention. The filmmaker is usually out of the shot so they cannot influence what is happening. Majority is not rehearsed or scripted. This type of documentary is most common in wildlife documentaries.

Participatory Documentary - These documentaries believe that it is impossible for the act of a filmmaking to not influence or alter the events being filmed. All of these types of documentaries are influenced by the filmmaker. We began watching another documentary at the end of lesson, Supersize Me which is an example of this type.

Reflexive Documentary- These draw attention to their own construction, and the fact that they are representations. These prompt to audience to question the authenticity of documentary. The documentary as well as the audience recognise and acknowledge the issues of realism and representation.

Performative Documentary- These stress subjective and experience emotional response to the world. They are extremely personal, unconventional, sometimes poetic and/or experimental. They are designed to give the audience a specific perspective not of our own on an issue or the world. The sub-genre also might lend itself to minorities or specific groups.

During our unit last year on the representation of women in media, we watched Miss-Representation which is a document about women in the public eye and how they are, essentially misrepresented. I believe these was a mixture of an expository and observational documentary due to the images being important and not secondary which in the case in a expository documentary. The use of an omniscient voice also contributes to this.

In our last lesson we watched Forgotten Silver which was a participatory documentary with reflexive elements. This is due to the director, Peter Jackson playing a large role in the film.

At the end of the lesson we started watching Supersize Me which is a participatory documentary about a man who eats only McDonalds for three meals a day for 30 days. This is to see the impact fast food companies are having on the populations health and if it is a large contributing factor to the increase in weight gain and obesity. We only watched up until day three so I am excited what the remainder of the documentary entails and his results from the experiment. We will continue to watch this in our next lesson.