This is my evaluation for A2 media coursework. For my coursework I completed a five mintute extract for a documentary about teenage driving followed by two ansillary tasks of a radio trailer and an advert.

1. A-LEVEL MEDIA STUDIES
ADVANCED PORTFOLIO
EVALUATION
G324
Chloe White

2. For my A2 media coursework I chose to create a
documentary lasting five minutes followed by two ancillary
tasks of a radio trailer and a newspaper advertisement.
The subject that my products focus around is teenagers
learning to drive.

3. Q1. In what ways does your
media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions
of real media products?

4. Q1. ADVERT
I researched into some newspaper/magazine adverts for
channel 4 as that was the channel I used for my documentary.
I found that their adverts use unique conventions on their
adverts compared to other channels such as BBC3. The main
codes and conventions I found on the adverts were that they use
their logo which is usually disconnected from the rest of the
advert slightly. Also they use a simple font usually in black
colour over a white background making it easy to read over an
image. They also use one main image which relates to the
programme title. For example the bottom advert on the right
uses a well edited picture which captures the emotion of the
viewer and relates to the topic in a less obvious way.
Channel 4 also use a colour scheme for some of their adverts
such as the top advert on the right. In this advert, it follows a
blue, black and white colour scheme. It uses blue font and logo
and have edited the main image to make the picture black white
but have edited the eye to make it blue, I think this is successful
way of using a colour scheme.
I have used, developed and challenged the forms and
conventions of channel 4 adverts and adapted them to my own
work.

5. I followed the conventions and used one main image
which links to the topic of my programme. I used a
female teenager for my image however my target
audience is both genders so I could use either genders.
Q1. ADVERT To improve this I could create two different adverts
with two different models , one male and one female
so all my target audience can relate to the advert.
I wanted my advert to follow a
colour scheme like some of channel
4s adverts do. I made my advert
follow a red theme which links to
the red L plate. I have used the
channel 4 logo and made it red to I challenged the forms and
follow the colour scheme also. The conventions and made my main
logo originally had a white picture black and white. I think this
background however I edited it to is effective because it makes the
make it fit over my image by colour stand out more. I also made
removing the background from the my image black and white so I
logo. could fit a colour scheme around it.
I used a simple font over a
I noticed that in channel 4 adverts white background like channel
they edit part of the picture to 4 do however I have developed
make part of it stand out so I edited this by using bold and italic
my main picture to make the L font as well as normal font. I
plate stand out making that the only used the basic
main focus so it easily links to the information on my advert
subject. This follows my colour because I didn‟t want to
scheme. overload the page with text
I used a ripped L plate to show that making the image the main
the girl in the image has passed her component, this makes the
test as she is not a learner any advert rely heavily on
more. aesthetics.

6. Q1. RADIO TRAILER
After researching into some radio trailers, I found that they use similar conventions.
- Background music
- Voice over
- Clips from the programme e.g. interview clips
- Sound effects
- Theme tune
At the beginning of my trailer I used a sound effect of a car starting before the music and voiceover starts to capture
my audiences attention. I have challenged the forms and conventions by not using a theme tune in my trailer. I found
that in the radio trailer I researched it uses a theme tune from the programme such as doctor who.
I then used background music of Rihanna's song „shut up and drive‟ because the song links to the subject of driving,
also I use that song in my documentary as well. I have used this convention because it adds more entertainment to the
trailer instead of just having a voice over. This keeps my audience entertained for longer.
I scripted my voice over carefully, making sure I used the right words to advertise my documentary successfully. I used
a rhetorical question „are you ready to get in the drivers seat?” to address the listener first of all. Followed by “keep
calm, drive safe and don't panic.” This makes the listener aware that the subject is about driving.
I used a voice over because it is a vital component of a radio trailer as it informs the audience about a product. At the
end of my trailer I inform the audience exactly when and where the product will be shown on television. I made sure
that the vital information was at the end of the trailer because the rest of the trailer is to capture the audiences attention
making them want to listen on to when the programme will be shown.
I used clips from interviews to allow the audience to have a brief preview of what to expect in the documentary. I
found that using clips from the programme is a common convention found in radio trailers as it advertises the best bits
of the programme persuading the audience to see it.

7. Q1. DOCUMENTARY
My documentary follows the theme of teenagers and their experiences in learning to drive. This programme is
one of a series of six investigative documentaries following the issues of teenagers. An example of another of
these documentaries is covering the issue of teenage drinking. My documentary is single strand and follows
one narrative and theme. Most documentaries are single strand to keep it simple and easy for the audience to
understand.
In my documentary I used a lot of conventions found in real media products to make my programme as
genuine as possible. However, I also challenged some of the forms and conventions to make my product
original.
These are some of the forms and conventions I found in real media documentaries:
-Voice Over
-Interviews and/or Vox Pops
-Moving and Still images
- Text
-Sound
-Realism
-Music
-Digetic and non digetic sound
I will evaluate my documentary in two different ways. Firstly I will look at the introduction of my documentary
in comparison to real media products. I will then look at how my interviews compare.

8. Q1. DOCUMENTARY
INTRODUCTION
To start my documentary I used a vox pop asking people what their opinion is on learner drivers. I chose to ask a variety of
people of different genders but around a similar age to my target audience. I used the question „what is your opinion on
learner drivers?‟ because the audience can also think to themselves how they would answer the question. As the majority of the
feedback from the vox pop was negative of learner drivers, I then hopefully changed peoples minds on their opinion throughout
the programme. I used a vox pop to open the programme as I didn‟t want to go straight into the opening titles. I did this
because after researching into some real documentaries, I found that they do not cut straight into the opening titles but have a
short introduction of some kind to ease the audience into the programme.
The camera shots I used for my vox pop were mostly medium shots or close ups. I used a variety of settings for example one
person in the car and one person at school. I did this to look like I was asking random people from the public as that is what
vox pops usually do.
After the vox pop I used a voice over to introduce the programme making the audience aware of the subject I would be
addressing in the programme. I also used background music while the voice over was introducing the documentary to add
some entertainment instead of having someone just talking. I used a song as the background music that links to the theme of
driving (Rhianna – Shut up and drive), I made sure that the level of music was much lower than the voice over so that the
viewer could clearly hear what was being said, however when the voice over stopped I made the music get gradually louder so
that the opening titles were playing to the music.
I used a wide variety of shots and moving images however they all linked to driving. For example I used one shot where
someone was turning the wheel around when they were driving then I had someone changing gear. I used a variety of moving
images that were quite short in length so the viewer would not get bored so easily and had a lot of aesthetics to look at while
listening to the music and voice over.
I have challenged the conventions by only using a voice over (voice of god) and not a presenter. However some of the
documentaries I have researched for a young audience use a celebrity presenter who investigates different issues.

9. Q1. DOCUMENTARY
INTERVIEWS
In my product, I used interviews as well as vox pops. I found that in real documentaries, interviews were a main
convention as they find out the publics opinions and experiences on certain topics enabling the viewer to relate to
them.
I included three main interviews in my documentary, two people learning to drive and one person who has passed
already. I interviewed people the same age as my target audience as the audience can then relate to their
experiences and understand what is being said. In the first two interviews of the girls who are learning to drive, I
asked them the same questions and then compared both answers as they had different opinions on driving and
were learning at different rates. I used a medium shot for both interviews from the upper body up. I used a similar
setting in a car for both to make sure the mis en scene matched the genre of my product. I challenged the
conventions of an interview as one of my interviews looked straight to camera although most interviews are faced
slightly off to camera in real media products.
In the last interview of the girl who had already passed, I didn‟t ask any questions but let her talk about her experience
freely so it was realistic and genuine. The mis en scene in terms of location links to the genre of my documentary.
All of the interviews were in a car as it links to the subject of driving.
I used three different vox pops in my documentary asking a vairety of people in different places. The first one opened
my programme with the question „What is your opinion on learner drivers?‟. I also used the question „How many
times did it take to pass your driving test?‟. I included this in my programme so the audience could see that not
everyone passes first time and they need to keep trying until they do. I made sure that I asked people that passed a
different amount of times so everyone could relate to it in some way. The last question I used was „Do you have
any tips for passing a driving test?‟. I chose this question to ask people as it is the publics advice on passing your
test instead of the presenter talking about how to pass.

10. Q2. How effective is the combination
of your main product and ancillary
task?

11. Q2. ADVERT
I believe that my main product and ancillary tasks compliment each
other very well as the ancillary tasks advertise the documentary to
my target audience of 17 – 20 year olds.
I think my advert advertises my main product well as it gives clear
and simple information regarding the time and channel that my
documentary will be shown on. There is little information about what
the documentary is about, instead the advertisement relies on
capturing the readers attention using the image and installing the
date in their mind. By using one main image it clearly links to the
subject of learning to drive by using the learner plate in the picture
and a person of the same age as my target audience. I have used my
advert to promote my main product by using codes and conventions
found on real adverts such as one main image which captures the
attention of the audience and the logo which my audience will
familiar themselves with.
In comparison to a real advert from channel 4, my advert uses
similar elements to advertise my product such as simple, clear font
and the logo to advertise the channel. I have used these conventions
to appeal to my target audience so they watch my main product – the
documentary. I believe that my advert and documentary go hand in
hand as the advert clearly advertises the main product which gets the
audience to watch the programme.

12. Q2. RADIO TRAILER
My radio trailer is consistent with my documentary as it uses the same music from the
introduction and voice clips from interviews. The radio trailer is directly linked to the
documentary as it advertises when and where the programme will be shown by telling
the audience directly at the end of the trailer.
As I could not find many real radio trailers to research into, I drafted my radio trailer from
the beginning. I decided to use the music from the introduction of my documentary of
„Rihanna – Shut up and drive‟ because its upbeat and the audience will be able to
relate the advertisement to the topic of driving.
To begin the trailer with, I used a sound effect of a car starting to firstly grab the audiences
attention followed by the music which carries on throughout the trailer, however I
made the music quieter so that I could put a voiceover the sound to advertise the
trailer.
Below I have created a word cloud of the script I used for my trailer. As you can see the
three main words that were used were drive, process and driving, this shows that my
script and trailer advertise my documentary well as they use words that relate directly
to the topic of driving.
Overall I think that my supporting pieces advertise and
compliment my main product well as they clearly show the
time and date that the documentary will be on and use
techniques that capture the audiences attention and relate
both to the topic and my target audience by using young,
fresh elements which appeal to my younger audience.

13. Q3. What have you learned from
your audience feedback?

14. Q3. FEEDBACK
For my audience feedback, I asked members of the sixth form and some
adults to comment on the things they did and didn‟t like about my
documentary.
After showing peers, teachers and parents my potential beginning to an
hour long documentary I gained some valuable information about
how I could improve and what I did well in my products.
I have taken each of their pieces of feedback and separated it into what
they liked and what I could improve on. These were the main points
that they picked up on:
What they liked What could be improved
•Clear points of information about •Subtitles looked blurry and unclear
the driving test •Volume was varying
•Real people‟s experiences and •Shots could be steadier
thoughts •Interview a wider variety of people
•Good flow between footage •Quality of camera varied
•Stayed on topic

15. Q3. SIXTH FORM FEEDBACK
I asked people from sixth form to begin with as they would be my target audience. I firstly asked them
a question of what did they enjoy best?
After asking my peers the question of „What did you like about my documentary?‟ I made a graph
showing the answers from the students.
From looking at the graph, it shows that my target audience enjoyed the fact that I used real people
and their own experiences and thoughts about driving in my interview.
One person commented “I liked how you used people from the age group that you want to target. It
made me relate to them more because I know that they have had the same experiences driving
that I have and I am able to connect to programme more. Also what they were saying didn‟t feel
forced or scripted because they were talking freely about their own experiences which made it
more realistic.”

16. Q3. SIXTH FORM FEEDBACK
I also asked sixth form a question about what could be done to improve my product.
These were the results:
From looking at the chart, it is clear that the main thing that could be improved is to
interview more ages, including some adults to give more variety of opinions and
experiences so that more people can relate to the interviewees.
One person comments: “I liked that you used teenagers through out your programme
because it is for teenagers. But I think you could improve it by including some adults
to give a wider variety of feelings towards driving and how they coped when
learning because the text has changed since they took it. It might also make adults
watch it which would broaden your audience.”

17. Q3. WHAT I HAVE LEARNT
After looking at all the feedback I received, I have taken many aspects
into account and learnt so that in future mistakes are not made
again and things are improved.
The main things I have learnt are:
- I should pay more attention to who I include in my documentary to
make sure all my viewers can relate to my programme in some way.
- I need to use a higher quality camera to gain steady and clear images
- I should use a programme I am comfortable with to edit my film so I
can create better use of text and graphics.

18. Q4. How did you use media
technologies?

19. The technologies I used in the construction,
research and planning stages.

20. Q4. CONSTRUCTING MY PRODUCT
FILMING
During the filming stage I decided to use my own digital camera which is able to capture moving
images as well as still shots. I used a normal camera which came as a downfall during the
construction of my documentary as the quality was not as good as using a video camera. From the
feedback I got, I need to use a higher quality camera in future to gain steady and clearer images.
VOICEOVER
As I was unable to find a microphone that I was able to use, I decided to use my laptop which has a
webcam and a microphone that can pick up sound. I found a simple accessory on my laptop that
allows sound to be recorded. This seemed to work well as I had to use very simple equipment,
however the sound did come out clear, it could have been better if I used a microphone.
EDITING
To edit my project I went out of my comfort zone and I was encouraged to use different software to
gain a creative/professional standard. I initially wanted to use windows movie maker to create and
edit my footage however my footage would not work on there. I found a new software called Power
Director which allowed me to create more effective editing than the simple movie maker. Overall
Power Director was better to use because I could use different techniques and programmes, but I
found it quite difficult to handle and produce my work finally when uploading it to youtube.

21. Q4. RESEARCH
When developing the ideas for my products, I firstly had to do some research in
order to understand documentaries and what their codes and conventions
were. To do this I used the internet to look firstly for the simple conventions
that documentaries share. I looked online for some documentaries from a
variety of channels like channel 4‟s Embarrassing Bodies and BB3‟s Young,
Dumb and living off mum.
I used websites to view these programmes like 4OD and BBC iplayer which
allowed to watch them when I want instead of watching them on the
television at a certain time. By looking at real media products, I was able to
analyse them and see what conventions they share so I could then ensure
my own documentary followed the same rules.
As well as researching into real documentaries, I researched into distributors
and channels that would be likely to show my programme. For this I used
the internet and google to search for the companies and what they do. I
looked at channel 4 and BBC3.

22. Q4. PLANNING
To plan my products, I used my wix website to type some proposal ideas and
document the journey I went on when planning what I was going to do. I
used wix to present my coursework as I think it is creative and well
presented. It is also easy to navigate to different parts of my work by putting
tabs at the top of the page.
When planning my work, I separated my main piece and two ancillary tasks
into different tabs to allow me to document my work in an orderly fashion.
By doing this I was able to research and plan each of my coursework pieces
separately and in detail.

23. When completing my coursework I can say that I have been determined
even when I have had technical difficulties and trouble with editing.
The experience of using different technologies experiences have
helped me understand how media texts are made and how they
appeal to an audience. I also feel that when making my film, I have
learnt a great deal about how to use digital technology to my
advantage. I feel more confident now I have completed my
coursework and I will take the feedback that I have gained and apply
it to my work in the future.
Since AS, I feel I have progressed in media and skill development which
has enabled me to create a product of higher quality as the
technology available has changed and I have learnt a great deal from
my past coursework. I have learnt how important it is to plan and
research products efficiently so I can create a media product to my
best possible standard.