1. Unit 27 Understanding the Codes and Conventions of Factual Programming
By Eoin Godfrey

2. Introduction
In this presentation; I aim to explain the codes and conventions of factual programming including what types of factual programming there are and what recurring conventions are used in them as well as examples of each as evidence.

3. News
This is where the viewer is updated with important information about different subjects; Newspapers and Local News such as BBC News will normally update us with local news happening in a nearby area, but international news channels such as Sky News will give the viewers who are watching their show information about what is currently happening around the world.

4. Studio Newsreaders
These are the people who open every news programme by introducing themselves and the broadcast; it is their job to read out certain news pieces and structure the news programme. They are based mainly in the studio and read the news from behind a desk to the camera; they help to structure a news programme by beginning and ending the news programme.

5. Field reporters
These types of reporters are usually at an important location such as a crime scene or event and will often link by to the studio; they will be on camera talking about where they are and what’s happened in that location. Field Reporters will normally be accompanied by an eyewitness; who will answer a few of the reporter’s questions, this will be used to back up what the studio reporter is saying.

6. Links to Studio
This is when a TV station will go to another TV studio to get a more detailed precise and in depth description about a certain subject; this often happens if the other studio has an eye witness on hand with them who is willing to explain.

7. Mode of Address to viewer
This is where a media source adapts to their audience and style of show; for example, the BBC are a serious and informative news channel who are targeted at an older audience. To make this connection clear; the presenters are dressed in smart suits and will have a serious personality to show that the news is no laughing matter. However; shows such as Mock the Week and Celebrity Juice will have a different style in comparison to the news, with the presenters being dressed in normal clothes and the style being very colourful; this shows the audience can have a laugh despite some of the controversial topics being discussed.

8. Interviewing
This is when a person is being asked questions relating to a certain subject or view; this is to gain a better understanding of what’s happened or to get an opinion from the interviewee. Anyone can be interviewed as long as it’s a popular topic or a subject that everyone wants to know about; this is done so that it can offer an informative approach and it also makes it more personal. In documentary; a single interview about a certain subject can be the foundation of the entire documentary and can switch back and forth between the footage and the documentary.

9. Experts and Witnesses
This is a particularly important part of a news show or a similar broadcast to it; often a witness will share their side of a story and then an expert will be brought it so that the witness is not biased. Witnesses can be used to back up a certain case or give professional observations; for example, in a murder; there could be a witness who saw what happened and then an expert would explain the scratches, wounds, etc.
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10. Report Structure
This is when a report is “Prioritised”; which means that the most important update will be spoken about will be spoken about on a news programme; this will update the audience on the story as soon as they can; they will leave the least important or popular to the end of the news report. This is a great idea as it won’t waste the audience’s time if they are waiting for the important report.

11. Actuality Footage
This is something that is used on most types of media such as news report or documentaries; both of these factual programme will use actuality footage to back up the story. For example; if you were to look at the “Birmingham Riots”; there were inserts of the event and show the monstrosity that they caused, the news or field reporter will talk over this in voiceover to make it more clear to audience.

12. Documentary Formats
There are five different types of documentary Formats that are used when creating a factual programme.

13. Expository Documentaries
Expository Documentaries are used to expose someone’s life with a narrator who will often speak to the audience in a voiceover; these types of documentaries will usually include facts, interviews and footage relating to the person that the documentary is centred around. This type of documentary style will also expose something that the viewers didn’t know previously; these documentaries can be centred around many things such as Science or Nature. E.g. The shows of David Attenborough such as Blue Planet or Life on Earth; which explains how animals on the planet live and their natural habitats.

14. Observational
This is a TV or Documentary show that is usually based around a single person who is followed around by a camera crew; a good example is where the camera crew follow people around as they go about their day or documentaries about things are made such as sweets or meat. E.g. A documentary about a celebrity or everyday people.
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15. Participatory (Interactive)
These types of documentaries are different from the everyday and professionally made Documentaries as they were planned out and filmed by a film crew of social group who want to tell a story or address an issue; this is a good code and convention as it allows individuals to present themselves instead of being represented. This will also allow the community come together as one as these documentaries were made with a specific audience in mind.

16. Reflexive
This format of documentary is focused entirely on realism and the quality of the product that is being made; the makers of this documentary show what is being filmed and allows the viewers to see the problems and issues that the creators of documentary filming have to address on a daily basis. This shows that documentary making isn’t as easy as most people think they are and most these types of documentary are barely edited and avoid special edits; this is to keep the realism and truth of this documentary. A good example of this type of documentary is the film “Man with a Movie Camera” from 1929.

17. Performative
This type of documentary is similar to Participatory as they normally speak the truth from the own views and perspectives; but is different because the content of the documentary is about the film maker’s personal experiences, this is used to avoid arguments about reality or truth of the documentary since it’s a point of view.

18. Realism
This is where real action takes place without a staged script or scenes as everything is natural; real life documentaries will often use real people and events because it allows for a natural flow behaviour of the events that took place. Scripts will often be made when filming has already taken place and the editor will watch over the interviews etc.; they will then decide what is relevant to the documentary and what isn’t. This is what makes Realism documentaries different from dramatic realism.

19. Dramatisation
Dramatisation is where a script has been edited in order to make something seem more dramatic on screen, i.e. The news, by using dramatic words like Breaking News, Mass Murder, etc. All of these words will be used to make the subject seem more dramatic and the viewer listen harder to what the presenters are saying.

20. Narrativisation
This is where something complicated and unstructured is taken and given narrative and structure; making it more understandable for everyone watching, the narrator will make the events and situations much easier to understand and will describe in depth what’s going on to the viewer.