Critical investigation:
"Investigate what the Role of the Presenter brings to the documentary"
Planning:
Introduction:
Around 40 years ago, documentary films were not considered to be an interesting or a popular genre to watch. In addition to that, the presenter and their role were not seen as an important convention of a documentary. However, in the past 20 years that has changed. Documentaries have become much more popular with the audiences and have become a way of tackling a controversial subject. As well as, the presenter and their role have become just as important as the issue of the documentary itself. In my investigation I am going to explore the role of the presenter and what benefits and characteristics it brings to the documentary. I will be using “Ross Kemp in the middle east” as my primary text and “Michael Moore-Siko” and “charlier Brooker -news wipe” as my secondary texts.
Around 40 years ago, documentary films were not considered to be an interesting or a popular genre to watch. In addition to that, the presenter and their role were not seen as an important convention of a documentary. However, in the past 20 years that has changed. Documentaries have become much more popular with the audiences and have become a way of tackling a controversial subject. As well as, the presenter and their role have become just as important as the issue of the documentary itself. In my investigation I am going to explore the role of the presenter and what benefits and characteristics it brings to the documentary. I will be using “Ross Kemp in the middle east” as my primary text and “Michael Moore-Siko” and “charlier Brooker -news wipe” as my secondary texts.
Paragraph Seven: Political point – presenter expressing their personal opinion
P- Point
E- Example
E- Explain
T- Theory
L- Link to production
In most documentaries these days the presenters expresses their own personal opinion about the subject that’s being addressed in their documentaries. In an interview with SKY news, Ross Kemp expressed his own personal opinion on the subject of his latest documentary “Ross Kemp in the Middle East” saying “It’s a subject people don’t want to talk about. If people are upset, I’m sorry, but I would put that against the result of people being more informed about the situation. That’s part of the road to getting peace” This statement given by Ross Kemp clearly backs up my point that most presenters bring their own personal opinion to their documentaries. In addition to that, in the interview Ross Kemp says that he is interested in informing the audiences about the subject. This links to the audience theories given by “Laswell” and “Blulmer and Katz”. Both of the theories suggest that media texts such as documentaries have a function of “surveillance” for individuals and society. Individuals and society can both gain useful information by viewing these texts. Therefore by Ross Kemp giving his personal opinion about the subject of his documentary, he is fulfilling his role as a presenter of informing the audiences about the issue.
For my linked production I could apply this point by having the presenter express their opinion about the subject of my linked production.
* include this in this point
* In the documenatry he gives his view about the problem. He says that when he was little it was an issu he never understood. That is the reason he is doing this documentary because he wants to find out the story.
* He also gives both sides of the story and their negatives and positives as he does not want to take sides. However, he still gives his own personal opinion on each side
P- Point
E- Example
E- Explain
T- Theory
L- Link to production
In most documentaries these days the presenters expresses their own personal opinion about the subject that’s being addressed in their documentaries. In an interview with SKY news, Ross Kemp expressed his own personal opinion on the subject of his latest documentary “Ross Kemp in the Middle East” saying “It’s a subject people don’t want to talk about. If people are upset, I’m sorry, but I would put that against the result of people being more informed about the situation. That’s part of the road to getting peace” This statement given by Ross Kemp clearly backs up my point that most presenters bring their own personal opinion to their documentaries. In addition to that, in the interview Ross Kemp says that he is interested in informing the audiences about the subject. This links to the audience theories given by “Laswell” and “Blulmer and Katz”. Both of the theories suggest that media texts such as documentaries have a function of “surveillance” for individuals and society. Individuals and society can both gain useful information by viewing these texts. Therefore by Ross Kemp giving his personal opinion about the subject of his documentary, he is fulfilling his role as a presenter of informing the audiences about the issue.
For my linked production I could apply this point by having the presenter express their opinion about the subject of my linked production.
* include this in this point
* In the documenatry he gives his view about the problem. He says that when he was little it was an issu he never understood. That is the reason he is doing this documentary because he wants to find out the story.
* He also gives both sides of the story and their negatives and positives as he does not want to take sides. However, he still gives his own personal opinion on each side
Paragraph Five: Economical point – Relatoinship between presenter and institutions
P- Point
E- Example
E- Explain
T- Theory
L- Link to production
One of the key reasons behind a successful documentary is a fundamental relationship between its presenter and the institution behind it. From my research I have discovered that "Ross Kemp signed a new 2 year contract with Sky to produce and present 12 hour-long factual programs for the channel, split over the July 2009 to July 2011 period" Ross has previously done documentaries for Sky about social and political issues that both concern the UK and the world and nearly all of his documentaries have proven to be a success. As a result of that, Sky has realized that he has a huge audience that is both interested in his documentaries and in him as a person. This links to the fact that he is a celebrity figure who has appeared in the long running soap “Eastenders” that is aired on the BBC channel which is the largest broadcasting network in the world. Therefore this shows that he is a well known figure and is perfect to present a documentary for Sky. That is because today most presenters of documentaries are well known figures like celebrity who are famous and have a wide range of audiences. Therefore as a result of that most presenters get funded by institutions for being famous rather than the issue that they want to explore in their documentaries. Furthermore, this links to the theory of hegemony which states that a “Leadership or predominant influence exercised by one nation over others, as in a confederation” this suggests that only due to the fact that these presenters are famous and rich they get to influence both of their ideas and opinions about every day issues on their audiences.
P- Point
E- Example
E- Explain
T- Theory
L- Link to production
One of the key reasons behind a successful documentary is a fundamental relationship between its presenter and the institution behind it. From my research I have discovered that "Ross Kemp signed a new 2 year contract with Sky to produce and present 12 hour-long factual programs for the channel, split over the July 2009 to July 2011 period" Ross has previously done documentaries for Sky about social and political issues that both concern the UK and the world and nearly all of his documentaries have proven to be a success. As a result of that, Sky has realized that he has a huge audience that is both interested in his documentaries and in him as a person. This links to the fact that he is a celebrity figure who has appeared in the long running soap “Eastenders” that is aired on the BBC channel which is the largest broadcasting network in the world. Therefore this shows that he is a well known figure and is perfect to present a documentary for Sky. That is because today most presenters of documentaries are well known figures like celebrity who are famous and have a wide range of audiences. Therefore as a result of that most presenters get funded by institutions for being famous rather than the issue that they want to explore in their documentaries. Furthermore, this links to the theory of hegemony which states that a “Leadership or predominant influence exercised by one nation over others, as in a confederation” this suggests that only due to the fact that these presenters are famous and rich they get to influence both of their ideas and opinions about every day issues on their audiences.
