Tuesday, February 18, 2014

FEATURE ARTICLE - DOCUMENTARY - STRUCTURE


Feature Article Planning Sheet


                                                                                                                                                                   

Topic: What is the social issue?

Audience: Who are you targeting? Which newspaper does your article appear in? Are you being conscious of the nature and style?

Truth: What is the version of truth presented in your documentary?

Opinion: What is your opinion, view or stand point on the way the documentary has positioned you? Does it matter that this documentary only presents one version of truth? If it only presents one truth, is it successful in positioning viewers to accept it?



Content: What information will you include to achieve your purpose? Will you use sequences, quotes, specific references to particular clips/devices? Remember you must RESEARCH your topic, allude to alternative ‘truths’ and attitudes of mind. What strategies, devices and techniques do the documentary makers use to position the viewer?
  




Angle: What are you hoping to communicate to your audience? Of what are you trying to persuade them? Is your tone serious?


Technical aspects
Headline
Get the readers’ attention!

By-line

Kicker
Be witty – keep the readers interested.

Lead
Contextualise the social issue and nature of the documentary.

Body 1
Perhaps deal with a particular ‘sequence’ and the devices used in it?
Start listing notes re. examples you will use to substantiate your thesis.

Body 2



Body 3



Conclusion
Style You may choose to use:
o  First person
o  Irony
o  Rhetorical questions
o  Descriptive language
o  Variety in sentence length
Format
o  Photos and captions
o  Columns
o  ‘Throw out’ quotes

Remember: This is not about your opinion on the social issue; it is about what the
documentary makers have done to try to make you think a certain thing. Whether
you agree with what they have done will be conveyed inherently in the tone, language
 and content you use to persuade your reader that the documentary was or wasn’t
 successful in positioning you to accept a certain version of truth.


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