Codes and Conventions of Factual TV Programming

Docudrama

A docudrama is either a programme or a film based on an actual event and is based on true facts that have happened.  Films like the Titanic, Touching the void, and Amazing grace.
Amazing Grace:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Mtsk9IMeo)
Amazing Grace is a docudrama as it tells the real life story of a historic event.  This film tells the story of William Wilberforce (a man who is against slavery) and his struggle to end slavery over a 20 year period, he was faced with a lot of obstacles which greatly affected his health.  The audience gets the information told to them in the directors take on the event, this docudrama is a true reflection of the historical facts.  

Touching the void:

Touching the void is a true recount of a disastrous climbing trip to the unconquered west face of Siula Grande in Peru.  The two climbers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates managed to make it to the summit but unfortunately as they start the descent a violent storm sweeps in.  Due to the narrative of this film it is very suspenseful leaving the audience wanting to know what happens to the men.  The fall that Simpson suffered and the injuries he sustained led Yates to believe he had died or wouldn't survive so made the hard decision to cut the rope.  This adds emotional tension for the audience because you see them go on the journey to the top so you see the friendship between them.  It makes the audience question how he could make the devastating choice of cutting his friends rope.  Simpson manages to survive the ordeal of having the rope cut, the rest of the film is about him trying to find his way back to base camp with his horrific injuries before Yates leaves.  

The Titanic:

The Titanic is about the worlds most famous unsinkable ocean liner on its maiden voyage from Southhampton to New York.  In the story you are introduced to two main characters Jack and Rose, Jack is a 3rd class passenger but Rose is a 1st class passenger (in fact, Jack and Rose didn't exist).  This version of the film isn't based on the true facts of what happened, some of it was correct like passengers from 1st, 2nd, or 3rd class weren't allowed to mix with eachother.  To make the film more appealing to the audience they make it a love story between two very different classes.  This film portrays the emotion because it is a love story so people will see Jack die a horrible death just like 1.5 thousand other men, women and children who went down on the Titanic.  

Docusoap

Docusoaps are documentaries of peoples lives being filmed for the public's entertainment or drama.  some examples of docusoaps are Australian border security, 24 hours in A&E, and Benidorm ER.  
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpIGeCUR97Q)
Border Security Australia's Front Line is a docusoap which tells the lives of people trying to enter Australia and send things into the country via post.   The programme shows people trying to enter Australia sometimes they have drugs or food and plant materials that may not have been declared or aren't allowed in as they could harm the indigenous wildlife or plant life. 

24 Hours in A&E:

This docusoap follows the lives of different A&E patients and the staff that look after them, each week we see different patients that range from young children to elderly patients.  The cameras capture what can be heart breaking footage, sometimes the patient and their family are lucky and it can be something that is easily treated but other times its not so simple and the family are shown comforting a dying loved one.  The audience watching this are shown just what its like in London's Kings College Hospital accident and emergency department which shows us just how quickly things can change from good to bad and how serious it can be as the doctors, nurses and porters jobs it is to help the patient to the best of their ability.  The programme shows the vulnerable side of many patients that go through the A&E which tells the story of how difficult it is for not only the patient or the family but also the medical staff that look after them whilst they are there.  

Benidorm ER:

In this docusoap you see the lives of mostly British holiday makers enjoying their holiday until something goes wrong.  Sometimes people come to the country with a problem and it gets worse but others arrive and have an accident which leads them going to the ER.  The audience watch this show to see how people are looked after by the hospital staff and the stories that unfold with both patients and staff.  Its interesting to see how different people react to the accidents and how differently people are treated in Spain.  The show is also funny because the patients don't always follow the instructions they are given and get worse and end up back in the ER a few days later.  

Infotainment

Infotainment is an information programme which adds entertainment to make the programme appeal more to the audience.  An example of this would be Horrible Histories, Absolute Genius with Dick and Dom, and Are You Smarter Than A 10 Year Old.  

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKDqdYUPFkw)
Absolute genius with Dick and Dom tells its audience about historical people and things they achieved, they then try to recreate something similar but with modern day instruments.  This tells the audience facts in fun way and is appealing as you can enjoy learning about history.  

Horrible Histories:

This is a show that adds entertainment to information, the information you receive is told in funny ways so it seems like you are enjoying yourself more than learning.  The show has catchy songs which makes it easy to remember facts, as it is easy to remember words that rhyme it makes learning these facts fun and simple to remember.  The audience will see this show as lighthearted even though they show gory and brutal history the audience will still be able to see they aren't mocking the history they are just showing it in a fun way to learn and remember.  

Are you smarter than a ten year old:


This show gets adults to answer questions based on primary school level education whilst getting help from the panel of children who are well educated and will usually know the answers to questions the adults don't know.  If the adults get the questions correct they win money but if they get the questions wrong they don't win anything, they have different options meaning they have three chances with the help of the children to correctly answer the question.  The audience enjoy watching this show because the presenter of it makes fun of the adult in a lighthearted way and people enjoy this because they may not know the answer either but they may guess along with the contestant.  

Reality TV

Reality TV is a programme that shows unscripted footage of either peoples lives.  Examples of this would be Keeping up with the Kardashians, Americas next top model, and The Apprentice.  

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPKZxukw5gQ)
Keeping up with the Kardashians is a reality TV show as it shows the lives of a family and the things they go through, their lives are displayed and we see the ups and the downs of their day to day lives which makes people relate as everyone has good days and bad days.  

Americas next top model:

 This reality TV show tells the lives of a group of young women trying to become models and the things they have to go through to try and be the best one and get picked for modelling.  People watch this because its interesting to see how difficult it is for the women to try and be the best they can and try and please the people that matter, its sad knowing that what they go through must be really difficult but you know that that is what they want to do so the audience is able to sit and enjoy it.  


The apprentice:
The apprentice is a tough show where people who aspire to be young business men and women go to try and impress Sir Alan Sugar by completing tasks that he sets to prove to him they have what it takes to work for someone as successful as he is.  The audience enjoy watching this because its entertaining to see how the apprentices deal with the tasks he sets for them and to see how well they work as a team.  

Educational TV

Educational TV is a programme that shows the audience something they can learn whilst enjoy watching, or they may be teaching the people on the show. Examples of these programmes would be Barefoot contessa, Deadly 60, Time Team.   

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhAXPI3ueW0)
Time Team is an educational programme that shows you historical digs with different situations, The time team cast go to different locations and dig up parts of the land to find parts of history to uncover the truth whilst telling us something we may not have known about that time period.  

Barefoot Contessa:

This is educational because Ina Garten teaches the audience how to cook what may seem difficult meals but she makes it seem easy to cook which helps give confidence to those who may not be able to cook.  Audiences watch this because it is entertaining but also you can pick or easy ways of preparing something they may not have known about.  In  the show Ina Garten always seems to be cooking for friends or family or making food for occasions, it adds affect to see the friends reactions to the food she makes and it looks fun a and easy to do and she doesn't patronise the person watching or say things too simply.  She gives the viewers confidence to try the recipes for themselves.  


Deadly 60:

Deadly 60 is a show about Steve Backshall's top 60 deadliest animals all over the world, each week he shows a few animals, spiders and insects and how deadly they are on his deadly 60 scale. Children watch this as they get to learn about animals and what makes them unique and deadly to not only humans but other animals as well.  

Wildlife documentary

Wildlife documentary is a programme documenting the life of animals,  It shows the animals over a period of time and how they are affected by different things.  Examples of this would be Spring watch, March of the penguins, and Bird watch.  

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqZgoELarR0)
Spring watch tells the story of some of the wildlife over 12 weeks, they show you what happens to them in each episode and how they benefit from living where they do and how the area benefits from it as well.  Spring watch is wildlife documentary as is documents the life of animals which they update you on their life each episode.  

March of the penguins:
March of the penguins is about the journey the penguins go on from egg to adult and how they survive the cold harsh environment.  The penguins find food for themselves and their young ones to help them survive, although penguins are used to the weather its still a struggle to find food and safe places to sleep.  Penguins live in groups and huddle together to keep warm constantly changing where they stand in the circle to keep warm.  People watch this because it is interesting to see how penguins cope in the environment they live in.


Bird watch:

This is a show about different types of birds in different locations, each week we are told about different birds and how they find food and shelter.  The audience are told interesting facts about the birds and what makes them unique to other birds.  The audience are interested in watching this because they can learn about birds they might not have heard of before or seen before and it is a good chance for them to learn about something they might not have known about.  

Special interest documentary

Special interest documentaries are factual programmes that appeal to a small target audience.  examples of this would be 10 things you didn't know about volcanoes, Great British Railway Journeys, and Man vs Food.  

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W99VPZsw_7U)
The Great British Railway Journeys is a specialist interest documentary as it wouldn't appeal to everyone but those it would appeal to would find it very informative.  

Man vs Food:

This show is about the presenter Adam Richman exploring different types of food in different parts of America, at the end of the show he has to face a pre-existing food challenge.  The show is aimed at a smaller target audience as not everyone would enjoy watching someone eat loads of food, the people who watch this programme learn about eating competitions that are around America.  This show presents shocking images of how much food people in America can eat with ease.  As they are used to it we find this surprising that they can eat so much in one go.  


10 things you didn't know about volcanoes:

This show presents fact to the audience telling them things they may not have known about volcanoes, the audience that watches this will be interested in what they are learning about as they have chosen to watch this programme.  This show is presented on purely factual content which means that the audience watching doesn't have to try and find the facts in it themselves.  Although not everyone would want to watch this show those who do will find it very enjoyable and interesting.  

Make over show

A Make over show is a programme that will make people over or their houses.  An example of this would be Snog Marry Avoid, Hotter than my daughter, and Kim and Aggie How clean is your house.  

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n5XhoZpS0c)
Hotter than my daughter is a programme about a mum and daughter who need to change the way they dress as one is dressing too over the top and the other isn't dressing to make them nice.  This fits into the make over category's the people on here get a make over to look different and to help them dress their age.  

Kim and Aggie How clean is your house:

Kim and Aggie work together to try and help families get back on track with their lives by helping them clean their houses, throughout the show you see Kim teaching the people how to clean and Aggie swabbing things to test for germs to show the families how dirty their houses really are.  The audience watching this are usually disgusted when the families are told about the germs in their houses and how they having been living in a house full of bacteria.  The show builds up suspense by showing you pictures of how messy the house looked before they started cleaning and then when they show you how clean it is once they have cleaned it the family and the audience are so shocked at how it can go from being that messy to this clean and tidy.  Sometimes Kim and Aggie go back to see if they have kept up the cleaning and most of them do and their house looks just as amazing as it was when Kim and Aggie left.  

Snog Marry Avoid:

Ellie Taylor presents Snog, Marry, Avoid which is a make under show which gives men and women new looks which gets rid of their fakery and turns them into a natural beauty.  Not all of the people who go on the show keep their new looks but the ones that do look really nice and they are now being taken seriously rather than just being laughed at for wearing hardly any clothes and far too much make up.  The audience who watch this are excited to see what they look like once they have been made under and whether or not they keep their look.  Its always nice seeing how parents or family and friends react when they see their son, daughter, or best friend after so many years of hiding under fakery.  

Discussion

A discussion show would be a programme hosted by a panel of people who talk about topics that have happened over the past week.  An example of this would be Have i got news for you, question time, and Mock the week.  

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj7P4OViwUA)
Have i got news for you is a panel of people who talk and joke about the news over the previous week.  They usually have a host which changes each week, they have two teams with Paul Merton on one team and Ian Hislop on the other.  This fits into the discussion genre because they talk about the news with a panel of people.  

question time:

This is a topical debate show that has a panel of typically political people,  The studio audience can ask questions about things that have come up in the news and the people being asked don't know what the questions are going to be just that they have to answer them with their views and the facts they know about the topic.  The people watching this show will enjoy politics and knowing the people answering the questions know what they are talking about.  Although they may not agree with what is being said they still enjoy knowing their views on it.  

Mock the week:

This show is presented by Dara OBriain and is a comedy panel show where celebrities answer questions on different topics in a comedic way.  The show has several rounds where the players have to answer questions on unexpected subjects.  The audience watch this show because they find it funny and they like the people on it, most people would watch this because it is funny and it is interesting to see how the players answer the questions.  

Review show

A review show is a programme that puts things to the test then talks about how well it worked and whether it did what it was meant to.  An example of this would be Will it blend, Top gear, and The gadget show.  

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnonj_84Ju4)
Will It Blend is review show that blends certain products to see whether they blend or not.  This is a review show because it talks about certain products like iPhones and other products and sees whether or not they blend.  

Top gear:

Top gear is presented by three well known men, Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson, and James May.  Mostly men would watch this as it is about cars and how well each car functions, they give their personal view on it as they test drive each of the cars and we can see how well they drive.  The presenters are sometimes funny about the cars the other presenters have driven and sometimes get into a debate about who's car was better.  The sow talks about really old cars or really posh cars and even just everyday cars; this is what people like abut the show as its cars that some people cant buy but also some they can.  

The gadget show:

The gadget show test out new technology that people want to buy to tell us whether it is a good purchase or a waste of time.  The audience watching this enjoy knowing that the review they get is going to be a trust worthy review as you get to see how it works and what makes it good or not.  

Chat show

A chat show is typically known for people from the general public can come and talk about their problems in front of live studio audience.  Examples of this would be The Jeremy Kyle Show, Trisha, and Jeremy Springer.  

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLmjplhRMd4)
The Jeremy Kyle show gets people with problems onto the show and to talk about them and sort them out, they may include DNA test or a lie detector to see if they have had an affair etc.  This is a chat show because they get two people on the show to talk about their problems in front of a live studio audience.  

Trisha:

This show would interview ordinary people as well as talk about weird news topics, She would present in front of a live studio audience which added impact to what was being said as the audience could see the live studio audiences reacting which we in turn help us to decide whether they are good bad.  This show was very popular as it helped people with problems they were facing and Trisha was a nice friendly presenter but wouldn't get her words confused which is what people liked about it.  

Jerrey Springer:  

This show was hosted by a former politician so people would respect his views and what he said, the show is very welcoming and makes viewers feel comfortable with what is going to be said.  Jerry Springer will introduce a certain topic which he will then get people out onto the stage to talk about their problems, at the end of that interview he would then get another person who the first would like to confront about the situation.  The audience enjoy watching this because of the atmosphere and the tension on the stage, the topics they talk about are often problems people would face or could try to image what it would be like.  

Magazine

A magazine show mentions different topics to discuss throughout the show.  An example of this would be This morning, Daybreak, and The Jonathan Ross show.  

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2IryXahsQ0)
This morning is a magazine show which has people on the show who may have problems or they may just cover a news article from the week.  On this episode they have a lady who has five different personalities and they just ask her questions about what it is like.  At the start of the show Holly Willoughby (one of the presenters) introduces their guest and mentions why she is on the show.  

Day break:

This show would talk about certain topics that would interest their audience, between a certain hour they would talk about human interest stories, gossip, and other topics.  The audience watching this enjoy the content as they find what is being said interesting and enjoyable.  When they talk about celebrity topics most people watching would hope they will cover their favorite celebrity and if they do they can sit and be updated with what is going on in their life.  Audiences like this as they don't have to try and find out themselves and they can find out everything new in this segment.  

Jonathan Ross Show:
This show is about Jonathan Ross interviewing famous people and their lives, the audience find this fun and interesting to watch because they can find out in detail what their life is about and what is happening.  Jonathan is a famous presenter who people find funny and enjoy watching as he add humor to situations and is able to make the celebrities seem funny and make their life seem enjoyable by joking about things they have done lightheartedly.