Codes and Conventions of Factual TV Programming

Throughout this part of the course I had to analyse Sub genres of Factual TV programming. These sub genres include DocuSoap, DocuDrama, Infotainment, Reality TV, Educational TV & Wildlife TV. These types of sub genres for Factual TV are present today and are on all the time on on Television. Below you will find an explanation of all the Sub genres and codes and conventions of one example out of the three chosen programs for each Sub genre

What is a Docusoap?
This is a documentary where the lives of people are filmed and shown for entertainment purposes. For example a persons job can be filmed and we can see what happen throughout their daily jobs. This is done mainly for entertainment purposes and shows what they experience everyday of their lives.



 Police Interceptors is a Docusoap because of the fact that we see the lives of police men and how they work during the day and night. Their shifts are recorded by a single cameraman in a car with them. The audience are shown what happens when they are in pursuit of a stolen vehicle. This documentary shows the daily jobs of Police Officers and how they cope with every situation. This is again done for entertainment purposes. Nothing of this is acted out everything is done legitimately. Straight away at the start of the video at 0:00 we see them in the middle of an interview where they are watching over clips together and guiding the audience through the clips by giving a few voiceovers. The use of voiceovers allow the audience to get a better understanding of what is happening on he visual aspect of the video. Without the voiceover the visuals can remain confusing to the audience. A prime example of where the voiceover guides the viewer is at 3:17 where the red car turns into the road n the right. Then we have the voiceover saying that the car did a hand brake turn. The audience would have not realised if the voiceover did not indicate any sign of hand brakes and they would have thought it to be a normal high speed turn. At 3:28 we see the footage of the police driver in the car going after the red estate. They show then cuts between the interview and the footage to keep the flow going of the show they constantly are cutting between the footage with the voice over then to the interviewer and the interviewee. Also docusoaps such as police interceptors show true realism where the things they say are unscripted and it just goes with the flow of what is happening on screen. For example we can see at 0:55 that the Policeman is telling the guy to step out of the van in a string tone of voice. We couldn't see this properly if an actor had to do it because this was actually filmed in real life along with normal lighting and some form of background noise.

What is a DocuDrama:
DocuDramas end to be based on an event that is real and has happened in the past, we see re-enactment of the whole situation to show the audience a better understanding of how it happened and what the situation was like throughout the whole incident.


A prime example of a docudrama would be 127 hours the film. This film is based on a man who had his hand stuck underneath a boulder after falling. This is a very good example because it is based on a true story, the only thing about a film is that they can alter what the story actually is. For example they can change aspects of the story in order to create suspense for the audience but not change it to an extant where it is a different story from the actual one that has occurred. As docudramas are based on real life experiences we see at the end of this clip a zooming out of where the trapped man is and where the location is. Shown at 0:52 we see the place in a whole to show the situation he is stuck in. This lures the audience to carry on watching the film. By doing a zoom out shot such as this we can see that the situation was big and it was not a simple situation. From 0:01 onwards we see the camera techniques come into play. for example at 0:01 we see the camera is moving very fast to portray his feelings and the situation he currently faces. It also shows the desperation to get out of the whole situation to the viewer. At 0:32 we get a closeup of the time, this is to show that the sunlight or day is running out for him. The fact that they did this in this part of the clip is to show the impression that he will be stuck here for quite some time and that he does not have much time left to escape from the place he is stuck in. Agin at 0:08 along with the fast camera movements we see him drink water at a very fast pace. This shows the audience the struggle he is going to face while he is stuck down the hole. These struggles are going to be isolation, depression, starvation, dehydration & communication.

What is Educational TV?:
These types of shows tend to show the audience how to do something step by step. Whether it is a cooking or arts/crafts the audience learn how to do it, while being taught by a professional



Jamie is known for his professional skills in the kitchen and he has brought it to us on TV. With Jamie's 15 Minute Meals we can see how easy it is for the audience to cook such a delicious meal in 15 Minutes or under. He shows us how easy and effortless the are to make and kittle tips and tricks to cooking the food as fast as possible. We can see the camera angles are very good because the focus on the food mainly. At 2:06 we can see a mid shot/closeup of the nuts he has thrown into the pan to show the audience the average amount you need in your pan for the recipe you are cooking. Again we encounter voice overs in this show as well. A very good example of where the voiceover helps the audience a lot is at 2:23 where we are told that the nuts that he is cooking has to become lightly golden and then that is visually shown happening on screen where the camera does a close up of the golden nuts to illustrate Jamie's point to the viewers at home. Also by showing it visually we get a more vivid look at how it supposed to look after it has been lightly cooked to make it golden.At the start of the show we get an introduction to the show itself sowing us what is coming up on the show. For example at  0:49 we see what Jamie has in store for us today. They show a pre-made version of the recipe and show some form of montage of him cooking it just for the intro. Agin that is done for the second recipe as well as the first.

What is a Wildlife Documentary?:
Wildlife Documentaries are what they are. They are based on animals and what they do in their daily lives. These type of documentaries usually tend to be based on animals that are exotic or very dangerous, this is mainly done for the audience's entertainment and for their ability to learn about new things about an animal.


A very popular wildlife documentary would be National Geographic. Where the audience see the terrifying creatures that live on the world itself. Here we see the 300 Pound anaconda whch ould potentially eat a human and eats 100+ Pounds animals. It has the capability of strangling an animal to death then gobbling the prey in one go. Straight of the bat we see a montage of what is coming up on the show. This is done for the audience's sake so they will know wha exactly wll happen throughout the course of the show or what they will encounter while watching the show. We can see we have some archive images (rather than footage) for the montage. The montage here structures the show before hand so the audience know what will come after what. The use of the secondary images in the montage at 0:34 shows the viewer these snakes are actually alive somewhere in the wolrd and have been on news reports a lot of times. We also see what the snakes are capable of eating whether it be a human or an animal. At 0:44 we have voiceovers which show what is going on screen. Right at 0:44 we hear the narrator saying "Squeeze" and in relation to that we see the snake squeezing the prey to its death. By doing this we see the exaggeration of how deadly these snakes can be to a human and even to another animal. At 1:02 we see the end of the intro to a image still which shows "Search for the super snake" which indicates that the episode will start now. At 4:29 we are told that this woman named Maria was looking for a snake but the snake had eyes on her as well. We are also told that this was based on a true story but is re-acted for the episodes' purposes. By including stories that relate to the snake the audience get a better insight of these deadly animals. The story can be some sort of proof for the audience so they believe what the narrator doing the voiceover says. As National Geographic is a famous show most of the audience tend to believe what they say and show and it is true. As the episode is "Search for the super snake" the audience's engagement is kept to the highest possible because at 10:45 they show the professionals looking for the snake, capturing the super snake which the episode intended to do. This also shows that the snake is real and it is being handled by professionals. We can also see it is not an easy job and is still dangerous for the professionals to hold.

What is Reality TV:
Reality TV is based on people lives or even specific group of people's lives. These lives are "legitimate" but are altered for audience's viewing purposes. Also the cameras are there in front of them but they act like if they are not there. Usually we see reality shows based on Minor Celebrities or even major celebrities.


Made in Chelsea is a Prime example of Reality Show which are based on people who live in Chelsea. We get an insight into their personal lives throughout the episodes and we see dilemmas which occur all the time. Even though this is a reality TV show the producers obviously have changed around some aspects of the show for the audience's entertainment. At 1:11 we see a graphic of Phoebe's name which shows the new watcher of the show who it is or maybe introducing a new character to the show. By doing this the audience will then start to learn the names of the people in the show with ease. As it is a reality TV show we can see the mode of address is mainly slang or neutral. There isn't much of an accent but you would not see this if it was scripted. The show is scripted but the actors are given the chance to alter how they say it so it seems more authentic for the viewer. At 1:01 we see a cutaway to go to another location where another story is happening. We see one moment were we are at the restaurant with the two girls then a completely different place where we see the "awkward" moment in the conversation. By using a cutaway such as that we are allowing ourselves to see different stores at once and still kept track. At 1:35 where we are half way through the conversation we see a close-up of her reaction when the guy kissed a girl goodbye while drunk. We are shown the facial expressions because she was really annoyed by the fact that he did that.

What is Infotainment?:
Infotainment usually gets segments from the news or any type of news and usually try to mke the news seem funny for the live audience. We see segments of the audiences at times but they rarely appear on the show.



The best example for an Infotainment show would be Russell Howard's Good News. The presenter Russell gets the latest news and takes the complete mick out of it. This is done for soley for the entertainment purpises of the adience. After the intro at :23 we see a live audience to show that ths was being done live for the audience. By having a live audience the viewers at home can see the reactions other people get by watching his show. At 1.51 we see an archive footage of David Cameron. This show mainly consists of archive footage because Russell needs to mock it. It mainly goes to archive footage then back to the studio where Russell is performing to the audience. While the archive footage is on at times we hear the occasional voice over.  Again at 1:51 after the archive footage has been played to the audience Russell reacts to it making the audience laugh. Russell takes a serious matter and makes it seem funny for the audience, as mentioned above while David Cameron is being all serious he takes his words and manipulates it to it seems wrong (adult humour).