People could argue that lifestyle documentaries could be considered “Trash TV” and is “dumbed down” from traditional documentary formats. This could suggest that the narrative has been simplified in order to appeal to a larger audience. Lifestyle documentaries have also been said to use a level of exaggeration and manipulation to keep the audiences attention interested.
When working on Sugar Rush, I watched examples of lifestyle documentaries which have already been broadcast on BBC3, one main one being “Snog, Marry, Avoid” because it showed what would be needed to make a successful programme which would attract a wide audience. After watching these examples, I created a questionnaire which I gave to a selection of different women who watch BBC3 on a regular basis, to find out what factors make them interested in a programme and why they enjoy watching lifestyle documentaries. From the results, I found that some of the females enjoy watching documentaries which they can relate to, one main theme being about fashion and beauty, however others said that they prefer watching lifestyle documentaries which wasn’t all about fashion.
From watching the BBC3 programmes, I found that one regular feature was the use of filming the person in their private domain, giving a bigger insight as to what the person is like. There was also a lot of interviews with friends and family who were expressing their own opinions as to what they genuinely thought about the way the main figure is as a person and how they could change. I used this feature in my storyboard because I wanted to show opinions from family members as to how Meghan had coped with the diabetes and what she struggled with after the diagnosis.
After being put into partners, we decided we were going to use my partners production, “Slap on Beauty” being about a friend of hers who is always aware of the way she looks, while spending all her money on fashion and beauty products. The reason why we chose this production is because we felt that it would suit BBC3 viewing pleasures more than “Sugar Rush” while also suiting the target audience, females between the ages of 16 and 22. The piece opens up with a few shots of Holly, the main character, so that she could be introduced and the audience would identify who she is. The audience would also start to realise what the programme is about due to the narration used. During the piece, we included examples of influences from the media about how girls believe they should look and behave. Popular influences include Beyonce, Pussycat Dolls and Cheryl Cole. We chose these because they are all looked up to by young girls who want to be just like them when they grow up. The way in which the audience is targeted is through the representation of Holly and how many females in the audience can relate to her because they too have an obsession with the way they look, to make themselves feel good.
After we had completed the filming and editing of Slap on Beauty, we asked a selection of people to watch it and answer a questionnaire which we had put together to find out what the strengths and weaknesses were and how we could have made it better. From the results, we found that one strength on Slap on Beauty was that Holly was represented well which meant that the audience could relate to her. However, one weakness which was pointed out was the lack of interviews with not enough people being interviewed. Taking these responses into consideration, I think that if we had to improve anything, it would be making the voices louder on the interviews because they were quite quiet, so the audience were unable to understand what was being said by the person.
