Unit 3 – Assignment 3

Anorexia documentary

By Annie Magner
 Introduction

Introduction to me – My name is Annie and I

am a Producer who wants to investigate anorexia.
I want to find out what it is, what might cause it,
its effects and who is affected by the disorder.

I have asked Channel 4 to let me create a

documentary to talk about anorexia as they are a
popular channel in the UK and they produce some
documentaries themselves.

Introduction to my programme – The

programme will discuss anorexia. It will include
information such as what anorexia is, its
symptoms, the statistics, the effects and how to
treat it.
 Channel 4

Average Viewers? – It tends to be the top three most viewed

channel in the UK according to the Broadcasters’ Audience Research
Board (BARB).

What is Channel 4? – It is a British TV channel that was created

on November 2nd 1982. Its name refers to it being the fourth
channel created in the UK when there was only BBC1, BBC2, ITV and
Channel 4.

It is funded by the adverts that it shows during breaks for TV shows

that they show. It has sister channels such as Film4, E4, More4 and
4seven. As well as creating fictional TV series, they also produce
documentaries.

They produce programmes such as “Channel 4 News” (1982-present),

“Hollyoaks” (1995-present), “Countdown” (1982-present), “Come
Dine with Me” (2005-present), “Dispatches” (1987-present), “Grand
Designs” (1999-present) and “Gogglebox” (2013-present).
 The Programme

Title – “Anorexia: The Breakdown”

Target Audience – The target audience is Adults of both genders.

Day – It will be aired on a Thursday.

Time – It will last for 30 minutes and there will be one break. It will be on from 21:00 PM
to 21:30 PM.
 Copyright

The copyright designs and patents act 1988 is the current law in the UK when it comes to copyright. The
law states that if someone creates a work, whether it be literature, a play, musical, art, song, image, video,
film, sound recording or typographical arrangement of published editions, they have the right to control
what is done with it.

This means that if someone else wants to use their work in public whether they have edited the work or
not, they would need to have permission from the original owner. Ideas for a fictional work are not
protected under copyright and names, titles and short phrases, unless these combine to create a logo
because in that case it is protected.

However, names can be trademarked but someone or a company would have to apply for a trademark and
it would only apply in the country that they applied for the trademark. When it comes to literature,
musicals, dramatic and artistic works, copyright only applies for the creator's life time and 70 years after
their death. The copyright for sound recordings lasts 50 years after the creator's death and when it comes
to typographical arrangement of published editions, the copyright lasts 25 years from which it was
published.
 Programme Structure

Opening Music – The music will be soft but not cheerful. I have chose a tune called
“Loneliness” by Adrian von Ziegler.

Introduction – The introduction will consist of the Talent talking about what will be
featured on the documentary and a preview of what is to come.

Adverts – There will be one set of adverts which will take place halfway during the
documentary.

Closing Credits – The credits will include everyone involved in creating the documentary
and the sources used to obtain the information used in the documentary. The music in the
closing credits will be the same music used as the opening music.
 Programme Structure

▪ What is anorexia?
▪ What are the symptoms?
▪ What are the statistics? Beginning
▪ What causes anorexia?
▪ More facts

Middle
▪ Advertising effectiveness
▪ Response to advertising campaigns

End
▪ Discussion
▪ How it can be treated
 Proposed Production Schedule

Planning – Overall, it will take four weeks to create the whole documentary. It would take
one week to do the research, put the research together and another week to find the Talent
and everyone taking part in the documentary. The next week would be when the filming
takes place.

Studio Filming – The discussion will be filmed at one of the Participant’s homes. We will
agree with the Participant’s on which home will be filmed. The Talent will only be filmed at the
Studio.

Editing and Publishing – The last week would consist of the editing and publishing of
the documentary. It will be edited on Adobe Premiere.
 Budget Analysis

Budget – £40,000

Producer (Me) for a month – £3300.00

Video Camera with built in microphone (GY-HM200E 4KCAM live streaming Camcorder) – £1,981.95

Studio hire for two days – £300.00

Cameraperson for 40 hours in a week – £2000.00

Discussion Participants for 4 hours – £50 for two of the Participants plus £100 for the Participant’s home is being
filmed in.

Talent – £5000.00 for two days.

Editor for 40 hours in a week – £1600.00

Total of – £14,381.95

Which leaves – £25,618.05

 Location

Where will it be filmed? – It will be filmed in London, UK. We will be filming in

a Studio and in one of the discussion Participant’s homes.

Any other locations involved? – The editing will take place at Channel 4
headquarters, which is in London.
 Reccee

What will take place? – The Talent will be narrating all the information apart from the
discussion that will take place. There will be a discussion with Participants who have not
suffered through anorexia and they are just sharing their opinions on what causes anorexia
and what can be done to prevent it.

When? – The discussion will take place first and the Talent being filmed in the studio will
take place after the discussion. The reason why I want it to take place in this order is so the
Talent will know what took place in the discussion.

Where – The Talent will be filmed at the studio and the discussion will take place at one of
the Participant’s homes.
 Facilities

I will need to rent a London studio for

two days. I found a studio that has a
white screen, a kitchen and a bathroom.

We would use the kitchen for the

production team’s lunch to be stored
and we would need to use the
bathroom since we would be there for
hours.

The Talent will also walk around the

studio as part of the filming. The reason
why I chose London to film is because
Channel 4 is based in London and I want
to choose a Talent based in London.
 Talent – Scarlett Moffatt

Who is the Talent? – Scarlett Moffatt is a TV personality who is known for appearing on
“Gogglebox”, which is a programme on Channel 4. She has also presented TV programmes
such as “Streetmate”, “Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway” and “Host the Week”.

How much do they charge? – It is estimated that she would need to be charged
about £2500 a day.
 What is anorexia?

What is anorexia? – According to the NHS, anorexia is an

eating disorder where Someone thinks that they are overweight
even though they are not. Anorexia causes People to become
underweight and they try to become as thin as they can.

What are symptoms of anorexia? –

▪ Having a strangely low body mass index (BMI)

▪ Eating not very much
▪ Not eating Food seen as fattening
▪ Periods stopping for Women who have not been through
menopause yet
▪ Periods not starting for Girls
▪ Feeling dizzy
▪ Hair loss
▪ Having dry Skin
▪ Taking Medication to stop feeling hungry
 More facts about anorexia and how to treat it

Anorexia doesn’t just affect the mind, it affects the body as well. It can cause problems in the bones
and muscles such as osteoporosis and feelings of weakness and tiredness can arise.

It can also cause fertility problems and a lack of sex drive. It can cause health problems involved
with the heart and blood vessels including poor circulation, having a heartbeat that isn’t regular, low
blood pressure, heart failure and Oedema (Swelling in feet, hands and/or face).

The most common types of therapy for People over 18 include cognitive behavioural therapy
(CBT), Maudsley Anorexia Nervosa Treatment for Adults (MANTRA) and specialist supportive
clinical management (SSCM). Anorexia Sufferers under 18 are offered family therapy like CBT or
adolescent-focused psychotherapy.
 Secondary Research –
Quantitative

Programme Ratings – There have been TV

programmes in the UK that discuss anorexia. One
documentary was called “Louis Theroux,Talking to
Anorexia” that was shown on BBC TWO, and it
shows real life women with anorexia and what their
life is like living with the illness.

Based off 125 IMDb viewers, the TV programme got

7.6 out of 10 stars. Another example was a short
TV series on BBC Three called “Overshadowed”,
which is about a teenage girl with anorexia. Based
off 44 IMDb viewers, the TV show got 7.5 out of 10
stars.

An episode of the Channel 4 series “Dispatches”

titled “Wasting Away:The Truth About Anorexia”
discussed anorexia and the negative effects it
causes. A columnist for The Guardian called the
episode a “Heartfelt film” and Barney Harsent of
theartsdesk.com gave it 4 out of 5 stars.
 Secondary Research – Qualitative

Responses to advertising Campaigns – A Writer

named Hadley Freeman for The Guardian noticed that The
Daily Mail had written an article on anorexia but not far
away from that article was another article discussing which
female celebrity has the best “Bikini Body”.

She also pointed out that both The Daily Mail and The Sun
blamed “Pictures in Magazines” in both their articles about
anorexia.

She concluded that the media is not to blame for eating

disorders, although she strongly dislikes the way how
women’s bodies are judged in the media.

According to Joel Miller who wrote an article titled “Media

and Body Image”, the media is responsible for the way that
people, especially women see their body shape and the
advertising is known to have an overwhelming effect on the
increase of eating disorders.
 Primary Research – Quantitative

Books – I looked at two Books to find some information on anorexia. I

chose two Books titled “PSYCHOLOGY FOR AS LEVEL” by Michael W. Eysenck
and Cara Flanagan and “PSYCHOLOGY:THE SCIENCE OF MIND AND
BEHAVIOUR FIFTH EDITION” by Richard Gross. In Gross’s Book, I found out
that

▪ Anorexia “Has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder” and that
13% to 20% of anorexia sufferers die from the disorder
▪ Anorexia can cause depression and a lack of socialising

From Eysenck and Flanagan’s Book, I found out that

▪ “Over 90% of Patients with anorexia nervosa are female”

▪ Studies have shown that genetics may play a role in the likelihood of having
anorexia
▪ Studies have shown that the levels of serotonin may cause anorexia
▪ The fear of becoming pregnant could cause anorexia as not eating can
stop ovulation
 Primary Research – Quantitative

Questionnaire – I created a questionnaire and handed them out to ten of my peers. The questionnaire was about body image
and I asked questions such as “On a scale of 1 to 10, how confident do you feel in your body?”, “Do many models in adverts appear
unrealistic to you?” and I also asked what was their age range, race and gender.

They were all in the same age range and of the same race. Half of the respondents were female and the other half were male. The
graph on the right shows the results for question number 4. The most common answer was 8 on the scale. Nine out of the ten
respondents answered “Yes” on question number 5.

On question 6, seven of the respondents said that

they felt that many models looked unrealistic
because they were edited.

Six out of the seven who mentioned that they felt

like many models were edited mentioned the word
“Photoshop”, which is a common software used to
edit bodies and this shows that they are aware of
how models are edited.

In conclusion, most respondent’s body confidence

was over 5, which meant “Ok” and the vast majority
of them felt like many models in advertisements
appear unrealistic due to them being edited.
 Primary Research – Qualitative

Discussion – I had a discussion with two other people about anorexia.

The people I talked to said that they feel like if someone doesn’t have much
control in their life, they might try and control their diet a lot.

I feel like low self-esteem could be a cause for anorexia because for
example, they could have been insulted because of their body and this can
lead to low self-esteem.

If they were only insulted once then this probably wouldn’t cause them to
have a distorted view of their body but if it has been happening for a long
time, especially if it started when they were younger then this would most
likely cause them to have a distorted view of their body.

If exercising becomes obsessive, then it could lead someone to feel like

they need to lose weight when it is unnecessary. We all agree that
anorexia is dangerous because it can lead to big health problems and
sometimes even death.

We feel like treatment needs to start early on by outside intervention as

the person with anorexia would refuse help. We also feel like there is not
enough treatment services to access.
 Demographics Research

Age – According to the NHS, 6.4% of Adults in the UK suffered

from anorexia in 2007. Around 1 to 5% of female adolescents and
young female adults suffer from anorexia. The average age when
anorexia starts in females is 17. The most common ages for girls to
start having an eating disorder is around ages 12 to 20.

Diagnosis of anorexia in people over 40 does happen although it is

very rare. 11% of American High School students have been diagnosed
with an eating disorder. The average age of girls being admitted into
Hospital for anorexia is 15 and for Boys it is 13.

Gender – About 0.9% of women in America will get anorexia and

11% of British males suffer from an eating disorder. 19 out of 100,000
men suffer from anorexia nervosa. In 2007, the NHS found out that
6.4% of adults showed signs of having an eating disorder. Out of the
6.4%, 25% were male.

The actual number of males who suffer from anorexia is probably

higher than what has been found because they are reluctant to ask for
help and find it more difficult to talk about eating disorders than a
female would.
 Market Research

Advertising Effectiveness – Advertisements related to beauty have been

found to affect how men and women view their bodies. A study by American
Academy of Paediatrics in 2000 found that 69% of girls said that what they view
as the perfect body is influenced by models in magazines.

A sample of Graduate and Undergraduate students at Stanford were asked how

they felt about how they looked after viewing women's magazines and 68% of
people in that sample said they felt worse about the way they looked after
viewing women's magazines. Teen People Magazine did a survey with girls where
they found out that 25% of the girls asked said that the media pressures them
to have a perfect body.

Joel Miller at AdMedia found that 69% of girls agreed that models in magazines
have a huge influence on what they think should be the perfect body shape.
These effects have also caused women and girls to lose weight as a study found
that 47% of girls losing weight said they were doing so because images in
magazines was a reason. However, 29% of the girls asked in the study were
overweight.

A study was done where women who had previously had eating disorders
viewed advertisements with both average sized models and very thin models.
The advertisements with the very thin models did not cause the women to
have more anxiety but after looking at the average sized models, the women felt
relieved and their anxiety decreased.
 Evaluation

This documentary aims to educate

people about anorexia because although
many people have heard of anorexia, a lot
of them probably do not know many
facts about it.

I hope to help people inform themselves

on the topic of anorexia as I myself did
not know all the facts that I researched.

I think that informing people of some of

the symptoms of anorexia is important as
if they know someone who they think
might have anorexia, then they can check
the symptoms to see if the person they
know has any of the symptoms.
 Selection of material

World wide web – I chose this method of research because it is an easy way of doing research.

Programme ratings – I chose to find out programme ratings to see how well programmes about anorexia did so that I
can predict how successful my documentary might be.

Response to advertising campaigns – I chose to look at responses to advertising campaigns because I wanted to see
what others apart from myself thought of advertisements to do with beauty.

Books – I chose this method of research because the Authors of non-fiction Books tend to be experts on the topic that
they are talking about.

Questionnaire – I did a questionnaire on body image because I wanted to find out what some People around me thought
about their own body image and how Models are portrayed.

Discussion – I decided to have a discussion with two other People about anorexia to find out what non-sufferers think
about the disorder.

Age and gender demographics – The reason why I decided to find the anorexia statistics for these demographics
because I thought that these were the easiest demographics to find.

Advertising effectiveness – I wanted to find out how effective advertising is to see if the advertising on very thin models
effects People’s image of a perfect body.
 Selection of material

Images – I chose each image in this PowerPoint in relation to content on the

slide.

Video – The video I chose was an advertisement for a documentary I referenced.

Music – The reason why I chose the music that I chose was because it was not
cheerful but it was calm.

Animation – I chose the animation I chose because it shows what Channel 4

looks like on TV.
 Final Pitch

Why choose my documentary? – The documentary isn’t a long one like many
documentaries are and the information is split into different sections so the information is
easy to take in.

How will it benefit the public? – It is important that the public is aware about anorexia
as they may know someone with anorexia. By knowing the facts, they might know what to
do if someone they know has anorexia.

Is it a worth-while topic? – Although anorexia isn’t common, it isn’t extremely rare and
sufferers can be found all around the UK.
Thank you For Listening