Unit 3 – Assignment 3

BY JOE HALL
Introduction
• Introduction to me:

Hello, My name is Joe Hall. I am a producer that has done a lot of research into the
topic of obesity worldwide and the way that it effects people. With all of the
information, evidence, examples and data that I have collected I will approach
channel 4 to negotiate a time slot, duration and airing of a programme that I plan to
make about it. This is a programme that I want to make because I can see how much
of a problem obesity is.

• Introduction to my programme:

My programme will be a documentary style show based around the topic of

obesity and how much of a problem it is. The programme will look at all aspects of
the problem and the different ways that it affects people depending on the socio-
demographic that they fit into. The idea behind the show being aired is to make
sure that people know about the issue and reduce the amount of ignorance
surrounding obesity and peoples opinions on it.
 What is Obesity?
• What is Obesity?
Obesity is a term that is used to describe people that are very overweight and have an extremely high body
fat percentage. People that are obese are at a much higher risk of developing some other health problems than
someone that is not obese. The easiest way to describe obesity is to imagine it as the next step to being
overweight.

• How is it diagnosed?
It is usually clear whether a person is overweight or not just by looking at them as it is something you can see.
Despite this it is difficult to tell whether someone is overweight or obese as you cant see whether they have
crossed over the line. This can be determined by looking at the body mass index of a person. This looks at
your weight relative to your height and determines whether you are healthy or not. The BMI of a person is
then paired with the waist circumference and you can then tell whether someone is obese or not.

Shown at the top of the page are the boundaries that the NHS uses to determine a persons weight class. The
class that someone fits into is called a percentile.
 Channel 4
• Average Viewers?
Channel 4 is a television channel in the UK that receives one of the highest viewing figures on average compared to the other
channels. Using www.barb.co.uk I was able to see the figures for the amount of viewers on different channels within a week.

I found that the weekly reach of channel 4 was the fourth highest out of all the channels acquiring 30,026 average viewers per
week which makes up a high percentage of the total viewers for the week.

• Time Viewed for?

Using the same website I was also able to see the average time that each person viewed the channel in a week. I found that on
average a person watched channel 4 for a total of 1 hour and 11 minutes which again put the channel 4th compared to the others.
This figure means that the channel gets a 5.10% share of the overall time spent watching television weekly.

• What is Channel 4?
On the channel 4 website they describe themselves as a “publicly-owned and commercially-funded UK public service
broadcaster, with a statutory remit to deliver high-quality innovative, alternative content that challenges the status quo.”

The reason that channel 4 will be perfect for this show is the fact that it has a high viewership and the channel was set up with a
model that doesn’t have any “in-house production” therefore they commission content from production companies and
producers like myself.
 The Programme
• Title
Obesity: Big Fat Problem

• Target Audience
The show will not necessarily be targeted at any audience because from my research I was able to discover that obesity is a problem
that affects people from many different socio-demographic groups therefore there is no need to target one group more than
others. The show will have a formal tone so it will most likely attract viewers older than 16 more than the younger people as they
won’t find it as interesting.

• Day
Friday – This would be a good day to use because it will have a high viewership as people will have finished from work for the
week and want to relax and watch television.

• Time
19:00 – Because most people will have got back from work and be ready to settle down and watch TV. The programme would be 1
hour long because this would give enough time to get all the points across.
 Programme Structure

• Intro Beginning
• Summary of what Obesity is
• Look at someone that has struggled with obesity and
is still struggling
• Advert Break
• The way obesity affects health and mental health
• Facts and figures about the rising problem of obesity
• Advert break #2 Middle
• Look at someone that has struggled with obesity and
overcome it
• Interview a health expert about the problem
• Advert Break #3
• Look at who’s fault it is (and media portrayal)
End
• Look at what can be done to reduce the problem
• Credits
 Budget Analysis
• Talent – Louis Theroux = £15,000
• Interviewer – Joe Hall = £3,000
• Staff = £4,000
• Set = £500
• Location = £300 – Locations will usually be free to film in but some of budget dedicated just in case
• Editors = £5,000 for entire show
• Filming equipment (cameras, sound etc.) = £6,000
• Food for workers = £1000 for month
• Permission fees = £1,000
• Transportation (workers and equipment) = £2,000
• Total = £38,800
• Remaining Budget = £1,200
Location

• Where will it be filmed?

Most of the show will be filmed in the studio that we are renting
using a green screen as this will allow the presenter to show figures
and graphics behind them and talk about them.
The other place that we will use to film some of the documentary will
be locations out in public such as in the middle of a town and also in
a park as this will allow the presenter to say things that relate to the
place that they are in. For example, they could be stood outside a fast
food outlet and talk about the way that food affects the rate of obesity.
Reccee

• What will take place?

There will be some interviews with people that have suffered from
obesity so that they can share their stories and give the people that
are watching some insight into what its like living with obesity and
how hard it can be to get over it
• Where
The Interviews will take place in the interviewees homes. We will
have them sat on a sofa or in the kitchen. This will be good because it
will provide a backdrop that feels personal which is useful given the
personal nature of what they are talking about.
Talent -
• Who is?
The Famous person that the show will have to present it will be Louis Theroux.
This is because the show is a documentary and he is known for making serious,
hard-hitting documentaries so he will fit the feel of the show well.
Louis Theroux will also be good because over time he has developed a cult
following therefore having him on the show means that it will be able to draw
in even more people.

• How much do they charge?

This show requires the presenter to give some lines of facts and statistics to the
camera and talk in different locations. For a show of this kind with the amount
of work that he would need to do Louis Theroux would charge in the region of
£15,000. That is a lot of money for the amount of work but it would be worth it
when the work is paired with the pull that he has to create a larger audience.
 Proposed Production Schedule
• Planning
Most of the planning for this show has already been done. I already know what I want it to be about and the structure that it
will use to get the information across to the viewer. I have also done all of the necessary research already to get facts and
figures to give the audience. The only piece of planning that is left to do is to write a script to make sure everyone knows what
they are saying.

• Interviews
I plan to dedicate a week of production time to getting all of the interviews done. This includes the time spent travelling to
each of the locations for the interview and also writing the questions that will be asked.

• Studio Filming
Again, I plan to give a week of the production time to filming the rest of the show. This will include the time spent filming in
the studio and the other locations. It will also include the time spent travelling to the different locations.

• Editing and Publishing

Finally, I will give two weeks of the production schedule to the editing team to make sure that they have enough time to get
everything that they need sorted and make the show look as good as it can. This is the most important part because the
show will reach a lot of people so to properly inform them about obesity it has to look good otherwise they won’t be as
interested.
Primary Research
When getting the information that I will use in the show, I used some
primary sources. This is information that I gathered myself and the data
has never been gathered by anyone else before.

I gave out 10 questionnaires with questions about obesity and I was then
able to take the results and make graphs that show me peoples knowledge
about obesity. There were also some written answers that I was able to use
to get an insight into what people think about the problem.

I also conducted an interview with someone that suffers with obesity and I
was able to get an idea of how it has affected their life and also their
health. This was very useful to get a real image as to what it is like living
with obesity that you wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else.
 Questionnaire Results
• Here are some charts that show the statistical results for some of
the questions asked in the questionnaire. I will also use the results
of other questions in the show.

Do you know anyone that has How many people do you think On a scale of 1 to 10 how bad
suffered with obesity? suffer with obesity? would you say the problem
4 of obesity is?
2 3

2
0
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 1
Yes No
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 Secondary Research
I also used some secondary sources when gathering my information to get
data that backs up what I found out using the primary research.
I looked at different newspaper articles that cover obesity. From this I was
able to find out some facts and it also showed me the severity of the
problem. I was also able to see an overview of how the media treats the
issue. When paired with some later research looking into how people have
responded to this media coverage I was able to see that obesity is often
shown in a bad light and the people that suffer from it are treated very
badly.
I also used the internet to find the rest of the information I will need for the
show. I was able to find many different websites that gave fact and figures
about the issue. The information that I got from the internet will be very
useful in the show because it is what the presenter will talk about in the
segments in the studio and around town.
 Audience Research
• The reason that I have decided not to have a specific target audience for the show
is the fact that when I was conducting audience research I was able to find out that
obesity is a problem that affects many different people regardless of their socio-
demographic, gender or education.
• There were some attributes that contributed to the obesity rate slightly but they
were not enough to make changing the target audience worth it.
• Despite not using this information to decide the target audience I will include it in
the show because some of the information is useful to show how obesity can affect
anyone.
 Market Research
• The market research that I did was very useful and the
information that I gathered will definitely be used in the show.
• Advertising Effectiveness
When I was doing my research I found that there is a link between the advertising done by
fast food outlets and the rate of childhood obesity and also obesity in general. The
information that I got about this is all reliable because it came from a study that was
conducted by a reputable source.

This information will allow me to show people how they are being influenced by
advertising and hopefully make it so that they aren’t as easy to persuade by these
companies.
Evaluation
• What is important to think about
With this show I think it is important that it makes people think about more
than just facts and figures. These things will be useful to support points but the
show overall should make people think about the way that obesity effects
people and give them more of an insight into what its like being obese and also
give them ways to make sure that they don’t become obese themselves.

• What research will be useful for the documentary

I think that all of the research I have done will be useful in some way for giving
information to the show even if it is only a small section. I also think that some
of the research will be more important than other parts. For example, the
information about advertising effectiveness will be given more focus than the
information about the film reviews as there is more to say and it will be more
useful for the person watching the show.
 Hard-Hitting Facts and Statistics
• Worldwide obesity has nearly doubled since 1980.
• In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight. Of these
over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were obese.
• 35% of adults aged 20 and over were overweight in 2008, and 11% were obese.
• 65% of the world’s population live in countries where overweight and obesity
kills more people than underweight.
• Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk for global deaths. At least 2.8
million adults die each year as a result of being overweight or obese.
• 44% of the diabetes burden, 23% of the ischaemic heart disease burden and
between 7% and 41% of certain cancer burdens are attributable to overweight
and obesity.
• More than 40 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2011.
Final Pitch
• Why choose my documentary?
The reason that you should choose my documentary to show on your channel is the
fact that, aside from potentially being very popular and bringing high viewing
figures, it will also help the people that are watching it and make a difference to
society.

• How will it benefit the public?

The public will benefit because they will be shown what it is like to have obesity
and also shown how big of a problem it is. This means that they will be less
ignorant towards the problem and hopefully try to avoid become obese using
methods that are discussed in the show.

• Is it a worth-while topic?
Obesity is definitely a worth-while topic due to the fact that it is such a massive
problem and really needs to have more attention drawn to it so we can start to
fight back against it.
Thank you For Listening