Formal Proposal For Documentary

Formal Proposal For Documentary

Topic: Senses – Sight, sound, taste, touch and smell.

Type of documentary: Mixed.

Channel and scheduling: Channel 4 at 9.00pm.

Target audience: Young adults 16 – 25.

Primary research: An interview of Margret Ross (Jess’s Nan), she blind and deaf. Interview with someone at a perfume counter. Interview with Margret Wright (Jess’s other Nan)she cannot smell. Interview with Lennie and lyn who train guide dogs/puppies. Interview and owner of a restaurant in the restaurant. Blind fold game and interview afterwards.

Secondary research: Statistics of questionnaire. Pictures of headphones, guide dogs, different perfumes, food etc. Television show. Music. Newspaper articles. Zoom close up of senses.

Narrative structure: Non-linear, circular (How much do you depend on your senses? Beginning and end.) Multiple strand.

Outline of content:
Intro : Title screen, Questions on screen whilst zooming into the sense.

Smell : Interview with Margaret Wright. Interview with a woman/man at a perfume counter. Talk about most favourite smell and the worst smell.

Taste: Interview with a restaurant owner in the restaurant about the hottest curries etc.. Chilli tasting.

Sound: Interview Margaret Ross. Information on hearing dogs. Information on how headphones can damage your hearing.

Sight: Interview with Lennie and Lyn. Interview with Margaret Ross. Close up of someone putting their contacts in. Go to the opticians and do cuts of all the glasses. Film guide dogs being trained?

Touch: Blind fold touch test. Interview people who have took part in the bind fold touch test. Images of sensory gardens.

Resource requirements: Dictaphone, Computer – Photoshop, word, adobe, excel, Camera and tripod.

Brainstorm of Content for our Documentary.

Above is a copy of the brainstorm we made for the content of our documentary. We have listed things we may include in our documentary about sense (including interviews and music).

Target Audience Research

Are you male or female?

Male - 8

Female - 22

This shows that our results may be gender biased. We will take this into account when planning out documentary as this may affect something like the colours we use or the gender of the voice over. 

How old are you?

What channel do you watch the most out of the following?

This tells us that the most popular channel is channel 4. This may affect which channel we decide to put our documentary on. 

What time are you most likely to watch a documentary?

 

These results may have been affected by the age of the people we questioned. As a large amount of them were between 16 - 25 they are less likely to watch TV in the daytime. However, if we'd had asked people such as housewives and the unemployed then the answers may have been different. We will take this into account when making our final decisions. 

How often do you watch documentaries?

What is your favorite colour?

This will help us to decide on the colour scheme we use in the documentary.

What is your favorite genre of music?

 

Do you wear glasses?

Yes - 12

No - 18

If no, have you ever been to the optitions?

14 said yes. 

Have you ever had any problems with your hearing?

Yes - 5

No - 15

If yes, what?

• Selective hearing
• Tinnitus
• General problems
• Labyrinthitis
• Ear infections
• Half death

How loud do you have your music?

 

Questions like this will come in handy as we will be able to use these statistics in our documentary.

 

How spicy do you like your food?

 

What is your favorite smell?

What is your least favorite smell?

 

Have you ever broken a bone?

Yes - 15

No - 15

What sense could you live without?

What is your favorite sense?

Initial Plans

Topic: Senses

Name: NONsence.

Channel: Channel 4 

We decided to show our documentary on Channel 4 as this channel is aimed at young adults - which is our target audience. 

Time: 9 PM

We chose 9 PM as it is usually the watershed time. This means that things more appropiate to our target audience can be shown. 

Target audience: Young adults (of both genders)

Brainstorming

As a class we brainstormed ideas for what we could do our documentaries about. Above is a copy of what we came up with. 

Genre Analysis - That Thing

That thing: Laura Croft

I used the above image as this is an example of how Laura Croft is portrayed which is one of the themes of the documentary.

Type: Mixed

Narrative structure: Non - linear, closed, single strand

Themes: Phenomena of Laura Croft, video games, the representation of woman, the power of the media.

Camera work:

• Interviews: filmed in either medium close up, close up or extreme close up. Some were in low angle.
• Whip pan
• Tracking shot
• Over the shoulder shot
• Extreme close up (& the Barbie sequence)
• Tilted frame

Mise en scene:

• Chroma key was used. Chroma key is where a blue or green back drop is used on the interview so that an image can be portrayed as the background. It is often out of focus and motionless so not to distract the audience.
• Front projection

Sound:

• Voice over: young, male, calm, clear, standard English. (Around the age of someone who would play the game)
• Sound effects (gun fire)
• Voice of the Laura Croft character
• Madonna which was started before she was actually mentioned.

Editing:

• Cutting
• Fast motion of a man going up stairs
• The creator of the games interview was portrayed on a computer screen

Archive material:

• Tomb raider game
  
• Tomb raider movie
• websites
• Interview with Angelina Jolie (who plays Laura Croft in the movies).

Graphics:

• White sans serif lower case font
• Name and relevance to 'the thing'
  

Genre Analysis - Killing Mum and Dad

Killing Mum and Dad

Type: Mixed

Narrative structure: closed, linear, single strand

Themes: crime/murder, family, how to define whether someone is a 'psychopath' or not

Camera work:

• Interview: either medium close up or close up and were framed to the left or the right of the screen. The eye level was always about 1/3 of the way down the screen. This is all conventional of an interview.
• creative camera work was used
• Pan: along buildings, scenery, fences, windows.
• Point of view: used in police car and inside the house at the scene of the crime.
• Hand held: inside of the house, in the living room, up the stairs, at the scene of the crime.
• Zoom: used on images, centering in on specific parts of the picture, used on news paper to see the headline.
• Camera on floor level
• Over the shoulder: inside police car.
• Varying camera shots were used: medium and extreme close ups, close up, and long shot.

Mise en scene:

• Interviews were taken in various locations.
  
• Certain interview backgrounds: blurred as not to cause distraction.

Sound:

• Sound effects: doorbells, kicking sound, footsteps, helicopter, police sirens, camera clicks.
  
• Voice over: Male, middle aged, clear delivery and standard English.
• 90's music
• The music anchors the images on screen.

Editing:

• Cut is the most common edit used.
  
• Dissolve on some of the archive material.
• Blur: police light, children on swing and people in pub.
• Faded image over reconstruction
• Wavy camera affect of Bamber on the tractor and working in the farm.

Archive material:

• Family photos
  
• News
• Video's from news shows
• Video's of events: street party, shops, the village in the 80's.
• Music video
• Police photographs of the crime scene
• Images of the court sketching
• News paper
• 
  

As i couldn't find an extract of the documentary, i added this video which was used as archive material in the documentary 'killing mum and dad'.

These images are also used as archive material in the documentary i analyses.

Graphics:

• Title sequence: white, child like writing
  White, sans serif writing: 'reconstruction', names, and relation to the topic.
• Black screen with white, sans serif writing: extra information.
  

Genre Analysis - Small Teen, Big World

Small Teen, Big World.

Type: Mixed

Narrative Structure: Closed, non linear, single strand.

Themes: Being a teenager, body image and self esteem.

Camera Work:

• Interviews: They were either framed to the left or right of the screen and the eye level was 1/3 of the way down the screen which is conventional.
• The interviews took place in multiple locations.
• Multiple high and low angle shots were used such as on when filming Jazz and her Mum, at the hotel, in New York and on scenery shots.
• Mainly hand held camera work was used.
• A variety of creative shots were used. Such as: medium close up, close up, extreme close up and long shot.
• Point of view following Jazz down the path.
• Over the shoulder shot of Jazz and social worker.
• Two shot.

Mise en scene:

• Interviews were filmed in various places including Jazz's house, in her grandfathers car, in the hotel and in New York.

Sound:

• Voice over: The main person in the documentary does the voice over (young, girl). It is in a calm and clear in standard English.
• Relevant music is used (sometimes over the voice over).

Editing:

• Dissolve is used when cutting between an interview and archive footage.
• Fast motion was used on some actuality footage when the camera tracked along a path.
• Slow motion was used on archive material and actuality footage when Jazz and her Mum were walking through a crowd.
• Zoom was used varyingly
• Cutting was the most common edit used.
• Cutting was used between parallel action of Jazz in the kitchen and her Mum in bed.

Archive Material:

• Pictures
• Home videos
• Scenery shots: New York, Wales & her home.

Graphics:

• Title sequence: white, sans serif.
• At the end: additional information. White, sans serif on a black background

The above clip is a trailer of the documentary that I analysed.

Genre Analysis - The Music Biz: The Marketing of Meatloaf

The Music Biz: The marketing of Meatloaf

Type of documentary: Mixed


Narrative structure: Closed, non linear, single strand narrative


Themes: Marketing of music, the creation of image for a band or singer, the power of the media to influence audience behavior. 


Camera work:

• Interviews - framed to the left or right of screen, medium close up or close up, eye line is 1/3 of the way down the screen which is conventional.
• Meatloaf's was interviewed in multiple places, multiple times.
• A variety of camera work
• Extreme close up of CD's, magazines etc.
• Different shot types
• Camera movement
• High and low angle
• Point of view shot of someone walking into the betting office.
• Hand held - at the behind scenes footage and making of the video's.

Mise en scene:

• Chroma key (blue or green screen)
• Background of the interview is actuality footage or archive material relating to what the interviewee is saying.

Sound:

• Voice over - sarcastic, male, standard English, calm and clear delivery.
• Actuality footage is used to complete the voice over.
• Meatloaf's music and archive music is used over the voice over and other footage

Editing:

• Interviewees dissolved in and out
• inter cut between interviews/cross cutting to construct the narrative
• the background is sometimes frozen - this is to avoid distracting the audience from the interview
• Cut between behind the scenes and finished video
• slow motion
• Flipped image

Archive material:

• Magazine covers
• CD covers
• TV clips
• Music videos
• Chat shows
• Award ceremony
• Newspaper headlines
• The village people
• Mr. Blobby
• News footage
• Used as a chroma key background - construct the mise en scene of the interviews

Graphics:

• Title sequence - integrated into magazines
• Company logo
• Names, employment - anchored relevance, serif, white, capitals and italics.

As I could not find a clip of the documentary I have enclosed one of Meatloaf's video's which were featured in the documentary.

Genre Analysis - Public Enemy Number 1: The Devil Made Me Do It

 Public Enemy Number 1: The Devil Made Me Do It

Type of documentary: Mixed

Themes: Devil worship, crime/murder/investigation, religion, youth of today, power of the media (can the media influence an individuals behaviour?)

This image of Marilyn Manson connotes some of the themes present in the documentary.

Narrative structure: Non linear, open narrative
Camera work:

• Interviews - medium close up/close up, framed left or right, eye line is 1/3 of the way down the screen. Certain shots of Marilyn Manson are low angle which create a sense of power.
  
• Hand camera work - Man selling poster (not prearranged).
  
• Two shot
  
• Point of view - a fan in the crowds at Manson concert.
  
• Point of view/over the shoulder tracking the inspector.
  
• Stock footage - close up of faces to show things such as reactions and emotions, church's, religious iconography, crosses, church steeples etc.
  
• Low & high angle.
  
• Tracking - police inspector upstairs, Manson walking through Rome (hand held).
  
• Zoom on things such as still's and newspapers.
  
• Crane shot on the stock footage of a cemetery.
  
• Establishing shot
  
• Birds eye view
  
• Manson press conference - shot of the camera screen shows us that the documentary staff are not with the press, they are merely observing.
  

Mise en scene:

• The cap of the police officer in an interview is placed in such a place that it looks large, and prominent.
  
• Isolated nun
  
• Guy in a graveyard
  
• Focus was on the most outrageous fans.
  
• Lighting: Very dark, orange, blue glow (this gives a very mystical feeling).
  
• One the low angle half of Manson's face is dark and half is light (good & evil).
  

Sound:

• Voice over - male, standard English, calm delivery. The narrator is the glue that holds the narrative together.
  
• Translator - these were the same gender and roughly the same age as the person speaking.
  
• Manson's music
  
• Orchestral, religious music
  
• "I spend a lot more time talking to them than you do"
  
• The music at times jars with the images being shown (juxtaposition)
  

Editing:

• Cut
  
• Talking about being bored, teamed with slow music and men standing around looking 'bored'
  
• We don't see the priests interview - it was filmed with him driving along empty desolate roads
  
• Orchestral music is over laid at the Manson concert (juxtaposition). "Satanic rock"
  

Archive material:

• News footage: nuns funeral, police etc


• TV talk show


• Manson video's


• websites


• still images (of girls and fans etc)
  

Graphics:

• Names of people in the bottom corner of the screen. This is framed either left or right and tells us who the person is and their relevance to the documentary. This was in white sans serif font.


• Title - Gothic text, using a crucifix as opposed to the letter "T"
  
• White text - closed the narrative of the trial, anchored the audio, credits scrolling up screen, dates, location and period of time.
  
  
  
  

This is an extract of the documentary i analysed.

Features of a documentary

John Corner of the university of Liverpool said that there are five elements of the documentaries: 

1) Observation - The program pretends that the camera is unseen or ignored by the people taking part. It is as if the audience is observing the events like an eye witness. 

2) Interview - This is the most important part and include opinions, information and is relied heavily upon in a documentary. 

3) Dramatization - All documentaries use a sense of drama through the observation element. Drama is conveyed through editing or reconstruction.

4) Mise en scene (put into the picture) - The shots of a documentary are carefully constructed by the documentary makers. 

5) Exposition - This is what the documentary is "saying"; a line of argument. 

Different types of documentary

• Fully narrated - a voice over is used to convey the exposition. The voice over is used to make sense of the visuals & dominates their meaning. IE, natural history documentaries. 
• Fly on the wall - this type of documentary draws on the French film movement (cinema verte which means truth). The camera is unseen or ignored and simply records real events as they unfold. 
• Mixed - this is a combination of interview, observation, actuality and archive material. There is also narration to advance the argument, this is called narrative. 
• Self reflective - subject of documentary acknowledges the presence of the camera & often speaks directly to the program maker.
• Drama documentary - this is a re-enactment of events.
• Docusoap - this is a combination of a documentary & a soap opera; it follows every day lives, for example 'Airport'.

The structure of a documentary

Narrative structure:

• Open narrative - this has ends which are not tied up at the end of the documentary. IE, a soap opera. 
• Closed narrative - this is where there is a definite conclusion to the narrative.
• Linear - this follows chronological order. 
• Non linear - this is when things are not in time order. IE, a flash back. 
• Circular - this is where the narrative goes back to the start. 

Visuals:

Television is a visual medium. Programs needs to be visually stimulating to maintain the audiences attention. Archive material (street scenes, open countryside, close up of faces etc) are all stock footage. 

Interviews: 

An interview can be held anywhere but the setting, or mise en scene, does affect the meaning of the interview. 

Voxpop (Voice of the people):

This is where the interviewee asks passer byes the same question and picks out the most interesting and entertaining answers. This is a very good way of getting a representation of the audience. 

Construction of reality: 

The produced selects or rejects certain facts and information for inclusion in a media text. This media theory is called gate keeping. 

Editing Process:

Editing can be used to construct a picture or create a figure which may not be entirely truthful. Editing is where gate keeping happens. Also, a voice over may be added which can affect mean and anchors to the image on screen. 

TV Scheduling

The schedule for each day can be broken down into clear segments. How would you categorise these segments?

Breakfast, daytime, children, peak time and late night.

Who are the target audience for these segments?

Breakfast - varies/spread/split. Caters for to specific types of audiences. 

Daytime - house wives and the unemployed

Evenings - families (7-9 PM)

Late night - adults (9+PM)

What would you say are the most popular genres on TV?

Soap operas, game shows, sitcoms and films. 

Who is the target audience of each terrestrial channel? Give examples of scheduling programs to support your views.

BBC 1 & 2 - mass audiences, general public (IE. Eastenders and Shooting stars)

ITV1 - general public (IE. Football) ITV1 is a direct competitor of BBC 1

Channel 4 - young adults (IE. Ugly Betty) Channel 4 is a direct competitor of BBC 2

FIVE - mass audience (IE. How do they do it?) FIVE is a direct competitor of BBC1 and ITV1

Roughly what percentage of each channels schedules is taken up with repeats? Why do you think this is?

40% - this is mainly in the day time and rarely at peak time. This is because repeats are cheap. 

Which channels have more imported programs in their schedules? Why do you think this might be?

Channel 4 & FIVE - this is because imported shows are cheaper and gets a lot of views. Over all this means a higher revenue.

 What do you understand by the term 'the watershed' and where does this occur in the schedules?

The watershed is a cut off point (around 9 PM) where more mature themes and adult content can be screened. IE nudity, swearing and violence. 'The watershed' is the shedding of younger audiences.