Conventions for Documentary Interviews -When somebody talks, the following person usually expands on what the previous person said, or atleast says something related. -Always have the interviewee on one side of the camera, abiding to the rules of thirds. -The speaker looks at the interviewer, not the camera. -The interviewees usually have different backgrounds behind them. -Mise en Scene. The background must be relevant to the subject. -The interviewer is rarely seen or heard. -Usually only one interviewee on the screen at one time. -The first time a person speaks, their name comes up at the bottom. -Cutaway images illustrate the spoken points such as the image of the shark in 'Jaws' (below)
Cutaway Shots After being given our brief and planning what kind of impression we wanted to give the audience, based on mobile phones. We decided to convey the typical documentary conventions, by adding cutaway shots relevant to the topic being dicussed.
We came up with the ideas of: -Someone talking on the phone -Someone playing with the applications on the iPhone -A pile of phones, old and new -A crab shot of various phones lined up next to eachother -Many other still shots that we thought would work
Documentary For our documentary we interviewed matthew stringer and asked him alot of varied questions. We used the blue screen, so had to ensure that Matthew was not wearing blue, otherwise when we came to put a different background on instead of the blue screen, matthew's body would still be visable and if he did wear blue, the colour chrome key would have got rid of all the blue in his body, therefore it would not have look realistic and half of his body would have been missing.
The postioning of the lights had to be very precise also. This was to ensure that his face was illuminated and his expressions could be seen, but also we didn't want to cast any shadows on the blue screen behind him because it would have caused preoblems when we came to changing the background. we positioned the lights on T-bars on either side of the screen like so;
We then took the Cutaway Shots, we had previously planned.
When it came to editing, we had a lot of footage that had to be cut down to around two minutes. Using 'Adobe Premiere Pro' we managed to do this, although it took alot of time and effort.
Firstly we did all the capturing. We needed to decide which bits of the interview were essential to include. What questions we thought were important and what answers we thought were detailed but not too complicated for the audience to understand.
Once we had our mini clips/shots we began to place them in order on the 'video 1' line. We thought as long as we have our shots in the order we wish, the cutaways can work around them.
We then began to decide what cutaways we thought added something to the documentary and the ones that didn't were not used. We had to also think of the positioning of the cutaways and whether it was relevant to the question being answered by the interviewer before it.
We then went on to change the blue background. We achieved this by using colour chroming:
We would select the chroma key option, then we would use the eye dropper icon and picked select the blue background. then we took it all away by using raising the similarity of the colours as so;
Once we had done that to every clip i inserted my chosen background into the 'video 2' line.
The background we chose was;
Once all the video line's were made up, the end result looked like this;
Once everything one the video line was sorted, we went on to do the audio. The ambient diegetic sound of the room where we had used the blue screen could not be taken out or lowered because then matthew's voice would have had to be lowered also, thuis would have made it hard to hear him. The sound track we used fitted well with the whole mobile idea because it was kind of techno, which fitted with the whole idea of technology. At the end of the documentary we had it fade out.
we started inserting titles. This was used to not only give the audience information but we thought the ones at the beginning would draw the audience in and make them concentrate on what was happening.
Overall i thought that the documentary was very personal to Matthew and gave his history of mobile phones, i think however it could have been more informative, so the audience could acknowledge the pros and cons of mobile phones, rather than what one person likes or doesn't. However, for an interview, it worked well.
Codes and Conventions of TV Documentaries -Voice over -'Actual' footage / reconstructions -Archive footage -Set narrative structure (beginning, middle, end) -Interviews -Cutaways -Ambient sound -Graphics/Subtitles -Theme -Observations -Music bed -Opening title sequence -No questions asked -Eyeline a third of the way down the screen in interviews -Name only shown when the person is introduced to the audience once -Some of the documentaries use fades between interviews -Light always positioned behind the camera -Expostition always made apparent -Vox pops -Matching action -Sound effects -Location shots -Mise en scene -A variety of interviews, usually all having the same point of view on the topic -Appropriate editing
Concepts and Theories
Documentary The word and definition of documentary was created by John Grierson and his general post office team in 1926. Documentary is hard to define because it has a very wide range of genres/ideas, however the dictionary Definition is: the creative treatment of actuality. The purpose of a documentary is to document an event with evidence. Documentaries such as; Coal Face and Housing Problems where made originally for cinematic purposes, as were most of the early documentaries. They were made so we could glimpse into other people's lives, also to boost morale in the war times. Actual footage must be used to back up ideas and to show the audience what happened, even if it is by the use of reconstruction. The voice over gives meaning to the reader and leads the viewer into what is happening on screen. All events have been documented, mostly it is elements of the truth, however sometimes elements are fictitious. The question is what is real and what is not. “What distinguishes a documentary is the portrayal of the recorded sound and images of actuality” John Corner, 1995 Documentaries are partly staged, using actors and sets to evoke feelings and thoughts for the audience. However, the acting is based on elements of the truth. The high level of construction and editing creates a certain view to the audience. There is the other side of documentaries however, that make you, the viewer to decide what they think. It doesn’t have to be so annalistic. The scheduling of a documentary is very important because the shows before and after the documentary will have an effect on the amount of viewers watching. Do you want viewers to stay tuned in to watch the documentary because the same target group was watching the programme before or do you want them to see it accidently? Obviously it would be more beneficial if the target audience stayed tuned just to watch the documentary. Panorama has a prime time slot on the television currently. It gets a lot of viewers watching because of the scheduling. Documentaries can be either emotional or sensational. Some offer a balance point a balanced point of view, leaving the topic open to the audience. Others have more of a British journalism feel to them and are more investigative. Those documentaries oppose the view of the government and occasionally against the view of society. Even if they do oppose the views of society and the government, they must not be too creative because authenticity is very important. ‘Truth is what you come away with at the end of seeing the film. I mean it’s your truth that you’re seeing. Everybody who is making the film is putting their own truth on screen” Dianne Tammes, Film maker. Even though it is impossible to capture real events, all documentary makers believe that there must be elements of actual reality. Current affairs are similar to documentaries but are not documentaries unless they are longer than thirty minutes. Current affair programmes have to be planned, filmed and edited quickly whilst the topic is still popular, if it takes too long, the audience will lose interest in the topic, resulting in less viewers. Documentaries have changed law and legislations. In 1966, Ken Loach’s ‘Cathy Come home’ documentary was publicly shown on the BBC, resulting in the country improving homeless conditions. “It is critical that film makers be rid of the fantasy that can be unproblematic representation of reality and truth can be conveniently dispensed and received like valium.” Dennis O’Rourke Ideas of truth and reality counter claim the lies. Evidence is used instead of the truthful facts alone, because no one can argue with the evidence. Also, the evidence supports the exposition concerned with one side of the story. Documentaries represent the transformed world and they are the first to be cut if there is little or no money. The controversial documentaries are less popular to make as it is very easy to upset or offend the audience because the view of the documentary opposes the view of the majority of the audience. The way a documentary works is like a cog system:
Each of the three aspects of a documentary must be interlinked, otherwise the documentary makers will not get any response from the target audience and will not know whether it is successful or not.
Types of Documentaries
Fully Narrated All nature documentaries are fully narrated by the idea of using voice over as a guide. The voice over also helps the audience to get involved and understand what is happening on screen.
Fly on the Wall The fly on the wall documentary is very observational. It must have cinema verite – it looks like a film but the way that it is edited looks more like a documentary. ‘Rogue Traders’ and ‘Roger Cook Reports’ are examples of a fly on the wall documentary.
Mixed The play on narrative in a mixed documentary also helps the audience throughout the observations and interviews etc. The voice over is well suited to the target audience and the topic. The majority of documentaries are mixed.
Self Reflective
It is more about the person and style, rather than the topic in self reflective documentaries. People usually talk to the documentary itself.
Docudrama Docudrama’s re-enact events as they were supposed to have happened. They must contain elements of truth but they dramatise the issue because there is a story behind it.
Docusoaps They are staged to a certain extent. Usually follow the life of people in different jobs. They are low cost but very popular. They are also extremely easy to make.
Disneyfication This is all to do with the dumbing down of real issues to gain ratings. Steven Barnett blames Docusoaps for this.
What to Include
In order to choose a subject to plan and make a documentary based around, it must be a topic that influences you. It must be manageable and something that you can delve into and make the audience feel either emotional or sensational. There must not be a strong emotional link between the idea and the maker, as this would make the documentary extremely biased. You have to think about visuals. What can be shown? What evidence do we have? And what archive footage can we insert? For the interviews, we have to create a meaning for the audience by the use of settings and backdrops on the interviews. Starting with factual questions, then moving on to more detailed questions and answers. Vox pops can be used to fill the documentary. They are mostly used to add humour and give a sense of relief from the hard hitting facts, usually documentaries use street interviews. All documentaries must have a beginning, middle and an end. The central question from the documentary must be shown at the beginning, the middle needs to be more complicated and have conflict then at the end, the exposition must be made fully apparent and a resolution must be offered.
John Corner
John Corner’s main teachings and research interests are in the areas of broadcast journalism, documentary, media audiences, political communication and cultural analysis. John Corner said the Central elements of a documentary are:
Observation. The camera is used as the eye witness to observe all events. The camera is sometimes hidden and is always ignored in reconstructions, to give a deeper sense of reality.
Interview. Documentaries rely on interviews. They can sometimes contrast the observation, like if a clip was played of a man fighting, then there was a voice over denying it, the audience are forced to trust the footage more than the voice. The cutaway shots are always relevant to what is being said and adds more meaning to the topic being discussed. It is very rare for a full flowing interview to occur, because the viewer gets bored and most of the time the questions and the interviewer are not heard.
Dramatisation Audience members won’t feel emotional, unless it is dramatic, however it still must appear natural and not over acted. It must be based on facts. Reconstructions are used for the purpose of dramatisation.
Mise En Scene It is carefully done, which encourages the drama to unfold. It advances arguments and the story can be told through Mise en scene.
Exposition You can have your documentary a certain point of view, but some are argumentative. They are descriptive. The message behind the documentary can be hidden or not hidden. The narration sometimes tells the audience what to think or it can be done by an observational sequence.
TV Scheduling
The scheduling segments are; Early Morning, Morning, Daytime, Evening, Primetime and Night (after 9). The target audience for the groups are as follows: -Early morning is for workers -Morning is for families -Daytime is more for housewives -Prime time is for everybody -Night time is for students Soap operas are very popular with everybody. Channel loyalty doesn’t really exist anymore, not like it used to a couple of decades ago. BBC 1 is for middle age middle class BBC2 is for educated people ITV is for the working class citizens Channel 4 is for the younger generation such as students Channel 5 tries to target everyone Repeats are more common on certain channels. It is more common on ITV and Channel 4 , than they are on BBC1 and 2. Channel 4 and Channel 5 import programmes from other countries because they are cheaper, as they don’t have to make them themselves. Also, they choose the successful ones because they are reliable. ‘The Watershed’ means after 9.
Documentary Research
"The Devil Made Me Do It" After watching this, I realised that it was a mixed documentary. I got to this understanding because I noticed that the voice over was pushing the narrative, observations were used as evidence and reconstructions were used to make the whole topic more dramatic. These are all used in typical mixed documentaries. The themes of this documentary are; murder, religion, youth rebellion and how the media effects firstly people’s perception on certain subjects and secondly how music can almost hypnotize and influence people and their actions. The narrative structure was very apparent. There was a beginning, middle and end. The beginning explained of an unsolved problem, a nun was killed and we were questioning who would have done it and what reason they would have to do such a horrid thing. The middle found the girls who had killed the nun, even though the girl’s admitted to killing her because they were very young, everyone thought that there must have been another reason. Marilyn Manson was blamed. The end acknowledged a resolution, the girls were sorry and one of them shown remorse. They were sentenced and the town was restored to its natural state and it was like nothing had ever happened.
A varied amount of camerawork was used. High angle shots were used to show that the town was very little; therefore the impact the murder had was huge and would have affected everybody there. Low angle shots were used to make Marilyn Manson appear powerful and to show how he was looked up to by all his fans. Most of the interviews were two shots with either two or a group of people in them. To create the feeling of mayhem and panic, a hand held camera was used in the court seen, which presented mayhem. A close up on the lawyer woman gave her importance as she was an expert on the case and very intelligent. In the reconstruction, a canted angle was used to represent the where the woman lay dying. Mise en scene was essential in this documentary. The lawyer wore red which shown her to have power. It was set in the place where the murder happened to create a greater sense of realism and to create an eerie feeling. Everyone was interviewed in their own environment, which did make it less informal but more comfortable. The concert footage helped the audience make up their own mind on whether his music was for entertainment purposes only or whether it is more. The make-up on the fans at the concert, which was coincidently the same as Manson’s, suggested that Marilyn was brainwashing his fans. Lastly, the girls were never shown, which allowed the audience to picture and design their own image of what the girl’s looked like. Whenever we are meant to feel a certain way in this documentary, sound effects were used. The Non-Diegetic religious music was used to create a holy atmosphere at the beginning and also tied into the theme. In the reconstructions, a mix of diegetic, non diegetic, asynchronous and synchronous sounds were used such as footsteps, heartbeats, phone ringing, bangs and screams. All of which were used to add to the tension. At the Marilyn Manson concert, the sound level was very loud and there were a lot of swearing sounds used, to accentuate the problem of Marilyn’s music and concerts. Natural/ ambient sound was used in the interviews to give the serenity of the town, now the event has passed. Cutaways were used to evident the story in the interviews. Match on action was used regularly at the concerts, which followed the action in line with Marilyn to show that he was the key figure in the concert hall. A point of view shot was used, so we as the audience could feel and see what the nun felt like just before she died. Long takes of the town were used so the audience could feel like they knew the whole environment. The range in fast and slow editing worked well with the mise en scene. Archive Footage was used to give and create a back story. Newspaper footage from around the time when the crime was committed and footage from the nun’s funeral was used to show how it affected people who lived there. Also, old concert footage and music videos of Marilyn Manson was used to show that he is quite a strange character, also to show that he had been linked to other horrific crimes, the archive footage of the Colorado school shooting, which he had also been blamed for, was used. The graphics were very simple and gave out the basic information. They were always at the bottom of the screen. Were white and plain, which meant that they didn’t detract from what was happening.
Marketing Movies BBC2 - Educational Documentary This is a mixed documentary. It contained archive footage, interviews with experts, voice over that lead the audience through the narrative and observations. The themes consisted of marketing films, persuasion and the importance of relating to a target audience. The beginning of the documentary looked like it was going to be upbeat throughout because of the exciting sound bed and fast editing. It also explored the reasons marketing is important. The middle showed how marketing can be successful and then the evidence of how it works. It also talks about budgets. The end presents the finish product but we aren’t told whether it was successful or not. Close ups of adverts and posters were used and zooms were used to show the merchandise and how the publicising can sell products and also onto important people. There was a static camera in every interview to make it more formal. Panning shots of merchandise was also used to show the wide range and variety of products that can be made off one film or product. The mise en scene related to the topic. Posters were used in the background of interviews to anchor the purpose of the documentary. It was set in London, which is the capital of film making, here in the UK. No American experts were interviewed which was disappointing because they are seen to be more knowledgeable. A music bed was used throughout to make it more interesting for the audience watching. Diegetic sound was used throughout to show that it is very realistic. Most of the sounds didn’t anchor meaning and were used ineffectively. The sounds were also underused. Lots of cuts were used to keep it fast paced and to keep the audience interested until the end. The cutaway shots were relevant to what the experts were talking about. The fades used were quite amateur and didn’t really have a purpose- a cutaway shot would have been more appropriate and would have looked better. A superimposition was also used. Film footage from lion king, Aladdin, the little mermaid, Jurassic park and mouse hunt were used as examples and also to support the arguments. Archive footage from a Premiere was also used to show that they are important to how successful a film can be. Graphics were used constantly and were relevant to the target audience.
The Music Biz - Marketing Meatloaf Marketing Meatloaf is a mixed documentary. It has lots of different types of media. It contains narration via voice over, interviews and archive footage. The themes are; Meatloaf, Marketing, Publicity, Media influences, Audience and the battle to Christmas No.1 The audience are given a bit of information at the beginning about the music industry and different opinions from editors, fans and musical directors. The middle introduces Meatloaf’s re-launch and shows how much dedication and money is being put into it, people are even remortgaging their houses. Even though it was not number one, the end shows how successful Meatloaf became. There were lots of close ups on Meatloaf to show that he is the star and how he is the most important person in the documentary. There is also close ups on director to show that he is in charge and holds the authority. At one point the camera nods in response, which shows that interaction with the cameraman is used in this documentary. Zooms were used in location shots. A panning shot on the marketing table portrays everyone to have importance. Mise en scene was used effectively in this mixed documentary. The interviews were filmed on a green screen so they could adapt them to look like they were on the front of a magazine cover. The backgrounds in every shot were relevant and video on location was used. His make up in the video also showed how major his transformation for his comeback, was. There was use of a voice over to guide the audience through the narrative because it was quite complex. Sounds effects of a heartbeat was used. Diegetic sound was used on the location filming. The song was also played over and over again. A shot reverse shot was used in a conversation between Meatloaf and Michael Boy, to show that there was a little bit of a power struggle. Cutaways shots were used to reinforce what was being said. Fast editing was used at the beginning to show all the different point of views and to also add excitement. Dissolves were used occasionally to create a break between two shots. The archive footage that were used was; the awards ceremony and Meatloaf’s music video. The subtitles were simple and plain. However at the beginning, the graphic of people’s facing in the magazine cover was done effectively.
Lara Croft - That Thing Whilst watching this I realised that because it have lots of observations as evidence and archive footage, as well as a typical narrative structure and voice over. The themes were; The effects of media and how it can confuse fantasy from reality, video games, electronics, Lara Croft, animated celebrities, how celebrities become products and female icons. Gamers are interviewed at the beginning and the movie is introduced with different opinions given. The game is described in the middle and shows how Lara Croft is evolving and fans start to mimic her. At the end we the audience see how successful the game was and explains that the expectations of the movie is very high. Static cameras are used regularly in interviews, as are mid shots. Over the shoulder shots are used as people are playing the game, to show game footage. A canted angle is also used in one interview, to add interest. The mise en scene in this mixed documentary is used for atmospheric purposes. The room is dark as the people are playing the game, this creates the feeling that the game has engulfed the person playing and they are in the game itself. Everything is relevant and centred around the video game. A projector was used instead of a blue screen to make the images darker and to create a mysterious atmosphere. Sound effects of breathing, panting, and running, climbing and fighting from the game were used as were sound effects from the film too. A quiet music bed was playing throughout. Cutaway shots were used to anchor the meaning of the documentary. The Nike and Barbie adverts were used as archive footage. The footage from the game was also used to show what the game is like and how realistic it actually is. Simple graphics were used to show who people were.
Jack the Ripper: Tabloid Killer I recognised that this was a mixed documentary as it has a strong voiceover throughout which leads the narrative. It also uses many codes and conventions of typical mixed documentaries such as archive footage and observations becoming evidence. The main theme of this documentary is the influence the media industry has on the story of Jack the Ripper and all the horrific things carried out by him. The subthemes were things like confusion surrounding the Ripper and heightened emotions because of the media's input. It is clear that death is a theme, as well as mystery and hidden identities. The beginning is basically an introduction to Jack the Ripper and the gruesome stories of the murders he committed. The middle explores into who the murder, known as Jack the Ripper, really was and whether the media enhanced the stories and made him look and appear more gruesome and volitile, whilst delving into whether headlines can change people's views and make their imaginations run wild. It explored how headlines can capture peoples imaginations and attention. The end resolves mostly all of the issues brought up throughout. Confusion was cleared up. Close ups were used quite regulary to show either the emotions on people's faces as they were being interviewed and talking about all the murders, but also of newspaper articles to show the stories that were being told and to show how the headlines of that time, would have shocked audiences. Midshots were also used during interviews, as that shot is the typical code and convention for an interview. A formal feel was given to the documentary, as it is a very delicate but serious matter. The backdrops for interviews linked in to the topic and added to the serious atmosphere. A non-diegetic sound bed is used as soon as the documentary starts which sets the mood instantly. It links in with the theme and the time zone setting of the Jack the Ripper stories. A voiceover is used throughout. The tone is serious and informative, which links to the mood trying to be created and anchors a lot of the meaning, whilst guiding the audience. The mood is set instantly by the music along side the fast editting. Cutaway shots were used, which related to what was being said by either the voiceover or interviewee. Fades to black were used to add interest for the audience. Shot reverse shot and over the shoulder shots were used when people were talking to show the different people having the same view. Archive Material was not overused in this documentary. Tours of London were used, which set the scene and also anchored the meaning and themes. It also shown how the city was affected by what Jack the Ripper did. The graphics were kept fairly simple. White was used to show who people were in the inteviews. This linked into the basic but serious theme of the documentary itself.
We chose the subject fears and phobias. It obviously is a rather serious subject and would be aimed at the 16+ age range as younger people would not understand the concept of it fully. After we conduct the audience research we will know what channel it will be shown on and what time of day, as we need to get it correct so our target audience will be watching it, most likely it will be channel 4. Thinking of titles for the documentary we thought of many such as; -Phobias... -Don't Panic! We then realised that these were quite bland and boring and we could not do much with that in the Newspaper Advertisement.Then we came up with
Our group made a questionaire that was relevant to our documentary topic,it was given to 30 people around college and the results are shown below;
Q1 - Are you male or female?
19 Males, 11 Females.
Q2 - What age group are you part of?
Majority of those that filled the questionaire out came under 10-25 age group, this could therefore be biased and therefore there may be a limited range of opinions.
Q3 - Whats your favourite colour?
Blue came out as the favoured colour, the question was asked as it helped decide what colour was best to use on the graphics.
Q4 - How many hours a week do you watch television?
Q5 - What time of day do you watch television?
Q6 - What terrestrial channel is your favourite?
This question allowed our group to accurately see what TV channel was most appropriate for our documentary.
Q7 - What are you scared of?
This question allowed our group to really get an insite into what the population is largely scared of, this allowed us to priorotise what was going to be on the documentary and what topics to focus on.
Q8 - Are you scared of anything else?
This was done in an open style allowing those answering the questionnaire to write what they wanted, some of the answers written down are below; - Small Spaces -Death -Hospitals -Water -Dust -Blood -Needles -Feet
Q9 - Why are you scared of this?
This was also a question that was left open however this was left blank by the majority of those that filled out the questionnaire as they were no doubt unsure of what the real reason for their phobia/fear.
Q10 - Have you ever considered getting any help?
Due to all the people answering no to this question we came to the conclusion that it is possible that those with phobias are embarassed and do not wish to seek help or that their fears and phobias do not affect their lives enough. It is also possible that they do not know where to go for help.
Q11 - How does your fear affect your life? Answers given included; - Collapsing - Crying - Running away - Sweating - Dizziness
This helped give us an idea of what the symptoms included when people have Phobias.
Q12 - Does it affect your daily life?
Some people said no, whereas others said it affects them if their fear becomes real or if the situation becomes very extreme.
Q13 - Are you still scared of your childhood fears?
Q14 - Has something your parents been scared of ever affected you?
Due to the majority answering yes we came to the conclusion that its possible that fears and phobias may be passed down through generations. This therefore gives us another aspect of phobias to look at.
Q15 - Are you scared of the dark?
Q16 - Have you ever been scared of the dark? This showed us that the majority of people have been scared of the dark at some point in their life as many of them answered 'yes'.
Q17 - What is the scariest film you have seen? Some of the answers included; - The Exorcism of Emily Rose - Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Scream - Halloween - The Orphanage - The Ring - A Nightmare of Elm Street
This question was to try and help us understand why people are scared of the things they fear.
Q18 - What celebrity scares you? 'Katie Price' was the most frequent answer to this.
Q19 - When you encounter your phobia what happens? Although this question wasn't answered properly some answers that came from this were, run away, cry, vommit and pass out.
Q20 - How long does it take you to calm down? Majority of those that filled the questionnaire out left this question blank suggesting it does not take long to calm down after they have encountered their phobia.
Topic- The topic we have chosen to research and create our documentary on is fears and phobias, the subject widely affects the public and this is therefore something that many can relate to. Phobias and fears is an intriguing topic that will interest and involve the audience. Interviews with professionals will also be easy to gain as there are many professionals who work in this field and have a real insight into the affects that phobias and fears have on people. Those who suffer from a phobia can also be interviewed and accessed relatively easily allowing empathy to be created between the sufferer and the audience.
Type- The type of documentary we have chosen is a Mixed Documentary. It will contain a voice over that will inform the audience and anchor what is being shown on screen, Vox pops will also be used as cutaways that will speed up the documentaries pace and get the public involved with the subject. Interviews will also create a professional opinion and also the public’s opinion will be relevant. Archive footage and reconstructions will add drama and interest to the documentary adding to the audience’s experiences. This is all relevant as it creates more entertaining documentaries and can lure the audience in from the programme before, using quick editing from all these options.
Style- The documentary will be informal allowing those being interviewed to be relaxed and help the audience easily relate to the documentary. The style of documentary was decided based upon the results that came from the questionnaires, the average age range was 17 and this therefore allowed us as a group to relate the documentary to what they would be interested to see. The fast pace of the documentary will keep the audience interested with the exception of the interviews that will be quite slow paced to enable those talking to engage with the audience. This allows the documentary to be easily understood and prevents the audience from being confused and bored.
Channel/Scheduling- From the audience research and our own point of view, we decided to use Channel 4. This was most popular in our questionnaire and would suit the style of documentary we have chosen. The time we are going to use will be 9:30 to 10:00 as this was also most popular in our audience.
Target audience- Our target audience will be from the ages 16-40; this fits in well with the channel that we chose as the audience research showed that this channel appeals most to this age group. This information was collated from our graphs from the audience research, both an equal number of males and females were asked in order to let the documentary relate and interest both genders.
Primary research- We will use Vox pops in the town centre, to show how fears and phobias affect a range of people. We will interview professionals in their practice to show that they are well educated and are there if somebody needs support. When interviewing some people who have phobias, we will film them in their most comfortable environment which will create a more relaxed and informal atmosphere. We will also interview a psychology teacher in his teaching classroom to make him look professional; this will give us the information on why people are scared.
Secondary research- We will use newspaper articles as archive footage to show how phobias occur following traumas, or after reading something horrific in the news. Reconstructions will be used, for example, to show how somebody reacts when faced with their fear. We will use facts and figures about how many people it effects in the U.K through our voice over. After reviewing our questionnaires and finding out what film is the scariest to our target audience, we will incorporate short extracts from those films into our documentary.
Narrative structure- Beginning- Introduction to the topic and the Vox pop’s which will outline all the different phobias and fears in society. Interviews with both professionals and sufferers with cutaways that are relevant to what the person is saying. We will also use a reconstruction to elaborate on how serious peoples phobias actually are. Middle- Archive footage of plane crash, to show bad news can effect people and the way they feel about a certain situation, like flying. Interview with somebody who is afraid of flying, close up of swinging pendant with the voice over to explain how people go and see hypnotists to overcome their fear, and then an interview with a hypnotist explaining how they try and help- also about cynic’s. Exploring about the fear of the dark and how you develop this from childhood. End- Film extracts, with a voice over, explaining how people can still be scared of the ‘make believe’. Interview with film maker and an audience member to see the different perspectives on the film s. Talking about stereotypes- way somebody looks, dresses, acts, different interviews and reconstructions. Montage of everything that people are scared of with voice over concluding and recapping on why people have fears and phobias, and what help can be received. Closing credits.
Outline of Content The documentary consists of many of the conventions named above. First we will run the vox pops from warrington town center, where the question was asked ' What are you scared of?' then there will be a montage of images related to the topic of phobias such as spiders, snakes, blood, aeroplanes, clowns, needles, global warming, and so on, whilst these are being shown the voice over will be explaining the topic. We will be having interviews with professionals and people with phobias, so the audience will recieve enough information from both sides of the phobia related subject. Archive footage will link into what people in the interviews have said or to what the voice over is saying.
Equipment- Camera. Jib. Microphone. Head phones. Tripod. Steady cam.
To get a deeper understanding of what a phobia is, the different types of them and how they affect people in altered ways, we thought that research would be helpful. We looked in books and on the internet. The medical dictionary definition for phobia is “an intense but unrealistic fear that can interfere with the ability to socialize, work, or go about everyday life, brought on by an object, event or situation.” We understood that this could mean a majority of people suffer from phobias but don’t realise they have one, as they will just assume that they are a little frightened of their fear and try to avoid it at all costs. Professionals would class that as a phobia. There are three types of phobias: • Specific phobia • Social phobia • Agoraphobia Specific phobias are the simplest of phobias and are a fear a particular place or object; this can range from spiders & snakes all the way to an airplane journey. Results in America have shown that 1in 10 phobias run in families and the phobias are almost twice as likely to occur in women. This phobia can begin at any age and they don’t cause much harm if it is something that the person can avoid but if it is something common that happens regularly, it can disrupt everyday life. To have a social phobia, you generally avoid social situations because you’re worried of being watched or judged by others. They would avoid giving speeches, performing on stage and even using the public toilets. Some people assume that social phobia is merely shyness and the inability to interact with people, but this is not true. Shy people may feel uncomfortable in certain situations but the do not suffer from the severe anxiety – they would not worry about the social events beforehand and don’t avoid anything that may make them feel self conscious. People who suffer from social phobias commonly turn down job offers and avoid being in relationships. Social phobia is usually associated with other anxiety disorders such as depression. Agoraphobia is the feeling of being trapped resulting a panic attack in a public place. It is the fear of the fear. It usually occurs between the age of 15 and 35. Three times as many women are affected by agoraphobia, compared to men. After an initial panic attack, people often avoid the place it happened because they do not want to experience another. As time goes on, their fear generalizes and usually results in avoiding public places completely. In the most severe cases, people will not leave their house just in case they suffer from another panic attack. No one really knows how a phobia is caused but research suggests that it is a mixture of hereditary and environmental aspects. The only thing that the professionals cannot understand is why some people suffer from their phobias and others do not. With thanks to http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Phobias
Getting In Contact With Professionals
For our documentary, we decided that we wanted people of all professions and different people suffering from all different kinds of phobias and fears. We thought this would give a more detailed insight into how it affects people in different ways.We used yellow pages to get the phone numbers and addresses of each company.
We wanted to discuss the fear of death and inorder to achieve this we believe we needed an interview with an undertaker. The results are as followed: However, as we rang around and asked different companies if they would be willing to do this, all refused.
We then used the same method to find a hypnotherapist.
We then got in contact with this hypnotherapist who deals with people and their problems in a different kind of way. He was very interested and queried about what type of questions he would have to answer, so we sent this email:
Hi,
The A2 documentary that we as Priestley College students are producing as part of our course surrounds the topic of Fears and Phobias. In our documentary we will be discussing the different phobias and fears that people suffer from and how they overcome them by seeing professionals such as yourself. It would be a great help if you were prepared to answer a few questions on film, as part of the interview process, we will also be interviewing people suffering from Phobias. Unfortunately we have not yet managed to speak to any Professionals in this field and we would be really grateful if you were able to take time out of your busy schedule to help us.
Here are the types of questions that you wil be asked if you accept;
1. What is the most common phobia you deal with?
2. Have there ever been any unknown phobias that people have come to you with?
3. What are the reasons for a phobia developing?
4. Do your clients often inherit their parents fears? Why is this?
5. How can phobias affect peoples daily lives?
6. What tasks do you undertake to help sufferers from overcoming their fear?
7. Is everybody entirely treated by the end of the help they receive?
If you are uncomfortable with any of these questions, let us know and we will not ask them.
Any time to do an interview would be good for us.
Contact No. 07735054166
Thankyou very much Jordan, Jess and Georgina.
He replied and asked when we would like an interview with him. After a long emailing process, he explained that he could not do the interview in his office because he only rents the space. We gave him an oppurtunity to have his interview in a space provided by us but unfortunately he was fully booked, therefore, he could not do an interview before the closing deadline of filming process.
We then contacted a child's entartainer (clown), as we wanted to find out how children react to the whole exterior of the outfit. We thought this would give us a greater understanding on whether adult's phobias and fears have been brought through life from childhood. We would then counter balance the dicussion by having a sufferer talking about whether her/his fear are due to childhood. After ringing most of the contact numbers, we were again unsuccessful.
After all of our possible interviews with professionals didn't work out, we got in contact with a college counciller who works with many students trying to overcome their fears as their phobias interupt their daily routines. She was very good in the interview, explained things fully so we had a lot of information to use in our documentary and also gave us (the production team) a greater understanding on this topic. We acknowledge that if she gave us a deeper understanding, surely her responses will give the audience the same.
For our cutaways, we rand Leeroy's Lizard Lounge. We spoke to Leeroy and he seemed enthuasiastic. We visited his shop and filmed cutaways - we got spiders, snakes, lizards and all sorts of bugs. This helped us a lot because the majority of things that people are scared of are usually more of the creepy insects or lizards.
To get more relevant cutaways, we filmed other things too like rollercoasters, planes and mice.
Counciller Questions -Have you ever personally had a fear or phobia? if so, what is it? -Are there a large number of young people who suffer from phobias? -Are there students in this college that seek your help regarding phobias? -What tasks do you use to help those with phobias? -What is the most common phobia that young people come to you with? -What is the strangest phobia that anyone has ever come to you with?
Interview Questions - Professional -What is the most common phobia you deal with? -Have there ever been any strange phobias that people have come to you with? -What are the reasons for a phobia developing? -Do children often inherit their parents fears? Why is this? -How can phobias affect peoples daily lives? -What tasks do you undertake to help sufferers from overcoming their fear? -Is everybody entirely treated by the end of the help they receive? -What are the different categories of phobias?
Reconstruction Storyboard
Interview Headshots
This is the framing for the interviews with the people who are effected by phobias. The will be sat on the right of the screen and be looking to the left of the camera. The graphis will be simple and will be superimposed over the body of the interviewee.
This is the framing for our interviews with the professionals. Once again the graphics will be simple and superimposed over the interviewees body. The professional however will be sat on the left hand side of the screen looking at the right of the camera. This is to show that the professionals have a more educated view on phobias opposed to the sufferers.
Whilst filming, we changed the positioning
Our Plan On Wednesday 23rd we will go and film voxpops in our local town center. On thursday 28th we will capture our voxpops and go out and film cutaways On friday 29th we will capture cutaways and we have an interview with someone who is afraid of both heights and horseflies. On Saturday 30th, we will ring around our local area and try to get an interview with a professional, such as a hypnotherapist or pyschatrist. On monday 1st, we have an interview with the college councillor. On tuesday 2nd, we will capture both of the interviews. On the 3rd, we have another interview with someone who is afraid of having hands put in their mouth. On thursday 4th, we will capture it. We will then spend up until the 7th trying to film some cutaways. On the 8th, we will go to a pet store and get pictures of snakes and lizards for both our print ad and cutaways. On the 9th, we have three more interviews to film in the evening and we will capture all of the interview and the cutaways on Wednesday 10th.
and picked select the blue background. then we took it all away by using raising the similarity of the colours as so;
