The first part to creating our extract of a documentary is the research & planning. This part included researching different existing documentaries and analysing the codes and conventions. As well as this, this section requires us to analyse existing print products ours being a double-page spread from a TVlistings magazine and a newspaper advertisement on the documentary. After analysing these documentaries, we have to mind map our initial ideas. Another key thing we have to do within the planning element is to decide what our target audience is as this is what the whole documentary will be shaped around. We will have to carry out audience research so that we can create a excellent extract. In the planning stage, we will need to create a voice-over script and storyboard so we know what we are filming. As well as this we will have to allocate roles, casting sheet and production schedule so we know what we are doing when.
Filming & Reshoots (if needed)
October 2017
The filming stage is self explanatory, it is where we gathering all the shots need for the product. We had to choose the best time to go and film our product, one that would give us the best shots so we chose the days with the best weather. Also we needed enough time so we thought that the October would be a perfect time to go and film as me and Tayte both had a lot of time off to go and film. We have also included November to film incase we need to re-shoots, because the shots may not be as good as we thought.
Date
Who is cameraperson?
What scene are we filming?
How will we film?
What equipment will we need?
06/10/2017
Tayte
Dan Interviewing MP Scene 2,4,9
Two-shot
HD Camera, Tripod, microphone
08/10/2017
Dan & Tayte
Filming at Train station for
Scene 1,3,5
Pans, close ups, long shots
HD Camera, Phone Camera, Tripod
14/10/2017
Dan & Tayte
Filming around Tamworth and local area for
Scene 6,8
Close up, medium, long establishing shots
HD Camera, Phone Camera, Tripod
17/10/2017
Tayte
Creating graphic for scene 7
N/A
Adobe Premiere Pro
17/10/2017
Dan
Voice-over for the whole documentary
Audio recorder
Microphone
21/10/2017
Dan & Tayte
If needed for re-shoots
N/A
HD Camera, Tripod, Phone Camera
22/10/2017
Dan & Tayte
If needed for re-shoots
N/A
HD Camera, Tripod, Phone Camera
Editing
November/December 2017
Editing is making the filming shots look better and putting them into order. We plan to be editing in November but the editing stage could overlap into December and January. This stage is longest because we are trying to perfect all the sequences as well as adding text, graphics and effects to someone of the scenes. We also have to cut all the clips down, order them in time with the voice-over.
Print Artefacts
December 2017/January 2018
This is the newspaper advertisement and the double page spread on the documentary.We decided that if we would finish the film by December, January would be enough time to get both print artefacts finished as there is two of us. However if we overrun with the film, we are going to start the print artefacts earlier as one of us will focus on the film and the other on the print artefacts.
For our advanced portfolio in Media, we decided to create an extract of a documentary, a double page spread from listings magazine focused on the documentary and a newspaper advertisement for the documentary. Our extract of a documentary will be based on HS2 (High Speed Rail 2), the latest proposed improvement in rail infrastructure. We created a prezi for final proposal but we elaborated on the prezi below. https://prezi.com/view/4oJdQ4ux3YKxoMaAz7YP/
Having researched around the HS2, weighing up the pros and cons, we decided to go for the title as HS2: A White Elephant?. This is because this title isn't biased and is using a literacy technique called rhetorical question to get the audience to think about the HS2 before and while they watch it. We believe a documentary about the HS2 would suit Channel 4. The reason that we would show this documentary on channel 4 is that they show many similar documentaries like Trump: The American Dream' and Coalition. These documentaries are very similar to ours and proves that politic/factual documentaries can be shown on the channel. Also, we believe that if it was shown on channel 4 it would get a greater audience view count than if it was shown on Sky One because most people have access to channel 4 as Sky One isn't part of the standard Freeview package whereas channel 4 is. But why wouldn’t we show it on the BBC? Although the BBC host big documentaries such as David Attenborough’s view breaker, “Blue Planet 2”, we don’t think that it would be a good host to political/factual documentaries as the audience is slightly to old overall and that doesn’t match our target audience which is formally 16-35 years old. We believe the younger generation need to be kept up to date with current affairs. Furthermore, the BBC is under Royal Charter so the corporation has to remain unbiased on political views and as HS2 is largely a political issue, we wouldn't broadcast this on BBC. After we chose to create an extract of a documentary on HS2, we needed to look at what audience we would be targeting. We analysed information from a website called YouGov to understand what the appropriate audience would be. YouGov is a website which gathers people's opinion on topics and analyses this data and publish their findings. The information we discovered was the following. We looked at this information and put it with our ideas of the audience we would want to target. Demographic of people that like HS2 are male adults between the ages of 25-39 with a social grade of A,B,C1. From this information, we can imply that people with more disposable income are more in favour as their social grade are A, B & C1 which are people who have the better jobs in society. Furthermore, we can deduce from this that the people who are currently within the working age are more interested in this development as it may affect how they get to work. Right wing politics generally favour the HS2 project. The top regions in favour of the HS2 are London, North West and the Midlands as the project links London to Birmingham in phase 1 and in phase 2 it links Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds.
People who like HS2 also like or interested in: Jeremy Clarkson Business and Finance Audi Tesco Exercising BMW Computer programming Calvin Harris Jay-Z People who like this issue describe this issue as... Necessary (31) Essential (27) Modern (23) Ambitious (19) Important (18) People who dislike this issue describe this issue as... Waste of money (125) Unnecessary (111) Expensive (106) Bad value (106) Overpriced (86) Having reviewed this data, we decided to target a younger audience. We thought that the younger generation should be made more aware of these sort of developments as it will affect them the most. However, the audience for this documentary film is really anyone in general but we mostly want to target an age range of around 16-35. We know this is a very small age cap but we thought that other young people like ourselves need to be more in tune with what is happening in our country and a documentary is a great way to provide this information. The original idea for the documentary, in the very early stages, was to focus on a huge story on a current affair the country as the EU referendum result and what it will mean. But our 5 minute limit, lack of resources and time, limited us to what we could could achieve. Before I started this documentary, I knew little about the HS2 only that it was happening and that it was going to be very expensive. But since researching about it and finding out more information, I’ve found that it could affect the very town I’m living in. Also, we think that the way we should present the documentary in a way that the target audience can understand and stay focused. Our main product is a political documentary as HS2 is regarded as a political issue. The type of documentary ours will be is in Bill Nichol's expository mode. This is because it features many of the characteristics devised into to that category. The documentary will feature a 'voice of God' who will control the narrative and will explain what HS2 is, the route it will take, the pros and cons and how it will affect our local area. We will use facts and figures about HS2 to form an argument for both sides. Moreover our extract will feature an interview with a politician on HS2 to get his views. Finally our extract of documentary will inform people about HS2 and educate to help form an opinion on the matter.
In terms of style, our extract will feature linear and logical narrative structure. At the beginning of the extract, we will tell them what exactly HS2 stands for and what it is in case the audience do not know what it is. In the middle of the extract, we will talk about the pros and cons of HS2 as now they have a understanding of what HS2 is. By the end of the extract, the audience will have made up their minds on HS2, if they're for or against it. Our extract will feature many graphics so that information can be broken down into smaller pieces and understood better. As well as this, text will feature a lot in our extract to label important people and places. The extract may feature archived footage to show the HS2 route or show protests about HS2. The editing will be simple but effective. We will enhance the shots we take with colour correction tools on Adobe Premiere Pro, we will include exponential fades on the audio, straight cuts & cross dissolves between clips. We will try create aesthetic montages when editing so that the mise en scene and cinematography looks excellent.
Storyboard Draft 1 Scene 1 – Interview clip (Hook)
This will be a short clip of an interview with local MP of Tamworth, Christopher Pincher. We will ask him open questions about the topic of the HS2 and if it will have any effect on the local area. We will use a bit of the interview to make the audience watch until that scene as it is convention of a documentary.
Shots – We will be using 2 types of shot for this interview. A Two Shot, which will capture the interview and Christopher Pincher in the same shot and we are using a shot reverse shot, so that when either CP or the interviewer are talking, the camera can be on them.
Scene 2 – Introduction Graphic
The introduction graphic will consist of a 3D graphic of the UK and the HS2 smashing through houses with bags of money flying out. This introduction is a representation of what other people think of the idea of the HS2. This will be created using the After Affects software.
Shots – For this graphic to work we will need a long shot of a bridge so the train will be able to go across it using green screen and after affects.
Here is our first trial introduction graphic. We used a copyright green screen train and imported it on to Adobe Premiere Pro. We imported a screen grab of a bridge from Google Map. We used the ultra key effect to allow the train to run across the bridge.
Scene 3 – Intro To the HS2
This will be a selection of different facts about the HS2 and will keep resorting back to the theme of Local and how the HS2 will effect Tamworth.
Shots – ( Mainly establishing shots of Tamworth.) mainly the castle, the shopping centre And the houses as the hs2 will be destroying houses.
Scene 4 – Voxpop section
This will be with different people of the local area as we want a varied opinion of the HS2. We will ask a range of different people who even aren't are target audience.
Shots- these shots would normally consist of two shots mainly with the interviewer and the interviewee.
Extra – We will also be using a mini microphone so in case the sound quality is not all that great we have a backup.
Scene 5 – The route graphic
We are interested in looking at what route the HS2 will take a showing our audience where it will go in the area near Tamworth. Or we will show where it will go in the UK.
Edit – We will make this graphic on Adobe after affects
Furthermore, add what businesses will be affected
Scene 6
This will be a focus on the local area and what the HS2 will do and how it will change the area, More jobs less jobs, More houses, less houses etc..
Shots – this will include techniques like focus pulls, so that the audience can focus on the problems that the hs2 might bring to houses so that means the focus pull can empathise that.
Scene 7– Ending graphic – After the break
This will include a scene showing the rest of the interview with Christopher Pincher before the break.
Also add archive footage of old trains, interviews of PM about HS2 and where HS2 intersects the Tamworth area.
Storyboard Final Draft Scene 1 - Title scene
Stationary camera filming train go past. Titles appearing after. Diegetic sound of train going past.
We opted against the original idea because it would extremely time consuming and required professional skills in Adobe Premiere Pro & After Effects which we don't have at the current time. Furthermore, we chose to put the title scene as the first scene to give context to the documentary rather than starting it with a snippet of an interview from Christopher Pincher to act as a hook. This is because our audience may not know about the HS2 and by filming a train first, the audience understand what HS2 is, new train infrastructure. Moreover they will understand the relevance of the interview by knowing what HS2 is.
Scene 2 - snippet of an Interview with MP Christopher Pincher
This snippet will include a two shot of us interviewing Christopher Pincher. Pincher is our local member of parliament and he is a prominent figure in the conservative Party. We thought getting an interview with him would broaden our audience and in addition, he campaigned against the HS2 business case so he knows a lot about the project. In this snippet, we ask him to describe HS2 in a sentence to get his brief opinion on HS2.
Scene 3 - Info about HS2 Part 1
In this scene, the HS2 project will be explained, giving some background knowledge of the newest infrastructure before the extract begins to delve deeper into the HS2 project. However this section will remain brief so that the audience is not overloaded with information. Shots - establishing shots of train stations, long shots and pans of trains, close ups of train signs.
Scene 4 - Another snippet of an Interview with MP Christopher Pincher
In this snippet, we will ask him what he thinks of HS2. This scene will give us more insight into what he thinks of HS2; whether he thinks it is positive for country or negative. Originally we decided to only have parts of the interview at the start and finish of the extract. However when editing the extract, we found that the info about HS2 was too information heavy and needed to split up with interviews. If we kept the info about HS2 in one scene, people would forget half the infomation we told them.
Scene 5 - Info about HS2 Part 2
In this scene, we start to discuss the pros and cons of HS2 using information from sources such as the BBC. We will talk about the pros of HS2 including how fast these trains are going to be and how they will cut down journey times. On the other hand we will talk about the cons of HS2 including how the HS2 project will destroy the environment, people's livelihood and how HS2 will cost billions of pounds for the taxpayers. Shots - long shots & pans of trains, close up shots of HS2 protest signs, establishing shots of the environment.
Scene 6 - Voxpops
This will be with different people of the local area as we want a varied opinion of the HS2. We will ask a range of different people who even aren't are target audience. Shots- these shots would normally consist of close up shots of the interviewer and interviewee. This allows the audience to see the emotion when they give the opinion to authenticate what they are saying. Extra – We will also be using a mini microphone so in case the sound quality is not all that great we have a backup.
Scene 7 - HS2 route
In this scene we discuss the route that HS2 will take and how it will affect the midlands. This scene will mention the towns and villages the HS2 is going through and where the line stops. We will make a graphic in Adobe Premiere Pro which shows the route the HS2 will take in its three phases. This will be accompanied by a brief commentary of the route. Scene 8 - Local Area
In this scene, we explain the impacts of the HS2 in our local area in the Midlands/Tamworth region via a voiceover. The cinematography will have many different shots changing from medium, long and establishing shots of the local area. The locations we will explore do get shots of the local area are Tamworth Castle, Snowdome, Tameside Nature Reserve, town centre, houses and the countryside.
Scene 9 - Preparing for advert/End of extract
This scene will consist of a different snippet of the interview with MP Christopher Pincher where he talks about how the local area will be affected. It will be a short 10-20 second clip which has strong hook so that the audience carry on watching the documentary after the 'break'.
