Formal Proposal for our 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.

Target Audience research

Are you male or female?

Male - 8

Female - 22

This shows that our results may be biased. We will take this into account when planning our documentary as it may affect 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?

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?

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

What is your favorite genre of music?

How loud do you have your music?

What is your favorite smell?

What is your favorite sense?

Brainstorm of content for our Documentary

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

• Fast Food
• Christmas
• Smile
• Social Groups
• Football
• Piecings
• Alcohol
• Badminton
• Recycling
• TV shows
• Drawing
• Bags
• Social Networking
• Game Consols
• Jumpers
• Jonas Brothers
• Relationships
• Size
• Dancing
• Sandwiches
• Soap
• Disney
• Tables
• Dogs
• Make up
• Beauty
• Music
• Shopping
• Sport
• Teens
• Student jobs
• Shoes
• Chocolate
• School
• Local Bands
• Concerts
• Films
• Reality TV
• Holidays
• Technology
• Cereal
• Hair
• Hats
• Fish
• New Brighton
• Plastic Sugery
• Media
• Travel
• Smoking
• Money
• Liverpool 1
• Chair
• Mice
• Flip Flops
• Phone
• Pen
• Paper
• Clocks
• Orange
• Talking
• Gardens
• Singing
• Stationary
• Fat
• Blonde
• Park
• Lunch
• Laptop
• Remote
• Coffee
• Water
• Heels
• Hoody
• Soup
• Milk
• Spark Plugs

Genre Analysis - That Thing - Lara Croft

Type of Documentary

Mixed

Themes

Phenomenon of Lara Croft

Representation of Women

Power of the media

Influencing peoples thoughts about the representation of women.

Narrative structure

Closed narrative structure

Non linear

Single strand

Camerawork

Interviews

left or right of the screen

Eye line third of the way down the screen

Close up/medium close up/big close up

Low angle was used

Other camerawork

The Barbie sequence was in extreme close up.

Whips pans

Tracking shot of the cyber cafe

Extreme close up of keyboard and the screen.

Mise-En-Scene

They use chromakey, to get a moving background

In the interview it is out of focus to not distract attention from the interview

Sound

Voiceover

Calm

Clear

Male

Age 20’s

Someone who would of played the game when it came out.

Editing

Cuts

Interview of man on computer screen was filtered – he was the creator of the computer game so they put him in the computer

Fast motion of man going up and downstairs in the cyber cafe.

Archive Material

Tomb raider film

Tombraider game

Graphics

All had "That Thing" at the end

White Sans Seriff, all lower case

Genre Analysis - Britains Whitest Family

Type of documentary
Mixed

Narrative Structure
Multiple strand
Linear
Closed narrative

Camerawork
Interviews:
Eye line third of the way down the screen
Positioned to the left or right of the screen
Medium close up
Close up
Tracking
More Camerawork:
Handheld
Point of view, walking down the street
Crane of the town
Zoom into Pictures
Tracking
Panning of shoes, portrays being put into there shoes

Mise-en-scene
The home
The street life and town
Normal bedroom space and there usual place to go with friends

Sound
Voiceover:
Middle aged
Male
Calm
Sympathetic Music

Editing
Cutting
Stock footage dissolved in

Archive Material
School photographs
Family pictures
Crane of the town and cities

Graphics
White Sans serif
Sub titles
Name/location

Genre Analysis - My New Brain

Type of documentary
Mixed

Narrative structure
Single strand
Linear
Open

Camerawork
Interviews:
Framed to the left or right of the screen
Eye line third of the way down the screen
Medium Close Up
Close Up
More camerawork
Over the shoulder
Point of view, speaking to the doctor
Tracking of the classes
Hand held in the hospital

Mise-en-scene
Hospital life shown against his home like a double life
Close up of daily activities showing the daily struggle

Sound
The interviews link together all telling the same story
Voiceover:
standard english
Male
Calm
Mood setting music

Editing
Cutting
Matching the interviews together so they all link and tell the same linear story

Archive Material
Old pictures
Pictures of the accident scene
Hospital Machines
Town

Graphics
White
Sans serif
Location and name

Genre Analysis - The Music Biz - The Marketing Of Meatloaf

Type of Documentary

Mixed

Themes

The marketing of music

Creation of image

Power of the media to influence an audience

Behaviour

Narrative structure

Non Linear

Closed Narrative Structure

Single Strand

Camerawork

Conventional Interviews

Framed to the left or right of the screen

Medium close up or close up

Eye line third of the way down the screen

Variety of camera work used

Close up of mics

Extreme close up of CD covers

Panning and zooming

Handheld in the media room

High and low angle

Point Of View walking into the betting office

Mise-en-scene

Chromakey (green or blue screen)

Background is what the interviewee is talking about

Sound

Voiceover:

Sarcastic

Male

Standard English

Calm and clear

Delivery intertwined with the footage

Meatloaf’s music.

Editing

Interviews dissolve in and out

Cut between the interviews to link together/cross cutting to construct the narrative.

Free chromakey to keep attention on the interview rather than the audience.

Cross cut between behind the scenes and finished video

Slow motion.

Archive Material

Magazine covers

CD covers

TV clips of performing

Music videos

Brit awards

Newspaper headlines

Magazine review pages

News footage

Graphics

Titles

Series logo

Name of person on screen and their jobs

Serif white, left or right of screen, capitals, italics.

Genre analysis - Public Enemy Number One - The Devil Made Me Do It

title of the documentary

Type Of Documentary

Mixed

Themes

Devil worship

Crime

Religion

Youth of today

Power of the media

Narrative Structure

Open narrative structure

Non – Linear

Single strand

Camerawork

Interviews

Medium close up

Close up

Framed to the left and right of the screen

Eye line third of the way down the screen

Low angle used on Manson’s interviews, gives him a sense of power

Man selling posters – handheld camera interview (not pre arranged)

Camera angles and movement

Point of view used from the point of view of the inspector

Close Up of faces

Stock footage of churches and religious iconography, filmed in low and angle and high angle

Tracking and panning is used particularly in Manson’s concerts.

Tracking of Manson walking through the city and going into McDonalds.

Crane shot of cemetery

Zoom of newspapers and pictures makes the shots more interesting

Mise-en-scene

Cap of officer shown big while the officer in the background.

Nun in dark alley shows isolation

Light is the most important particularly in the stock footage as it contains a dark, orange/deep blue glow

It is also used on Manson when he is getting interviewed, half is face is in the light and half is in the dark portraying, saint or sinner and a split personality

Sound

Voiceover:

Male

Standard English

Very calm

Holds the narrative together

Mansons music and orchestral music:

Show the main themes of the program

The attack:

Sound effects

Heartbeats

Footsteps

Hitting

Stabbing

Editing

Cut shots

Choral music played over footage of Manson – Juxtaposition

During the whole interview of the priest the priest is never seen talking just shows slow motion footage of him driving

Archive Material

News footage

Nuns funeral footage

Police investigation footage

Talk show

Music videos of Manson.

Pictures and newspapers

Graphics

White sans serif font with name and relation to the trial of each interviewee

Main titles are black and gothic style and feature a cross.

White text at the end explaining what happened to the girls, text is the same as used throughout the programme.

Features of a documentary

Definition and purpose
The purpose of the documentary is to document that is to report with evidence, something that has actually happened. It can show this by using actuality footage or reconstruction. It can use a narrators voiceover to anchor the meaning or rely on thr participants themselves with perhaps the noccasional interjection by the narrator.
John Grierson- General Post Office Film Unit in 1930's, who made documentaries in the second world war. Defined documentary as "the creative treatment of actuality"(or reality).

Features
John Corner of the University of Liverpool said there are 5 central elements of the documentary:

Observation - The programme makers pretend the camera is unseen or ignored by the people tking part in the event. This makes the audience feel like an eye witness.

Interview - People give opinions and information. Documentaries often rely heavily on interviews.

Dramatisation - All documentaries use a sense of drama through the observation element.

Mise-en-scene - Documentary makers carefully contruct the settings.

Exposition - The line of argument in a documentary. It can be viewed as what a documentary is saying to an audience.

Types
Fully Narrated
A voiceover is used to convet the exposition. The voiceover is used to make sense of the visuals and dominates the meaning. E.g Natural history documentarys.

Fly on the Wall
Draws on the french film movement of 'cinema verite'. The camera is unseen or ignored and comply records real events as they unfold.

Mixed
A combination of interview, observation, actuality and archive material and narration to advance the argument/narrative.

Self - Reflective
When the subject of the documentary acknowledges the presence of the camera of often speaks direcly to the programme maker.

Docudrama
Re- enactment of events

Docusoap
Documentary and soap opera. A group of central protagonists and follows the characters. E.g Airline

Structure
Narrative structure
Takes on different forms:
Open-loose ends which are not tied up at the end. (Questions are left un answered)
or
Closed- there is a definite conclusion to the narrative.

Linear structure-follows chronological order.

Non Linear structure- things are not in time order e.g. flashback or flash forward.

Circular structure- The beginning is the same as the end.

Visuals
Television is a visual medium
-The programme needs to be stimulating.

Archive material-Street scenes, open countryside, close up of faces = stock footage, old footage that can be used.

Interviews
An interview can be held anywhere, but the setting does affect the meaning.

Vox pop (vox populis)- voice of the people.
Go on the street and ask people all the same question and film their answers. Then edit to suite.

Construction of reality
Gate keeping (media theory)- The selection and rejection of information/content for inclusion in media text.

Editing process
Where gate keeping happens in a documentary.

Voice over (voice of god)-never seen.

Propaganda- deliberately set out to change the opinion of others. Eg the WW2 documentaries.

TV scheduling

• The Schedule for each day is broken into clear segments:
• breakfast
• daytime
• kids
• family
• adult

• Each of these different segments has a different target audience, these are:
• daytime T.V is housewives.
• evening T.V is adults.
• Morning and breakfast TV has a wide spread audience
• family and kids are for mostly children and their parents.

• The most popular genres of television are:
• Soaps
• Gameshows
• Talk shows
•Films

• There are 5 terrestrial channels each of which also has its own target audience these are:

• BBC1 – BBC one has a mixed target audience as there are programmes for everyone throughout different times of the day.
• BBC2 – BBC two is for intellectual adults and is often seen as a minority channel.
•ITV – ITV also has a mixed target audience as it caters for everyone. ITV and BBC ONE are direct competitors as they both appeal to a large range of people.
• Channel 4 - Channel four’s target audience is young adults from programmes such as Skins but it also appeals to educated adults .
• Five – Also caters for all audiences but doesn’t compete with BBC one or ITV.

• A large percentage of each channels schedule is taken up by repeats; this is to save money as it cheap to put a repeat on.

• Channel 4 and Five import many of their programmes because ITV and the BBC get money from either advertising or TV licenses to pay for funding for their programmes.

• The term the watershed means that at 9:00 pm all viewing becomes unsuitable for children and some young adults