Preliminary documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYsaNb50BKk&feature=youtu.be

Proposal for first documentary idea

For this production I will be filming a 4 minute documentary on a bike shop called ‘The Bike project’. Using the research we have collected for this organisation, we would like to focus on the human interest of this shop helping teach refuges how to fix broken and old bikes. Thus allowing them to pick up skills and experience, which could help them in the work of work In the UK. They advertise their work by using social Media an online sites as well as street posters and signs around the city of Brighton. This documentary we would like it to show the help that these people offer to many that are in need.

We are going to be filming a few interviews with the staff involved with this organisation hearing there voice of the issue they are tackling with refuges. Cutaways will also be filmed within the location of the bike shop capturing images of the different bikes and work equipment that is being used. We would also hope to interview someone that this shop has helped and been involved with through there rough time, allowing us to pick up the emotion and the story of the refugee.

Are production name will be called ‘The Bike project’ keeping the name of main name of the shop but excluding the picture because of copyright. With the style of our documentary we are going to show a light hearted feel when watching by using light backgrounds and high key lighting to represent the shop in a natural way that comes across as positive to an audience.

An action sequence that will be used in this documentary is a section showing an interviewee sharing stories about the different refuges he has helped and trained (showing this with a cutaways of the different actions that he is describing) Using this tells an audience using visuals what they do and how they teach them allowing them to visualize and understand the work that the staff do to allow others to learn. Going with the positive light that this documentary is trying to create.

The manger and head ‘bike fixer’ is called Max he has allowed and consented us filming him and his shop. Max being involved with the shop for 6 years has come in contact with many refuges and helped them with their next few steps in this country. His character as a whole bring experiences and professionalism into the documentary due to his years at ‘The bike project’. He is also a very likable person who will bring his personality to the documentary allowing an audience to like and feel comfortable whilst watching.

Why should people care to watch this film? The social significance of this film is to allow people to see what a difference that a small bike shop can make on many people lives. Refuges have been seen many times on the Media, being a big part of the news. This documentary shows that there is something you can do then just watch there struggles. Allowing others to see the hard work and dedication a few volunteers put in to make other people smile.

In each interview that will be recorded we will try and capture the main element of how and why these people help refuges? Trying to see if there is a main reason behind them helping or have they all got different views about this situation.

When thinking about time with this documentary, we will do a reccce of the shop, this will allow us to see the different items and possibilities of filming places, looking at lighting and different sections for cutaways giving us a wider understanding of the property when planning. Creating a story bored and putting together different planning sheets shot by shot allowing the production stage to run smoothly without many or any confusion.

Equipment used to film this documentary will be a Sony HVR-Z1E video kit and a Sony microphone allowing professional standard to the documentary by creating smooth shots and natural transition’s as well and clarity when watching back.

Evaluation for module

I have enjoyed this module, exploring documentary which is something I haven't done before. It has been very interesting. i found challenges in adapting to the different software which is used within this institution but this means that I have come out with new skills.

I have made drastic improvements from when I created my preliminary documentary task on a students first day at sussex in a pair. My editing and filming skills have also improved and I have learnt to be able to work with people despite our differences. I feel that the subject was chosen out of panic after our first solid idea fell through due to the subject not communicating with us properly, so I found myself unpassionate an uninterested in our themes which made motivation for this task difficult but I have very much enjoyed the filming and editing aspects of the piece.

One challenge in particular we faced as a group was that the people we were filming were incredibly difficult to communicate with and despite us being clear from the start with what we were asking them insisted that we make it into a promotional video. This made questioning very difficult during the interviews as the subjects kept altering their answers to make it promotional. In the editing stages we found this challenging to be selective in a way that removed parts of the answers which seemed unnecessary.

I also feel that some members were more involved than others and definitely spent more time working on the project long term. Which i guess is all part of working as a team- you will always come across those who will slack in their contributions. I also found that one member gave the group an uneasy atmosphere by throwing tantrums in our online group chat and using profane language towards the others which is a real shame because in the end we produced something I am quite happy with. This means that I will avoid working with this person again. Although I have been able to develop in my ability to work as a team through this experience .

I feel like I could have used more techniques and film theories in my work such as the rule of thirds to make it more professional. I also feel that my camera skills and planning skills could improve- I am a very improvised person. I dislike the idea of being restricted to a storyboard which is something I need to improve on, I have learnt from this experience that planning is key.

New presentation for Raystede

Previous documentaries

I have also looked into documentaries which would be appropriate to take insight from, particularly ones that have a similar subject to my piece. By looking at other short documentaries with the same themes it gives us ideas for our style and how to convey our message successfully.

Pets in Ameria

In this documentary one of the aspects we didn't want to take from it would be the voice over throughout as we wanted it to have more of a personal feel and less of a promotional video feel. We also didn't want to have any moving car shots because we knew we didn't want to create a kind of association with the style you see in reality tv shows or police chase videos.

We like the close up shots of the animals, which really introduced the animals as characters of the documentary. We also wanted to show a range of individual pets to show some kind of variety. The titles this documentary uses to introduce the main workers was something we definitely wanted to use because it set a professional aesthetic for the finished piece.

600 Miles From Home

One thing that was effective in tis documentary and influenced us as a production team, was the use of music which was parallel to the mood of the piece. It made it clear to us how important non-diegetic sound is- even in documentary pieces.

Another thing we liked was the framing of the subjects in individual interviews. We took inspiration from these where the person is sitting looking into the frame and is placed off centre.
We also liked the shots from inside the kennels which brings forward the reality of the living situations these dogs live in, shocking the audience.

First idea

 

After experiencing issues in the communication between our first subject, we were forced to change topics for our documnetary- this set us back substantially timescale-wise 

Communication with subject: main emails