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
"Face The Fear"
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Genre analysis
The purpose of a documentary is to document an event, which needs evidence. In a documentary you usually see actual footage, but reconstuctions can be used. This is a definate for a documentary as it is key for inbetween cuts. Adding a voice over is also a definate as it add meaning to the documentary. The definition of documentary is problematic. In present day there are numerous accounts of documentaries. Some of these represent elements of the truth, though some may have different ideas.
Giving a factual account of an event does not always need to include actual footage, as some documentaries are staged, using actors and sets to evoke meaning and feelings for the audience.
- John corner 1995.
It is important to realise that even in a documentary a high level of construction takes place. A documentary does not always have to analyse, it can also be descriptive.
John Grierson and his team of GPO's defined the documentary. (the creative treatment of acuallity)
Documentaries were also used to boost morale and lift Britain in the wartime, not to mention all previous wars and disasters around the globe.
The schedule of a documentry is vital, and the positioning is tricky. You need to make sure that the documentary will fit in between the two programmes before and after, and make sure that it is relevent to them. Also documentaries tend to be emotional or sensational to try and create a bias opinion from the viewers. Others offer a balanced viewpoint leaving the viewer to decide.
In all documentaries, authenthicity is important. It is impossible to capture all events in their natural state therefore some elements will be faked.
Truth is what you actually come away with at the end of seeing the film. i mean its your truth that your seeing. Everybody who makes a film is putting their own truth on to screen.
Diane Tammes, Film maker.
Current affairs programmes can easily clarify this point.
Current affairs programmes are on a shorted deadline that most documentaries (a documentary may take months to create) and also have more fact as the points are more up to date and topical.
C.A.P are aiming to provid info-tainment.
The public right to know is the main reason for making a documentary.
Interviews
There are several different ways to show a documentary, there may be a full flowing interview that is just continually played, or there may be segments of interviews shown to keep the interview feeling fresh and to prevent the audience from getting bored. Dramatisation allows the audience to be a eyewitness to dramatic events making it more exciting, this may be based on facts and a reconstruction or the reconstruction may be some fiction. Mise En Scene allows the drama to unfold and can be used to advance the arguement of exposition. Exposition is the line of arguement and is the description and commentary within the documentary. The reason for the documentary may be direct, plain, indirect or hidden. Documentaries that rely soley on observation may be problematic however narrators may tell audience what is done through observational sequence. Current affairs programmes can also pose problems as they have to be produced quickly as the events are topical and the may can be lost and there is therefore a short deadline. This is problematic as documentaries can take months, and are there to inform whereas current affairs documentaries are there to info-tainment. The main reason for documentaries is the publics right to know and this therefore means that documentaries gain authority from the democratic process.
John Corner of liverpool decided on the centeral elements of documentary. He said that-
-Observation
-Mise en scene
-Interview
-Dramatisation
-Exposition
were the key factors for a sucessful documentary. Most documentaries contain some observation. Usually the programme makers pretend that the camera is not seen. Documentaries rely heavily on interviews which can contract with the observations seen. Sometimes still animations, photographs and drawings are dubbed over the interviewee to anchor meaning to what is being said. The interview should also be full flowing.
You always need to remember that the audience is an eye witness to the dramatic events. the drama seems to take place naturally infront of the camera, which is not actually happening. Along with this Mise en Scene comes to be a vital part, as things such like the background, colour, clothing and type of person should link in to what the documentary is focusing on. This advances the audience.
Exposition is all about the point of view of an arguement, and is made up of description and combined with commontary. This is all about what the documentary is trying to create and say to the audience. It can be plain or direct, indirect or hidden. Then you could say that a documentary using only reconstructed footage and avoiding archive can be weak.
Documentaries have been known to to result in change of law and legislation. Ken Loach's 'Cathy come home' from the BBC in 1966 shows this.
Narrative Conventions
This relies heavily on the traditional conventions of narrative. There must be a definitie beginning middle and end to a documentary and the central questions of the documentay can be posed at the beginning of the documentary. The middle should be complicated and compelling, this will normally focus on the people within the documentary and their opinion. The middle may present a problem and a blockage where t he documentay is about to come to a close and something stops it. This is where the exposition is fully apparent and a resolution is offered. At this point the audience is in no doubt and the conflict between people in the documentary is entirely apparent, this is where the narrative convention is used to highlight conflict.
When planning a documentary the topic is of key importance, people may use their own life experiences and influences from their daily lives. Manageable topics are the best as they allow ideas to flow easily. Newspapers, magazines and notice boards are all sources of ideas for documentaries, simple is always good. A basic knowledge of the chosen topic is helpful however a strong emotional attachment to the subject is not neccesasarily a good thing. Only narrowly focus on the topic, don't be too broad with what the documentary is saying.
On the visuals there must be evidence and action based pictures included within the documentary. Archieve footage may also be included and this can be based on facts. Interviews can also be filmed anywhere, if the documentary is meant to have an informal feel then the interviewees home is a practical place for the interview to take place. The setting will affect the meaning of the documetnary and the meaning of the documentary for the audience. Setting can add drama to the documentary and it is best to begin the interview with relatively factual questions and then move onto more detailed questions.
Vox pops are essential to documentaries, they add interest and can be made to be light and humerous, this creates a sense of relief from the hard facts used witin the documentary. Vox pops can be done on the street interviewing the public about the chosen topic.
Documentaries can be a direct mode of address or may vary to using off screen voice overs that match well with the visuals on the scree, nature documentaries often use this. The camera is used to convey chilling events and the camera can affect the behavior of the subjects. The process of editing creates meaning within the documentary.
Fly on The Wall Documentaries
These type of documentaries draw on cinema verite, they are almost always observational documentaries and the cameras are left to left to record the subjects without interference. An example of this is the Roger Cook Reports.
A mixed documentary approaches an interview in an observational and narrative based documentary and this helps to advance the argument. The narration is often done in a modern news reporting style. Self reflective documentaries such as Louis Theroux acknowledges the presence of a camera, and those speaking often speak directly to the film maker. The documentary maker is talked to while stood behind the camera. This type of documentary can be said to be confusing as it draws attention to the film makers.
Docudrama
A docudrama is usually about an event that is supposed to have happened, and is done in the style of a re-enactment. Argument and exposition is combined with a fictional narrative and it is all usually based on fact. At best these documentaries can be misleading and at worst the docudrama may be dangerous.
Docusoap
Docusoaps is a phenomenon of recent years, they usually follow people in their different positions and jobs within society, for example they may be filmed in the airport or on cruiseliners. There is some dispute on whether docusoaps are actual documentaries. These types of documentaries are low cost to produce and are enormously popular.
Steven Barnett commented that docusoaps have dumbed down real issues of documentary and chosen to win ratings with friendly rating topics.
When planning a documentary the topic is of key importance, people may use their own life experiences and influences from their daily lives. Manageable topics are the best as they allow ideas to flow easily. Newspapers, magazines and notice boards are all sources of ideas for documentaries, simple is always good. A basic knowledge of the chosen topic is helpful however a strong emotional attachment to the subject is not neccesasarily a good thing. Only narrowly focus on the topic, don't be too broad with what the documentary is saying.
On the visuals there must be evidence and action based pictures included within the documentary. Archieve footage may also be included and this can be based on facts. Interviews can also be filmed anywhere, if the documentary is meant to have an informal feel then the interviewees home is a practical place for the interview to take place. The setting will affect the meaning of the documetnary and the meaning of the documentary for the audience. Setting can add drama to the documentary and it is best to begin the interview with relatively factual questions and then move onto more detailed questions.
Vox pops are essential to documentaries, they add interest and can be made to be light and humerous, this creates a sense of relief from the hard facts used witin the documentary. Vox pops can be done on the street interviewing the public about the chosen topic.
Marketing movies.
Marketing movies was shown on BBC 2, and the documentary is mixed, as it uses a voice over, interviews and also uses archive footage. The theme the documentary looks into is how to market films, the target audience, and how the target audience helps sell a film. From the beginning it was fast paced editing to draw the audience in and make it look exciting. The middle of the documentary shows how marketing audiences can make more money and how this can help the films. It also shows the stages of mouse hunt. At the end of the documentary it shows you the two trailers made for mouse hunt and leaves the audience to decide, and it also makes you want to watch the film.
Throughout the documentary the camera was more or less static, and it used lots of close- ups and mid shots to show the importance of their role in the movie marketing industry. Also there was a deep focus, changing into a shallow focus of the poster- as the interviewee was talking about it. There are also panning shots to show all of the merchandise, which is effective as somebody was talking about it and how much money is made from it. Many high angles of London are shown to show its importance, as well as a zoom in the archive footage on Jonathan Ross to show his importance.
Mise en scene is important as it has to be relevant to what is being said. Marketing Movies did this well as during the interviews they included posters in the background as it is clearly relevant. The interviewees also dress smart in suits to show their importance. The documentary picks a target audience of Britain, and you can tell by the voice over being spoken in an English accent and many cut away shots of London. The sound involved in a documentary is key, but marketing movies does not utilise sound very well. There is much diegetic sound included, such as the interviewee’s voice, and the loud sounds at the premiers. The non diegetic sounds used didn’t really link in to the documentary as they were all up- beat and fast. The documentary could have used more sound effects from the movies that they were discussing so it could link in more.
The editing was fast and used shorter cuts at the start, to draw the audience in, whereas during the interviews longer takes were used, and relevant cut-a way’s created meaning for the audience. The archive material used was limited, and only really used clips from Mouse hunt. The graphics were simple and effective, and were all relevant to the documentary.
Lara Croft- That thing .
The documentary is mixed as it uses interviews, and lots of archive footage such as game and film footage. The theme discussed- is Lara croft an icon? The documentary also looks into the gaming world and how the media influences it. At the beginning of the documentary there are gamer’s interviewed and video footage of the actual games. The main bulk of the documentary gives different opinions on how during the games Lara Croft was given bigger breasts in the second game, and shows the kick up made about this. Towards the end of the documentary, it shows how successful the game was and how this had a great impact on the money made from the films.
Mostly through the sequence it was a static camera to concentrate on the importance of the interviewee’s, but also you see panning shots across people playing the game, which is relevant to what the voice over is talking about. There was also a canted angle shot to shows the importance of the creator of the games.
There were many factors of mise en scene used that created meaning during the documentary. In the background of the interviews there were video games being shown to give the audience a better idea on what the speaker was talking about. Also throughout the documentary it had an effect of a dark, greenish tint to try and make it look like an actual game, which didn’t work very well. All factors of the mise en scene were centred on the computer game which was a big bonus. Sound also played a key role in this documentary and was used well. From the game different sound effects were used such as gun shots and tigers which show what the game is all about. Also the films soundtrack is played through the interview
The Devil Made Me Do It
The genre of this documentary was a mixed documentary, this is because there was a voice over guiding the audience through what was happening, observation was used to prove points that were given and also they used reconstruction was used to dramatis the programme.
The themes that run through the documentary touch on a lot, there is the murder of the nun who lived in the town who hadn’t heard of a murder since WWII, about different people religion and beliefs – God and the devil, teenagers and youth rebellion and also about how the media can have effect on a crime.
It first shows Marilyn Manson fans and the way they act at concerts. Then It goes in to the hard hitting story of the nun who was brutally murder in her home town by three teenage girls, the way in which they use the camera to entice the audience; they use a canted angle with the camera on the floor down a dark alley way. This is a representation of how the nun would have been so makes the audience feel like the nun. They use sound effects to make it really dramatic, such as: heart beat, phone ringing and the girls talking and what they said to the nun while she was dying.
The middle takes the audience through how the police found out that the three teenage girls did it and how they linked this to Marilyn Manson as the girls seemed to have a ‘fixation’ with him. Also shows you how Marilyn Manson acts at concerts and how so many young people are brainwashed by his songs. This documentary is balanced as it gives Manson a chance to let him have his say, but in doing so they always have the camera on a high angle to him, to make him look superior and make him look like a puppet master which may sway the audience.
In the end it leaves the audience to decided if the girls were influenced by Manson or they were just cold hearted murdered. We also find out about what the girls are doing now, a black screen with white writing on telling us how many months the girls had to serve and that two weren’t sorry but one was, this may make the audience forgive that girl.
Many different camera shots were used during the documentary and these are either because it helps to influence the audience such as the women who had a close-up when she spoke which makes her seem important. Or the programme was just trying to get a shot such like when they used a handheld camera when trying to get a shot of one of the girls getting in the car and speeding off. This worked well though because it added to the frantic atmosphere.
The different styles of mise-en-scene where used as where the murder took place the programme actually went there which makes the audience feel like they are part of it. The women who seemed important wore a red jumper to show her importance and that she maybe could be power hungry. They were also on location at Marilyn Manson concert and it showed how his fans wore the same make-up and dressed like him, which shows the audience that he has such a big influence on his fans.
Editing was used in many ways in this documentary, a lot of cutaways were used to show the audience evidence or to back up a piece of information, and it also helped the audience to keep up with story. Match on action was used right in this documentary especially when the Marilyn Manson concert was on we got to see what he was doing and then the reaction of the crowd and of the women watching it for the investigation.
Archive footage was used a lot in this documentary when they showed Marilyn Mason music videos of him cutting himself and the Columbine student killer and how they was linked to Marilyn Mason. Also footage from the trail and the nun’s funeral, but the nun’s funeral might not have been real and could have been a reconstruction.
The graphics used where very simple so they wouldn’t take the attention off the person talking. They were white small plain text and came up on the bottom left.
The Music Biz.
This documentary was a mixed because it used different types of media such as photos, interviews and achieves footage. The different themes used where about Meatloaf trying to make a comeback, how to market a product and how much it cost and also about how important the Christmas number one is to get.
The narrative structure use is set out in a clear beginning, middle and end. The start of the documentary has the opening titles of a magazine and people talking about music as if they were on the front of the magazine. Then it shows us about Meatloaf and how he is trying to make a comeback. The middle shows conflict between ‘Virgin’ as they have paid out so much out for they video and promoting him, some even had to re-mortgage their houses; and then at the end we see all the money being paid off and Meatloaf was number one for 8 weeks.
http://sleevage.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/meatloaf_bat_out_of_hell.jpg
The camera work in the documentary are very simple, mostly of people being interviewed just had mid-shot them with a steady cam so the audience can concentrate on what the person is saying. But there is one place in the documentary with bad continuity as they broke the 180° rule by swapping where he was sat making his watch being on the other wrist. There were many panning shorts of the people in the boarding room to show the audience how many people this takes to do make a CD. There were many zooms when they were on location so that they didn’t get in the way of filming they zoomed in so we could see what was happening.
Mise-en-scene in the documentary was used a lot, the interviews where done with a blue screen behind them so they were able to have videos of meatloaf playing behind them so this linked in well with the documentary. They also showed the village people promoting the song so they would be Christmas number 1. Also they had the set of where they filmed for the music video, ‘I would do anything for love’ and that included a lot of make-up and costumes as an audience we see that Meatloaf like to perform his songs and not just sing them.
Different types of sounds were used, diagetic when the people were being interviews and then non-diagetic sounds for the music over the documentary which where songs that would have been in the charts at that time (1993). They also used sound effects of a heartbeat when building up to the comeback of Meatloaf.
Editing had loads of relevance to the documentary, cutaways were used to support what people were saying and to break up the interviews. There was a lot of fast pace editing to show the conflict between the different music business and artists to try and get to be Christmas number one. Also affects were used like dissolve to break up between shots, instead of doing this they could of use a cutaway to make it flow better.
The different archive footage used where music videos of people who were fighting for Christmas number one to show the audience who Meatloaf was up against. Also The Grammy’s were shown to see if Meatloaf would win any awards and to see if his hard work would pay off.
The graphics they used looked very old fashioned, they came up in a grey box with the logo of the programme at the left hand side and had white text with the person name, what job they did and who they worked for to show their importance.
The Falling Man
The falling man is a documentary about a falling man from the world trade centre- 9/11. The documentary is mixed, as it contains a voice over, archive footage, interviews and graphics. The themes looked into in this documentary is the controversy caused by the falling man, and what happened. The documentary also looks into the falling man and tries to find out who he was. At the beginning of the documentary, you see the image of the man falling with the narrator speaking about the day, and how controversial this image was. Then you see interviews of people who escaped death and people who were involved in the event. The middle looks further into the picture, and what it meant to people, and what effect the newspaper “ the morning call” had on the image, showing it bigger and on its first page. It also showed the story of “the falling man” and how professionals tried to discover who he was. The end saw a woman give her view on the falling man, and what he symbolises.
The camera shots in the documentary are mixed, as there is a range of different shots to evoke meaning and draw the audience in. The camera always seemed to be shaking, almost like you were in the world trade centre. Also you see tracking shots of “the morning call” newspaper to show how many people saw the image of the falling man. There were close ups during the interviews to show the importance of the people who were being interviewed. There were also extreme close ups on the falling man image, trying to get the audience to see what he looked like and this keeps the audience watching. Zoom ins and zoom out are also used, ineffectively as they didn’t make sense, on the funeral of the falling man.
The mise en scene included in the documentary was basic. All the interviews were held at home, to give people such as Jaqluine Hernandez the comfort of her own home, and also in offices and the working place to give the idea of that a terrible attack could happen anywhere, and how average office workers were effected by the crashes of 9/11. The interviewees in their working place all wore smart, working clothes, and relatives were all dressed in black, so you know they were supposedly related to “the falling man”. The graphics were also very basic. They were all in black and white, which were only there for a quick overview of who is talking, what was being shown, or a location. This was to enforce the actual footage of the documentary and not to take the eyes of it. The location was either at the bottom left, or bottom right to make it simple.
The documentary consisted of much archive footage, including hand held footage from the event, news footage from the day, pictures of people involved such as fire men, police men and victims, interviews of people who had lost and trying to find there friends or relatives, and the picture of “the falling man”, and much more. The archive footage gives the viewer a sense of sympathy, and also puts the audience in the event. This was used effectively and was all in order of the events before, during and after. Sound also linked in with this as you could hear screaming from the day, and the voices of people looking for their relatives of friends. There was also a bed of music placed over the voice over to create eerie feelings and to show what a disaster 9/11 was. The bed of music changed with every interview or shot, giving a real sense of emotion. The editing was very simple. Mostly cuts and fades. At the start, the cuts and fades were fast to keep the audience interested, and during the middle the pace decreased to make the viewers listen to every word.
The Rise and Rise of Kurt Cobain
The rise and rise of Kurt Cobain is a documentary from VH1 looking at the times of his life that could have been significant to his death. The documentary is mixed as it contains interviews with some of his friends, a voice over and archive footage such as photographs and music videos. The beginning of the documentary gives you an insight of who Kurt really was and how he lived, his interests, and his parents divorcing. The middle shows the growth of Nirvana and what Kurt Cobain turned to, to handle the stress and fear of journalism. The end of the documentary asks the question “why did he take his own life?” and what he created in this world.
The camera work is simple. During the interviews you either see a close up or mid shot, which just shows you the type of person being interviewed. During the part where they discuss Kurt wanting to join the navy, there a few different types of shots including a zoom out, extreme close ups and pans. This gives the audience a feel of what Kurt Cobain wanted to get into. Also when showing the diaries from his flat, there are zoom ins on certain words of importance. When showing you Nirvana live, the footage is archive, but is always shaky. The mise en scene is simple and in the interviews, all the backgrounds are black, apart from archive footage of an interview with Kurt, which was on a sofa looking comfy. This shows the audience that this person is centre of attention. The graphics were all simple, so they didn’t take anything away from the documentary. They were all white and positioned in the bottom left of the screen. The editing was always quick and upbeat, to reflect on Kurt Cobain and how his life was like this, but all were cuts.
The sound on The Rise and Rise of Kurt Cobain consisted of a voice over. Also throughout the documentary nirvanas songs were played, when relevant to what an interviewee was talking about or when the narrator was talking about a certain album or song. This gave the documentary more of an upbeat feel. The documentary is full of archive footage, and this is effective, as it is shows Kurt’s true journal, his drawings, and video ideas.
Formal proposal
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.
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.
Brainstorming
Others include :
Recycling, old people, TV impact, Bananas, Alcohol, Pets, Holidays, Social networking, Tables, Public opinions, Army, History, Homelessness, Reality TV, people, Festivals, Government, Student life, Food, Electronics, Theft, Concerts, Shoes, Wild life, Hair, Healthcare, Celebrity influence, Clocks, England, Senses, Colours, Books, Drums, Job stress, Music, Cheese, Shops, Fashion, Money, Beauty, Pregnancy, Seasons, Youth, Smoking, Crime, Royal family, Sunbeds, ID, Makeup, DVDs, Politics
Planning.
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?
Interview Questions - Sufferer
-What are you scared of?
-Why are you scared of this?
-How often does this effect you?
-How long can you remember having this phobia?
-Have you ever considered help from a professional?
-How do you confront your fear?
-How long does it take to calm yourself down?
Shot positioning
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.
-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?
Interview Questions - Sufferer
-What are you scared of?
-Why are you scared of this?
-How often does this effect you?
-How long can you remember having this phobia?
-Have you ever considered help from a professional?
-How do you confront your fear?
-How long does it take to calm yourself down?
Shot positioning
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.
Research for documentary
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 a funeral director.
All of the funeral directors we found on Yell.com were asked for an interview- but sadly, refused as it was a very personal topic to touch.
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.
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 a funeral director.
All of the funeral directors we found on Yell.com were asked for an interview- but sadly, refused as it was a very personal topic to touch.
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.
Codes and conventions of a documentary
Interviewees filmed in medium shot, medium close up or close up.
Framed to left or right of screen
Framing follow the rule of thirds- eye line is roughly one third of the way down from the frame.
Interviewee looks at interviewer not directly into the camera.
Positioning of the interviewer is very important. if the interviewee is on the right side of the frame the interviewer should be positioned on the left side behind the camera.
Mise en scene- background reinforces the content of the interview or is relevant to the interviewee, providing more information about them in terms of occupation or personal environment.
Never interviewed with a light behind them, i.e. in front of a window or with the sun behind them.
Questions are answered in full and the interviewers questions are cut out in editing.
Cutaways are edited in for two reasons. to break up the interview and to illustrate what the interview is about and to avoid jump cuts when the questions are asked.
Graphics are used to anchor who the person on screen is and their relevance to the topic of the documentary.
Framed to left or right of screen
Framing follow the rule of thirds- eye line is roughly one third of the way down from the frame.
Interviewee looks at interviewer not directly into the camera.
Positioning of the interviewer is very important. if the interviewee is on the right side of the frame the interviewer should be positioned on the left side behind the camera.
Mise en scene- background reinforces the content of the interview or is relevant to the interviewee, providing more information about them in terms of occupation or personal environment.
Never interviewed with a light behind them, i.e. in front of a window or with the sun behind them.
Questions are answered in full and the interviewers questions are cut out in editing.
Cutaways are edited in for two reasons. to break up the interview and to illustrate what the interview is about and to avoid jump cuts when the questions are asked.
Graphics are used to anchor who the person on screen is and their relevance to the topic of the documentary.
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Audience research
Q1. Are you male or Female?
We gave our questionaire out around the college, we gave 30 questionaires out and now have collated the results. There were 19 males and 11 females asked.
Q2. What age group are you part of?
As we asked the people around college, the majority (28) were in the age range of 10-25. Through this, we can recognice that the questionaire could be bias, and does not have a range of opinion.
Q3. Whats your favourate colour?
We asked the question "What is your favourate colour?" so we could find out what the preferred colour for the graphics would be. we have decided to use blue as it was most popular in the questionaire.
Q4. How many hours a week do you watch television?
Q5. What time of the day do you watch television?
This question was asked mainly for the purpose of scheduling the documentary. Once we found out what the most popular time for viewing was, we could then easily decide on a time to put it on at. The most popular times that the audience selected were primetime and evening.
Q6. Which terrestrial channel is your favourate?
Also, this question was asked mainly for scheduling purposes. We asked the audience what there favourate terrestrial channel was so we knew what channel to put it on. Channel 4 was the main terrestrial channel. We now know what channel to put our documentary on.
Q7. What are you scared of?
This question was asked so that we could get an insite of what the population is most scared of. The question did have limited answers. The majority of the audience were scared of spiders. This helps us a great deal, in a sense that we now know some of the main priorities of the documentary, and what we should focus on.
Q8. Are you scared of anything else?
This question was an open question. Some people wrote down
-Small spaces
-Dust
-Death
-Water
-Feet
-Hands
-Hospitals
-Blood
-Injections/needles
-Fish
This also gave us an insite of what people are scared of, oppsed to what makes people happy.
Q9. Why are you scared of this?
The question was also open ended. There were varities of answers, but most left this question blank, probably because they couldnt answer it.
Q10. Have you ever considered getting any help?
As you can see, everyone asked answered 'no' to the question "have you ever considered getting any help?". From this we drew the conclusions of that maybe they are embarrased of their fears, or maybe their fears dont really play a huge part in their lives.
Q11. How does your fear effect your life?
Different answers were given, such as
-Running away
-Sweating
-Dizziness
-Crying
-Collapsing
This question also gave us idea on what fears and phobias can do to people.
This question also gave us idea on what fears and phobias can do to people.
Q12. Does it effect your daily life?
Some people said no. Some said that it only effects them when their fear becomes real, or becomes very extreme.
Q13. Are you still scared of your childhood fears?
Q14. Has something your parents have been scared of ever effected you?
The majority ansewerd yes. From this we see that fears and phobias could be passed down from generations. This gives us another topic or focus to look into.
Q15. Are you scared of the dark?
Q16. Have you ever been scared of the dark?
In comparison to the question "are you scared of the dark?" Showed us that most people have been scared of the dark once in their life, as the majority of answers from the audience was yes.
Some of the audience decided to follow on the question giving us examples. Some of which were
-Walking home late.
-After a scary film
-Hearing stories.
Q17. What is the scariest film you have ever seen?
This question also gave us further ideas on why people are so scared of the things they fear.
Some answers were
-Texas chainsaw masacre
-The ring
-The orphanage
-Mirrors
-The last exorsist
-Th Exorsism
-It
-A nightmare on elm street
-Scream
-Halloween
Q18. What celebrities scare you?
This question was asked to keep the audience entertained.
The majority answered 'Katie Price'
Q19. When you encounter your phobia what happens?
This question wasnt really answered properly, but some said they would run away, pass out, cry, or vomit.
Q20. How long does it take to calm yourself down?
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