Proposal

Name: Harriet Trayling

Candidate Number: 5226

Title of Brief: Written brief for a documentary

Ancillary Texts: Newspaper Advertisement and a Double Page Listings Spread for a TV Guide

Outline of Ideas:

My short film will take the form of a documentary about cannabis, the consequences and effects on society and professional opinions on the issue. The professional opinions will be from doctors, policemen, etc. in order to gain information on the positive and negative effects on society, as some people use the drug as an effective pain relief for some terminal illnesses. This documentary will raise awareness about the drug to both young people and parents in society.

How will your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? What is your inspiration? 

My idea will be an excerpt of a full-length documentary, which are similar to some of the documentaries shown on BBC 3 or Channel 4, appealing to the target demographic. My documentary will follow codes and conventions  of a generic documentary such as interviews from experts, text on screen whilst people are talking, a voice-over narration or direct speech to the camera and statistics. From my experience and research, there are not many documentaries on the area of cannabis in which I want to explore. Most drug related documentaries feature policemen arresting offenders, how drugs are made, however not the effects on society, what the professions think of the problem that is leading to broken Britain which is my inspiration for creating a documentary about this topic.

How will your main product and ancillary texts compliment each other?

Marketing is an essential part of the distribution of a documentary, although it is not marketed in the same way as a film. Often, people regard  'documentaries' as boring and useless, which is why it is vital that I ensure that the ancillary  texts represent and entice the audience into watching the documentary. The newspaper advert and double page listings spread will give the audience an insight and make the programme seem more interesting. It is essential that I ensure the ancillary texts are as aesthetically pleasing as possible to encourage viewers and not conform to what many people regard as a 'stereotypical' documentary.

How will you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Throughout this project I will use various media technologies in order to make the documentary as professional as possible. I will use a video camera to produce the documentary, and editing software such as iMovie and Garage Band for the sound aspects. In order to gain images for the ancillary texts, I will use a Canon SLR camera, using my skills from the Foundation Portfolio, I can use PhotoShop in order to edit the images, if needed. All of my research and work will be published on Blogger, in forms of  blogs, which will appear organised and easy to read. Additionally, I will use various forms of powerpoints, sound clips and videos during the planning, generic research and evaluation in an attempt to use as many interactive media technologies as possible.

After researching into documentaries, I have realised that "Control" a film based on Joy Division's Ian Curtis' life does not particularly relate to the generic research and has many differences to the documentary that I will be creating. It is evident from the trailer that it cannot be used for generic research, firstly as it is a film and does not feature cannabis therefore cannot emphasise the dangers of cannabis on society. However, despite this setback, it has enabled me to focus my research on documentaries as opposed to films. It could be argued that I have been influenced by "Control" which is an example of intertextuality, due to the dark images and music, which may appear in my documentary as the audience could relate to meaning and understanding that they have experienced.

The Purpose of a Documentary

Documentaries are non-fictional stories that are usually narrated by a single individual. The purpose of a documentary is not to develop a fictional story, but essentially to tell a realistic and true story by presenting facts and interviews with professionals. A documentary must be given a purpose, whether it is to teach, inform or entertain. The documentary must fulfil this goal. Most documentaries present a one-sided argument, however, in my documentary; I plan to challenge the codes and conventions by presenting a two-sided debate. The topic covered must provide proof and evidence to support each argument, in order to provide a realistic picture to the audience on a topic they may be unfamiliar with. There are many codes and conventions frequently used in documentaries including, voiceover narration, real life footage, interviews with professionals and realism. The codes and conventions all contribute to making the documentary appear more realistic and true when exploring an unfamiliar topic, which is the primary purpose of a documentary.

Mood Board

During the planning stages of my documentary, I created a moodboard on PhotoShop to demonstrate my ideas and intentions regarding the topic. The images suggest aspects related to cannabis that I hope to explore during the documentary excerpt. The audience can see that I intend to investigate the balanced argument on the controversial debate of cannabis in society. By looking into both the dangers and consequent effects on society of cannabis and also the medicinal uses of the drug as a form of palliation, I hope to challenge most typical documentaries and present an objective, two-sided view of this topic. In order to find the images, I used the search engine Google, which allowed me to discover related images, acting as influences. The images I have selected present an element of verisimilitude, which I hope to create in my documentary as it is based upon a serious issue in our society.

Proposal for short documentary

Cannabis: a double edged sword

View more presentations from Harriet Trayling.

The Beginnings of Film (1890s)

Below shows a powerpoint presentation I created on SlideRocket showing the history of film since the 1890s. This shows the progression of both ideas and digital technologies since the 1890s to present day films.

Docudrama Feature Films

"Docudrama is a hybrid of documentary and drama genres which brings real events to life on the film or television screen."

Features of docudrama:

Within the social sciences, social forces produce significant change, which is represented in graphs and population trends. Causes and effects are shown in these types of formats. In relation to docudrama feature films, these forces are shown through the codes and conventions of the visual language. Cause and effect, accuracy and truth are each expressed in the docudrama through the elements of character, plot, setting and exposition.

Docudramas tend to demonstrate some or most of the following characteristics:

• Focus on the facts of the event, as they are known;
• Use of literary and narrative techniques to flesh out the bare facts of an event in history to tell a story;
• Some degree of license may be taken with minor historical facts for the sake of enhancing the drama.

Examples of contemporary docudramas include:

The King's Speech (2010)

United 93 (2006) 

Examiners' Report 2011

After researching Advanced Portfolios from 2011, I found 10 points in order to create a successful film/documentary which I will be certain to take into account:

• PowerPoints and DVDs need to be clearly signposted so that it is clear which bits of the evidence constitute research and planning, which evaluation and which construction, as frequently this was not at all self-evident.

• Images were best when thought had been given to pose, expression, props, lighting, costume and setting and when subsequent use of image software enhanced the photos appropriately.

• Soundtracks likewise still tend to be limited to just a music track, with no attention to diegetic sound.

• In some cases, candidates simply read an essay to camera, which was pointless and in other cases the seven questions appeared to have been disregarded in favour of some general points about the project.

• At the very least, centres are advised to look at the recent debates between Jenkins, Buckingham and Gauntlett.

• Ensure that relevant real media examples are studied carefully as part of the research process.

• Titles in general are improving, but some work still lacked awareness of the institutional conventions of titling, with just cursory attention to titles.

• Camerawork was often far too limited, particularly lacking in close ups and with insufficient attention paid to framing.

• Lighting was often a problem, with inadequate sources producing grainy footage.

• Candidates need to work on narrative and building an enigma; many of them still wanted to condense and conclude the story in the opening two minutes, which of course misses the whole purpose of film openings.

Tips for making a short film

In the lesson today, we watched previous short films that students have created, I noticed both really good aspects and on the other hand, parts which could be improved. All aspects have taught me what to do and what not to do. Here are some tips that I learnt throughout watching the videos which I will carefully acknowledge throughout the research, production and evaluation stages of my products:

• Use a tripod to keep the shots steady.
• Make sure sound levels are synchronised with movements etc. By using a microphone, or a similar device.
• The pace of editing was appropriate for this genre of film.
• Hand-held cameras - could use 2 cameras to create a homevideo contrast effect.
• Think carefully about what Institution identity to use, e.g. Working-Title for a British type of film.
• Consider lighting.
• Sometimes when creating horror videos, less is more impact.
• The editing process is extremely important.
• Rule of thirds is a good technique when filming. 
• If you are adding titles throughout the film/trailer, think carefully about the words - they could spoil it.

About a Girl

"About a Girl" was released in 2001 on a budget of £33,000 and has been a success ever since, as this short film has won 8 awards, including a BAFTA. Brian Percival chose to shoot such a gritty script for his first short film as a reaction against the glossy commercialism of the adverts he had worked on before. The film stars 14-year-old newcomer Ashley Thewlis in a performance that Ewan McGregor described as "very hard-hitting and brilliant.

My Response:

Initially, I thought that this short film was generic and ordinary to this day and age. Documentaries similar to this are constantly featured on the TV, and I expected 'About a Girl' to fulfill these same expectations seen in the 21st Century today. However, I was most certainly wrong. This short film consists of shocking images, narrative and an unexpected storyline, cleverly depicted by the young actress. Throughout the film, she narrates popular song lyrics, which can be interpreted either way; displaying innocence on one hand or a cry for help on the other! The storyline becomes clear at the end, shocking the audience, enough to send shivers down your spine. At the beginning, the camera shots consist of rule of thirds, demonstrating that the young girl is isolated from her family, creating a sense of atmosphere. In addition, the character's use of monologues and stream of consciousness contributes to her isolation of everyday family life, causing viewers to sympathise with her. The young girl is also pre-occupied throughout the film not displaying a care in the World, suggesting that is what young teenagers are like in today's society, perhaps as a result of isolation from family members. Definitely not a light-hearted subject, but really conveys a strong message to the audience.