Calum, George and I have been looking at different types of interviewing techniques. We have filmed ourselves interviewing each other and doing some 'undercover' camera work to see what these shots would look like. This will help us when we make our main project as we can see which shots fit into our chosen documentary style.
The link for this video can be found below:
http://www.youtube.com/user/GCNMedia#p/u/1/17ygkhkR_5c
The shots that I thought were most successful in this video were the silhouette interview shot and the undercover interviews. I felt that these were the most interesting and engaging for me as an audience member and could fit into a more original and upbeat for of documentary style.
Wednesday, 15 December 2010
Sunday, 21 November 2010
Rachel's Story: Underage and Pregnant
George, Calum and I have made a documentary based on a pregnant teenager and the effect that it is having on her school life. The link for this can be found below:
http://www.youtube.com/user/GCNMedia#p/u
This documentary was more serious than 'The Boy Who Carries Around Personal Information Around In A Tube.' and therefore was more like the type of documentary I would like to do. The issue we used (teenage pregnancy) is very current, however, I would like to use a serious and up to date topic such as this with a much less conventional form of documentary style. The music, fill shots and interview style are all very typical of a fly on the wall documentary. I feel a more upbeat style could appeal to a wider audience and make our documentary stand out.
http://www.youtube.com/user/GCNMedia#p/u
This documentary was more serious than 'The Boy Who Carries Around Personal Information Around In A Tube.' and therefore was more like the type of documentary I would like to do. The issue we used (teenage pregnancy) is very current, however, I would like to use a serious and up to date topic such as this with a much less conventional form of documentary style. The music, fill shots and interview style are all very typical of a fly on the wall documentary. I feel a more upbeat style could appeal to a wider audience and make our documentary stand out.
Saturday, 6 November 2010
Mockumentary
Ellen, Calum, Jack and myself were all involved in making a mockumentary. This can be found on the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEttmAcfNrg
It is called and shows a boy who possessive over a cardboard true which has something inside of it; the audience never finds out what this is.
Although I enjoyed helping to make this mockumentary, I still feel that I do not want to do a mockumentary as I feel that they use less technically challenging editing and camera skills. I also think that, unless done extremely well with a firm idea that would appeal to a wide audience, they can look unprofessional. Despite 'The Boy Who Carries Around Personal Information Around In A Tube.' being amusing to my college friends and myself I doubt that a mockumentary like this would do as well worldwide with people who do not know the character's or any inside jokes on a more personal level.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEttmAcfNrg
It is called and shows a boy who possessive over a cardboard true which has something inside of it; the audience never finds out what this is.
Although I enjoyed helping to make this mockumentary, I still feel that I do not want to do a mockumentary as I feel that they use less technically challenging editing and camera skills. I also think that, unless done extremely well with a firm idea that would appeal to a wide audience, they can look unprofessional. Despite 'The Boy Who Carries Around Personal Information Around In A Tube.' being amusing to my college friends and myself I doubt that a mockumentary like this would do as well worldwide with people who do not know the character's or any inside jokes on a more personal level.
Sunday, 24 October 2010
Green Screen
As mentioned in the brief for our Global Warming documentary, we want to try to use a green screen to make it seem like we are in the Antarctic. This would be a difficult, however, if done properly, could look very professional. Below is a link to the video of our first attempt at using the green screen technology:
http://www.youtube.com/user/GCNMedia#p/u/3/F0v44jfgX1o
To make this video George and Calum came to my house and used a blue screen outside. We did some shots with movement and others without to see how they looked.
What I have learnt from this:
As you can see, the background being used was not the correct colour blue and therefore some of the picture was unclear; for our project we would have to use a real green screen.
As there was not enough space to set the screen up inside, we used the blue screen outside. This meant that the lighting changed as the sun came out and went back in, this not only changed the colour of the screen slightly making the image fuzzier, but also meant that the lighting was not right for the image we edited into the background. We would have to take care to get the lighting correct in our project in order for it to look professional.
The screen was not very large and therefore some of my conservatory can be seen. We will have to make sure that the screen we use is big enough so that this does not happen.
http://www.youtube.com/user/GCNMedia#p/u/3/F0v44jfgX1o
To make this video George and Calum came to my house and used a blue screen outside. We did some shots with movement and others without to see how they looked.
What I have learnt from this:
As you can see, the background being used was not the correct colour blue and therefore some of the picture was unclear; for our project we would have to use a real green screen.
As there was not enough space to set the screen up inside, we used the blue screen outside. This meant that the lighting changed as the sun came out and went back in, this not only changed the colour of the screen slightly making the image fuzzier, but also meant that the lighting was not right for the image we edited into the background. We would have to take care to get the lighting correct in our project in order for it to look professional.
The screen was not very large and therefore some of my conservatory can be seen. We will have to make sure that the screen we use is big enough so that this does not happen.
Friday, 8 October 2010
Documentary Presentations
As well as my own documentary presentation, other members of the class also made presentations an example of these can be found below:
This presentation was created by Ellen Crane and outlines the conventions of a mockumentary. I feel that I would prefer to do a more serious piece rather than a mockumentary as this would appeal to a wider audience and would enable the use of more advance editing techniques.
Mockumentary
View more presentations from Ellen Crane
This presentation was created by Ellen Crane and outlines the conventions of a mockumentary. I feel that I would prefer to do a more serious piece rather than a mockumentary as this would appeal to a wider audience and would enable the use of more advance editing techniques.
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Inspiration from different documentaries
There are a number of different documentaries that I will be looking at to try to use and expand on other documentary ideas and styles.
Dispatches
Dispatches is a Channel 4 documentary that deals with up to date issues. It is typically expository with voice overs and undercover footage rather than a presenter.
The episode of Dispatches that I have watched is called 'Britain's Secret Slaves' the link for which can be found below:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/4od#3129534
Although I like the expository side of this type of documentary, I want to make a more interesting documentary. I feel that this could be achieved with different camera angles and techniques as well as engaging fill shots that keep the documentary up beat. This would probably appeal more to a younger audience.
Bodyshock
Bodyshock is also a Channel 4 documentary and looks at different bodily deformities.It uses voice overs to document the stories of different people and their journey to correct their deformities. However, the people with the bodily deformities are seen talking to the camera about their experiences rather than the more formal interviews of Dispatches.
The episode of Bodyshock that I have watched is called 'Half Ton Man' the link for which can be found below:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/bodyshock/4od#2923145
I thought Bodyshock was another documentary with an interesting topic, however, I again feel that different editing techniques could make the documentary more upbeat and therefore more appealing to the viewer.
Kevin McCloud: Slumming it
Slumming it is another Channel 4 documentary. It follows Kevin McCloud, the presenter and documentary maker, as he goes to Indian slums and third world countries to see how people live. This is a participatory documentary in which he is the main presenter and is seen getting involved in jobs and projects to improve living conditions as well as interviews in which he is also in the shot listening and responding to the answers given.
The episode of Slumming it that I have watched is the second in the series the link for which can be found below:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/kevin-mccloud-slumming-it/4od#3051418
I like the idea of Slumming it, as I like the participatory role played by Kevin McCloud. I think this makes the documentary more appealing as the feelings expressed by the presenter make the documentary more emotive and therefore more engaging for the viewer. I think this could be a good technique if placed with a more up to date topic from the news.
Louis Theroux: The Most Hated Family in America
The Most Hated Family In America is a BBC documentary in which Louis Theroux lives with a group of born again christians. It is a participatory documentary and sees Theroux on camera as he interviews them and goes about their daily lives with them.
The episode of Louis Theroux's work that I have watched is called The Most Hated Family in America, the link for which can be found below:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7735501683185935638#
Louis Theroux makes an interesting documentary with a very engaging style. He has chosen a topic that is serious however the way in which it is filmed and presented make it slightly humorous and engaging for the viewer. Again his participatory role engages the audience by making the documentary more emotive.
Dispatches
Dispatches is a Channel 4 documentary that deals with up to date issues. It is typically expository with voice overs and undercover footage rather than a presenter.
The episode of Dispatches that I have watched is called 'Britain's Secret Slaves' the link for which can be found below:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/4od#3129534
Although I like the expository side of this type of documentary, I want to make a more interesting documentary. I feel that this could be achieved with different camera angles and techniques as well as engaging fill shots that keep the documentary up beat. This would probably appeal more to a younger audience.
Bodyshock
Bodyshock is also a Channel 4 documentary and looks at different bodily deformities.It uses voice overs to document the stories of different people and their journey to correct their deformities. However, the people with the bodily deformities are seen talking to the camera about their experiences rather than the more formal interviews of Dispatches.
The episode of Bodyshock that I have watched is called 'Half Ton Man' the link for which can be found below:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/bodyshock/4od#2923145
I thought Bodyshock was another documentary with an interesting topic, however, I again feel that different editing techniques could make the documentary more upbeat and therefore more appealing to the viewer.
Kevin McCloud: Slumming it
Slumming it is another Channel 4 documentary. It follows Kevin McCloud, the presenter and documentary maker, as he goes to Indian slums and third world countries to see how people live. This is a participatory documentary in which he is the main presenter and is seen getting involved in jobs and projects to improve living conditions as well as interviews in which he is also in the shot listening and responding to the answers given.
The episode of Slumming it that I have watched is the second in the series the link for which can be found below:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/kevin-mccloud-slumming-it/4od#3051418
I like the idea of Slumming it, as I like the participatory role played by Kevin McCloud. I think this makes the documentary more appealing as the feelings expressed by the presenter make the documentary more emotive and therefore more engaging for the viewer. I think this could be a good technique if placed with a more up to date topic from the news.
Louis Theroux: The Most Hated Family in America
The Most Hated Family In America is a BBC documentary in which Louis Theroux lives with a group of born again christians. It is a participatory documentary and sees Theroux on camera as he interviews them and goes about their daily lives with them.
The episode of Louis Theroux's work that I have watched is called The Most Hated Family in America, the link for which can be found below:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7735501683185935638#
Louis Theroux makes an interesting documentary with a very engaging style. He has chosen a topic that is serious however the way in which it is filmed and presented make it slightly humorous and engaging for the viewer. Again his participatory role engages the audience by making the documentary more emotive.
Friday, 17 September 2010
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?
This is the first 10 minutes of the documentary 'Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?' presented by Morgan Spurlock. It is a documentary film about Spurlock's search for Bin Laden as he explores relations between America and Israel.
I thought that this was a good documentary as it automatically engages the viewer. There are a range of effects and different technologies that are interesting as well as informative. I think that the participatory style of the documentary is also engaging for the viewer and is a useful way to make a serious topic more appealing to the audience. The music also gives this documentary an upbeat mood however in parts I think that it takes some of the importance away from the topic of American and Israelian relations as well as the seriousness of the dangers Spurlock may face.
Ideas for my documentary:
- Seeing this has definitely made me want to do a participatory documentary as I feel this will be more engaging for the viewer.
- The range of technologies and styles of camera work and effects have made me want to use more of a variety of technologies as I feel that this again engages the audience.
- I would like to use a serious topic that we can make more interesting with the above techniques however I want to keep the topic more serious than Spurlock does in 'Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?'
I thought that this was a good documentary as it automatically engages the viewer. There are a range of effects and different technologies that are interesting as well as informative. I think that the participatory style of the documentary is also engaging for the viewer and is a useful way to make a serious topic more appealing to the audience. The music also gives this documentary an upbeat mood however in parts I think that it takes some of the importance away from the topic of American and Israelian relations as well as the seriousness of the dangers Spurlock may face.
Ideas for my documentary:
- Seeing this has definitely made me want to do a participatory documentary as I feel this will be more engaging for the viewer.
- The range of technologies and styles of camera work and effects have made me want to use more of a variety of technologies as I feel that this again engages the audience.
- I would like to use a serious topic that we can make more interesting with the above techniques however I want to keep the topic more serious than Spurlock does in 'Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?'
Friday, 10 September 2010
Documentary Ideas
Once in our groups, we were able to think of ideas for our main documentary project. To do this we discussed different journalists, their style of documentary and which kinds of topics we would like to have in our project.
TOPIC
Our group came to the decision that we wanted to do a more serious project; we didn't want to do a mockumentary as this may not be taken as seriously. For us, this also ruled out reality television documentaries as we felt that again, this would not be taken as seriously and was specific to a certain audience. That left us with topics that were quite current or that had an effect on a larger audience.George then came up with the idea of having global warming as a topic as this was both current news and effected the whole of the world giving us a larger audience.
This meant that we were now able to research other documentaries about global warming to see the kinds of information given in them.
STYLE
Our group also had to think of a style of documentary. I suggested doing a participatory documentary as, after researching different journalists, I feel that the most engaging were those that participated in the documentary and experienced events first hand. I was inspired by the documentary 'Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden' in which Morgan Spurlock searches for Osama Bin Laden. I thought that this documentary was engaging because, at the beginning, the audience sees Morgan training to go to Iraq. This also meant that the mood of the documentary was lightened slightly which again I felt was more engaging for the audience. This led me to think of the idea of having to train to go to the Antartic in order to research global warming first hand.This also meant that we could use a number of different technologies.
CONTENT
Some of the content we decided on having in our documentary extract can be seen below. We came up with these ideas together as a group and discussed both the reality of what we would be able to do and what would make the documentary most engaging to the audience.
News Montages - this would involve having a number of news stories that were linked to global warming with a voice over explaining what the documentary would be about.
Green Screen - we will use this to have a short (no more than 10 seconds!) clip of us in the Antartic to show the audience what was coming up in the documentary. (We will only use this technique if it looks realistic so have planned to try out the green screen effect before putting it into our documentary.
Night Vision Effect - we will have a shot of me in a tent saying that the trip is both physically and emotionally challenging and use imovie to add a night vision effect.
LOCATIONS
The Gym - we will try to find a gym that will give us permission to film. This will be the location in which our group 'trains' to go to the Antartic by using the equipment available.
Brooklands College - we may use this location as Air Cadets is held here. This means that we can pretend that we are at an army training base as they will be wearing the correct uniform and we can pretend to train with them.
My House - my house will be used for the green screen if we decide that it looks realistic. We will also use my house for the shots inside the tent by changing the lighting and making it seem like the tent is in windy arctic conditions.
Brooklands Museum - we will try to get permisson from Brooklands Museum to film on one of the planes that they have. This would be our end shot as we sit in the air plane ready for take off speaking to the camera and expressing our fears and concerns about the journey ahead.
EQUIPMENT
-Cameras (2)
-Green Screen
-Ski Equipment
-Mountain Gear
-Torch
-Tent
-Training wear
TOPIC
Our group came to the decision that we wanted to do a more serious project; we didn't want to do a mockumentary as this may not be taken as seriously. For us, this also ruled out reality television documentaries as we felt that again, this would not be taken as seriously and was specific to a certain audience. That left us with topics that were quite current or that had an effect on a larger audience.George then came up with the idea of having global warming as a topic as this was both current news and effected the whole of the world giving us a larger audience.
This meant that we were now able to research other documentaries about global warming to see the kinds of information given in them.
STYLE
Our group also had to think of a style of documentary. I suggested doing a participatory documentary as, after researching different journalists, I feel that the most engaging were those that participated in the documentary and experienced events first hand. I was inspired by the documentary 'Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden' in which Morgan Spurlock searches for Osama Bin Laden. I thought that this documentary was engaging because, at the beginning, the audience sees Morgan training to go to Iraq. This also meant that the mood of the documentary was lightened slightly which again I felt was more engaging for the audience. This led me to think of the idea of having to train to go to the Antartic in order to research global warming first hand.This also meant that we could use a number of different technologies.
CONTENT
Some of the content we decided on having in our documentary extract can be seen below. We came up with these ideas together as a group and discussed both the reality of what we would be able to do and what would make the documentary most engaging to the audience.
News Montages - this would involve having a number of news stories that were linked to global warming with a voice over explaining what the documentary would be about.
Green Screen - we will use this to have a short (no more than 10 seconds!) clip of us in the Antartic to show the audience what was coming up in the documentary. (We will only use this technique if it looks realistic so have planned to try out the green screen effect before putting it into our documentary.
Night Vision Effect - we will have a shot of me in a tent saying that the trip is both physically and emotionally challenging and use imovie to add a night vision effect.
LOCATIONS
The Gym - we will try to find a gym that will give us permission to film. This will be the location in which our group 'trains' to go to the Antartic by using the equipment available.
Brooklands College - we may use this location as Air Cadets is held here. This means that we can pretend that we are at an army training base as they will be wearing the correct uniform and we can pretend to train with them.
My House - my house will be used for the green screen if we decide that it looks realistic. We will also use my house for the shots inside the tent by changing the lighting and making it seem like the tent is in windy arctic conditions.
Brooklands Museum - we will try to get permisson from Brooklands Museum to film on one of the planes that they have. This would be our end shot as we sit in the air plane ready for take off speaking to the camera and expressing our fears and concerns about the journey ahead.
EQUIPMENT
-Cameras (2)
-Green Screen
-Ski Equipment
-Mountain Gear
-Torch
-Tent
-Training wear
The Group
For our main documentary project, we had to get into groups of no more than four. The group which I am in consists of:
CALUM BOWEN
I worked with Calum last year and thought that he had a lot of good ideas and was easy to work with. He also pulls his weight in a group and is also passionate about media so I knew that he would work hard to produce a good documentary.
GEORGE NICHOLLS
I haven't worked with George before but I saw how hard he worked last year and I thought that some of the ideas he used for his media were really interesting. Again, he is passionate about media so I know that he will also work hard within the group.
CALUM BOWEN
I worked with Calum last year and thought that he had a lot of good ideas and was easy to work with. He also pulls his weight in a group and is also passionate about media so I knew that he would work hard to produce a good documentary.
GEORGE NICHOLLS
I haven't worked with George before but I saw how hard he worked last year and I thought that some of the ideas he used for his media were really interesting. Again, he is passionate about media so I know that he will also work hard within the group.
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Type 1 Documentary Examples:
As mentioned before there are many different ways of presenting a documentary. In our main project this will be my main focus as I am interested in journalism. For this reason I have taken a closer look at the different forms of presenting a documentary to the audience in order to assess which way I feel is most creative and effectivein engaging the audience.
LOUIS THEROUX
NICK COOK
MORGAN SPURLOCK
CHRISTIAN JESSEN and ANNA RICHARDSON
MARK DOLAN
The general techniqueof Louis Theroux is to follow the lives of people of particular interest. He lives alongside them whilst interviewing them in order to gain an insight into their way of living. This enables the audience to view their experiences first hand which is often informative as well as engaging. Louis' style is quite commercial as he is appealing to the audiences needs by asking questions that they too want to know, again this is effective in engaging the audience. A down side to the presenting of Louis Theroux is that the audience is led to agree with his own opinions that are often formed before exploring the particular area of interest.
Is similar to Christian Jessen in that he specialises in a particular area and does documentaries on this specific area of interest. Nick Cook is an aviation journalist who has taken particular interest in UFOs and reports on them in front of the camera as well as using voice overs. He researches the information needed to make the documentary and voices his expert opinion throughout the documentary. As with other journalists, this enables him to not only inform but to effect the viewers opinion. His documentaries are made to be sinister and dramatic as with many other conspiracy documentaries, this is more engaging for the viewer and also helps to steer their opinion to match that of the documentary maker. Most of the interviews in his documentaries are done with him behind the camera, this gives a sense of distance between him as a presenter and the interviewee which I found less effective.
The style that Morgan Spurlock uses in his documentary film is again to explore first hand the area of interest which the audience sees him research into. This means that the audience is more involved within the documentary as they are seeing the effects of either eating too much junk food or of travelling into the Middle East on Morgan himself therefore hearing how the experience effects him and exploring his own feelings. Not only is this both informative and engaging, but it also gives Morgan the ability to talk to specialists or those effected by the given documentary himself in interviews throughout the documentary films. The danger and therefore drama involved in filming his documentaries make them appealing to the audience as well as the interesting editing, music and special effects used in the film.
Is also a specialist in his area of work; he is a doctor. This enables him to give his expert opinion to the over and under weight people found in his documentary 'Supersize Vs Superskinny'. This again makes the documentary more informative for the viewer and enables Christian himself to have an informed opinion on a matter that some audience members may find hard to understand. Unlike Nick Cook he converses with interviewees in front of camera which I feel engages the audience more. Furthermore his documentaries are made more interest by using another journalist, Anna Richardson, who is not a specialist in the area of health. This means that the documentary features someone that can relate to the audience effectively as well as having an expert making the documentary more engaging as well as informative. Anna Richardson uses the technique of undergoing experiments on herself, such as the diets she tries, in order to show the audience the negative as well as the positive effects with first hand experience.
Is similar to Louis Theroux in many ways. In his series 'The World's .... and me' he also explores the lives of people of particular interest by meeting with them. He explores these people by researching whilst travelling to meet them in order to find the most extreme subject of his given genre. Again, his views and opinions are voiced throughout the documentary leading the viewer to have a subjective opinion on the given matters.
Monday, 14 June 2010
Introduction to documentaries
For our A level, we have been asked to create a documentary on a choice of our subject. There are four available types of documentary that we can use;
- Reflexive - where the film maker is in front of the camera
- Poetic - artistic narrative. More human interest than current affairs
- Observational - following an event as it unfolds
- Expostitory - exposition of a person or a topic
These types of documentary aren't exclusive and can be a combination or hybrid of the above types.
There are also four different purposes of documentaries;
- To record, reveal or preserve
- To persuade or promote
- To analyse or interrogate
- To express views or opinions
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