Ok so basically I've changed my whole plan.
I'd planned to do a documentary on mental health. But it was really just not happening. I didn't have a subject to focus on, and then subject of mental health is really broad and I didn't have any specific ideas, I kept thinking I could come up with it later...
So I'm now going to do a documentary on my dads band.
I think this is a better choice because 1. it means that I have an actual subject, and people to focus on, 2. it's less serious, I think that mental health was maybe too serious and sensitive for me to have been successful with it, and 3. this idea isn't stressing me out like the old one was...
So now I'm redoing my audience research to include some more specific questions on my new subject (music...)
But most of my institutional research can stay the same because I did most of my research on Channel 4 and a production company called Betty TV, which is still valid with my new plan!
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Thursday, 2 October 2008
Institutional Research.
PRODUCTION COMPANIES
In my Institutional Research I found out about a production company called 'Betty TV' (http://www.betty.co.uk/flash.php). I think I will produce my documentary to be targetted for this company. 'Betty TV' has produced documentaries for BBC and Channel 4, as well as others. It also appears to have already been involved in a number of documentaries which are similar, either in style or themes, to what I am intending to create for my documentary- such as Freaky Eaters 2, and Spendaholics.
Through doing this part of my Institutional Research I have found that every production company has a very individual style to its creations, I also found that the style of documentaries made/ involved with 'Betty TV' is similar to what I'm aiming for.
CHANNELS
I also did some research into what TV channel I could aim to create my documentary 'for'.
I found that 4 (Channel 4, E4, More4, Film4 etc..) as a company shows the greatest number of documentaries on similar themes to my own idea (mental health awareness).
Recently, 4 has shown documentaries such as True Stories: The Bridge, as well as the Bodyshock and Dispatches series.
http://www.channel4.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_4
I also looked into the BBC because I had previously seen their documentary The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, whilst doing Product Research. However I found that the BBC, whilst showing about the same amount of documentaries on relevant topics, that the style of BBC documentaries tended to be much more 'serious', and more reliant on location and presenter, and I'm not sure that this is an effect I could achieve myself...
Whereas the style of Channel 4's documetaries (in a generalised way!) seems to be, not less serious, but more of a accesible style, and seems to rely more on speaking... which, would also be difficult, but I think that it might be be easier for me to create a realistic looking documentary by following this style.
In my Institutional Research I found out about a production company called 'Betty TV' (http://www.betty.co.uk/flash.php). I think I will produce my documentary to be targetted for this company. 'Betty TV' has produced documentaries for BBC and Channel 4, as well as others. It also appears to have already been involved in a number of documentaries which are similar, either in style or themes, to what I am intending to create for my documentary- such as Freaky Eaters 2, and Spendaholics.
Through doing this part of my Institutional Research I have found that every production company has a very individual style to its creations, I also found that the style of documentaries made/ involved with 'Betty TV' is similar to what I'm aiming for.
CHANNELS
I also did some research into what TV channel I could aim to create my documentary 'for'.
I found that 4 (Channel 4, E4, More4, Film4 etc..) as a company shows the greatest number of documentaries on similar themes to my own idea (mental health awareness).
Recently, 4 has shown documentaries such as True Stories: The Bridge, as well as the Bodyshock and Dispatches series.
http://www.channel4.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_4
I also looked into the BBC because I had previously seen their documentary The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, whilst doing Product Research. However I found that the BBC, whilst showing about the same amount of documentaries on relevant topics, that the style of BBC documentaries tended to be much more 'serious', and more reliant on location and presenter, and I'm not sure that this is an effect I could achieve myself...
Whereas the style of Channel 4's documetaries (in a generalised way!) seems to be, not less serious, but more of a accesible style, and seems to rely more on speaking... which, would also be difficult, but I think that it might be be easier for me to create a realistic looking documentary by following this style.
Product Research...
In my product research I watched several documentaries related somehow to mental health or other things around it...
The main documentary that I watched was The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive, which was a BBC documentary made by, and featuring Stephen Fry, about life with Bipolar Disorder.
I also watched True Stories: The Bridge, on More4 which was about suicides from the Golden Gate Bridge. And a low- budget internet film called True Sancturies.
From these I found some conventions of documentaries focusing on mental health. I found out that there is generally very little music used, or if there is, it tends to be quite quiet and slow- piano or violin-y. I also found that a general convention is that there tends to be a lot of extreme long shots over a explaining voiceover at the start and that the title doesn't come up until a couple of minutes into it.
After doing my Product Research, I found that most full-length documentaries on the subject of mental health are really really serious, and tend to have a lot of first hand accounts of people with mental health issues. So I'm thinking that I might do the whole of a short 3-5 minute documentary, rather than a section of a long one. I also won't be able to get any first hand opinions from people, except for a doctor, but not from any one with a mental health issue. So I'm going to focus on young people's opinions on it. I think by doing this then I might be able to make it more suitable for my target audience (13-21) and by doing this I might also not have to make it so formal and serious, which I might not be able to achieve properly.
NOTES ON DOCUMENTARIES.
1. THE SECRET LIFE OF A MANIC DEPRESSIVE (BBC)
SOUND-
* Music- correlates with mood being described at the time- when discussing mania- lively, upbeat, repetitive. vs. slow, quiet calm piano/violin music to represent depression.
*Voiceover- Stephen Fry- also maker (?)- recognised face/ voice + upper middle class voice.
NARRATIVE STYLE-
* Stephen Fry talks to camera and does voiceover- makes presenter and subject and voiceover.
SHOTS-
* Long shots- orientating (eg. Hollywood sign, beach, boat, private school... etc.).
* Close ups of Stephen Fry to explain importance of place/ person...
= orientation + explanation
TITLES-
* No official opening credits.
* Name of documentary comes up after about 4 minutes- over camera shots of a plain room- but not plain black background.
2. True Stories: The Bridge (More4)
SOUND-
* Little Music- slow & calm- but mostly silent (music-wise). Lot's of completely silent times.
* Voiceover to explain backstories of what interviewees didn't elaborate on- aka. where they were, when.. etc. Also voiceover says some facts about the Golden Gate Bridge- what it's made of etc. Voiceover- upper middle class male- very formal.
NARRATIVE STYLE-
* Little said by voiceover/ narrator- stories mostly led by interviewees.
* Narraot used to complete stories and make them understandable- simple but formal language.
SHOTS-
* Mid-shots, still camera on people being interviewed- simple camera shots- no distractions from what they're saying.
* Shots of Bridge- extreme long shots or moving point of view shots (often from cars) - put in perspective the setting that's being discussed- shows height of bridge etc..
OPENING TITLES-
* Black background, very long, silemt/ almost silent. Very calm and sombre.
LOCATIONS/ SET-UPS-
* Natural lonely environments in some interviews- contrasts with half- reconstructed wind-surfing, lifeboats etc... ('danger' shots) shows how dangerous/ normal the situation is- audience get to know the area by the end.
3. TRUE SANCTURIES (Un-offical- never distrubuted)
SOUND-
* No music- background noise- cars etc.- natural (but also- documentary not made by an offical production company- low budget- low production values???)
*Voice-over- woman talking- explaining what camera is showing as it goes (aka. different mental institutions). Ordinary woman- quite informal & relaxed.
NARRATIVE STYLE-
* Entirely explained by woman- documentary subject (& possibly creator???)
SHOT-
*Mid/ close ups of woman/ long shots of places she's discussing- hand held camera. Woman explains as camera shows what she's discussing.
TITLES-
* Background info at start- no credits- balc background + white text.
* Ending- balck background + white text again- simple end credits. Silence. Very few names- small production.
EDITING-
* Little editing- correlation between what woman is talking about & where she is- long shot of places she discusses- CONTEXT!!
LOCATIONS/ SET-UPS-
* Nothing staged. No reconstructions.
* Locations- valid areas to story. Where she is discussing- psychiatric hospitals.
The main documentary that I watched was The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive, which was a BBC documentary made by, and featuring Stephen Fry, about life with Bipolar Disorder.
I also watched True Stories: The Bridge, on More4 which was about suicides from the Golden Gate Bridge. And a low- budget internet film called True Sancturies.
From these I found some conventions of documentaries focusing on mental health. I found out that there is generally very little music used, or if there is, it tends to be quite quiet and slow- piano or violin-y. I also found that a general convention is that there tends to be a lot of extreme long shots over a explaining voiceover at the start and that the title doesn't come up until a couple of minutes into it.
After doing my Product Research, I found that most full-length documentaries on the subject of mental health are really really serious, and tend to have a lot of first hand accounts of people with mental health issues. So I'm thinking that I might do the whole of a short 3-5 minute documentary, rather than a section of a long one. I also won't be able to get any first hand opinions from people, except for a doctor, but not from any one with a mental health issue. So I'm going to focus on young people's opinions on it. I think by doing this then I might be able to make it more suitable for my target audience (13-21) and by doing this I might also not have to make it so formal and serious, which I might not be able to achieve properly.
NOTES ON DOCUMENTARIES.
1. THE SECRET LIFE OF A MANIC DEPRESSIVE (BBC)
SOUND-
* Music- correlates with mood being described at the time- when discussing mania- lively, upbeat, repetitive. vs. slow, quiet calm piano/violin music to represent depression.
*Voiceover- Stephen Fry- also maker (?)- recognised face/ voice + upper middle class voice.
NARRATIVE STYLE-
* Stephen Fry talks to camera and does voiceover- makes presenter and subject and voiceover.
SHOTS-
* Long shots- orientating (eg. Hollywood sign, beach, boat, private school... etc.).
* Close ups of Stephen Fry to explain importance of place/ person...
= orientation + explanation
TITLES-
* No official opening credits.
* Name of documentary comes up after about 4 minutes- over camera shots of a plain room- but not plain black background.
2. True Stories: The Bridge (More4)
SOUND-
* Little Music- slow & calm- but mostly silent (music-wise). Lot's of completely silent times.
* Voiceover to explain backstories of what interviewees didn't elaborate on- aka. where they were, when.. etc. Also voiceover says some facts about the Golden Gate Bridge- what it's made of etc. Voiceover- upper middle class male- very formal.
NARRATIVE STYLE-
* Little said by voiceover/ narrator- stories mostly led by interviewees.
* Narraot used to complete stories and make them understandable- simple but formal language.
SHOTS-
* Mid-shots, still camera on people being interviewed- simple camera shots- no distractions from what they're saying.
* Shots of Bridge- extreme long shots or moving point of view shots (often from cars) - put in perspective the setting that's being discussed- shows height of bridge etc..
OPENING TITLES-
* Black background, very long, silemt/ almost silent. Very calm and sombre.
LOCATIONS/ SET-UPS-
* Natural lonely environments in some interviews- contrasts with half- reconstructed wind-surfing, lifeboats etc... ('danger' shots) shows how dangerous/ normal the situation is- audience get to know the area by the end.
3. TRUE SANCTURIES (Un-offical- never distrubuted)
SOUND-
* No music- background noise- cars etc.- natural (but also- documentary not made by an offical production company- low budget- low production values???)
*Voice-over- woman talking- explaining what camera is showing as it goes (aka. different mental institutions). Ordinary woman- quite informal & relaxed.
NARRATIVE STYLE-
* Entirely explained by woman- documentary subject (& possibly creator???)
SHOT-
*Mid/ close ups of woman/ long shots of places she's discussing- hand held camera. Woman explains as camera shows what she's discussing.
TITLES-
* Background info at start- no credits- balc background + white text.
* Ending- balck background + white text again- simple end credits. Silence. Very few names- small production.
EDITING-
* Little editing- correlation between what woman is talking about & where she is- long shot of places she discusses- CONTEXT!!
LOCATIONS/ SET-UPS-
* Nothing staged. No reconstructions.
* Locations- valid areas to story. Where she is discussing- psychiatric hospitals.
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