So What Is A Documentary?

A Documentary is a non fiction film created by a filmmaker intended to document reality for the purpose to entertain, inform and educate the audience

DOCUMENTARY TECHNICALITES

Diegetic & non-diegetic sound-

We originally learned about this convention and how to use it in our previous project the "Film Festival" but Diegetic and Non-diegetic sound will be a key component to our documentary.

Basic Continuity/ Good Flow editing-

Without basic continuity within our documentary, It will certainly not go well... to make a good documentary it actually needs to make sense and flow well with good editing.

History and importance of graphics design-

Graphics design includes animated graphics, typography and being able to make a unique design for your documentary... If your documentary has a generic look and design; it will not get very far and will be dismissed as an average documentary instead of being a very good display of creative media. 

Video and audio production-

This basically means that you need to be fully be able to process and entire production start to finish, this could include making a short 5 minute music video or a full length feature film... you need to have experience on pre production, shooting week and post production/editing. Its key to making a good video.

Shot design and working in a specific role-

This just means that you need to know 100% what role you are supposed to fill while the camera is rolling, and if your doing more than one role and are helping the crew film then you need to make sure that the shot is perfect for the documentary!

Summary of Technicalities!

Overall, I knew the basics of each convention and technicality before we started this project but after having a second run through of each one I feel much more confident in my ability to apply each one to my own documentary. 

TECHNICAL CODES

Handling archive footage

Archive footage means footage that is relevant to the subject but can be used as filler over a voiceover to keep the visual element engaging to match the interesting voiceover, but not all archive footage is used over a voiceover archive footage can be used whenever and of whatever (as long as it makes sense to the documentary).

Understanding "Mise-en-scene"

More about Mise-en-scene in the "Symbolic codes" section!

Mise-en-scene translates to "Visual Theme" and is about the arrangement of the scene and how subtle details and world building techniques help increase the audiences attention to the world.

Interviews: what to ask & how to shoot.

In every single documentary there MUST be at least one interview, Interviews are a beautiful way at receiving information as well as receiving footage to include within the documentary, But if the interview is filmed poorly then it will not add any significance to your documentary so its very important to make sure the filming location is a good one and that the filming equipment is satisfactory enough to make good footage to include. 

Development of graphics.

Interactive graphics and good graphics design is one of the keys to creating a memorable documentary, by including a good range and variety of different media techniques will certainly boost the effectiveness of your documentary  

Working with Narration.

Good Narration is essential to easing the audience into a story, Narration is a great tool used by loads of film makers to be able to drop exposition while showing archive footage and this has an effect of making the story go by faster instead of slower and instead of dragging it makes it so the audience are constantly paying attention.

This leads us into...

ARCHIVE FOOTAGE

Archive footage (or known as AF) is used by filmmakers to show a range of visuals on top of the already ongoing interview to add intriguing and interesting shots relevant to the story that fills the gaps in content.

AF is mostly paired with a voiceover that drives the story forward. You will mainly find archive footage cropping up with stories that relate to historical events in which means you will need to have footage from that time.

There are THREE types of archive footage!

PHOTOGRAPHS

VIDEOS

ILLUSTRATIONS

All three types have the same affect on the audience, Each type of archive footage is used to just enhance the user experience and help them understand the story/subject just that little bit more.

Summary of Technical Codes!

I already knew some of the technical codes of media from when I was working at GCSE level in my secondary school so "Mise-en-scene" and Archive footage was familiar to me but now Ive got a much clearer view and understanding of each technical codes... Including the ones I didn't know before this project! 

DOCUMENTARY TYPES.

MOCKUMENTARY

A "Mockumentary" is a film that is disguised as a real documentary but infact it is entirely fictional and made up while using satire jokes to poke fun at the subject matter!

"The Office" & "BORAT" are two very well regarded mockumentaries as they poke fun and joke around while still being an entertaining and fun watch!

FLY ON THE WALL

A "Fly on the wall" type of documentary is when the film crew and producers are given only a significant amount of time to spend with the person/subject that the film is about... Music based documentaries often suit this format very well.

BIOGRAPHICAL

This type of documentary aims to focus on a person or subject that is no longer alive and it is mainly to take a deep dive into their life.

The Lil Peep documentary "Everybody's Everything" is a great example of the Biographical type as it was released after his death and it takes a look at the life of the artist.

SOCIAL ACTION

This type of documentary is used as a platform to talk about a subjective and relevant topic.

When the highly anticipated social action documentary "Black fish" was released, the whole world watched... This film was made to inform people on the horrors that was going on at sea world and how badly the animals were being treated... Outrage occurred and millions of people saw the company for who they really were; Bullies who steal animals from their homes for our entertainment. But the release had such a controversial topic that so many people decided to stop funding sea world and this was the start of the downhill decline for the company... This documentary connected with so many people that it indeed caused social change within the world... How powerful is that message?

POETIC

The "Poetic" documentary type is made for artistic styles. This type also has more of a "Loose" and "Experimental" spin on the classic documentary type and has more of a messy narrative.

Godfrey Reggio's " KOYAANISQATSI" is a very unique film about how man has altered nature and how drastically our world is changing. This film focuses more on the amazing imagery instead of narration and exposition, They use music to great effect by letting the soundtrack tell the story for you. Overall, the Poetic documentary is made to set a certain tone and mood instead of delivering facts and statistics to persuade the audience.

EXPOSITORY

This type of documentary uses a lot of narration and voiceovers to persuade and inform the audience in relation to the topic. This type also includes a broad range of archive footage, B-roll and reconstructions.

Nature documentaries such as "Planet Earth" is a great example of this.

OBSERVATIONAL

The "Observational" documentary links in very closely into the "Fly on the wall" type.

These documentaries often include- Realism and immediacy.

                                                             Handheld shots

                                                             Long takes

                                                             Less narration and no recreations.  

PARTICIPATORY

This is when the filmmaker becomes apart of the film, this could be where he is the host or interviewer! There will be direct interaction between the filmmaker and the subject.

Louis Theroux is a great example of a dedicated man who loves to make participatory films as he often is the interviewer for his subjects!

OBJECTIVE VS SUBJECTIVE

The "Objective" type documentary is mainly used to state and share hard facts and does not rely on persuading the audience as they let the facts and evidence talk for themselves

Whereas...

The "Subjective" Documentary style is infact the opposite and instead it is biased towards a certain side of a story and may use persuasive techniques to win over the audience.

Summary of Documentary types!

Before this project... if you had asked me to name 3 types of documentaries; I wouldn't of been able to give you an answer.

But now after going through each one with examples and writing it up myself, Ive really come to realise how much I've learnt just from the research stage of our projects!

EVOLOUTION OF TV TITLES

When you sit down and relax to watch a Tv show, movie or documentary, within the first 5 mins of watching your brain will make a decision whether you want to stay engaged and continue watching... or you might think it is terrible and want to switch off!

This is why a good "Title" is the key to keeping viewers watching as it sets the tone and standard for the rest of the watch!

What are the purpose of TV Titles?

Tv titles are a great way to lead the audience on while showcasing what content and mood they will find when watching, It's a great way to introduce the show to new viewers! It can also be a way of crediting the people who worked on creating the show.

The main title sequence functions like an airlock between our everyday lives and the state you come back to when you watch a show.

PATRICK CLAIR

Before the golden age of digitally made effects, The designers had to be much more creative and innovative to make an interesting and unique title sequence...

John Carpenters 1982 hit classic "The Thing" used a a rather special way of achieving this affect you see! The designers created this rather iconic effect by using a backlit fish tank filled to the brim with smoke and then they used rubbish bags and stretched them to form letters which were then set on fire.

Before CGI and digitally made title sequences, this was top of the shelf creative diversity and that's why this title sequence is so iconic to many.

Then we fast-forward roughly 3 decades and we have reached the era of digitally made titles, "True Detective" and " The Walking Dead"  was the the fire that lit the fuse for a explosive race to find the most innovative and creative title sequences. Both of these title sequences are made on the computer and include a huge range of effects and techniques... 

For example; In the "True Detective" title sequence, they use "ALPHA MATTE" and this funny enough is an effect that our teacher taught us to do during the FMP! Look at the "CLASS TASKS" page to see how we did it and why it is such a great effect to use.

Overall it is safe to say that technology and the use of technology within our Tv shows and all sorts of media have come a long way, Now it is a constant competition between companies to come up with new, diverse and innovative titles.

SUMMARY OF TITLING

It's clear to all TV, Movie and media lovers that technology has evolved into something much more than what it was 3 decades ago... 2 decades ago... even 1 decade ago.

Personally I feel amazed and in awe when we learn about how creative teams and people who would make Titles years ago, and after learning about how Tv titles have evolved I feel ready to make my title for my documentary a great and innovative one!

STRUCTURE & THE POWER OF THE PITCH

^ Watch this scene from "Glengarry Glen Ross" This will help you understand the point I am making within this section... For a basic overview of the scene Alec Baldwin is doing a speech to his fellow colleagues about how to master sales and this leads to a very iconic and inspirational speech about how you should look at making your pitch idea a reality.

Here is an Acronym used in this scene. 

A- ALWAYS 

B- BE

C- CLOSING

" Always be closing" is an acronym and mantra used to persuade people who are trying to constantly come up with new ideas.

In my mind " Always be closing" is going to stick with me forever as its very memorable and not just that but the meaning behind it carries so much weight.

Now here is an acronym designed to help tell a basic and interesting structure

A- ATTENTION

I- INTEREST

D- DECISION

A- ACTION

Within your documentary you have a minimum of 30 seconds and a maximum of 5 minuets to attract your viewers ATTENTION!

For the remainder of your documentary you need to maintain a very tight hold on your audiences INTEREST, This can be done in a variety of different and innovative ways.

Every story that has ever been told is always done from a bias and singular viewpoint! So us as creative directors need to make a DECISION on how we approach making our documentary.

Lastly, after you figure out what you are making and how you are executing it, You create your vision and its only up from there! Lights, Camera, ACTION.

Documentaries usually follow a simple 3-act structure. 

ACT 1- Setting up the story, character arcs and the inciting incident.

ACT 2- Getting to the Conflict and confrontation

ACT 3- Climax and Resolution!

This will help you understand the basic structure of the majority of documentaries. 

CONTENT

To create a standout documentary I will need a few key conventions that are critical to making an interesting and intriguing picture.

First off because my documentary is about Mental Health and personal struggles, Im aiming for my documentary to educate and inform as-well as entertain, therefore I will be including a range of different facts and stats to go alongside narration and to also help ease into the interviews.

The interviews I will be conducting are going to be the main chunk of time spent within the documentary as I know the interviews of my documentary will be my own USP.

STYLE

My documentary style will be a "PARTICIPATORY" meaning that I will take part and play a significant role within my own documentary! The reason I chose this style of documentary is because the topic that I have chosen is relative to me as-well as the audience and interviewees. I just feel this style of documentary suits what I'm trying to create and the participatory aspect will allow me to put my own personal views and opinions across as-well as being the filmmaker.

From the 3 documentaries I watched they all had a similar interview style and tone and this is what I want to encapsulate into my own... I want my documentary to have a sense of professionalism.  

PRACTICE APPROACH EMAIL

Above is a practice email I created on 26/04/21 to help me get experience sending potential interviewees an approach email asking them to take part in my documentary!

SOME RESEARCH INTO MY TOPIC

  I got these facts and stats from various websites. VIEW RESEARCH TRACKER.

This will help me change and switch interview questions when needed to suit different individuals.

The Facts/Stats that I included in my final documentary.

I decided to leave the majority of the facts and stats that you see above out of my final documentary to make room for more time for the actual interviews. But I did make sure to include a few such as the "8.2 million people suffer with depression/anxiety in the UK" and finally I talk about in my interview how eating disorders and eating problems can lead to depression and problems.

RESEARCH TRACKER

ONGOING

This document is useful to me as it allows me to keep track of the websites I have used to gain secondary research as-well as being able to implement any different research I have found out!

RESEARCH REPORT

WHAT HAVE I LEARNED FROM DOING MY RESEARCH?

From conducting a huge range of different research mediums I have concluded that all the research I have done will have a massive impact and influence on the way my final edit comes out! 

Ranging from analysing documentaries on my own to being taught in class by my teacher... every single bit of research I have put onto my blog will help me produce the best documentary I possibly can.

WHAT IS THE MOST USEFUL?

I think the most useful and crucial information I have got was defiantly from doing my research online on websites such as "Samaritans" and "Mental Health Awareness" as I will be using the secondary research from these websites embedded into the whole documentary, From start to end I will be talking about facts and stats that I have found out from online.

HOW WILL IT INFORM MY AUDIENCE?

The main point of my documentary is to Inform and connect people. I'm sure that including the huge amount of research I have done into my documentary... It will inform and educate many people! Including me.

CENSORSHIP

WHAT IS CENSORSHIP?

Censorship is a technique that media outlets use to control the content that is on all types of media such as Social Media, Film, TV.

The reason for Censorship is so that the content can appeal to a range of people and does not discriminate or offend any person to keep the company out of any legal trouble.

For Censorship its easier to remember it as the 3 P's...

PROTECTS the filmmaker and company.

PROTECTS the public and audience when watching.

PROTECTS the identity of those involved.

TYPES OF CENSORSHIP

VIEWER DISCRETION- If the content within the video is too graphic or sensitive then it must be censored! But obviously this little warning screen does not mean you cannot watch... it just means watch at your own risk.

FIXING CONTINUITY MISTAKES- Sometimes even the editors get it wrong! Leaving obvious errors within the scene. For example in the picture even a huge franchise like "Star Wars" can make errors within their own continuity by messing up the characters clothing.

"BLEEP" CENSORSHIP- This type of censor is a great way of blocking out offensive language while keeping the flow of the scene relatively smooth! A "BLEEP" type sound affect will play over the rude words but leave after the word is finished... But if the character is swearing multiple times then obviously that Bleep will be there to cover it.

MAIN TASK FROM 28/04/21

As a class, we was given a scenario of being an editor for the BBC and we have to overview a TV show and censor what WE believe needs to be censored!

For this task I put down that...

2,3,7,9 should all be censored whereas the other ones should not... Obviously this is MY OWN OPINION and not supposed to be 100% accurate but I felt I really enjoyed this task as it allowed me to broaden my knowledge and help me interact with the class. 

WILL I INCLUDE CENSORSHIP WITHIN MY OWN DOCUMENTARY?

I believe that I might have to use slight censorship at the start of the video... so I would use the "Viewer discretion" technique just to allow viewers who start up my documentary to let them know that they will see and hear upsetting images. 

ARCHIVE FOOTAGE (PERSONAL)

Why I included my own archive footage-

I wanted to include my own archive footage in the style of pictures just to illustrate what Im talking about. The pictures are a way for me to tell implicitly tell the audience what I mean and also it just helps with the entertainment factor and makes for a nice change when just looking at talking heads.

STOCK FOOTAGE

May 7th 2021- In this session our teacher Paul gave us recommendations of websites that offer free to use stock footage that we can possibly include in our documentary! After visiting the website  https://www.pexels.com/. I decided that there was so many great and useful videos that I knew would make my documentary that much better and more professional. 

Below are the links to a few of the Stock videos I had found and would like to use within my own documentary. I could only link 2 of the videos due to the rest of them being to big to upload onto webnode.