Hannah and I have decided to make this documentary as the beginning of a longer film rather than a short .
Draft step outline
* Introduction: this will me made up of archive footage ( photos and videos) of our grandparents throughout their lives set to Nat King Cole's Unforgettable as background music. This is due to the fact we will be naming our film Unforgettable and also this was Hannah's granddad's favourite song. We are hoping the song can set the tone of our film and maybe even remind other spectators of their grandparents or their childhood with older relatives. The pictures and videos will transition from one to the other smoothly through fades . We are aiming for this to last around 1 minute.
* Next we will use establishing shots which we will film on our way to our shooting locations. Over these clips we will add our voice overs explaining the aims and contexts of our film to the audience. We are hoping this will clear any confusion created by the introduction as well as create a smooth transition into the action of the documentary. The voice over will be made by both me and Hannah. We are hoping this will again last 1 minute.
* The last part of our film will be interviews. The first interview will be with a care home worker who is in charge of entertaining and taking care of patients through activities. I will ask her about her opinion on our topic, and whether or not she agrees with it. I will also ask her what she thinks we should do to make our elders happier. Additional questions may be asked depending on the length of her responses. We are hoping this will be strong evidence supporting our point as it is coming from a reliable source.We are aiming for this interview to be 1-2 minutes.
* A second interview will probably be conducted with Hannah grandmother. She is quite old but very aware . Hannah will ask her about day to day routine and life. We will aim to uncover whether she feels agrees with our argument and whether she too has any ideas on how to improve hers and other's lives . This interview will hopefully give us a more accurate view of the people and situation we are researching as also be effective towards the audience. this interview should last between 1minute - 1minute30seconds.
We believe the structure of the film and the contents should give a good understanding of the meaning of the whole documentary to the audience as well as interest the target audience.
This needs to be presented as a draft step outline, scene by scene, and this MUST be done by the end of this week. I have some concerns about it too, so we need to discuss it further.
ReplyDeleteThis is still not presented in the way I have asked. This is important because you need to have thought about the elements indicated on the step outline.
ReplyDeleteWhat are your reasons for having 2 voices in v/o? This would be very unusual as you know, and may make it appear more amateurish. You are attempting to create a documentary that would look like a real documentary, so make sure you are showing your understanding of the form. The elements of the interviews need more planning that you are suggesting here. For example - what kind of interview set up? Formal or informal? Camera hand held or tripod? (I suggest the latter is needed). What questions will be asked? What is your slugline, conflict, and end question for each scene. This is all really important. Make sure this is all water tight, or it could be much less successful than you are hoping...
Once again - you need to have thought about your audience and the context for viewing this film more than I think you have. Make sure that the content is interesting for your audience (not just informative or persuasive).
ReplyDelete