Your entries reflect a lot of work into all aspects of planning and research. Your research into other documentaries is excellent although would have benefited from individual entries of the definition of documentary. A clear presentation of audience research. You have arranged for a range of interviewees and produced a creative storyboard. Well done to Sorcha for conducting the initial interview!
To improve, your blog needs to be more visual. Include more photos and video links to make this easier to read. Also, used bold letters and font colour changes to make this easier to read. Lastly, you should leave more space between points. Look at your interview questions entry. It is too difficult to read.
You have not included your original pitch or feedback from it.
Tuesday 20 October 2009
Survey results graph
One of the handouts we used in our presentation. This was put together using the results from the survey.
Posted by Reiss
Monday 19 October 2009
Media Presentation
This is the visual aid we put together for our 10 minute pitch. There's no writing on the presentation because all the information was presented verbally. The youtube video is the link shown on one of the slides. It's a video of one of our interviewees, Rory Milanes, skateboarding.
Shona
Shona
Locations, Props & Costumes
Locations: We have decided on using several locations to use for our documentary. For our visual scenes and out interviews with the skateboarders we are going to film at the skate parks (South bank, Clapham ; Brixton). This is because they are all accessible to us and they are all well known skating locations in the Lambeth borough.
The interviews with those who aren’t skateboarders will more than likely filmed in the comfort of their own homes so that they are in an environment familiar to them. In the background can be visual connotations of what type of family or person they are, whether its photographs of their children to posters on the walls.
Props: for our documentary we only really need one prop and that is a skateboard.
Costumes: Skateboarders: Regular skater attire-baggy jeans, checkered shirt, flat trainers, possibly a woolly hat.
Officer: we are going to ask the officer to wear his or her uniform so that it is clear to the audience what profession he is in and the relevance he/she has to our documentary.
The old Parents: Shirts, Cardigan, Formal trousers, the look of that generation.
Posted by Reiss.
The interviews with those who aren’t skateboarders will more than likely filmed in the comfort of their own homes so that they are in an environment familiar to them. In the background can be visual connotations of what type of family or person they are, whether its photographs of their children to posters on the walls.
Props: for our documentary we only really need one prop and that is a skateboard.
Costumes: Skateboarders: Regular skater attire-baggy jeans, checkered shirt, flat trainers, possibly a woolly hat.
Officer: we are going to ask the officer to wear his or her uniform so that it is clear to the audience what profession he is in and the relevance he/she has to our documentary.
The old Parents: Shirts, Cardigan, Formal trousers, the look of that generation.
Posted by Reiss.
List of Interviewees and Questions
Community police officer: we've gotten his contact detail and have left a message for him, but unfortunately he hasn't contacted us yet. Though he's an important part of our documentary we are able to replace him with another person in authority whom we have contact with.
Edward (casual skateboarder): We have confirmed an interview time and Sorcha has already interviewed him.
Rory Milanes (pro skateboarder): We have yet to finalise a date but Rory has told us he's happy to be interviewed and that he's free during the next month, we will most likely film him during half term (next week)
Vivienne and Geoffrey Kempin: These are our "other side of the argument" interviewees, they hold traditional anti-establishment stereotypes of skateboarders. Again we haven't got a final date, but they are available during any day of the week.
Jen (casual skateboarder): Jen is available this weekend for filming (24th and 25th october.) we will film her and some of her skateboarder friends, asking them about skateboarding and those who have a negative opinion of them.
Jack Graham and Sofia Barnett King: A skateboarding couple who could be interviewed together for a more comfortable atmosphere. They are both regular skateboarders and are very experienced in this field. They are available for interviewing between the 3rd-4th of november and should be valuable assets to our collection of interviews.We are also going to have a voice over for parts of the documentary and this will either be Luke or Shona as they both have clear understandable voices and Luke especially is enthusiastic about the topic we are exploring.
Questions for Interviewees:
We will be asking different questions to every interviewee, though for most we will ask their opinions about skateboarders and if they think there are any negative stereotypes surrounding them. We will ask the biased couple why they think skateboarders are a bad influence in the community, and we'll ask the community officer why he thinks that people hold such stereotypes and why young people might decide to become skateboarders. Here are some questions Reiss thought we could ask Rory Milanes:
1. How many years have you been skating?
2. Have you had any bad experiences with people because you are a skater?
3. Do you think the attitudes towards skating have changed? if so how? (positive or negative)
4. How do you overcome this negativity?
5. How does skating affect your everyday life?
6. Which areas do you tend to skate most?
7. What do you plan to achieve in your skating career?
8. Have you had abuse from the community or people in the local area?
Shona Sorcha and Reiss
Wednesday 14 October 2009
Storyboard and Drafting
This is my first storyboard and written draft. Both in the initial phases of design, certain elements will be disscussed, altered, and /or removed with parts yet to be finalised. This will hopefully give us a rough idea of the shape our documentary is going to take and will help us to hone it into a much better whole.
Shona ☺
Audience Research
I created a survey to find out about the attitudes towards skateboarding and skateboarders in general. It was given to various age groups, but those of a younger generation seemed more at ease with skateboarders than older citizens. Younger people seemed to be more relaxed around skateboarders, comfortable in their presence and even stopping to watch them practice. They also seemed more enthusiastic to learn more about skateboarders, even those who hadn't expressed intrest in watching skateboarders perform. The older generation was more close minded and more awkward around skateboarders, prefering to cross the street rather than confronting them. Personally I think that this research has shown that our documentary is designed for a widly ranged audience: the younger members will enjoy the information about skateboarding as well as the visual style and numerous skateboarding tricks. The older members will see the more creative side of skateboarding and hopefully will see that some of the negative stereotypes that surround skateboarders just aren't true.
(The questionairre pictured below was filled in by one of the older generation of people we asked.)
(The questionairre pictured below was filled in by one of the older generation of people we asked.)
Shona☺
Monday 12 October 2009
Arranged Interview and conducted interview
I have arranged an interview with a regular skateboarder for tomorrow afternoon at 1:30pm. I will interview him in his chosen location so that he will be most comfortable. I will only be conducting a short interview which may only be a pilot interview and will not neccesarily be used in our final documentary, however if our group deem it satisfactory then it may well be used in the final piece.
My interview questions are as follows:
Have you had any hostile experience as a skater
Do you find that certain groups have particular opinions on skaters
What are you're opinions on the restrictions which the authorities have placed on skateboarders in terms of the use of public space
I have intentionally made these questions open-ended so that the interviewee is able to elaborate and in order for the interview to conversational in some manners. These questions are subject to change as at the time of recording the interview our interviewee may present ideas which I have not previously though of.
Sorcha
Post Interview:
After interviewing the subject this afternoon it has become more apparent the level of communication skills needed to successfully conduct a professional interview. Although I think that overall the interview went rather well, I am also aware of its weaknesses. I found that the awareness that my voice was being recorded made it slightly more difficult for me to articulate my questions as well as I would have liked, I was quite disappointed with this as it could be percieved as the interviewer having a lack of knowledge on the subject on which they are interviewing which could possibly be damaging to our documentaries quality. However, I have also acknowledged the good points of this particular interview which could possibly be treated as a "pilot interview", namely the interview was well lit, and the interviewee kept at eye level with the camera. I was also quite pleased with the location of the scene - one which the interviewee himself chose as a location which he felt comfortable in, and one which was appropriate to the subject of our documentary - a place where the interviewee sometimes skates. I also attempted to stick to the rule of thirds although it is debateable how rigidly the rule was maintained throughout. I found that the interviewee developed his answers sufficiently and gave satisfactory responses, however I thought that the interview as a whole lacked a certain chemistry between the interviewee and the audience which would be neccesary were we to successfully market our documentary. Although I thought that considering it was the first conducted interview of our documentary, it had its qualities, I also think that the interview seemed almost tedious at points and that this will need to be developed in order to keep the audience intrigued in future interviews.
Sorcha
My interview questions are as follows:
Have you had any hostile experience as a skater
Do you find that certain groups have particular opinions on skaters
What are you're opinions on the restrictions which the authorities have placed on skateboarders in terms of the use of public space
I have intentionally made these questions open-ended so that the interviewee is able to elaborate and in order for the interview to conversational in some manners. These questions are subject to change as at the time of recording the interview our interviewee may present ideas which I have not previously though of.
Sorcha
Post Interview:
After interviewing the subject this afternoon it has become more apparent the level of communication skills needed to successfully conduct a professional interview. Although I think that overall the interview went rather well, I am also aware of its weaknesses. I found that the awareness that my voice was being recorded made it slightly more difficult for me to articulate my questions as well as I would have liked, I was quite disappointed with this as it could be percieved as the interviewer having a lack of knowledge on the subject on which they are interviewing which could possibly be damaging to our documentaries quality. However, I have also acknowledged the good points of this particular interview which could possibly be treated as a "pilot interview", namely the interview was well lit, and the interviewee kept at eye level with the camera. I was also quite pleased with the location of the scene - one which the interviewee himself chose as a location which he felt comfortable in, and one which was appropriate to the subject of our documentary - a place where the interviewee sometimes skates. I also attempted to stick to the rule of thirds although it is debateable how rigidly the rule was maintained throughout. I found that the interviewee developed his answers sufficiently and gave satisfactory responses, however I thought that the interview as a whole lacked a certain chemistry between the interviewee and the audience which would be neccesary were we to successfully market our documentary. Although I thought that considering it was the first conducted interview of our documentary, it had its qualities, I also think that the interview seemed almost tedious at points and that this will need to be developed in order to keep the audience intrigued in future interviews.
Sorcha
Interviewee possibility - update
I now have a contact for PC Wells who we will be able to interview, I have attempted to contact him and have left him a message with a contact number so that he can get back to us and let us know when he is able to film.
Sorcha
Sorcha
Friday 9 October 2009
Similar documentaries and potential target audience. Presentation preparation.
"An inconvinient truth" is an example of an expository documentary which follows classic genre conventions which we will attempt to follow in the making of our documentary. These include trying to persuade the audience to agree with one point of view based on appealing to a common sense response using logical arguement, a voice over; and incorportaing images into extracts.
"Hot Chocolate" is an example of a similar documentary about skateboarding which is a half skateboarding film and half documentary on the life of skaters. It incorporates a lot of film of skateboarders skating into the documentary which we would also like to do in order to engage the audience visually.
"Slammed" is a skateboarding documentary which tells the reader of the physical pain and hard work involved in being a skilled skater. Although it is unlike our documentary, in that it showcases personal journeys and ours involves exposing negative opinions of the public and in particular, authority towards the skater community; it has edited into it a lot of footage of people skateboarding and cutaways, which we would also be interested in incorporating into our film.
Another documentary which is on a similar subject to ours is "freedom of space". This documentary shows the nature of skateboarding culture and, in particular, skateboadring in public spaces. It is similar to ours in that it talks of the access which everyday skateboaders have to using public space to skate, and the way in which public spaces have been skateboarder-proofed, thus refelcting the anti-establishment stereotypes and assumptions which the authorities hold of skateboarders.
From research of similar documentaries, I have noticed that the target audience seem to be mainly from the skateboarding community. From further research, it has emerged that the viewers of skateboarding documetaries are often from middle class backgrounds, between the ages of 14-23 and are highly interested in skateboarding as a lifestyle or a hobby. From this I think that a potential target audience for our documentary could reflect this : young boys from middle class backgrounds who are highly interested in skateboarding. However, I do not think that our target audience has to be limited to skateboarders, as I have seen that many viewers of similar documentaries do not infact skateboard, but are aspirational skateboarders, because of this I think that our documentary will be very interesting to younger males (12-16) who are interested in potentially taking up skateboarding. Our skateboarder interviewees are mainly older (17-20), so this may possibly be aspirational to younger males, particuarly those who are able to identify with the programme in some way or who take a keen and regular interest in skateboarding.
Sorcha
"Hot Chocolate" is an example of a similar documentary about skateboarding which is a half skateboarding film and half documentary on the life of skaters. It incorporates a lot of film of skateboarders skating into the documentary which we would also like to do in order to engage the audience visually.
"Slammed" is a skateboarding documentary which tells the reader of the physical pain and hard work involved in being a skilled skater. Although it is unlike our documentary, in that it showcases personal journeys and ours involves exposing negative opinions of the public and in particular, authority towards the skater community; it has edited into it a lot of footage of people skateboarding and cutaways, which we would also be interested in incorporating into our film.
Another documentary which is on a similar subject to ours is "freedom of space". This documentary shows the nature of skateboarding culture and, in particular, skateboadring in public spaces. It is similar to ours in that it talks of the access which everyday skateboaders have to using public space to skate, and the way in which public spaces have been skateboarder-proofed, thus refelcting the anti-establishment stereotypes and assumptions which the authorities hold of skateboarders.
From research of similar documentaries, I have noticed that the target audience seem to be mainly from the skateboarding community. From further research, it has emerged that the viewers of skateboarding documetaries are often from middle class backgrounds, between the ages of 14-23 and are highly interested in skateboarding as a lifestyle or a hobby. From this I think that a potential target audience for our documentary could reflect this : young boys from middle class backgrounds who are highly interested in skateboarding. However, I do not think that our target audience has to be limited to skateboarders, as I have seen that many viewers of similar documentaries do not infact skateboard, but are aspirational skateboarders, because of this I think that our documentary will be very interesting to younger males (12-16) who are interested in potentially taking up skateboarding. Our skateboarder interviewees are mainly older (17-20), so this may possibly be aspirational to younger males, particuarly those who are able to identify with the programme in some way or who take a keen and regular interest in skateboarding.
Sorcha
Thursday 8 October 2009
Genre of our documentary
A documentary can be defined as a text which presents social, political or theoretical issues in a mainly factually based manner. Some can be very biased where as others give the audience the opportunity to form their own opinions on the subject in question. Over the years documentaries have evolved and sub-genres such as docu-dramas and mockumentaries have emerged although it is debated whether or not these count as true documentaries or mere entertainment.
Our documentary fits into the subgenre of an expository documentary, as we intend to expose some of authorities and/or the publics true opinions and schemas of skateboarders.
Documentaries which have inspired us are "Scratch" as the style in which it was filmed was incredibly interesting and very visually based, as our documentary shall be. Our main inspiration for this documentary has been "Hot Chocolate", a half documentary, half skateboarding video. It focuses on similar issues as we plan to and has set a standard for us to hopefully be able to achieve. This documentary has given us a world of insight into what we intend to make of our documentary. We have also researched documentaries which are not directly related to our topic of choice, but are from the expository documentary genre which we will be attempting to follow conventions of. One such documentary is "An Inconvinient Truth", which uses logical argument to present opinions and perspectives and makes a strong case against global warming. Some conventions of the expository documentary genre which we have noticed are a voice over, an attempt to convince the audience of a certain point of view usually using logic and reason and images used to support the voice over's comments. The expository genre of documentary is very widely used and conventions of it are followed throughout most documentaries and many television programmes. Although traditional conventions are quite dated, they are still very relevant and over-arch into use in genres other than the documentary genre such as the news and even some "reality" television shows.
Sorcha ; Shona.
Our documentary fits into the subgenre of an expository documentary, as we intend to expose some of authorities and/or the publics true opinions and schemas of skateboarders.
Documentaries which have inspired us are "Scratch" as the style in which it was filmed was incredibly interesting and very visually based, as our documentary shall be. Our main inspiration for this documentary has been "Hot Chocolate", a half documentary, half skateboarding video. It focuses on similar issues as we plan to and has set a standard for us to hopefully be able to achieve. This documentary has given us a world of insight into what we intend to make of our documentary. We have also researched documentaries which are not directly related to our topic of choice, but are from the expository documentary genre which we will be attempting to follow conventions of. One such documentary is "An Inconvinient Truth", which uses logical argument to present opinions and perspectives and makes a strong case against global warming. Some conventions of the expository documentary genre which we have noticed are a voice over, an attempt to convince the audience of a certain point of view usually using logic and reason and images used to support the voice over's comments. The expository genre of documentary is very widely used and conventions of it are followed throughout most documentaries and many television programmes. Although traditional conventions are quite dated, they are still very relevant and over-arch into use in genres other than the documentary genre such as the news and even some "reality" television shows.
Sorcha ; Shona.
Monday 5 October 2009
Interviewee possibilities
In todays media lesson, I arranged a definite contact for our documentary. I have yet to arrange a time or date for the interview, I am to go to see Miss K Burgess tomorrow as she is the gatekeeper to the dunraven community police officer.
The purpose of interviewing a community police officer is to find out if the assumed stereotypes about skateboarders are held by this individual, who represents the police as an authority. We assumed that authorities and governments held negative stereotypes about skateboarders such as them being anti-establishment. This interview will enable us to discover if this assumption is actually a factually based one.
Sorcha
The purpose of interviewing a community police officer is to find out if the assumed stereotypes about skateboarders are held by this individual, who represents the police as an authority. We assumed that authorities and governments held negative stereotypes about skateboarders such as them being anti-establishment. This interview will enable us to discover if this assumption is actually a factually based one.
Sorcha
Thursday 1 October 2009
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