COMMISSIONS UNIT: Testing Ideas

As none of us had filmed one of our projects in a car before, we decided to test out our filming method. We decided on using GoPros to capture the footage within the cars as this seems to be the safest way of doing so. In order to do this we will mount the GoPros on the window screen of the car in a position where they are not blocking the view of the driver.

Myself and Alex attached GoPros to our vehicles to see how it would work. Alex attached his to his side window whilst I attached mine to my windscreen.

COMMISSIONS UNIT: (Pre Production) Scheduling Our Shoot

In order to schedule our shoot week, we used google docs - a place we could all access and see when we were needed for shoots.

Shoot day 1 - Alex will be presenting the scenes, I will be operating a DSLR and Jason will be operating the Sony EX. We will be filming Alex's grandparents and Alex's house.

Shoot day 2 - Alex will be presenting, Sonia will be directing and Jason will be operating the Sony EX. They will be filming the opening sequence and GVs.

Shoot day 3 - Alex will be presenting and filming, I will be operating the camera. I also interviewed and operated the camera for the interview with the insurance broker. We will be filming more sequences, pieces to camera and GVS.

Shoot day 4 - Alex will be presenting / directing, I will be operating the camera and Sonia will be the runner. Alex will film the interview with Aidan and I will film the GVs and sequences.

COMMISSIONS UNIT: (Pre Production) Risk Assessments

I did the risk assessments for the group (with the exception of Alex's house which he did the risk assessment for). In order to do the risk assessments we had to decide on the locations to be used for the shoots and recce the locations.

The main location for the shoot would be Alex's car - he will be presenting segments whilst driving and also interviewing his friend who is learning to drive. Before completing the risk assessment for this location we had to read the health and safety checklist for filming in vehicles. Once this had been read, I could do the risk assessment for Alex's car.

I had to amend the risk assessment slightly, insuring that no handheld footage would be shot while the vehicle was moving. The tripod would be secured in place in the car at all times when filming. 

I did a location recce of Eastgate Events Venue - where the interview with the insurance broker would take place. This enabled me to see if there would be any trip hazards or any other hazard that could damage any equipment or injure any people. I also explored the location to see where exactly would work best for the interview. I concluded that the room in front of the car park would be best. This room has big windows that can see out into the car park (and as our documentary is centred around driving, I thought this would be a very good idea). 

The room would be emptied before use so there would be no trip hazards. The location also didn't block any fire escapes. We also knew we wanted to get some GVs of Alex driving around, we thought that the grounds of Eastgate Events Venue would also be suitable for this. This would mean there would be some extra hazards (i.e. moving cars, uneven ground, kerbs, loose pavement) but we would plan out any movement with the camera before filming to ensure none of these hazards would be a problem. 

The risk assessments were signed by myself and Helen and handed in to Ferg. We now have all the necessary equipment to film our documentary. We will be shooting from the 1st May until the 5th May.

COMMISSIONS UNIT: (Pre Production) Problems With Contributors

Unfortunately, we encountered a lot of problems in securing interview subjects for our documentary.

We initially had 2 potential driving instructors that were available for the documentary, however, both became unavailable. Sonia then began contacting driving instructors in the local area and managed to find Paul - a driving instructor from Maidstone. This seemed to be secure - although, a week before the shoot, Paul stopped responding to Sonia's messages. We then tried to find another driving instructor but had no luck. We decided to settle with using the insurance broker as the only expert in the documentary.

As we couldn't find another instructor but still wanted to talk about learner drivers, Alex got in contact with his friend Aidan - a learner driver. Although this wouldn't be as good as talking to an instructor / expert - it would still give us an insight into what it is like to learn to drive from the perspective of someone taking the lessons.

Alex's dad also became unavailable, however, his grandparents were more than happy to step in and talk about their driving experiences instead. This actually may end up being a better plan as there will be even more differences between when they were learning to drive and what it's like to learn to drive today.

The insurance broker is still on board for participating in the documentary.

Alex is also still willing to be the presenter.

COMMISSIONS UNIT: Research - Louis Theroux

As a massive fan of his documentaries, I could not pass up the opportunity to do some research into Louis Theroux and his documentaries. I also thought it would be relevant to our documentary to do some research into Louis Theroux as his documentaries follow him exploring different subjects as the presenter. We also plan on making a presenter based documentary so researching Louis is perfect as it may help us to better understand how to present a documentary as well as how to film it.

Louis Theroux has many documentary series:

- Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends (3 series)

- When Louis Met... (2 series)

- 28 BBC2 specials 

- LA Stories

- My Scientology Movie

Louis has quite a unique presenting style. He doesn't seem to go into the interviews with any sort of obvious bias although he has his own opinion on the matter - he allows the interview subjects to speak their mind and then explores the thoughts they present. Although he may disagree with what the interviewees are saying, he allows them to express their opinion. For example, in his documentary 'The Most Hated Family In America' - he begins by explaining the subject of the documentary whilst displaying actuality footage of the family protesting with their placards. Whilst this does set up the family as 'the most hated family in America', throughout the documentary Louis attempts to understand their beliefs and why the behave in the way they do. He does this by asking the simplest questions which almost trick the subjects into giving him the information he wants. Theroux almost goes into the situation with a false display of naivety. He asks simple questions such as "What do you mean?" which makes him out to be a very naive person - when in actual fact he is trying to extract more information from the subjects. 

Louis shows very little emotion on camera as "The viewers need to be a judge of what they find emotional. [He] really do[es] try not to emote. [He] do[esn't] like seeing it on documentaries - it seems a bit unprofessional." This allows the audience to form their own opinions and judgments on the subject matter of the documentary - it seems that Louis just presents the facts and the situations and allows the audience to judge the situation themselves. 

Louis Theroux's documentaries have a very casual style. The interview subjects always seem relaxed around Louis. Louis has admitted to spending a lot of time with the interview subjects of his documentaries prior to filming and during the production. This helps him to establish a bond between himself and the subjects and enables him to gain information that they otherwise may not share. 

Although Louis is the presenter of his documentaries, he is not in every single shot. Some shots will just focus on the interview subjects, others will establish the location. There is a lot of actuality footage in his documentaries. For example, in 'Louis and The Brothel' there is actuality footage of the brothel's newly opened saloon. Actuality footage seems to be more present than sequences - this also helped to give Louis's documentaries this natural, causal and simple feel as most of what we see is naturally occurring. 

Much of the footage included in Louis Theroux's documentaries is handheld. This contributes to the natural / casual vibe of his documentaries. It also helps to place the audience in the documentary. As Louis tries to avoid putting too much emotion into the documentaries himself, he immerses the audience in the documentary which allows them to experience any emotions first hand. 

How This Has Influenced Our Documentary

- As our documentary also has a presenter (Alex) - we needed to research how prevalent he needed to be throughout the documentary. Louis was in a great deal of the shots but not every single shot. We need to make sure that our presenter doesn't overpower the documentary - he needs to be present but not in every shot. Some shots will need to just focus on the interview subjects to give more weight to what they're saying. It would also be good for Alex to have some kind of relationship with the interview subjects in order to give a much more natural, conversational feel. Alex may also need to include some simple questions in his interviews as well as the more complex questions that will provide us with what we need to know. These extra simple questions will give us extra bits of footage that we may not uncover otherwise. 

- It may be a good idea to not force an opinion on the audience. Although we believe that prices for young drivers are too high when compared to the statistics, we should present the facts and allow the audience to decide for themselves. We should still make our message clear but ultimately allow the audience themselves to decide how they feel about young drivers and the financial issues they face. 

- Handheld shots are a great way of getting a lot of footage and adding to the natural feel of a documentary. During interviews, we should try and get some handheld shots of the interview subjects as well as a steady master shot. This will allow for a more natural looking, casual documentary.

COMMISSIONS UNIT: Research - The F Word And Me - BBC Three Documentary

I decided to research another BBC Three documentary to give us a clear idea of the format our documentary should follows. I decided to research The F Word by Charlie XCX.

This is another documentary with a presenter - the same format we wish to follow.

Upbeat, fun music is instantly used from the beginning of the documentary. Even though the subject matter this documentary (feminism) isn't an upbeat and fun subject, the fun music helps people to engage with the subject matter and lighten it a bit.

Charlie begins by explaining how feminism is an issue in the music industry whilst a montage of music videos plays. She then introduces herself - her name, her age and what she does. This is important so that we can relate to her and connect to her and therefore engage with the subject matter.

Charlie XCX is a pop singer and therefore will attract fans of her music to watch the video. Unfortunately, we cannot get a celebrity to present our documentary, but it shows the importance of having a likeable and relatable character as the presenter.

The titles used throughout the documentary are fun - helping the audience to enjoy the documentary as well as learning about feminism. The titles also suit the character of the presenter and her style of music - the font and colours used in the titles are similar to those found in her music videos.

The documentary includes a lot of interviews throughout. These break up her commentary and the facts she's presenting. She talks to other females in the music industry to gain their opinion on feminism.

There is a lot of actuality footage of her performing and sequences of her walking between locations. These help to set the scene of the documentary.

How Has This Influenced Our Documentary?

- This documentary has again shown the importance of having a likeable and relatable presenter. This helps the audience to engage with the subject matter, no matter how dull it may seem to some people.

- Having upbeat music at the beginning of a documentary targeted towards young people is key. It immediately lifts the mood of the documentary and instantly suggests a fun and interesting viewing.

- Sequencing has been shown to be very important. It can help to connect locations and tell the story. It helps to transition from one subject to another within the documentary.

- Lots of interviews make the documentary interesting - especially when they're merged throughout the documentary. This helps to make the documentary flow and make sure it's not too linear.