The programme is introduced with a long shot of the veterinarian practice. This establishes the location and subject matter of the documentary.
The narration of the documentary then begins. As the narration continues, different clips from the programme are played to tease what is to come in the programme. This is a good way to begin a documentary / mockumentary - however, as we are only producing a 3 - 5 minute clip, we will not do this in order to save time.
These clips are a range of different shot types; varying from wide shots to medium shots to close up shots. However, most of them are filmed in a fly on the wall style. The wide shots of the waiting room and reception area are all filmed in a fly on the wall style - where the audience is merely observing the action. This helps to immerse the viewer in the programme as they feel they have a good overview of the action unfolding.
As the narration is still ongoing, we see wide and close up shots of the more surgical side of the veterinarian practice. This helps to establish the theme of the documentary as a factual / clinical programme into the vet's practice.
The titles appear over a shot which they relate to - the title states that the programme is a vet's programme whilst the close up shot displays a dog's paws.
Waiting room scenes are filmed from a high angle in a fly on the wall style. Sometimes a narrator narrates over these images, however, sometimes in cases such as the one below, discussion is heard between the people waiting. This helps to immerse the viewer as they feel they are part of the scene.
The actuality of the vets, consultation scenes and surgery scenes are interspersed with interviews from the vet staff. These are filmed with medium close up / close up framing with the interviewee framed at one side of the shot (using the rule of thirds). The lighting used for these scenes is artificial which allows for the harsh, clinical look they are aiming for. The interviews are also filmed with a shallow depth of field to make the background blurred, however, it is still clear that the interviewee is in a medical surrounding (as suggested by the glow of medical equipment and the blue hue of the background). I will use a similar technique in our interviews - the background of the interviews will be relevant to the interviewee.
Fixed cameras are used to capture the pet owners entering the vet practice to capture this scene as actuality rather than having to sequence this scene which would take away from the reality of the shot.
The interviews with the pet owners are warmer in colour, with more natural lighting and set in a more natural environment to set them apart from the medical staff. This helps to give the medical staff some credibility as the clinical nature of their shots establishes this, whilst the pet owners are shown more naturally which allows the audience to relate to them and therefore get more involved with their story / the programme.
When in the consultation room, there are close up shots of the surgical equipment and X-rays to again establish the setting and transition the action back into the vets practice. Shots like these are useful transitions for when you need to jump from one scene to another. I should keep this in mind when filming our project and ensure I get a lot of coverage / close up shots of equipment / props that can be used to transition between locations.
As well as the fly on the wall style, The Supervet includes some low angle shots in situations such as the consultations. This allows the audience to feel closer to the action as these shots are often framed to be medium close ups and therefore the expressions and reactions of the individuals is much more visible to the audience - allowing them to become more involved with the documentary.
What I have learnt:
- As a serious documentary, The Supervet relies heavily on actuality footage as there is not a lot of opportunity to shoot sequences. This actuality is obtained from high angle cameras fixed in the waiting room and consultation room - this gives the documentary a fly on the wall style. I would like to use elements of this within our mockumentary in order to stick with the genre conventions, however, a lot of our comedy is revealed through the characters' faces and therefore a lower angle may work better.
- In some cases lower angles are used - but there is generally a reason for this i.e. for an interview / to show the emotions through the consultations. I will test using lower angles in the test shoot and see if they are appropriate to our subject and style of mockumentary.
- Many close ups are captured of the animals as the animals are at the centre of the programme - I will do similar in our project as our project is also centred around the theme of animals so frequent close ups will help to establish this. During the surgery / consultation scenes, there are many close up shots of the surgical equipment / X-rays. Like the close up shots of the animals, this helps to establish the theme of the documentary.
- The colour treatment is all kept very natural in order to reflect reality. It is slightly cooler in tone to reflect the clinical nature of the location and subject matter. I aim to colour treat our vet mockumentary in a similar style to have the same effect of reflecting the clinical subject matter. The interviews with the pet owners outside of the veterinarian practice are warmer in tone to give a more natural, warm quality - this contrasts with the cool tone within the practice. The interviews with the pet owners are all filmed with a shallow depth of field as the purpose of the interview is solely for the pet owner to give their story / information to the camera and therefore the details of the location are not important for the narrative. I will use a similar technique in our mockumentary - if there is no detail in the location that is important to the narrative, I will use a shallow depth of field to blur the background. If there are details in the location, I will use a deeper depth of field to display these details.
- Interviews should be filmed following the rule of thirds - placing the interviewee in the left or right third and facing them the opposite direction to give them looking room. This is a very simple rule but is important in order to make the interview feel as natural as possible and put the audience at greatest ease.
- The lighting is all kept very natural due to the dependence on actuality - there is not the time to set up lighting equipment as the action may be missed - I will attempt to light our scenes naturally in order to create a sense of 'actuality' and 'reality'.
- As a serious documentary, The Supervet relies heavily on actuality footage as there is not a lot of opportunity to shoot sequences. This actuality is obtained from high angle cameras fixed in the waiting room and consultation room - this gives the documentary a fly on the wall style. I would like to use elements of this within our mockumentary in order to stick with the genre conventions, however, a lot of our comedy is revealed through the characters' faces and therefore a lower angle may work better.
- In some cases lower angles are used - but there is generally a reason for this i.e. for an interview / to show the emotions through the consultations. I will test using lower angles in the test shoot and see if they are appropriate to our subject and style of mockumentary.
- Many close ups are captured of the animals as the animals are at the centre of the programme - I will do similar in our project as our project is also centred around the theme of animals so frequent close ups will help to establish this. During the surgery / consultation scenes, there are many close up shots of the surgical equipment / X-rays. Like the close up shots of the animals, this helps to establish the theme of the documentary.
- The colour treatment is all kept very natural in order to reflect reality. It is slightly cooler in tone to reflect the clinical nature of the location and subject matter. I aim to colour treat our vet mockumentary in a similar style to have the same effect of reflecting the clinical subject matter. The interviews with the pet owners outside of the veterinarian practice are warmer in tone to give a more natural, warm quality - this contrasts with the cool tone within the practice. The interviews with the pet owners are all filmed with a shallow depth of field as the purpose of the interview is solely for the pet owner to give their story / information to the camera and therefore the details of the location are not important for the narrative. I will use a similar technique in our mockumentary - if there is no detail in the location that is important to the narrative, I will use a shallow depth of field to blur the background. If there are details in the location, I will use a deeper depth of field to display these details.
- Interviews should be filmed following the rule of thirds - placing the interviewee in the left or right third and facing them the opposite direction to give them looking room. This is a very simple rule but is important in order to make the interview feel as natural as possible and put the audience at greatest ease.
- The lighting is all kept very natural due to the dependence on actuality - there is not the time to set up lighting equipment as the action may be missed - I will attempt to light our scenes naturally in order to create a sense of 'actuality' and 'reality'.
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