coursework use only

2. Brainstorms

3. My first idea for my documentary is to create a fly on the wall documentary
about the bucket list. In my documentary I want activities on my personal bucket
list to be completed so that I can show my audience what exactly a ‘bucket list’
is, the idea of the documentary is to show the audience what the bucket list is
and why they should also take part in making bucket lists. My documentary will
be shot in various locations; the locations will be dependent on where the
activities take place. The ideas I have chosen to complete and include in my
documentary from my ‘bucket list’ are, a tour aroundWembley stadium, Power
boating, Zorbing, Road trip to the beach, Canoeing, Indoor skydiving, Scuba
diving, Afternoon tea, watch the sunset, meet a celebrity, fire walking, winery
and brewery tour, paintballing and animal feeding. Within the documentary a
group of people including myself will complete things off our buckets including
most the ideas above, by doing this I am able to show what a bucket list is to my
audience and by using my friends and myself I am relating to my target audience
which is females and males between the age of 17-25.The reason I have chosen
the target audience of 17-25 is because I feel that they will be able to connect
with the people involved in the video and will encourage them to start making
and completing their bucket lists. The reason I have chosen these ideas is
because it is a verity of different activities that different people in my target
audience can relate to, some of my ideas had to be cut out due to budget.
Analysis of idea 1

4. My second idea is a documentary based on interviews of the public, asking
them questions such as, have you ever experienced the bucket list?, what do
you like about the idea?, what do you dislike about the idea?, what is on your
bucket list?.The idea comes from the interest of finding out how many
people on average make bucket list and what are the most common things
on the bucket list. Within the documentary I would use archive footage to
show what people do in their bucket lists and would conduct several
interviews to find out what is the top bucket list ideas in the south of
England. Although I think that this documentary idea could be interesting I
am looking to direct it at the age group 17-25, however I think that this idea
would be aimed more at the age group 28+. The reason I chose not to go
forward with this idea is because I think it is more boring than idea one and
would not gain a high viewing.
Analysis for idea 2

5. I have chosen to make idea one for my documentary.This documentary is a
fly on the wall production that will follow a group of young adults including
myself completing items off our bucket lists, within the documentary we are
hoping to complete 10-12 items including, scuba diving, power
boating, zorbing and meeting celebrities. The reason I have chosen to do
idea one and not idea two is because I think that idea one is more related to
my target audience of 17-25 whereas idea two would be aimed more at 27+, I
also think that idea one shows the point of the documentary more directly
whereas idea two has no story it is just interviews and archive footage.
Selection and justification

6. Mood board of idea 1

7. Mood board of idea 2

8. Mock up of idea

9. What are your first
impressions of my
documentary?
Very
expensive.
Good idea.
Exciting but
challenging.
Creative but
expensive
Interesting and
exciting but
time
consuming.
Fun, I look
forward to
seeing the final
outcome.
What could I do to
improve?
Find cheaper
things that
others can then
recreate for
their bucket list
Make sure
everything is
planned out and
look into
cheaper events.
Make sure you
planned what’s
happening
where and
when.
Make it
reasonably
priced events
Use interesting
interviews and
relevant facts.
Do you think it would
approach the target
audience of 17-25 year
olds?
Yes Definitely Yes Yes Yes
How could I adapt it to
make it more suitable for
my target audience
Use relevant
music.
Choose events
that they can
then recreate.
Make interviews
enjoyable to
watch so people
don’t get bored
easy.
Make it price
able
Make it
interesting to
the audience
Use interesting
footage
Do you think it would
work as a short
documentary?
Yes Yes Yes yes yes
Do you think it can work in
the industry?
Yes Yeaaaah Yes yes yes
Survey and peer feedback
After completing the feedback above from my peers I found that the idea for my documentary
would fit well into the industry as a short documentary for the target audience of 17-25.The first
impressions of my documentary overall where that it is exciting and creative however would be
expensive and time consuming, to improve the documentary I was advised to choose cheaper
activities to complete and use interesting and exciting interviews and facts.To make it
contactable with my target audience I will use relevant and interesting interviews, and choose
activities they may be able to add to their bucket list, I will also use creative and fun music to
keep the audience focused.

10. My original idea was to make a short documentary on the bucket list, within this I would have
the meaning of the bucket list telling my audience what it is and I would explain why people
do it, I would also include footage of me completing activity’s off my personal bucket list
including things such as sky diving, power boating and celebrity spotting. I feel that by
including footage of activities being completed by myself it shows the audience that in fact it
is possible to complete such activities and I hope to encourage people to create and
complete their bucket lists.
After receiving feedback from my peers I looked into what I can change or improve to make
my documentary idea better and make it fit better to my target audience. After taking a
survey I realised that to make my documentary within the industry I will have to add things
such as interviews with a verity of people from youngsters who have never experienced or
made a bucket list to youngsters who have and the older generation who have made a
bucket list but are yet to complete it or have already completed it to the older generation
who have not created a bucket list, when conducting these interviews I will find out if they
know what a bucket list is, whether they have made a bucket list, whether they have
completed a bucket list and/or whether they would want to make and complete one. In my
documentary I will also change some of the activities that are deemed expensive so that the
audience can see what it’s like and perhaps add to their bucket list and with some things be
creative in the way that I do them, for example on my bucket list I have sky dive however this
is not only expensive but unreasonable to film so therefor I will indoor skydive so that I still
able to do but feel comfortable too.
Analysis of idea development after
feedback

11. Age and gender
My target audience is both male and females aged 17-25. I have chosen to
aim my production at this age and gender because I think that both males
and females will enjoy the production as it is not aimed at either gender, it
has activities that could interest both males and females for example
although celebrity spotting my entice female audience more things such as
sky diving or power boating are more likely to interest the males.The reason
I have chosen to aim my production at the ages 17-25 is because I think they
will be interested in finding out what the bucket list is and will be at the age
where they are likely to create their own bucket lists.
Audience Research

12. Socio-economic
Socio-economic is a status you are given depending on your family or
individual income, education and occupation. They are usually split into three
different categories, high SES, middle SES, low SES. Income refers to
wages, salaries, profits and rents of either your individual outcome or your
family. Education links to the income, median earnings increase with
education. Occupation contains the information from both income and
education.
When looking at the graph (right) which describes
the different groups and gives a clear description
of what they look for, I can say that my
documentary is aimed at C1, I would aimed it at
them because they are most likely to be students
or young adults who may be interested in the idea
Audience Research

13. Demographics
Demographics is the statistical characteristics of the population, it
looks at the occupation and the age combined to identify the market
that the product will be sold to. The demographics looks into your
audience finding out their age, gender, occupation and other useful
information so that they can see or make a space in the market for
the type of product that you are selling, it is also able to find out how
you should market your product including packaging and advertising.
Audience Research

14. Interviews
I went out to the public and asked them the following
questions…
Are you (male/female)
How old are you?(15 and under/16-25/26-35/36-45/45 or older)
How often do you watch a Documentary’s? (Once a week/More
than once a week/Once a fortnight/Once a month/More than
once a month/One or more times a year/Never)
How long would a documentary ideally be for you to stay
interested? (Less than one hour/One hour/More than one
hour/Other.
What do you like about documentaries?
What do you dislike about documentaries?
What do you look for during advertisement of a documentary?
Primary content research

15. Questionnaires
What do you look for in a documentary?
What do you think should be including considering
my target audience of 17-25?
Do you think for my target audience of 17-25 the
documentary would work better if it was short
rather than long?
How do you think we can get the audience
interested?
What do you think should be included to make it
interesting to my target audience?
Primary content research

16. In the UK the main channels that show documentaries aimed at the
same target audience as me are; BBC Three, Channel 4, Channel 5
and MTV.
BBC Three- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH0Bml6K1BU
Channel 4- http://www.channel4.com/programmes/what-happens-
in-kavos/video/series-1/episode-1/s1-ep1-im-sexy-and-i-know-it
Channel 5- http://www.channel5.com/shows/jodie-marsh-
bullied/episodes/episode-2-509
MTV- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DQ3wPCkxXE
Most of the documentaries made and shown on these channels are
independent film makers, they are usually created about body
issues, holidays or recent events in the news.
This has shown me that there is a high possibility of my production
doing well in the industry because there is not many production
with the same ethic for my target audience.
Research into competitors

17. When looking into the competition in the documentary categories, I
have realised that the top five documentaries of 2012 and 2013
where, Raiding the lost ark, dispatches: Iraq’s secret war files,The
conspiracy road trip: creationism, National geographic: CIA secret
experiments, 40 years on track. None of the top five documentaries
where aimed directly at the same target audience as my production.
This shows that the most watched documentaries on television are
aimed at people 28+, this has shown me that my target audience are
not the usual type to watch a television documentary and therefor
when advertising my product I would have to make sure it is aimed
correctly and clearly indicated towards my target audience.
I found my target audience was 17-25 when I interviewed the general
public and found that the people who were most people who were
interested and said they would watch it where in this age range.
Research into market

18. When making my documentary I will need a verity of products, I will need a
handy camera for on point vlogs, a tripod for activities to be filmed, in some
situations I may need suitable and protective clothing.
The majority of my production is filmed in various locations and
products/props will be supplied by the companies.
When filming introductions and interviews I will need to have the correct
microphone so that the audience can hear clearly what is being said.
When editing my production I will need to make sure I have the correct
equipment monitor, mixer, speakers.
All information found in the book ‘the documentary
moviemaking course’ chapter 11, page 42.
Identify a range of materials you need to
use

19. Time management- I am able to write up and keep to a schedule.This is very
important when filming a documentary. Within the making of my documentary I
will have to keep to dates of activities. Activities will be given a certain date.
Camera- It is important I am able to not only use the camera properly but it is
also important that I know how to skilfully use the camera to get the right shots
and use equipment such as a tripod so that the camera can still be used to
capture the activities taking place.
Editing- When I edit my documentary it is important that the editing is sharp and
all footage is merged carefully with title sequences and credits so that the
documentary looks professional and will look creative for the target audience.
Studio/lighting – Although I am unlikely to use the studio a high amount I will
need to know how to use it when appropriate. When in the studio I will need to
also understand the lighting. I will also need to understand the lighting when
shooting outside as it will be important to not catch high lights such as the sun.
Management/organisation – When I am creating the production I will need to be
organised and have a high management skill to insure that filming will not have
to have a number of takes and that my participants know where they need to be
what they need to bring and there outfits.
Identify the skills you have to carry out
this project

20. As the creator of the production I must be able to control my team including
understanding the problems that may occur and helping to fix them. I must
also be prepared to organise the ‘bucket list’ activities and gather the
participants using my time management skills. I must be able to control the
camera and be prepared for several takes when filming, I must be able to use
my camera skills to be able to get the correct footage and use my editing
skills to make the footage into a short documentary.
Production Management requirements

21. For my target audience of 17-25 year olds to be interested in my production I
must make sure I address it to their interests, for example if I was to promote
my documentary with slow music and a selection of interviews my target
audience may not be attracted as it me be seen as boring, however if I was to
advertise it with relevant and upbeat music that they can relate to and show
sneak peak clips in the trailer with a range of different activities included
they may be slightly more interested and it excited to see the final outcome.
I found that I needed to include this by questioning people in the target
audience age
Research into appropriate content base
for yourTA

22. Time Management- When filming my production I need to make sure that I
stick to a schedule, my production is coordinated around different activities
and when they are organised for. The participants are also going to have to
stick to a schedule so that filming can be completed.
Filming techniques- I will have to make sure that the techniques I use to film
are organised and well presented as some activities can only be completed
once.
Editing techniques- When editing I will have to make sure all important
information is included and that the editing is sharp but informative.
Research into production techniques
needed to complete production

23. Legal and ethical
The legal and ethical codes and constraints look into the
morality of the content, asking what is right and wrong.
Issues that the media industry look into when dealing
with ethical and legal codes and constraints are
exploitation, offensive material, privacy of people
involved.
They may also have to deal with representational rights
which looks into the rights of peoples, facts, opinions and
events.
Potential codes and constraints

24. Codes of practise
The code is an agreement between her majesty’s
secretary of state for culture, media and sport and the
BBC, it sets the principles which are applied when the BBC
is connected with the public television services.
The code is agreed between the BBC and OFCOM.
The code recognizes that:
It must be in the audiences interest and understand that there is a
competitive independent market.
relations between independent producers and BBC are conducted on
a fair and transparent basis.
Potential codes and constraints

25. Copyright
Media copyright law is there to protect music, films,
literature and paintings. If in the case that you want to use
others work you must under copyright laws get written
permission from them.The Copyright infringement lasts
for 50 years after the creators death.
Potential codes and constraints

26. Negative constraints
Money- I have a small budget, although looking at the cost of the final
production it may have to be risen.
Time- I only have a short amount of time to complete the project therefore I
am going to have to work hard and keep to a time schedule.
Skills- I am working at a students level of skills and therefore have limited
knowledge.
Resources- I have only window software instead of a high editing
equipment, and have only got handy cameras not high quality.
Identify ways to address constraints