Unit 27 Factual Programme Production Techniques for Television Task 4

All of Unit 27 was completed solely by me.

Pre-Production diary

Thursday 19th May 2016 I have decided on three main ideas for my factual programme documentary. I have produced a mind map for each one of them today on politics, an historic police case and choosing one place in London to talk about. I want to produce something that I am interested in, as I am more likely to produce it to a good standard then.

Idea 1: Politics

Idea 2: Police case

Idea 3: Introducing London

After looking at the mind maps, I have decided to produce the London idea as the other two ideas are more situated to an hour documentary and it is going to be difficult to film either one of them in less than five minutes. I also think that the London idea is more universal and will capture the widest audience possible. I created a word document and started a contents page today. I researched all the information on London. First of all, I did this by splitting the research into four areas - topic, audience, documentary structure and legal and ethical considerations as there was a lot of information to research. I then sub split into primary research, secondary research and both researches. I researched each area and it took me all day to research the whole documentary. I found a vast amount of information on each area – it was overwhelming, but contained lots of good information. I completed the Bibliography and Annex A Bibliography, as much as I can so far, so that I do not forget what websites I researched. I did not find much information online about documentary structures. I shall visit the library tomorrow to see if I can find more information on this subject. I also did not find out much information on audience researches for London. I think I will complete two surveys in London on Saturday to see what responses I receive and if the London documentary is a good idea. I wrote out a rough template for my survey, ready for Saturday. I think this is a good way to collect feedback, as I am working on this on my own and asking people on the street is an unbiased way of finding out if my documentary idea would work. Because I am completing this unit on my own, all the decisions rest with me. I liked having this responsibility as I had a clear vision and knew what I wanted to produce. My aim is to finish this documentary by end of next week – so far I am on target and spent a good day researching all the information I shall need.

Friday 20th May 2016I went to the library today to see if they had any books on documentary structures. I found two books that I read ‘Introduction to documentary’ and ‘The documentary film book’. I made notes on both of these books whilst I was there, which are on my research page – Annex A. These books helped me to have a clear picture of the structure I wanted for my documentary. I completed the writing for my Idea and Pitch. I also completed my Proposal and include below. Completing the ‘approach, form and style’ assisted my vision on how I wanted the end result to look. It made me think about the narration, voice-over, footage I needed and what I was filming. I also thought about when to film and decided to look at all the locations tomorrow, to see what the light and noise levels were like because this could affect the overall quality of my documentary. I don’t want to have noisy traffic whilst I am trying to talk on camera, as it won’t look very professional then.

Saturday 21st May 2016I went to each location for a reconnaissance today to see what the light, noise, crowds and area was like. I walked around each place and decided exactly where I was going to film, so it would be easier on the day of filming. I also stood on Oxford Street and outside Buckingham Palace to ask members of the public some questions that I had created to complete an Audience survey & a Target audience survey to help me establish if I am creating a documentary along the correct lines. The overall result was positive and today has been a huge help in knowing how I am going to complete this documentary. I am glad that I completed surveys and I can’t wait to film it now.

Sunday 22nd May 2016Today I wrote all my research results from both surveys and produced some graphs, so that I could see a clear picture as to what my audience had said about documentaries. This was a good quick way for me to reflect on what was important in the documentary and I am pleased that I did them. I completed the Research evaluation and was happy with the overall results. Because I had been to all the locations, it was still fresh in my mind. I had a clear idea for my Shooting script and soon completed it, with all my camera angles and shots that I wanted to use. After having completed all this work today, the documentary seemed real and I can clearly see how the documentary is going to be, when finished. So far the overall feel for the documentary is in-line with my vision and I am still on target for finishing it by the end of this week.

Monday 23rd May 2016 I completed my Storyboard, Production role and Prop/costumes today. Having completed my storyboard, I could clearly see how each section would look in my finished documentary. I also completed my Production schedule and call sheet. I am on target so far in completing this documentary on schedule. Tuesday 24th May 2016 Today I completed my narration script that I had previously researched last week. I discovered that the public could only see inside Buckingham Palace from July to October. I still wanted to film inside, so that my viewers could see inside and outside footage to get an all-round education of Buckingham Palace. This was only a minor setback because after researching possible websites, I found a garden picture, garden footage, WWII footage and inside Buckingham Palace footage, which I could use in my documentary. I am still on target for completing this documentary for the end of this week.

Production diary

Wednesday 25th May 2016 Today I completed a Health and Safety/Risk assessment for each location I filmed in prior to filming. I devised the assessment myself and it was very relevant to my situation. It made me aware of my surroundings whilst I was filming because I was thinking about my tripod, crowds and vehicles. I also filmed my entire documentary. It took me two hours to film but I had regular breaks in between to revise my script, so it would look professional on the day if I narrated off by heart. I also reviewed all my footage after filming at each location, so I wouldn’t have to go back another day. This was a very good way of deciding whether the footage was good enough to use or whether I had to film it again. Because I was filming myself with a camera and tripod, the narration I filmed several times, then reviewed the best footage afterwards. This helped to avoid setting up and removing the camera too often, which also saved me lots of valuable time.

Post Production diary

Thursday 26th May 2016 I completed the Confirmation of finance as I could complete all the costs, now that the filming had finished. This was another relevant source of information that could allow me to see, at a quick glance, how much I was spending and what I was spending it on. If I had a larger budget, then this would have been invaluable. My predicted cost was originally £29.60 and I spent £19.60, so I was pleased that I had a surplus of £10 afterwards. I edited my entire documentary today and was pleased that the documentary was exactly like I had envisioned it to be. I found that removing the surplus, unfocused and shaky footage, saved invaluable time in editing this documentary as once the unwanted footage had gone, then I could focus on the remainder of the footage to produce a good quality documentary. The positive thing about my documentary was that, not many people were in the background, because I purposely picked a quiet day and times. The only negative thing would be that I wished I could film the inside footage myself instead of relying on other people’s footage, but this wasn’t possible because it was not open to the public until July and this documentary had to be completed before then. I also completed the writing for my Filming and editing sections. Overall I enjoyed the experience of creating a documentary from scratch and I would not change the order I completed this in. The documentary was exactly like I thought it would be and I am pleased that my vision materialised the way I wanted it to. I would however complete it over a longer period of time, as I found it to be a lot of work to complete in eight days. I did however; complete my documentary in the timescale that I had given myself. Ideally I would have liked to have made it longer, as I thought that five minutes was slightly restrictive.

EvaluationFor this assignment I had to pre-produce, produce and post-produce a factual programme, no longer than five minutes by 23rd June 2016. I choose to create a documentary for Channel Four because they already have the five minute shorts online and I thought my documentary would be aptly suited on this channel. Introducing London was my five minute documentary about Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s residence and Wellington Barracks, home to the Queen’s guards. I wanted to talk about the Queens’s home because if this resulted into a series like I envisaged then this would be the obvious choice to start with the most significant home in the UK. I wanted to produce this type of documentary in London for two reasons; one that I have an interest in creating documentaries about places that are fascinating to people, that may or may not visit them, and secondly, from a marketable perspective, London holds an interest to such a vast audience, that if I produced this for Channel four, then it would automatically attract a good starting audience, as opposed to, if I had talked about another city or place that was less well known.

The documentary was exactly like I thought it would be and I am pleased that my vision materialised the way I wanted it to. I believe this is due to my comprehensive research, detailed pre-production documentation and a clear vision from the beginning. I also think that planning ahead and trying to predict outcomes minimised any mistakes and produced a good documentary.

I am very happy with the overall style of the documentary as I think this portrays me and best suited to my personality. I don’t think I could have improved the quality, sound or edit any more than the standard it’s currently at. I achieved this by editing all my footage meticulously and removing the entire surplus, unfocused and shaky footage that I did not want and was not good enough to use. The main thing I ask myself is ‘does it add to the story’, if it doesn’t then I discard it, but if it does, then I keep it. I think this one tip has helped me create a good documentary. I chose music that was classical and matched my theme for the documentary. I consider that the music does fit the documentary very well.

I do believe that I have produced the best programme I possibly could with the equipment I had and completing everything by myself. I thought that choosing a quiet day and time to film was crucial in obtaining a quality production in a very busy area of London. Only having a few people present in the background made the documentary believable and realistic because it is likely for people to be in the footage, but it produced a higher standard as opposed to people walking in front of the camera and over talking my narration. I was also pleased that I completed my documentary in the timescale that I had given myself. I did this by keeping to a realistic timescale, working hard but allowing for regular breaks, so that I wasn’t too fatigued and having a continued interest in my project that I wanted to complete to the end.

I can only think of two things I would have done differently to improve this documentary and they were to use my own footage to film inside Buckingham Palace, rather than having to rely on other people’s footage, but this wasn’t possible because it was not open to the public until July and this documentary had to be completed before then. And secondly, I would not have included Wellington Barracks because I had to remove information about Buckingham Palace in order to keep the programme within five minutes. I thought that I needed to include the Barracks to give an all-round picture of the Queens’ home, as they are part of that, but with hindsight I would have rather have kept more footage of Buckingham Palace, as this is what the documentary is about.

I believe that I kept to the brief I was given and that my documentary does meet the needs of my audience. To be certain of this I showed my video to three people. I also uploaded my documentary to YouTube in the hope of feedback. Although my friend gave good feedback, some might believe her to be bias. To ensure this was not the case, I asked a student and neighbour for feedback as they were different ages and different interests, so would look at the documentary differently. Overall, they really liked the different scenes at the beginning and me walking whilst talking in St James Park. And they liked the different angles of Buckingham Palace as this made it more interesting. They also said that if it had been for longer they would have liked to see more

inside footage, but they appreciate that due to its vastness than a whole documentary could have been produced, just on the inside area. They also said that they would watch the other series, if I were to produce them. Overall, it was very favourable results and I enjoyed the experience of creating a documentary from scratch by myself.

(874 words)

Proposal Film StatementIntroducing London will be a short five minute British speaking documentary covering a different place in London in each short documentary. The first documentary will be highlighting Buckingham Palace and Wellington Barracks. The target audience will be from teenagers to seniors, worldwide.

Background and NeedLondon is one of the world’s top tourist attractions with over fifteen million visitors every year. It is our capital city with arts, culture, entertainment, beautiful landscapes and a vast history. There is so much to do and see in London.

By producing this documentary and hopefully a series of mini documentaries, highlighting the top tourist attractions in London, would be beneficial to all visitors and for people that would never travel to London but are interested in what is here and the history and culture that surrounds London.

Fifteen different types of documentaries were found having already filmed in and around London since 1904. All were traditional in length of between 20 minutes and one hour. Only one was similar to my concept of showcasing tourist attractions around London, and that was called ‘The Ballet of Change’, which highlighted four landmarks in London through imagery and music on a billboard in 2007. The other fourteen types of documentaries consisted of football clubs, jazz bands, religion, elections/government, streets in London, drag scene, Covent Garden market, tube stations, musicals/theatre, life in London in 1904, 2nd world war bombings in London, nightlife, gardens/parks in London and emigration/immigration.

Therefore I concluded that my documentary would be unique for the following reasons; no other documentary covered tourist attractions in London with facts and figures that I shall include from my research and mine is only for five minutes, so it keeps the documentary modern and to the point. I noticed from my research that other documentaries tend to be stale in the middle, as they are too long. Therefore my documentary shall be creating a sense of history with a modern twist at the same time.

Approach, Form and StyleIt shall be filmed with the following structure:-

I will start with three opening scenes of me, (close up and mid shot) dressed casual-smart, introducing myself and the documentary, with a backdrop of three different areas in London behind me - London Eye, Parliament and Foreign and Commonwealth building. This shall be filmed live on location and shall be the opening for all the documentary series. This shall be followed by the title screen in fancy letters ‘Introducing London’.

Next scene, I am narrating outside in St James Park about what is in Westminster and highlighting Buckingham Palace, as this is what the documentary is about.

I shall then film establishing shots of Buckingham Palace from different angles before I narrate live outside Buckingham Palace on it being the Queen’s residence. Further narration of the history of Buckingham Palace will be as a voiceover as lots of long shots, mid shots and close up shots from different angles and different points of view of Buckingham Palace are seen by the audience.

Historical footage will be used to show how the Palace was years ago, both inside and out, continuing with my voiceover of the history, facts and figures from King Edward VII to world war two. A map of the gardens will be shown to emphasise how big they are. This will be accompanied with my voiceover with some facts and figures.

Outside close up and long shots looking back at the Palace from different angles, before panning down the road to Wellington Barracks, where the Queens guards reside. This is an establishing shot. No narration is used on these shots.

I shall be narrating live outside Wellington Barracks, whilst the audience see long shots of Wellington Barracks, behind me. I shall also film some long shots of Wellington Barracks that I can voiceover about the history of the guards. Long shot of Buckingham Palace will be seen with guards standing in front of it, so last scene and narration is focus of documentary.

I shall be narrating live at St James Park to roundup the documentary, followed by credits.

My documentary shall contain both diegetic and non-diegetic sound. The diegetic sound shall be used when I am narrating live outside and the non-diegetic sound shall be used in the voiceovers and music. All narration will be completed by me – some at the time of filming and some as a voiceover afterwards in editing. I shall be using voiceovers to rely the historical facts whilst using actuality and historic footage. I shall use existing footage of Buckingham Palace in the wartime, which I shall voiceover, to show the history of the building, so the audience can see what it was like then and how it has changed to what it looks like today.

I shall also be using actuality footage for when I am standing outside the relevant building when talking about it on camera, such as the mise-en-scene, standing outside Buckingham Palace when talking about Buckingham Palace.

Natural lighting will be used throughout the filming of this documentary. However, because the filming will be completed in one day, the lighting will be high when filming at lunchtime and lower lighting when I am filming in the afternoon. I wanted to do this, so it would show the documentary with different lighting done through natural resources to give a surreal effect to the different buildings and scenes filmed.

The ending will have a closed ending because all the information about Buckingham Palace shall be covered in the short documentary. Graphics shall be used at the beginning in the title and at the end for the credits.

Shooting ScheduleWednesday 25th May 2016 – Film over one day

Three scenes for introduction Film and Different Film and narrateand St James Park, narrate outside shots looking outside into/outro, with speaking Buckingham back at B. Palace Wellington Barracksrole Palace

11:30-12:30 p.m. 2:30-3:00 p.m. 3:30-4:00 p.m. 4:30-5:00 p.m.

First picture taken was setting up my tripod and camera and second picture is reviewing my footage.

Budget if Professional Production

Travel expenses £ 9.60

Equipment my own – Camera and memory card, Tripod, Microphone, MacBook and softwareTime – per day (includes all crew and equipment)Production meetings (one day) £ 300.00Filming (one day) £ 600.00Editing (one day) £ 600.00

Total Production budget £1509.60

The completed documentary will be provided on a DVD, free of charge for inspection, prior to release.

My Budget Costs

Travel expenses (2 days [recce and to film] at £4.80 per day) £ 9.60

Equipment my own £ 0.00

Time – per day £ 0.00

Miscellaneous – refreshments £20.00

Total Production budget £29.60

The completed documentary will be provided online, free of charge for inspection.

Audience, Distribution and MarketingMy research indicated that there is a rise in audiences watching documentaries and the average weekly viewing is 1.9 million views. My YouTube research revealed that most London documentaries achieved over 100,000 views and my questionnaire research indicated that a cross

section of people would watch a London documentary. Therefore my intended audience will be a cross section of people from all over the world. They shall consist of both male and female, of all races, from teenagers through to seniors, interested in London and England. They shall also be from all social and educational backgrounds, in the middle and working class categories, because not all of the audience can afford to visit London, so they shall be watching it, as a place they want to see, but could never afford to go. Whereas others can afford to go and will be in affluent jobs, and will watch to see what it is like, to see if it is worth a visit when they are in London, on a limited time of one or two weeks holiday. I can expect some of the audience to know about London and indeed Buckingham Palace, but I envisage that not all the target audience would know or have seen inside the Palace, the history from King James I or they might not have seen the different views, looking to and away from Buckingham Palace before.

Audience may be bias as they might think it’s just a palace and just used for pompous ceremonies and not really lived in. They might also think that it is neglected and boring. I am hoping to change this viewpoint by showing different angles and shots of the palace, to show how exciting, architecturally beautiful and magnificent it is. I also found research stating that two guards standing outside meant the Queen was away and four guards meant she was at home. On further research I found archive footage of the Queen and Prince Philip at a party in their gardens with many guests. I shall be including all this information in my documentary as it clearly shows that the Queen uses Buckingham Palace as her home and not just a statue. Some of my audience might be fans of the royal family and watch to see glimpses of them or their house to see what footage it contains, as they might not be able to visit in reality. Also potential visitors to London might want to see a glimpse of the building, inside and outside to see if it is something they want to visit. And finally my target audience will see new footage on an old subject to revive London and put it on the map for all documentary fans.

This documentary will be shown on Channel 4 shorts once it has been completed. This will ensure a large target, mixed audience ranging from teenagers to seniors. Marketing will be through all social media platforms – Twitter, Facebook, my blog, Vine and Instagram. I shall also advertise through magazines, websites and newspaper articles. I shall use production stills taken of me during filming, to advertise this documentary.

Filmmaker’s BioYouTube partner and blogger

Additional ElementsMy unique selling proposition (USP) is that there are not many documentaries that showcase London in less than five minutes that have good footage, a young presenter, historical information, relevant facts and are aesthetically pleasing to the eye.