2.5 The Pitch

The Pitch

This is the pitch that we gave our class to show them what we had come up with after a few months of researching and planning. We also gave the class a presentation to look through, using the presentation software, Prezi.

This is an extended version of what is on the Presentation.

For our advanced portfolio in Media, we decided to create an extract of a documentary, a double page spread from listings magazine focused on the documentary and a newspaper advertisement for the documentary. Our extract of a documentary will be based on HS2 (High Speed Rail 2), the latest proposed improvement in rail infrastructure. Having researched around the HS2, weighing up the pros and cons, we decided to go for the title as HS2: A White Elephant?.

This is because this title isn't biased and is using a literary technique called rhetorical question to get the audience to think about the HS2 before and while they watch it.

We believe a documentary about the HS2 would suit Channel 4. The reason that we would show this documentary on channel 4 is that they show many similar documentaries like Trump: The American Dream' and Coalition. These documentaries are very similar to ours and proves that politic/factual documentaries can be shown on the channel. Also, we believe that if it was shown on channel 4 it would get a greater audience view count than if it was shown on Sky One because most people have access to channel 4 as Sky One isn't part of the standard Free view package whereas channel 4 is.

But why wouldn’t we show it on the BBC? Although the BBC host big documentaries such as David Attenborough’s view breaker, “Blue Planet 2”, we don’t think that it would be a good host to political/factual documentaries as the audience is slightly to old overall and that doesn’t match our target audience which is formally 16-35 years old. We believe the younger generation need to be kept up to date with current affairs. Furthermore, the BBC is under Royal Charter so the corporation has to remain unbiased on political views and as HS2 is largely a political issue, we wouldn't broadcast this on BBC.

Our main product is a political documentary as HS2 is regarded as a political issue. The type of documentary ours will be is in Bill Nichols’ expository mode. This is because it features many of the characteristics devised into to that category. The documentary will feature a 'voice of God' who will control the narrative and will explain what HS2 is, the route it will take, the pros and cons and how it will affect our local area. We will use facts and figures about HS2 to form an argument for both sides. Moreover our extract will feature an interview with a politician on HS2 to get his views. Finally our extract of documentary will inform people about HS2 and educate to help form an opinion on the matter.

In terms of style, our extract will feature linear and logical narrative structure. At the beginning of the extract, we will tell them what exactly HS2 stands for and what it is in case the audience do not know what it is. In the middle of the extract, we will talk about the pros and cons of HS2 as now they have a understanding of what HS2 is. By the end of the extract, the audience will have made up their minds on HS2, if they're for or against it. Our extract will feature many graphics so that information can be broken down into smaller pieces and understood better. As well as this, text will feature a lot in our extract to label important people and places. The extract may feature archived footage to show the HS2 route or show protests about HS2. The editing will be simple but effective. We will enhance the shots we take with colour correction tools on Adobe Premiere Pro, we will include exponential fades on the audio, straight cuts & cross dissolves between clips. We will try create aesthetic montages when editing so that the mise en scene and cinematography looks excellent.

The Presentation Document link:

https://prezi.com/p/yqrkhkzj7xz3/ 

Or Below are screenshots of the media pitch we gave to the class:

2.4 Documentary Examples

Documentary Examples

The Russian Revolution is a historical documentary about the battle between the royal Romanovs and Lenin's Ulyanov family lead to the Russian Revolution which was fuelled by the hanging of his brother due to terroristic acts he committed. This documentary was written and directed by Cal Seville and is available on the online streaming site Netflix.

The documentary begins with archived footage of a church bell being destroyed and pictures of Jesus being burned. This symbolizes how Christianity was being persecuted during the Russian revolution. The director, Seville uses archived footage to give historical knowledge to the audience about the revolution. Accompanying the archived footage, there is a voice-over, commentating and narrating the story of the revolution. Furthermore, the authoritative voice-over persuades the viewers that the narrator has specialist knowledge on the subject. The documentary includes many interviews of authors that have written about the Soviet Union, Lenin & Stalin. The interviews with experts tells the audience that the information being presented has been researched and authenticated. Text accompanies the interview in the bottom left hand corner, illustrating to the viewers who the interviewee is and their occupation.

In terms of editing, the editor has used many J-cuts where the sound of 2nd clip is heard whilst the 1st clip is playing. It allows the audience to get a feel and better understanding of the environment. Between each shot, the editor has gone for straight cuts instead of using effects to give a serious tone to the documentary. This shows that it can hit a certain type of audience, which i believe is and older type of audience around 40+ and mostly can be watched by men, mainly in the ABC1 social class.

Exploring the historical type of documentary, we decided that this type of documentary would be hard to obtain footage with our given resources, time and money. In addition, historical documentaries rely upon lots of archived footage and the specification only allows 20 seconds worth of archived footage therefore we would not be able to create an extract of a historical documentary.

Rooney: The Man Behind The Goals

Rooney: The Man Behind The Goals is a 2015 BBC documentary about England's all-time top goalscorer. Wayne Rooney has given cameraman unique access to his home and personal life for the first time. The title suggests that the documentary is going to explore Rooney's personal life and how it affects him as a footballer. This documentary is in the mode of Bill Nichols' participatory as the filmmaker (Gary Lineker) and the subject (Wayne Rooney) interact and allow Lineker to address people in the documentary rather than comment on Rooney's life.

The documentary begins with a horizontal tracking shot from a car of football pitches. This suggests that these were the pitches that Rooney used to play on when he was child, since this documentary is about the story of how Rooney got to where he is today. The filmmaker then uses a cutaway to archived footage of Rooney playing for England then back to the tracking shot. The editors may have incorporated this to show how far Rooney has come from playing on a Sunday League pitch when he was a child. Furthermore, archived footage can give a historical knowledge to viewers who un-knowledgeable on the subject. The editor then uses a 'J cut' where the sound of cameras taking pictures scene is heard before the actual scene. This gives viewers a better understanding of the environment that Rooney lives in. J cuts and L cuts are used often in documentary film making.

The director uses the hook technique to make the viewers watch the whole documentary. The hook in this documentary is snippets of interviews with former teammates, managers and opponents such as Cristiano Ronaldo. By using these superstars and former managers, viewers will want to know what they say about Rooney.

This documentary has been made to honour a great footballer and has some sub-messages within the documentary such as hard work gets rewards. Furthermore, the documentary is trying to communicate with audience to inspire them; whether the audience is child wanting to become a footballer to an adult wanting to do better for themselves. So if we were to make a similar documentary we would have the right audience but i don't think we could create this type of documentary which has a rather large budget. although if we did it wouldn't be the best.

Banking on Bitcoin

Banking on Bitcoin is a documentary which appears on the online streaming site, Netflix. The documentary Banking on Bitcoin covers all basis’ from its roots to its future as a cryptocurrency. The title of the documentary is an example of play on words as it suggests Bitcoin is the last resort of monetary systems because the existing ones are failing. This documentary is directed by Christopher Cannucciari and is on Netflix.

The documentary begins with a complete black screen, with an upbeat soundtrack playing in the background and fades into a handheld shot of a man getting out a elevator. The handheld shot is documentary convention and gives a sense of realism as if you were there. The screen fades to black and titles of the director slide in then straight cuts. A tracking shot is used to follow the man out, opening the door of the building to exit the building, entering the public eye. By shooting the clip of him opening the door, it can be seen as a metaphor for bringing Bitcoin into the open. The cameraman continues to follow the man using a tracking shot and zooms into his ankle when he talks about his ankle tag, this immediately tells the audience that the man in question is a criminal out on bail. Titles come up naming the man and his occupation, the man is called Charlie Shrem and he is the CEO and cofounder of BITINSTANT. This suggests that his crime is most likely money related like tax evading as many rich people have been caught via the Paradise papers rather than violence related.

The next scene begins with an animation showing how the exchange of 1 Bitcoin to dollars has dramatically increased in 4 years. An animation is a common convention in documentaries to explain a topic simply and quickly. Also, this animation emphasises how far the cryptocurrency has come since it was created. A timeline animation succeeds this animation. This suggests to the audience that the documentary is going to follow a chronological order and pick up on the most important parts of Bitcoin’s history until the present day.

Cannucciari uses archived footage from a news television station about the Wall Street crash/08/09 global recession. Archived footage is used by directors to add historical knowledge to the given subject. The directors have used this archived footage to suggest to the audience that the current monetary system is a failure and potentially foreshadows how Bitcoin can help overcome the problems. Following the archived footage, a voiceover is played over the top of cinematic shots of Wall Street, protesters of capitalism and fumes, talking about the global recession. Voiceovers are usually authoritative and are used to make viewers think that voiceover has specialist knowledge on the subject. The cinematic/slow motion shots and the focus pulls may be used to suggest that capitalism is failing and new system is ready to takeover. A background sound track is playing; the tempo starts slow and begins increase. The fast tempo has connotations of hope, further suggesting something positive is about to succeed. A low angle slow motion shot is used when a man is posting question about why governments control central banks, a close up of a different man talking about the government’s stance on innovation followed by a medium shot of a man talking about how it is a monetary revolution. The direct speech from these members of the public are suggesting Bitcoin is the answer to the problems of the current monetary system. The low angle shot is used to make the subject in this case the man powerful, authoritarian and important suggesting he has specialist knowledge on the subject. The mise en scene in the close shot has the sun rising, the connotations of the sun rising is hope further suggesting Bitcoin is the answer to the current monetary system.

This documentary is in Bill Nichols’ mode of expository because it uses facts and figures to present an idea and uses interviews with experts to consolidate the idea. The meaning of the documentary is to inform the audience of the presence of Bitcoin and what it is to persuade the audience that Bitcoin is the answer to monetary policies.

We could make this type of documentary as it focuses on a particular topic and gives the audience an introduction on a quite modern topic, which is difficult to understand so, it can be quite similar to our own documentary as this is what we are trying to achieve in our own documentary

2.3 Script Draft 1

Script Draft 1

This is the first step in making our documentary a expository documentary. This script will

be for the voice over for the documentary. In Which Dan will provide the vocals for.

Scene 1: Intro

Interview with Christopher Pincher the MP for Tamworth

Scene 2: Intro Graphic

No voice over needed

Scene 3: Info about HS2

Camera – A Range of different Camera Shots in the town of Tamworth and shots of different trains. Types of shot: Pan, Establishing

“The Hs2, Britain's Answer to a rail system that challenges locomotives like the Japanese bullet train and Elon Musk's supersonic train. Or could this be the rail that Breaks Britain.”

“The High Speed Rail, is the long awaited improvement to British railways linking London to Birmingham in phase 1 and in phase 2 it links Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds. This is the second high speed rail after HS1, that links London to the channel tunnel.  (Film a moving train, Film train station logo.)

The HS2 project will cost at least £56 billion. Work on the first phase begins at the end of the year and will arrive in Birmingham by at least 2026, so that’s almost 9 years, if it manages to maintain its building schedule.

(Film Builders? Or construction site? And close up Handing over money?

HS2 Ltd say this is not just about delivering a new railway but providing huge economic, social and environmental benefits to the UK. The government assumes that the fares structure will be in line with that of the existing line and HS2 could generate sufficient demand and revenue without needing to charge premium prices. It estimates total fare revenues of up to £34 million over a sixty year period.

One of the government’s goal is to stop congestion in major cities, like Birmingham and London and want the HS2 to reduce this. The HS2 will have around 1100 seats per train and will be carrying an estimated 26,000 people per hour. Furthermore the journey time from Birmingham to London will be reduced from 1hr 21mins to just 49mins due to the operating speeds of up to 250mph that surpass any other conventional trains at this current time. (Film traffic, on train or people or even a train station).

Ministers also claim the London-West Midlands section alone will create around 40,000 jobs However this could all sound too good to be true as HS2 protesters, Stop HS2, say that (Film the house by Tayte’s) The midlands would actually lose out to London on the job front as they would claim 70% of the 40,000 jobs created around the HS2 Stations. Some protesters suggest we should renationalise and update the current rail infrastructure. (Maybe having archive footage of Stop HS2 campaign when this is said.)

“The HS2 has many advantages, however equally it also has many Disadvantages”

“For Example”

Scene 4: Voxpop

In this scene, we will ask questions to the general public in Tamworth about their opinion of HS2 from a question bank.

Question 1

What do you think of HS2?

Question 2

If you had one word or phrase to describe HS2, what would it be?

Question 3

Do you think the local area will change?

Question 4

Do you think HS2 should be a priority or do you think the government should focus on sorting the NHS or Brexit?

Question 5

Do you think HS2 will be affordable or is it for the middle/upper class?

Question 6

When/If the HS2 is constructed how much would you think that a one-way ticket form Birmingham to London would cost?

Scene 5: The route graphic

Dan - The route will begin in London and go straight up to Birmingham cutting through a lot of picturesque countryside and towns

During the making of the rail many different sized businesses will be affected like Whittington golf club, but we will discuss that certain topic later.

The HS2 will race through the countryside going past many towns and hamlets like, Buckingham and Banbury respectively. The line then starts moving onwards towards Birmingham travelling near towns such as Leamington Spa, Marston Green and Coleshill before cutting across and reaching its first proposed stop in Birmingham. On the left leg of the ‘Y’ shaped project the line will run towards Manchester, the track cuts through Middleton, Whittington and Lichfield. Then on the right leg of ‘Y’ shape the train line travels towards Leeds as it runs parallel with m42 near Tamworth. (Add shot of M42 near STOP HS2 house.)

Earlier we mentioned Whittington golf club which is one of the businesses affected by the HS2 in a major way. The line runs straight through the clubhouse destroying a number of holes along the way. Although a number of holes are going to be destroyed the golf club is doing everything it can to preserve its 130 year history, and fortunately with extra funding can now remake the missing historic holes that are going to be demolished by the HS2.

(Add shots of the golf club holes, us playing golf. Archive footage of the holes that will be gone.)

Scene 6: Local Area

Film shots such as Tamworth Castle, Ventura Park, Tamworth Market

How it will effect Tamworth.

Now, our hometown, Tamworth. As we already know the HS2 is not directly stopping in the Tamworth area. The closest it will stop will be in Birmingham. But that does not mean that it is going to Affect Tamworth in a major way. Firstly Tamworth, mainly residents living in the Wilnecote, Hockley area will gather a lot of noise pollution as the HS2 is running directly across the A5 dual carriage way. This is going to bother a lot of new residents who have recently moved to the new houses in that area not just the noise pollution it is also going to be a lot of visual pollution;, and there are even signs of residents not wanting the HS2 at all, (Show STOP HS2 house).

Scene 7: CP

Insert clip of Christopher Pincher

To finish off on the first part of the documentary here is an interview with the Tamworth MP Christopher Pincher.

As this is only the First Completed drafts It wont be quite perfect but hopefully in the coming weeks a

final product will come and be better.

2.2 Storyboard Draft 1

Storyboard Draft 1 

This is the Original Storyboard we made for the production. It provides the documentary the pillars in which the documentary will be built on. 

Scene 1 – Interview clip (Hook)

This will be a short clip of an interview with local MP of Tamworth, Christopher Pincher. We will ask him open questions about the topic of the HS2 and if it will have any effect on the local area. We will use a bit of the interview to make the audience watch until that scene as it is convention of a documentary.

Shots – We will be using 2 types of shot for this interview. A Two Shot, which will capture the interview and Christopher Pincher in the same shot and we are using a shot reverse shot, so that when either CP or the interviewer are talking, the camera can be on them.

Scene 2 – Introduction Graphic

The introduction graphic will consist of a 3D graphic of the UK and the HS2 smashing through houses with bags of money flying out. This introduction is a representation of what other people think of the idea of the HS2.  This will be created using the After Affects software.

Shots – For this graphic to work we will need a long shot of a bridge so the train will be able to go across it using green screen and after affects.

Scene 3 – Intro To the HS2

This will be a selection of different facts about the HS2 and will keep resorting back to the theme of Local and how the HS2 will effect Tamworth.

Shots – ( Mainly establishing shots of Tamworth.) mainly the castle, the shopping centre And the houses as the hs2 will be destroying houses.

Scene 4 – Voxpop section

This will be with different people of the local area as we want a varied opinion of the HS2. We will ask a range of different people who even aren't are target audience.

Shots- these shots would normally consist of two shots mainly with the interviewer and the interviewee.

Extra – We will also be using a mini microphone so in case the sound quality is not all that great we have a backup.  

Scene 5 – The route graphic

We are interested in looking at what route the HS2 will take a showing our audience where it will go in the area near Tamworth. Or we will show where it will go in the UK.

Edit – We will make this graphic on Adobe after affects

Furthermore, add what businesses will be affected

Scene 6

This will be a focus on the local area and what the HS2 will do and how it will change the area, More jobs less jobs, More houses, less houses etc..

Shots – this will include techniques like focus pulls, so that the audience can focus on the problems that the hs2 might bring to houses  so that means the focus pull can empathise that.

Scene 7– Ending graphic – After the break

This will include a scene showing the rest of the interview with Christopher Pincher before the break.

Also add archive footage of old trains, interviews of PM about HS2 and where HS2 intersects the Tamworth area.

Although we know there are many improvements to be made we believe that this is a good start to the production gives us a plan and an idea of what to film or start planing to film

2.1 Schedules and Deadlines

Schedules and Deadlines

Before setting off on the journey to make a documentary film we need a time line and a schedule so that we knew what to do and when to do it. 

Research and Planning 

Our First Item that was on the schedule was the Research and Planning. This section included things like, researching different documentaries to gain inspiration for what we going to create and deciding what topics to focus on in our documentary. Another key thing we had to do within the planning element was to decide what our target audience is as this is what the whole documentary will be shaped around. As maybe a kid friendly documentary wont be appropriate for a much older person watching a documentary. We also decided to spend as much time as we could on the section of the schedule as without enough planning and research you would go into filming with not enough knowledge and not film the correct things. This means you could waste a lot of time filming rather than editing the film or starting the print products, 

In the planning stage of the research and planning we need to plan, what type of documentary we were going to do, what types of shot we are going to film, and how we can follow, change or ignore the codes and conventions of a documentary. It also included going to different locations to find out what we are filming there and even if it was suitable for filming. 

Filming / Re-shoots

In the filming stage its quite self explanatory. We had to decide the best time to go and film our product, one that would give us the best shots, for example consistent weather and busy streets to film on. Also we needed enough time so we though that the October half term would be a perfect time to go and film as it would be busy and that me and Dan both had a lot of time off to go and film. Now the reason that i have also put November to film in is because of re-shoots, because we went going to get it perfect first time, and i think if it only takes one day to film it shows you've either been lazy and not shot enough or that the shots are bad. 

Editing / Re-shoots

The editing stage is a hard one to predict time wise, because you don't know how much time your going to spend editing your film because you don't know how much your going to film or how many clips your going to cut down or get rid of. But editing is where you gather all your footage from the filming and put it all together and simply review it. Before you even start editing look for gaps, that is why i have "Re-shoots" in December as i feel that this can be the last time we wold be able to film, and be able to edit the film with the new footage, as if we filmed in January lets say, the film wouldn't be finished on time. 

Print Artefacts 

Each specific type of media you can create for A2 media has slightly different print artefacts. For a documentary you needed to have a Double page spread and a advert from a magazine. We decided that if we would finish the film by December, January would be enough time to get both print artefacts finished as there is two of us. However if we overrun with the film we are going to start the print artefacts earlier as one of us focuses on the film and one on the print artefacts.


Also We made a production Table which is more in depth and also specifies who is doing what job over the next couple of months: 

Date	Who is cameraperson?	What scene are we filming?	How will we film?	What equipment will we need?
06/10/2017	Tayte	Dan Interviewing MP Scene 2,4,9	Two-shot	HD Camera, Tripod, microphone
08/10/2017	Dan & Tayte	Filming at Train station for Scene 1,3,5	Pans, close ups, long shots	HD Camera, Phone Camera, Tripod
14/10/2017	Dan & Tayte	Filming around Tamworth and local area for Scene 6,8	Close up, medium, long establishing shots	HD Camera, Phone Camera, Tripod
17/10/2017	Tayte	Creating graphic for scene 7	N/A	Adobe Premiere Pro
17/10/2017	Dan	Voice-over for the whole documentary	Audio recorder	Microphone
21/10/2017	Dan & Tayte	If needed for re-shoots	N/A	HD Camera, Tripod, Phone Camera
22/10/2017	Dan & Tayte	If needed for re-shoots	N/A	HD Camera, Tripod, Phone Camera