Research and development: Tonnes o' fun

Being a part-journo student research of topics has always been key to creating a good story, or in our case a documentary. some of the key reasons for research that I have learnt before are below:

- For your subjects to take you seriously: If you have no idea what your talking about your subjects may give less informative and fruitful answers in an interview.

- To be able to ask good questions in an interview: Without researching a topic (and subject) you won't know what questions to ask, or ask good questions. When you know more about a subject you can ask more in depth and quality questions as you have the pre existing knowledge.

- To add more flesh to your story: Without knowing much about topic, your documentary will be empty apart from interviews. After researching a topic it makes it easier to put your on perspective on a topic, as well as being able to back up your opinions and perspectives.

So it becomes obvious that research is key to creating an entertaining and persuasive documentary.

Ways to add a unique edge to a documentary

Todays lecture gave some interesting to give a documentary an interesting and emotive twist, rather than being just a news report or documenting of events. Below are features from the films in todays lecture and what I learnt from them:

A Propos de Nice (1930s) - "by showing certain basic aspects of a city, that city is put on trial."

- Having a variety of shots can keep the viewer visually interested.

- These sorts of non-interview shots can really help get a message across by showing it, not telling it.

From the East (1993) - Still shots, movement (or lack thereof) all within frame

all diegetic sound and lots of silence

camera as the recorder of life

- Again this emphasises the ability to "show" a story, not tell it

Zidane (2006) - "feature film that follows the protahgonist of the story without telling the story"

- Filming Zidane throughout an entire match

- Majority of shots are close ups

- I though this was a great example in how a story can be told, or a message delivered by the facial expressions and body language of a subject, rather than the words they say.

Sunrise over Tiananmen square

- Uses many photos and still cartoons

- Using a form of film that adds to your arguement

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Rocky Road to Dublin (1968) - taking french new wave style and putting in another countries context

It Works - Great example of showing through cinematography rather than explicitly telling the audience

- Shift in perspective, putting audience in position of films subject

- POV shots

So overall, the lecture showed that there is far more to a documentary than narratives and interviews. To really persuade the audience towards your point and to entertain them. Artistic visual elements are just as if not more important than spoken elements.

Film TV2 New blog

Time to get back in to the swing of things. I'll start by pitching my idea, although it now seems kind of pointless as I prefer two of the ideas in my Group. But, without further a do, here is my idea...

I wanted to creat a doco about a Yoghurt store in Glenferrie road which was opened by two friends who were pretty much fresh out of school. The store has been highly succesful and I beleive that they are about to open a second one.

I would want to make a documentary which explores what it takes to open a business, especially at such a young age and I presume without much money. The two guys who own the store are both reasonably charismatic and would make for interesting and entertaining interviews.

The doco would focus on some of the hardships they may have faced and how they overcame them. I would also like to explore how and why the store has become so succeful and what the owners think are key pointers for starting and maintaining a succesful business.

I would Hope that I could find some sort of emotional angle or emotional ties that had to be severed in order for the business to succeed, or even relationships that were significantly strengthened.