DOCUMENTARY; EXTRA RESEARCH

Barely Legal Drivers

Barely Legal Drivers is a BBC Three documentary programme in which the cameras follow two different teens each week as they embark on what they think is a 'teen lifestyle' documentary when in reality it is their driving that is being put to the test with their parents secretly watching. A ex traffic officer then decided. based on their driving, whether they need extra driving lessons or deserve a car of their own. This programme uses different codes and conventions that i can take influence from.

1) Firstly, at the start of each episode comes up some facts based on driving and young drivers, this is a very effective thing to do because it introduces the programme to the audience, its a nice introduction before we meet the characters of this particular episode. Moreover, it also gives the audience some context to what they are watching, seeing these proof based facts at the start of each episode provides some background as to why this programme is being made and it defiantly makes people carry on watching because they would want to see these facts come to life. The facts are also paired with multiple GVs that relate to the situation i.e. pov shots of driving, l plates etc.

2) Secondly, another feature of the programme is the use of an expert. In order to judge the driving of the teens, the makers bring in an ex traffic police officer, who is someone who knows exactly what they're talking about and would most likely be someone the audience would trust, increasing the validity of the programme.

3) The camera has two different aspects that i found interesting. It is in a blog style format but not in the same way that we know today, rather than the character sitting there holding the camera to their face in the typical youtube style vlog format, the character is instead sitting on her bed looking directly into the camera talking. Moreover, the camera has a very handheld feel to it, this is to allow them to follow the action as it happens and is obviously a widely used convention in most documentaries.

How it can influence my work
There are many ways in which i believe the conventions used in barely legal drivers can affect my own work. Firstly, the use of an expert is something we are trying to find, we are looking and contacting different experts with backgrounds in social media work who can provide context and realism to our work, in a similar way to how they have the expert in Barely Legal Drivers. Secondly we also want to introduce our documentary with some facts or figures, not in the same way as barely legal drivers had the facts come up on screen whereas we would like to present ours through narration.

DOCUMENTARY - PRE PRODUCTION UPDATE

As we near closer to filming dates, we are putting in place all of the necessary organisations ready for filming. Before we actually start filming, i would say that my main contribution to the group documentary so far, is casting. I have been the person to contact and cast our main characters. Jake, our presenter/vlogger i have been liaising with and detailing what and how we would like him to be involved, to further this we as a group are going to meet with him next week, to finalise all of the finer details and make sure that everything is ready to go. Also, i have been in touch with Beneden School, regarding possible interviews with their students about their recent 'Phone Fast', they have taken my name and number and are hopefully going to be coming back in touch with me once their schools half terms are over.

In terms of filming dates, we have two preliminary set of dates. Firstly, we would like Jake to undertake in the Digital Detox on the 12th - 15th of April, this will not involve us being there as a crew filming, but mainly Jake doing what he would normally do for himself on his own youtube channel, blogging his daily life, but this time he'll have no social media, and within these days he'll be running into some issues that he would normally be able to use social media to get out of. Secondly, we have a second set of filming dates, in which we will film all of the GV's, sequences and other interviews that we need. This will hopefully be taking place on the 24th - 28th of April.

DOCUMENTARY; SEQUENCES AND ACTUALITY

Directing Documentaries
- Documentaries do not just 'happen' they have to be researches, meticulously planned, scripted and set up. Throughout the pre production, production and post production Control is the key.

Sequences - what is a sequence?
Just as with drama, we direct sequences for documentaries which represent reality. Close ups are the key, repeat the action and beware of continuity, make sure your sequences are interesting, creative and relevant and properly set up for light and sound. Wherever possible shoot sequences with a  tripod. When dealing with paid talent you can usually ask them to do whatever you creatively want for the film, when dealing with members of the public however, this is more potentially tricky. Ensure you have talked through your plans with them prior to the shoot so that you know they are happy with the arrangements, gaining trust is key to dealing with 'real' people - this is built up during the pre production process, your research should highlight potential actuality and relevant sequences which will 'tell the story in pictures' so you can plan this in your shooting script.

Get good coverage - shoot to edit
The art is to get as many options as possible for your edit, i.e. shoot lots of different angles which will cut together for continuity, remember the rule of 3 close ups for every wide shot - break each shot into action and reactions shots to give good coverage. To ensure you can always 'cover' your edits, it is essential to shoot cutaways, GVs are a great way of doing this. They are generic shots which are relevant to the subject and location which can be slotted in anywhere to edit, they need to be close ups or defocused wides.

Actuality
Actuality is a type of documentary filming which captures events and does little if anything to control them - realism. Therefore, in contrast to sequencing, you will NOT be directing the action but responding to it. Thus, actuality is very difficult to film and thus to edit - you cannot control the action so therefore controlling your camera and what you shoot is even more important. They are often shot handheld to improve responsiveness and flexibility - in fact conventions have evolved whereby the 'wobbly' look of actuality is expected and adds to the sense of 'reality; and events unfolding unfettered by the production team. Thus planning is vital for such shoots, you need to do a careful recce so that you are aware of potential challenges during the shoot and can devise ways of dealing with them.

Actuality Shooting Strategies
- Letting the subject enter and leave the frame
- Apply the rules of sequencing by controlling what and how you shoot filming
- plenty of reactions shoots
- Filming cutaways, establishing shots and non-sync wide shots
- Always get wild track/buzz-track

SCREENING - AILEEN; THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIEL KILLER
What questions was the film trying to pose?
- Mental Health - is it right to put the death penalty on someone who is visibly mentally unstable?
- Does it prevent crime (the death penalty)

How can the characters test the hypothesis?
-Her mother told the story of Aileen's childhood, her childhood could be what affected her mental stability

DOCUMENTARY; CHARACTER UPDATE

As the narrator of our project, we have Jake Thomson, who is a UK Vlogger and student. He, self described, is obsessed with social media and for him to take on the challenge of a 'Digital Detox' will be great viewing. Viewing his own videos on his channels, he is a confident person who will help us produce great content, and will be someone who the audience, teenagers themselves, will be able to relate with.

As i wrote about in an earlier post, we hope to interview some students from 'Beneden' school in Maidstone, who took part in their own phone fast. We hope to interview them about their experiences and how they coped without their phone. Finally we also want to interview someone from a profession background who can give us some context to the issue. We have a psychologist who is happy to help us and be interviewed but we are currently looking for someone with a specialist background on social media who will be able to give us the more professional perspective we are looking for. 

DOCUMENTARY; PRESENTATION AND PITCH DOCUMENT

As we draw closer to filming, we created a presentation and pitch document based on our ideas...