Brainstorm of Ideas

Here is a mindmap made on Bubbl.us to show the different types of short film genres, along with their possible target audience:

Our Ideas:

Expanded Ideas (focused on documentary genre):

(Living with Vitiligo: Sophie’s Story)

Setting/Location: The actor’s house and other locations in London e.g. modelling shoots, friends houses etc.

Actors: Sophie and her friends/family

Plot Summary: Sophie will talk about what her life has been like since having vitiligo.

Discuss the difficulties she’s faced because of her having the condition (background story)
Discuss their inspirations
Discuss her achievements

Themes Addressed: bullying, identity, success and embracing your imperfections

Intended Audience: wide audience (young and old generation)

It could be used to inspire all those affected by vitiligo.

OR…

It could be seen as a way of informing those unaffected about what life is like living with a skin condition.

Inspiration: Channel 4 & BBC 3 Documentaries / Winnie Harlow

(a Canadian model and spokes-model for those with vitiligo).

Documentary on Group of Skaters

Setting/Location: A skate park in Walthamstow, our local area.

Actors: 5 male skaters

Plot Summary: The skaters will talk about their activity and what it means to them.

Discuss how skating has helped them in their lives – the impact!
Discuss their inspirations
Discuss their dreams

The documentary aims to deliver a piece about local dreamers in East London and how they’ve used this sport to overcome any personal troubles or issues they’ve faced.

Themes Addressed: freedom, family, success and overcoming problems

Intended Audience: wide audience (young and old generation)

It could be seen as an inspirational or motivational short film for young adults.

OR…

It could be seen as a way of informing our local community of the talent in the area.

Inspiration: Channel 4 Documentaries/ a film called The Motivation – a film about pro-skateboarders as they prepare for a big sports event.

Chosen Genre (Research)

Our chosen genre is 'a mixed documentary'.

These specific types of documentaries use a mix of interviews, narration and observation; they combine expository and observational modes. It is a more balanced approach as it uses a variety of techniques throughout the documentary, rather than focusing entirely on narration or observation.

Definition: A documentary is a recording of an event, generally based on people's perspectives and/or genuine

facts. "Documentary" has been described as a "filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception" that is continually evolving and is without clear boundaries. Others further state that a documentary stands out from the other types of non-fiction films for providing an opinion, and a specific message, along with the facts it presents.

We chose this genre because we believed it was a creative way to put across a simple, yet powerful message about a topic we are passionate about.

Documentary comes from the root word document, which derives from the Latin 'docere', meaning to teach.

Types of Documentaries:

According to Bill Nichols, an American film critic best known as founder of the contemporary study of documentary film, there are 6 modes of documentary.

The Expository Mode: this is the typical mode we associate with documentaries, as it often uses a narrator for commentary - "the voice of God". These types of documentaries address the spectator (audience) directly with titles/voiceovers that pose a perspective, recount history or advance an argument.
The Poetic Mode: a documentary that stresses the lyrical, rhythmic and emotional aspect of the world.
The Observational Mode: these are known as "the window on the world" since they attempt to observe aspects of the historical world as they happen. Social actors behave as if no filmmakers are there.
The Participatory Mode: this mode allows the filmmaker to address the people who appear in the film, opposed to addressing the audience through a voiceover commentary.
The Reflexive Mode: this type speaks not only about the world but also about the problems and issues of representing it. From a political perspective, reflexivity points towards our assumptions and expectations about the world around us.
The Performative Mode: performative style documentaries call for an emotional response from us, rather than asking us to gain knowledge from it. This mode stresses tone and mood more so than arguments and evidence.

Brief History of Documentaries

Early film (pre-1900) was dominated by the novelty of showing an event. They were single-shot moments captured on film: a train entering a station, a boat docking, or factory workers leaving work. These short films were called "actuality" films; the term "documentary" was not coined until 1926. Many of the first films, were a minute or less in length, due to technological limitations.

John Grierson, a Scottish documentarian known as the father of British and Canadian documentary film, coined the term documentary as a "creative treatment of actuality." Grierson's principles of documentary were that cinema's potential for observing life could be exploited in a new art form; materials thus "taken from the raw" can be more real.

1920s Camera - technology wasn't as advanced back then as it is now.

Modern Documentaries

Box office analysts have noted that this film genre has become increasingly successful in theatrical release with films such as 'Super Size Me'.

Compared to dramatic narrative films, documentaries typically have far lower budgets which makes them attractive to film companies because even a limited theatrical release can be highly profitable. The nature of documentary films have expanded in the past 20 years from the cinema verité style introduced in the 1960s in which the use of portable camera and sound equipment allowed an intimate relationship between filmmaker.

This rise in the popularity of documentaries has led to a range of short film documentaries, made my independent filmmakers.

The film documents this lifestyle's drastic effect on Spurlock's physical and psychological well-being, and explores the fast food industry's corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit.

Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabu

A short film that follows the lives of two young skateboarders from Afghanistan who attend the Skateistan project.

What Moves You?

Told from the point-of-view of runners from all walks of life, the film explores the inspiration and motivation that modern cultures associate with running.

It is evident that the majority of documentary shorts are there to teach, but also inspire in a limited amount of time. Simple, powerful messages and facts are put in to engage the audience and give them an insight into the topic documented; we want our short film to involve these elements.

Contemporary Documentarians

Louis Theroux - a BBC television presenter best known for making documentaries that investigate fascinating worlds and lifestyles. Over more than fifteen years, using a gentle questioning style and an informal approach, he has shone light on some of the world’s most intriguing beliefs, behaviours, and institutions by getting to know the people at the heart of them. His BBC2 Specials have covered some of the most controversial topics from drugs to hunting animals in places such as America and Africa.

Stacey Dooley - an English television presenter and journalist. She rose to fame in 2009 after appearing in a number of BBC Three documentaries highlighting child labour issues in developing countries.

Her series of documentaries: 'Stacey Dooley Investigates', explored current affairs and issues affecting young people around the world.

Nick Broomfield - an English documentary filmmaker. His self-reflexive style has been highly influential, and was adapted by many later filmmakers. He describes documentaries as "a great way to strike up conversations, and a great excuse to ask questions about the World around you".

"The Broomfield Technique works by zooming in on the inessentials as the means of getting to the heart of the matter. He leaves in what conventional documentary-makers would edit out and keeps rolling in front of stories on which most people would consider it extravagant madness to waste valuable reels."

- John Carlin, The Daily Telegraph

Michael Moore - an American documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, author, journalist, actor, and left-wing political activist. Moore's cinematic works criticize topics such as globalization, large corporations, assault weaponownership, the Iraq War, the American health care system and capitalism.

Reggie Yates - a presenter who has recently established himself as a documentary maker on the BBC. He is mostly commonly known for 'Reggie Yates' Extreme Russia, Extreme South Africa and Extreme UK', getting up close and personal into the different communities and the issues that occur within them.

Brainstorming allowed us to choose our preferred genre; mind maps were a key aid.

By Ashley Fontaine