In order to appeal to young people who are not already involved in sport, skating was chosen as it has a 'cool factor' which other sports may not necessarily exhibit. Young skaters in trendy clothes were interviewed to further enhance this appeal, and an element of comedy was also injected; through the short video montage and also through the inclusion of a mistake made in one of the interviews. The informality of the interviews, combined with the comedy and the inclusion of teenagers wearing fashoniable clothes throughout help break down viewer 'resistance' to what they are seeing, and therefore make the message appear more credible to them. In order to appeal to the widest range of interests, all aspects of skatepark life were covered; Inline skating, Skateboarding and also BMXing.
My video footage was recorded on a HDD digital camcorder, and for the most part of the documentary the camera was 'hand held'; to give the audience the impression of being 'in' the documentary. However, a tripod was used for long shots of a single location over a long period of time; as it would be impractical to expect a cameraman to maintain a steady focus for too long without straying.
The documentary was edited using the program Adobe Premiere Pro, and the skills i have learned have been invaluable. I intend to use the same program for my main task.
The voice-over for the documentary was recorded using a headset with microphone. I was extremely displeased with the quality of the sound files that was produced, so if i choose to add a non-diegetic voiceover to my main task an alternative source for audio will be essential. The file was saved as a .avi file; as this is the output format of the program and this format also allows it to be played in Windows Media Player and other media programs. This file format can also be uploaded to Youtube.
Files I used which I do not have the 'rights' to are as follows;
Bicycle Race by Queen - used in video montage of BMX riders for comedic effect, and to gain viewer attention as the song starts suddenly.
Heaven Is A Halfpipe by OPM - used for end credits, to continue the theme of skating. Song also gives positive description of skating, which reinforces the message of documentary.
I recorded my footage on 2 separate dates; the 12th and 19th of July. This was so that i could gain a wider variety of footage, and interviewees than i would otherwise have been able to filming one a single day.
Upon first viewing of my completed documentary, a number of issues became apparent.
The first of these was concerning the audio quality; Wind interference was a major problem throughout the documentary, not only during the interview footage, but also during the voice-over. In order to remedy this, i will use a tool called Wind Cut in Premiere Pro, to reduce the amount of sound being lost to wind.
I feel I could improve my documentary by making the following changes;
- Adding a clear title and subtitles to better introduce the setting and people involved with the documentary.
- Obeying the 'rule of thirds', which stipulates that when a single character is in shot their head should occupy the top, centre section of the screen.
- Using better sound recording gear, for both the diegetic sound in the interviews which was impeded by wind, and also for the non-diegetic narration which was recorded on a simple PC microphone.
My documentary is similar to other documentaries in that it is made incorporating the following techniques commonly found in documentary; - A clear 'presenter', directly addressing the audience by making eye contact with the camera whilst speaking.
- Non-diegetic narrative, using the voice of the presenter
- Interviews with people who have experience & knowledge concerning the topic of the documentary. The presenter can be 'in' or 'out' of the shot, and I have used both shot types over the course of the documentary.
- An introduction, in which the presenter informs the viewer of their current situation, and of what they will be attempting to learn over the course of the documentary
- A concluding section at the end of the documentary, where the presenter summarises the discoveries they have made, and reiterates the 'message' of the documentary; the opinions or beliefs they are trying to transfer to others.
- Popular music songs used as non-diegetic 'backing tracks'. These can be used to match the theme or mood of the events taking place on screen, and to gain the viewer's attention. They can also be used to familiarise the viewer with the program, as they can identify with a song they know well and feel comfortable hearing it. This will therefore break down 'consumer resistance' to the doumentary and make them more open to the 'message'.
I watched a variety of documentaries in the course of my research.
One such of these is Michael Palin's New Europe; a multi-part film in which the eponimous presenter travels Europe and meets a wide variety of the continent's inhabitants. A theme of this documentary which can be found recurring is that of an inner, personal journey undertaken by the protagonist; which results in a transformation in character. This transformation is conveyed to the viewer via Michael's own personal, non-diegetic narrative, in which he reveals to the viewer what he has learned on his travels, and how each new experience has changed his identity to some degree. Palin also mentions small anecdotes of his previous experiences prior to his journey, as long as they are relevant to the events taking place. I utilised this technique throughout my documentary, commenting on my own personal experiences in the past tense and using one such comment to summarise.
Another documentary I studied is Supersize Me, made by Morgan Spurlock. At the beginning of this documentary various popular music tracks are played. This is intended to gain the attention of the viewer, and also to attempt to gain the viewer's trust; by playing songs with which they are familiar. I used this technique towards the end of my documentary, using a song which began suddenly and was fast-paced. This instantly grabs viewer attention, and keeps them focused for the concluding address by the presenter.
