Wednesday, December 16, 2020

NEA Revamped Website

Pop-up:
Top bar / home screen

Need to add quotations from the documentary - offers users an insight into the musicians.

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

NEA Second Draft

  •  Recorded and added Lawrence's voiceover
  • Added background music to Jasmine and Gram Section
  • Sorted out cropping of Lawrence section - talking about livestreams. 


Monday, November 9, 2020

NEA First Draft Doc

Grassroots First Draft from Hannah Barrett on Vimeo.


Things needing to be added - 

- Waiting on voiceover from Lawrence for title sequence / clip before title sequence.

- Background music and two more edited photos for Jasmine / Gram section.

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Monday, September 28, 2020

NEA Website Update - Slideshow

Old website link: https://14-hbar2.wixsite.com/grassrootsdocnull 


                                         



  • Colour filters over my photographs to adhere to bold colour palette - documentary about bold personalities.
  • Will write longer description of the programme underneath the slideshow in order to add detail ad intellectual content to the homepage.

Sunday, September 6, 2020

NEA Update

Over the summer holidays, I worked on my NEA by shooting all the footage I needed for the documentary. I have also finalised the design for the first two sections of the site:



https://vimeo.com/user122756179/review/455413881/5d54545162

https://vimeo.com/user122756179/review/455414520/84d9486336

Overall, I am very pleased with how it is turning out, and it fitting the vibrant, eclectic look I was aiming for. 

I would like to shoot one more thing for my Easter egg, which will be of Ben talking through how he produces and thinks through his pieces of music. After this all of the content will be filmed and ready for editing.

Monday, June 15, 2020

NEA Final Statement of Intent Draft

How do you intend to use the four areas of the media theoretical framework to communicate meaning and meet the requirements of your chosen brief? (approx. 400 words) 
PRODUCT 1
My documentary, ‘Grassroots’, follows the lives of young musicians and their pursuit of wider success, sometimes through social media. Shot types will be very important in conveying a sense of intimacy (so the audience feels as if they are getting ‘behind the scenes content’). For example, I will include over-the-shoulder shots, point-of-view shots and vlog-style content to create a performative documentary, as theorised by Bill Nichols - the people featured in the documentary will also have a large control over the narrative. This will fulfil the BBC Three remit of having ‘innovative’ content, as well as showcasing ‘New UK Talent’. An element of ‘interactive relationships’ will be incorporated through the feature of the musicians’ social media platforms, encouraging the audience to go and follow them, and certain hashtags will also be promoted to incite conversation. As the target audience is intellectual 16-34 year-olds, I will appeal to them as the people in the documentary are young themselves, creating a sense of relatability, and they will be more likely to take an interest in the subculture of local alternative music. More intellectual elements will be added through intertextual references, such as the mention of musical influences and cover songs, and will also briefly touch on how local music venues struggle to stay open. I would like a ‘rising star’ representation - showing a binary of the musicians in their homes and then performing on stage.

PRODUCT 2
My website will have more of a fresh, professional feel than my documentary. Whilst the documentary is about the struggles of a young artist, the website should be a reflection of how the artists are wishing to represent themselves, in order to look engaging and exciting. However there will be a similar colour palette of bold greens, blues and reds in order to create convergence. To add to the intellectual content I will include an easter egg within one of the featured photos, in which I will have a video exploring the relationship between young musicians and local venues, which are currently struggling. Social media will also be heavily promoted; for example there may be a Twitter feed along the side of the website, or one musician’s Instagram feed, which appeals to the rapidly-consuming, young target audience. Other additional content such as musician profiles and interviews will be included, in order to enrich the viewer’s experience with the documentary and fulfil the ‘surveillance’ segment of their Uses and Gratifications. The musicians will be represented in their best light on the website, as it acts as the ‘final piece’ of the documentary. All of their individual talents and personalities will be collated on the website for innovation and engagement.

How do you intend to link your media products to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the digitally convergent nature of your media production? (approx. 100 words) 
My documentary will reference my website through the use of pop-ups in the corner of the screen, which will contain hashtags to incite conversation or promote the site. This would encourage the audience to visit in order to interact with others and see their opinions. In order to acknowledge the digitally convergent nature of the musicians’ lives, there will be snippets of social media footage, for example their YouTube or Instagram videos, therefore leading the viewer to use their own accounts to find out what else the artists post.

Thursday, June 11, 2020

NEA Finalised Storyboard and Rough Scripts

This is the completed version of my documentary story board. It contains the type of shots I want to include and the effect they should have - it has also been expanded and amended since my initial storyboard plan.




I have also created brief scripts for the people I will feature in my documentary, in order to help them prepare and get a general idea of their role.

SCRIPT 1 - artist who introduces the documentary and establishes what it is about. 



SCRIPT 2 - main focus of the documentary - duo. There will be a segment on the website where Jasmine explores her experiences as a girl in a male-dominated music industry. 

SCRIPT 3 - artist who is becoming successful and uses their social media to gain fans.

Monday, June 8, 2020

NEA Generic Research - BBC Three

To view as presentation: https://prezi.com/view/V1LXJlvccUdxGGb4NYcB/

HISTORY AS A TELEVISION CHANNEL
   BBC Three was launched in February 2003. It had the same remit of 'innovative programming' as well as new British talent, and had the same target audience of 16-34 years old.
   The channel featured around 70% original content, as this was part of the remit, and had a 90% British audience. This was very different from its competitors (e.g. ITV2 and E4), as they were commercial and attracted a more internationally diverse audience.
   However, in March 2014 there was a budget cut of £100 million, meaning BBC Three was converted to an 'over-the-top Internet television' as we know it today. The channel had an almost 50% budget cut, which was met with a lot of backlash and gained over 300,000 signatures on a petition against it.

BBC THREE DOCUMENTARIES
   The channel is highly acclaimed and well-known for its documentaries, and they fit in well with the 'intellectual content' section of its remit. Some have won BAFTAs such as 'Life & Death Row' and 'Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts'.
   From this Stacey Dooley has become a very well-known explorative journalist, and often covers more serious topics such as sex work, terrorism and fascism in the USA. This shows that intellectual documentaries prove to be hugely successful on the channel.

COMMISSIONING
   BBC Three states that 'tone is really important on the channel' due to the younger, more inquisitive audience. This leads them to look for current topics that would be interesting for the viewers to talk about and form their own opinions, but it also must be light-hearted or entertaining enough to watch.
   It is also important for the content to be somewhat 'relevant to them and their lives' in order to encourage the audience to speak about it with their friends and actively consume the product.

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

NEA Website First Ideas

In this draft, I have used placeholder photos that are the sort of thing I would like to include in the final product.

Monday, May 18, 2020

NEA Statement of Intent Draft

I decided to organise my 400-word answers into LIAR, in order to make sure I explored everything that was required.


Tuesday, May 12, 2020

NEA Planning - First Ideas

   Here is the remit of BBC Three:
"The remit of BBC Three is to bring younger audiences to high quality public service broadcasting through a mixed-genre schedule of innovative UK content featuring new UK talent. The channel should use the full range of digital platforms to deliver its content and to build an interactive relationship with its audience. The channel’s target audience is 16-34 year olds."
   I decided to make a mind map of the specific details I want to include in my documentary, based off of the points in the remit. (Enter fullscreen to see more clearly)




NEA Research - How to Make a Ken Loach Film

   Although Ken Loach is a director and producer of films, meaning he constructs a plot and specifically chooses actors for his productions, his works have a high degree of verisimilitude. For example, 'I Am Daniel Blake' is a film about a man attempting to claim unemployment benefits and failing after a health issue, which is a prevalent topic for today's society. Loach only creates a basic structure of a script, allowing for the actors to improvise and make their dialogue more naturalistic.
   Therefore, it may be helpful to study the series of YouTube shorts entitled 'How to Make a Ken Loach Film' because the way he depicts reality and uses his actors shows a lot of parallels with the conventions of a documentary.

1 - 'Work with the actor's instincts'
   In a lot of scenes directed by Loach, the actors react to the event as it happens in order to get the most naturalistic response. This will be very helpful to apply to my documentary, as it will be interesting to provide a general plan but allow the young musicians to explore what they think is most important to them personally. I will also have to be taking a lot of footage so that I can get some 'Behind-The-Scenes' material and also be prepared for unexpected content.
2 - 'Surprise is very important'
   It will be good to give the people I will be filming with an idea of what I will be looking for. However, more realistic/innovative material will come from unexpected questions, prompts etc.
3 - 'Directing is about confidence'
   When I make a mindmap or storyboard for my documentary I must know what I want the outcome of it to look like / what I want it to achieve. I might look over the remit of BBC Three again and set out what I want the audience to learn from my documentary. This will give me the confidence I need to ask the correct questions and get the correct shots.

Monday, May 11, 2020

NEA Generic Research - Language and Digital Convergence


Now that I have studied various texts, I have a better idea of how to structure and shoot my documentary, and also what to include. I have also learnt the tropes of a documentary's website and how they use it to make the audience feel more enriched that just viewing the documentary alone. It's also interesting how documentaries have evolved to include more technology and elements of interaction which was not available to older documentaries, especially when the 'hypodermic syringe' model was believed to be the method of audience consumption.


Monday, May 4, 2020

NEA Wesbite Generic Analysis 1 - Louis Theroux Website

From looking at different documentaries and their complimentary websites, I have found that the ones with higher budgets, more developed storylines or multiple series tend to have websites. Smaller, lower budget documentaries such as 'Beauty Laid Bare' do not have a website devoted specifically to them, but are instead promoted on the BBC Three website, which has a variety of their productions. Due to this variation, I will look at a few websites that promote documentaries of different production values / detail.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

NEA Revision of Pitch

This is my original pitch:

  "I would like to create my documentary on the subject of young musicians and the changing ways they kick-start and promote their careers, as the use of social media has greatly affected this. I also want to include a small focus on local venues and how they are struggling to stay open. This would be apt for BBC Three, as it concerns young people, which is the channel's target audience (16-34 year-olds). It also falls into their ideology of showcasing 'original voices and unique ideas'.

   The audience will be able to engage with the documentary through the website, which will offer extra, more personal information on the individual artists, as well as advice to young people about how to start their own musical careers. Digital convergence can also be brought in here, as the documentary will partly focus on the usage of social media by the musicians. There can be links to their platforms, and encouragement to send Tweets of support to them / check their handles to see how their careers have progressed."

I agree with this original pitch in terms of my general ideas, but after the focus group questions and audience feedback I can tailor it to become a bit more specific:
  • I will now look at young alternative musicians so that I can have a more distinguishable style, instead of just any genre of music.
  • I also think that instead of a 'small focus on local venues', I will be able to unite the two topics by filming both in the musicians' homes and also in local venues and places where bands tend to form, e.g. colleges. This will make it much easier for me to link the two instead of focusing on two separated topics. 

Monday, April 27, 2020

NEA Audience Summation

   From asking questions to my focus group about their behaviours surrounding documentaries, I learnt a lot about how they would consume the text. ]

   All of the four people in the group watched documentaries at least semi - regularly, ranging from about once a month to once a week. So, from this information I can tell my my documentary must be engaging and snappy, as they could easily just find another one to watch. This target audience will also be very familiar with the codes and conventions of a documentary, so I would want to make mine distinctive so that it is still interesting to the very culturally aware viewers.

  Here were the group's favourite documentaries:

  • Tiger King
  • Parkway Drive: The Documentary
  • Home Is For the Heartless
  • FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
  • Hip - Hop Evolution
  • Louis Theroux documentaries
   Of these six documentaries, four are related to music. This suggests that the audience is already well-educated on this genre of documentary; therefore my documentary should offer a new and more insightful perspective on the issues I want to cover. I will probably achieve this by adding the element about local music venues, as I will interview the owners. The other documentaries, Tiger King and the Louis Theroux series, have a nice way of filming and have a relatively simple narrative structure that I could replicate:
   - Louis Theroux champions the 'Participatory Documentary' format in which the documentary         focuses on his findings.
   - 'Tiger King' is more observational in the way that everyone featured got to create the narrative.

NEA Generic Research Summation

Whilst watching the three documentaries, I noticed a few things that I think will be helpful for me when it comes to structuring, filming and carrying out my documentary.

COMMON CODES AND CONVENTIONS:
  • A range of shot types that convey intimacy and allow the audience to see the people featured in a personal way; for example phone-filmed clips and mid shots of them in their homes. 
  • Included some digital / graphic design elements, such as statistics that come up on screen, and footage of their YouTube channels and social media accounts. This adds to the diversity of the narration, as it could potentially get boring with one narrator throughout the entire documentary. 
  • Narrative is usually driven by a journalist, and the documentary follows how they discover and perceive the subject. However, sometimes the documentaries adopt a citizen journalism - style narrative, in which the people featured also act as narrators. 
  • Extended mise-en-scène, where there are multiple shots of the surroundings in which the documentary is filmed. Helps to convey the mood and backgrounds of the people pictured. Again, makes the documentary more personal. 
MORE SPECIFIC FEATURES OF NOTE
  • I really liked the way 'Beauty Laid Bare' was filmed, as it seemed that the people in the documentary were given a lot of control over what they could say. There was a lot of footage from many different platforms, such as professionally filmed clips, social media videos and also phone-filmed footage. I think using this eclectic mix is a good reflection of the life of young people, and also allows a variety of view points, therefore raising the intellectual level of the series.
APPLYING THEORY

John Grierson - described documentary as 'creative treatment of actuality', which can be seen in the unique shot types shown in the documentaries; for example in 'The Fight For Women's Bodies', there is a shot of the subject filmed as if it is through a crack in the door. The documentary must look visually appealing as well as academically enriching, in order to allow the audience to come away with more knowledge and their own set of views and opinions.

Bill Nichols - Has six modes of documentary:

  1. Poetic mode - Showing a narrative by means of 'associations', for example the extended mise-en-scènes that show the audience their background without explicitly saying it.
  2. Expository mode - 'Voice of God' narration, which is used lightly in the 'Beauty Laid Bare' documentary. I think this helps the documentary to have variety in its narrative, and is more naturalistic.
  3. Observational mode - attempt to film 'actuality'. This could be shown in my documentary by including footage of them performing / playing their instruments.
  4. Participatory documentaries - When the filmmaker participates in the documentary e.g. Louis Theroux or the journalist in 'The Fight for Women's Bodies'.
  5. Reflexive documentaries - acknowledges that the documentary is not purely objective e.g. a mockumentary. This will not link to my documentary as it is more serious, and it will also be clear that my documentary is from a subjective point of view.
  6. Performative documentaries - Puts emphasis on the filmmakers involvement with the subjects. This links to 'Beauty Laid Bare' and 'It Might Get Loud' as the narrative is carried by those that feature in the documentary. I like this style of documentary and might use it in mine, as it adds another layer of complexity rather than having a linear narrative with one journalist. 

NEA Focus Group: Audience Behaviour and FG Questions

I chose four people that I think would fit into the demographic and psychographic of my documentary. They are also a range of ages, which will perhaps bring a different perspective to the feedback I received.



Rosie Moore, 17
Watches Documentaries: once every couple of weeks
Favourite Documentaries: 'Tiger King' 
What would be an ideal length for an episode in a docuseries?
"Half hour?"
If you saw this documentary on TV, would you watch it?
"Yes, the shot types are interesting and would catch my eye, also how natural it is, it appeals to normal young people and is relatable."
Which local settings would be good to shoot the documentary in?
"Chinnery's, The Railway, Peggy Sue's"
Focus on one genre, or multiple?
"I'd say alternative is the most popular but if you want to go for a less popular genre and challenge conventions that would be cool too."
Name Ideas / other feedback?
"New Wave?"

Jasper Harmer, 20
Watches Documentaries: a couple of times a month
Favourite Documentaries: 'Parkway Drive: The Documentary' and 'Home Is For the Heartless'
What would be an ideal length for an episode in a docuseries?
"45 minutes"
If you saw this documentary on TV, would you watch it?
"Young music and musicians is a particular interest of mine so I would watch it, yes."
Which local settings would be good to shoot the documentary in?
"Practise rooms and music shops, venues (Chinnery's, The Railway) and place in which local musicians meet so colleges maybe."
Focus on one genre, or multiple?
"All genres should be considers, the shooting into fame of a young SoundCloud rapper would differ hugely from that of a young metal or punk band who have a totally different audience and would offer totally different aspects of development to cover."
Name Ideas / other feedback?
"Grassroots"

Lauren Barrett, 25
Watches Documentaries: a few every month
Favourite Documentaries: 'FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened'
What would be an ideal length for an episode in a docuseries?
"Around 40 minutes"
If you saw this documentary on TV, would you watch it?
"Yes, it will be interesting to see how young musicians with essentially no prior experience use their creative thinking to get themselves known - that's definitely the part that's most intriguing for me. Highlighting struggling local venues is also extremely relative at this time and will ensure the audience remain engaged."
Which local settings would be good to shoot the documentary in?
"Chinnery's outsdie and inside (not necessarily struggling but would be worth interviewing about the impact of venues closing around them / how it makes them feel) - the Cliffs Pavilion foyer, under the pier, Saks underground, the Railway, upstairs in The Alex."
Focus on one genre, or multiple?
"Choosing just alternative might be easier at this time to gauge the community and expand afterwards - you could also get some recommendations from the venues you visit on where is good for different types of music."











Kaan Salih, 18
Watches Documentaries: about once a week
Favourite Documentaries: Hip-Hop Evolution, anything Louis Theroux
What would be an ideal length for an episode in a docuseries?
"An hour"
If you saw this documentary on TV, would you watch it?
"Yes, seeing the biases the music industry has for young people trying to break through is interesting."
Which local settings would be good to shoot the documentary in?
"Chinnery's, local pubs/bars where people find gigs."
Focus on one genre, or multiple?
"It would come naturally to focus on different performers and the different niches of their respective genres."

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

NEA Audience Research: Feedback on Pitch

For my audience research, I asked four questions based off of my moodboard and pitch, which helped me consolidate my ideas for the documentary. (Original feedback at bottom of page)

QUESTION 1: Do you think this is an achievable look for my documentary? Do you have ideas on how to improve it / techniques to achieve this look?

   Out of the 16 responses, 15 thought this was an achievable look. The other person commented that the look of my moodboard was unclear, so I may look over it again and see whether it fits the brief more precisely. However, some other notable comments were:

  • 'this is an achievable look because of the authenticity and naturalistic mise-en-scène'
  • 'if you're talking to real musicians you can use the real spaces they use'
QUESTION 2: Does my pitch meet the brief / sound like a BBC Three production? If no, what could I do to improve it?

   14 of 16 people said yes to this, and the other two mentioned my target audience, saying that I will need to incorporate older people as well as young people, which I will definitely take into account - I have been thinking of interviewing local venue owners, family members of the musicians etc. 

QUESTION 3: Should I include more aspects to look at in my documentary or just go into more detail with what I already have?

   13 people stated that I should go into more detail, as there is a 'good range of topics' and as it is 'niche' i will be able to create interesting content from this alone. However, the three people that disagreed suggested having a 'run-down' of content that will be shown later in the series, or having more content to 'fill the whole website'.

   I think I will go into more detail with what I have already thought about, as I feel that I will be able to create interesting narratives with just this. Going into more detail will also increase the intellectual value, which is important for catering to a more upmarket audience.

QUESTION 4: Any other feedback / improvements?

   Most people did not have ideas for improvement, but some suggested cleaning up the images in my moodboard and including a variety of artists, which I will work on when I am choosing people to feature.


Name
Do you think this is an achievable look for my documentary? Do you have ideas on how to improve it / techniques to achieve this look?
Does my pitch meet the brief / sound like a BBC Three production? If no, what could I do to improve it?
Should I include more aspects to look at in my documentary or just go into more detail with what I already have?
Any other feedback / improvements?
Maisie Radley
Maybe just pin your favourite interviews and documentaries (vogue etc) and incorporate elements of how they do their documentaries. Can be referenced later as intertextuality or inspiration 
Yeah I can imagine that 
Perhaps focus more on the musicianship side to it and incorporate the social media stuff on the side? 
Use cool ‘aesthetic’ musicians feature their music to be original 
Victoria Casson
Yes I think it is achievable. I think you might need a tighter focus- eg how can bands make money when they generally give away their music?
Yes, suitable for that target audience who would be used to downloading music for free
As its the opening you can say what would be coming up in the programme without actually having to do it and also consider aspects that you could include on the website
have a variety of bands/artists
Zoe Olawore
I definitely think this is achievable. Maybe including a video of their performance would be nice to see 
I think it sounds like a BBC production if you make sure to focus on the social media aspect and how self-promotion has evolved. But I think you need to target it more to an upmarket audience, perhaps by choosing carefully which artists you talk about. I’m not very sure though :)
Go into more detail, I think you’ve got a good range of topics 
Maybe try to include diverse representations or include how their identity e.g. class, race or sexuality has affected how they promote themselves. This could be upmarket as it becomes like more social/political
Rebecca Argent
Yes, I think this is an achievable look because of the authenticity and naturalistic mise-en-scene in the images that you have chosen. 
Yes i think so 
Just stick to one main aspect and go into detail otherwise you may lose purpose of the documentary if you try to fit different aspects in. 

Alice Short
i love the idea and think its very relevant to the brief.
perhaps use older people in interviews etc to make it more diverse/seem like bbc 3 production?
go into more details - i like idea of using local venues etc
no love it :)
Anbar Ali
I think this is a very good and achievable look for your documentary, it is a great and interesting topic too - use a range of mis-en-scene and camerawork similar to that of a documentary.
Yes it sounds like something BBC three would produce 
Go into detail with what you already have, you can include a lot in three minutes. 
No it looks really good! 
Charlene Cheung
Yes, possibly close up shots of certain instruments
Yes, it does
go into depth about the idea you already have

Molly Thirlwall
yeah it looks cool, i like the cheeky chins picture or at least i think it's chins if not i just look stupid. i think if you're talking to real musicians you can use the real spaces they use if you get me
yes it does
i think maybe have it a bit wider so you can fill the whole website like it's a series and this is one episode? as in like the whole thing is young musicians then you focus on like lgbt musicians or female musicians sort of thing
nah looks fab xx
Nkechinyere Enyinnaya
Yeah I think that is a good premise for a documentary especially the dying businesses part. I think that will be good
Yeah I believe that this is a good topic as it reaches that target audience but maybe consider the middle class to upmarket audience even though it should be fine but make sure u keep that in mind
I think go more in detail to what you have already done as the maximum of the documentary is 3 mins at the end of the daY. Or maybe you can include more topics in the opening like sequence so it can be like a rundown on what to come u get me?
nah x
Amelie Meury-Cashman
Yes it is
Yes it does, it is suitable for the target demographic and the topics are similar to what you would expect in a BBC3 doc
I think what you have listed is fine and I wouldn't look into more aspects because it might get too complex (and you only have 3 minutes). Just go into more detail in your current aspects.

Cassi Macaulay
It looks so good ngl
Yes - it broadcasts new UK talent which is part of their PSB :) 
go with what you already have it looks swell
carry on going this'll be really good :)
Grace Ewing
I definitely think it's achievable, I really like the idea of of including the information about local venues 
Yes definitely 
I think going into detail about what you have already would be most interesting as it's quite a niche topic

Orla Price
Yes
Yes
Go into more detail

Aimee Butcher
Yes
Yes
Broader could be interesting too - but what you have is good

Phoebe Rigby
From your moodboard the specific look is unclear - the two images from instagram story and youtube make a lot of sense with your links to technology and media convergence and how they can promote musicians. However, I don't understand the random images with dogs or the guy taking a photo as they don't link to this topic.
i think it is a great idea and fits the brief well. I have re-read the brief given and it says for 16-25 year olds so I think your target audience may be slightly too large. I also think you should look at how this young audience will interact with BBC three as it is not a typical platform for this age range. 
I think you should focus more on one aspect of your idea - starting a career online using youtube or social media is very different to starting in small local venues.  
The documentary style of this will work really well and be a cool project. I think just clear up your ideas with your images. 
Jade Gemmill
I really like how you have addressed a correct audience through your choice of talent.
Yes it does definitely sound like a BBC3 production, and I like how it is something different too so is more engaging by being away from the audience.
More detail with what you already have sounds good.
.