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. 

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."

NEA Generic Research - Textual Analysis 3 - 'It Might Get Loud' 2009 Documentary

Textual Analysis 3 - 'It Might Get Loud' from HannahB22

NEA Generic Research - Textual Analysis 2 - 'The Fight For Women's Bodies' Documentary

Textual Analysis 2 - 'The Fight for Women's Bodies' from HannahB22

NEA Generic Research - Textual Analysis 1 - 'Beauty Laid Bare' Documentary

Textual Analysis 1 - 'Beauty Laid Bare' from HannahB22