News and Documentary

The Similarities and Differences Between News and Documentaries.

The aim of news reports and documentaries are the same and are to give facts about a specific person or event. There are many ways in which they do this however they are not always the same. The news is mainly a present time thing that reports on what is happening at the time. Sometimes they would go into small detail about events or refer back to something in the past to give the audience some background information on what has happened/is happening at the time of the news report. A documentary on the other hand would go into great detail about what has happened in the past. A way to show this is by using the Columbine High School shootings on 20th April 1999. To show this I will look through a news report from NBC News and the Michael Moore documentary Bowling for Columbine.

The news report from the NBC have limited facts about the shooting itself and is repetitive with the facts that they do know. A fact that they keep reporting is that it was "two young men apparently dressed in long black trench coats". One of the reasons for the large use of repetition on this is that it is reporting on the present day event, it is a way of making members of the public remember and be aware of what the people look like which put's a certain amount of fear into the publics eye. Where the News is concerned on the details about the image and the state of, the event the documentary is more into why it happened. The TV report mentions about "a pipe bomb might have been used" but does not mention how this could have happened. Bowling for Columbine on the other hand goes into detail about how the possibilities of this could have come around and how they could have got hold of these explosives. Director Michael Moore got information that the news report didn't show as interviewed a student from the school who was placed 2nd on the bomb list. The reasoning why was due to the student having a book called "The Anarchist Cookbook" which teaches how to make TNT and other explosives.

Another thing that the news briefly mentioned was about the suspects being "disenfranchised kids that have threatened revenge in the past for kids making fun of them". Within the documentary Moore interviews an ex-student of the high school and now animator of the hit TV show South Park, Matt Stone. this interview goes into more detail about being an unpopular student and what it was like. The interviews from the NBC report are from deputies, sheriffs and members of other news companies like KMGH. All of these interviews are from people who are reporting from a second hand source. Bowling for Columbine differs with it's interviews as they are all from people who are in a way victims of the attack. Not necessarily direct victims but people who's lives the shootings have impacted on. An example of this is the "experts" list of reasons which included "Angry heavy metal subculture, violent movies, South Park, video games, television, entertainment, Satan, cartoons, society, toy guns, drugs, Marilyn Manson, Marilyn Manson, Marilyn Manson, Marilyn Manson, Marilyn Manson" and the final reasoning "Marilyn Manson". The self-proclaimed God of F**k, Marilyn Manson appeared on an interview with Moore as he was blamed for the shootings as people believed it was the music that the two students listened to which influenced them to carry out the act.

Conclusion
From looking at both news report and documentary I have found out that they both do the same thing with the basics by giving facts about what was used and why some reasoning on the motivation for the attacks. However, the documentary takes it into more depth by looking at the subject from different views and questioning it more rather than saying, this happened, this happened and that happened.

Lighting Task

Lighting Task

The lighting for animation is a very important par

t of filming and has to be taken into great consideration. The reason for this is that it can change the views of the audience and also how they interpret what is being shown on screen. An example of this is film genres where within the genre of horror, like the film 'Paranorman', the lighting is dark and minimal to show that there is a fear of danger within the film or a possibility of something bad happening. Whereas within the genre of a kids film like 'Fantastic Mr Fox' there would be more lighting which will show that although there are problems throughout the film the characters are always going to be within a certain degree of safety within what they are doing.

For the lighting through out my animation I will have a standing lamp looking straight on at the animation. The reason for this is that I want the advert to have a slightly realistic feel to show the realism of the charity and what they do. I will be having the lamp as if it was natural lighting so for the first scene where the dog is in the rain the lighting will be dim and for the second scene the lighting will be brighter to represent a better healthier life for the dog. I will be doing this as the advert will not have much detail within the background to tell the audience how to feel.

Legal and Ethical Guide

Slander and Libel

Slander: When a person has made a statement that is untrue and could/has harm/ed another persons reputation.

Libel: Where a person has published a work that is false causing harm to another person or their reputation.

An example for slanderous documentaries is a documentary by Umida Akhmedova called 'The Burden of Virginity'. This is a documentary about the difficulties and problems that newly married women face in the central Asian state Uzbekistan. Akhmedova was convicted of "offence through mass media" due to the fact that the Tashkent experts said that the film was "offensive for the Uzbek nation". Looking at 3 years imprisonment Umida Akhmedova was released under amnesty due to the 18th anniversary of Uzbek independence.

A second case of slander is in Michael Moore's film "Bowling For Columbine" where he interviewed James Nichols, the brother of the the Oklahoma City Bomber Terry Nichols. He was filmed showing Moore firearms he kept underneath his pillow. James Nichols agreed to the interview thinking it was for Moore to learn more about the Oklahoma City Bombings. Conducting a three hour interview with Moore, Nichols was not shy to speak his anti-government mind as cameras rolled on. Nichols stated in the interview that "If people find out how they've been ripped off and enslaved in this country by the government, by the powers to be. They will revolt with anger, merciless anger. There'll be blood running in the street. When the government turns too radical, it is your duty to overthrow it." In the film Michael Moore told the audience that the Nichols brothers had previously made practice bombs on the farm where James Nichols lives and followed with "but the feds didn't have the goods on James, so the charges were dropped." For this Nichols decided to file a $100-million-plus lawsuit claiming defamation due to the comments Moore made about him in the film. The case was then dismissed by a U.S district judge saying that Moore's statements were "factual and substantially true."

Ethics

Ethics: The moral principles that conduct a person’s behavior. 

A case of this is one concerning the BBC where they made several documentaries on issues concerning Malaysia. The documentaries where reported to be made on a "low and nominal cost" although the company making the documentaries for the BBC, the FBC, failed to declare that the films were supported by the Malaysian Government and allocated £17 million to carry out a global strategic communications campaign. The BBC had then discovered that not only the FBC had breached the program guidelines on these films but also breached the guidelines again with a documentary on Egypt where they were working with the former egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.


Another documentary that could be seen as unethical is 'The other side of Jimmy Savile'. This documentary had a 10 month investigation concerning the case of Jimmy Savile's sex scandal where they showed accounts of assault on five women by the TV presenter himself. Although ITV showed sufficient evidence of this act, the film could still be seen as unethical as the investigations started only two months after his death with the footage to follow a year later. 

How documentaries can avoid being slanderous or unethical?

I personally feel that documentaries can be slanderous within good reasoning however I feel it would have to be backed up with the facts first as Michael Moore did in the documentary 'Bowling For Columbine' to avoid being labeled as Slanderous. To avoid being unethical you need to know who your audience is and to be as honest as you can while making the film. 

Soundtrack Mindmap

Story Boards

Dog's Trust Pitch

Consideration of Camera

Consideration of Camera 

The first camera shot that I have in mind to use is a close up. I will be getting a close up of the dog in my animation as it is trying to get scraps off of a thrown away chicken bone. The reasoning for this is that I want to grab the emotion of the dog and make the audience feel and know that this is an abandoned stray dog. I feel this would go well with the advert as it plays on the emotion of guilt to make the audience want to help and support the charity Dog's Trust.

The next shot I have thought of using within my animation is a full shot that will include the whole set. I will be using this to show the weather in the first segment to use as a metaphor for the loneliness and fear that the dog feels. In my views this will help personalize the advert as the audience will know how rain and thunder feels and how it is an unpleasant feeling.

Another shot that I will be using is a Long Shot while the man and the dog is walking into the next shot. The reason for this shot is that I want to show the dog and the man in the same shot with some space behind to show that they are moving and going to another place. I will be using this to show the transition between the scenes however it will not include the man's head as I want to show the audience that anyone can help and no specific person is looked for to do so. I also feel that it will help focus on the dog and what the charity helps to do rather than the people who help.

Final Proposal

Copyright

cop·y·right

/ˈkäpēˌrīt/

Noun The exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or...

Verb Secure copyright for (such material). History At the beginning of the 18th century the law of copyrighting was put into place around the birth of William Caxton's printing press in Britain. It started when Charles II of England was concerned about the unregulated duplication of books and then passed the Licensing of the Press Act 1662 by Act of Parliament. This established a register of licensed books which required a deposit at Stationers Company of a copy of the persons work. Licensing continued after for books that had been long in affect.

The Development of copyright then continued with the Statue of Anne in 1710 where individual rights for the artist to benefit financially and where the court rulings and legalisation have recognised a right to control the work. 

Enforcing a Copyright

To place a copyright on a type of work it must meet a minimal standard of originality in order to qualify. The copyright will expire after a specific time period, however some jurisdictions may extend this. In the UK the standards for copyright are generally minimal although a single word is not enough to be copyrighted but single words or a short string of words can be registered as a trademark. 

The cost of enforcing will be paid by the copyright holder and will involve legal representation, administrative and/or court costs. 

Being a Poor Man

There is a way to avoid all costs of the court and copyright by sending the works to themselves by registered mail with the date from the postal mark placed on the sealed envelope. 

Shooting Script

SHOOTING SCRIPT

Dog’s Trust Advert
A dog is alone wondering the streets scavenging for food. A man comes along and attaches a lead to the dog and starts walking. The dog is then taken to a nicer place where there is toy’s and food for him to have a better life.
Shot no.	Camera	Location Number	Action	Special Effects	Audio, Dialogue, Sound Effects
1	The camera is facing onwards looking at the thundering sky and a tin can bin surrounded by rubbish.	1	A stray dog walks in from the right of the screen and starts to look for food.	Stop-motion animation.	Sound of thunder and rain.
2	This shot is a close up of the face of the dog.	1	The dog starts to eat some scraps off of a chicken bone. that has been left next to the bin.	Stop-motion animation.	Sound of thunder and rain along with sound of the dog eating.
3	The camera is facing onwards looking at the thundering sky, the dog and the tin can bin surrounded by rubbish.	1	The dog walks round the back of the bin and jumps up pulling the bin over. A man starts to then walk in from the left of the screen.	Stop-motion animation.	Sound of thunder and rain along with the sound of the bin crashing on the floor and footsteps from the man.
4	A close up of the dog and the bottom half of the man.	1	The man bends down to attach a lead onto the dog.	Stop-motion animation.	Sound of thunder and rain.
5	A long shot from the floor to the bottom of the mans head.	2	The man and the dog are walking along the screen as a transition to one scene to the next.	Stop-motion animation.	The sound of the man and dog waking as the sound of thunder and rain fades out whilst sounds of summer start to fade in.
6	A close up of the dog and the bottom half of the man.	3	The man bends down to detach a lead from the dog.	Stop-motion animation.	Sounds of summer.
7	The camera will be looking onwards as a tracking shot of the dog.	3	The dog runs off and finds a ball that he starts to run around with. He then comes to an agility tunnel and goes through. Lastly he comes to a bowl of food and starts to eat.	Stop-motion animation.	Sounds of summer. and the dog eating at the end.
8	The camera will pan upwards.	4	The camera pans upwards and then reveal the Dog's Trust logo with the slogan over the top.	Stop-motion animation.	A voice over will say the Dog's Trust slogan at the end when the logo has been revealed. "Dog's Trust never puts a healthy dog down."

Conventions Glossary

Conventions Glossary 

Voiceovers: A voiceover/narrative is used to help tell the audience what is happening and is also used sometimes to help persuade the audience to think of a specific opinion and to think "what is right".

Real Footage of Events: Real footage in a documentary is essential as a documentary is known as a factual representation of an event or being. However, through the use of editing and soundtrack the prospective on the reality of what the audience is seeing is altered.

Technicality of Realism: This is when natural sound and lighting has been incorporated into the documentary to give it more of the reality feel.

Archive Footage and Stills: Archive footage is used when the film maker wants to back up a point and give more information to the audience or if the director is unable to gather this footage.

Interview with Experts: The main reason on why a director would have an interview with an expert is to help support their point and give the audience more information. Sometimes the director would interview an expert to challenge and try to disprove them and there "expertise".

Use of Text and Titles: This would include labels, dates, and names. Mainly at the start of interviews as a way of introducing the interviewee and also used in archive footage that gives the audience more indication on what the footage is and most of the time, when the footage was filmed.

Sound: Sound is important within a documentary and changes a lot on how the audience feels towards the subject matter. By adding music during editing the film maker can change the views of the audience by grabbing their attention, making them look highly on something or even making them look down on something like an event or even a person.

Visual Coding: Mise-en-scene props and cinematography are all elements of Visual Coding. This comes in handy when filming a documentary as when a person is being interviewed the background and props surrounding would be related to their title and why they are being interviewed.

Documentary Ideas

Documentary Story Ideas

Idea 1: This idea is following a wrestler and his climb to become the tag team champions. The film will follow him training, in and out of the squared circle as well as having interviews with him, his partner, and showing a match through out the film.

Idea 2: The next idea I have is of an underground band showing interviews and practice performances throughout. The documentary will show the band's personality and also show how they want to promote the music rather than the band themselves.

Idea 3: The final idea i have is making a documentary cosplay. I will have a large use of vox pop's and interviews from people who enjoy and are experts at creating the costumes. Filming will be at a range of different conventions like the MCM Expo, London Film And Comic Con... ect...

Production Log

Production Schedule

PRODUCTION SCHEDULE

Advert   Title: A dog's life for the better

Client: Dog's trust

Producer: Perry Dabbs

Date: 30/05/13

	Date:		Date:
Planning Started:	17/01/13	Completed:	25/01/13
Proposal Started:	28/01/13	Completed:	30/01/13
Agreement from Client:	04/02/13
Audience Research Started:	06/02/13	Completed:	21/02/13
Audience Research Analysed:	28/02/13	Completed:	08/03/13
Drafting Started:	12/03/13	Completed:	27/03/13
Production Started:	10/04/13
Rough Cut Supplied to Client:	25/04/13	Agreed with Client:	03/05/13
Final Version to Client:	24/05/13

Crew Roles

Film title: A dog's life for the better.

Crew Roles

Major Roles

Director:

Definition: Someone that is in charge of the advert.

Producer:

Definition: Someone that helps the advert either by giving ideas and funding the project. 

Director of Photography (D.P.):

Definition: the director of photography is a person that has say over the lighting, colour, filters and camera angle set ups. 

Editor:

Definition: the person who works on and has the say on the final cut of the advert. 

Camera Operator:

Definition: the cameraman/camera operator is somebody that films the footage for the advert. 

Minor Roles

Assistant Camera (A.C.):

Definition: the assistant camera is a person who maintains the image sharpness on what is being filmed. 

Assistant Director (A.D.):

Definition: an assistant director makes sure that everything is in order, for example the cast have done rehearsals, making up a shooting schedule, directing the extras and more. 

Art Director:

Definition:the art director is responsible for the design in the film. From making sure that models and props are made in time for filming the animation to overlooking the set designs and controlling the budget. 

Production Manager (P.M.):

Definition: the production manager is involved in the planning for the film.  

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

Advert Title: A Dog's Life For The Better

Producer: Perry Dabbs

Date: 5nd April 2013

Director: Perry Dabbs

Writer: Perry Dabbs

Filming at Ravens Wood School

Possible hazards

Risk - Level of Risk

• Small space with loose wired may be a tripping hazard. - High
• large equipment could fall or be knocked over - Medium
• Using a lot of electrics that could explode or catch fire. - High
• Using large lamps that heat up quickly - High

Solutions

• Will have all wires leading down the side of the room to avoid tripping hazard. 
• I will area off the large equipment using tape. 
• Test all equipment to make sure it is in order and working correctly before use. 
• The light will only be on for when the image for the animation is being taken and will be off at all other times. 

Contacts 

Ravens Wood School - 01689 856050

Directors Mobile - 07794943432

Emergency services

Farnborough Common

Orpington

Kent

BR6 8ND

01689 863000