Documentary Thought Clouds (HOO & MAC)

Your 'Thought Clouds' have been posted on the 'Documentary Ideas' page (see the link in the sidebar in the 'Exhibition of Pupils' Work' section. I will add your clouds to your Production Log on your memory stick.

Year 11 : Week 4 (Controlled Hours 3 & 4)

In this week's lessons you will answer the following questions;

1. What is the agreed focus of our documentary?
2. Will our idea stand up under scrutiny from our teacher?
3. Who would be the target audience for a documentary with this focus?
4. How can I develop and demonstrate an appropriate level of knowledge and understanding of our chosen topic?

You will be working in Production Teams for all of your lesson time this week. In that time, and completed for OHL, you will need to address the objective questions above. You will need to provide evidence that you have addressed the questions in your personal Production Log. Whilst you are completing this lesson's work, I will audit your Production Logs to make sure that you have completed last week's OHL (Production Details & Documentary Research).

Group Communication

When working in a production team, good communication is the key to success. Don't wait until your timetabled lessons to share information. You need to be able to communicate between lessons. You could arrange a physical meeting, but 'virtual meetings' are often more effective as group members can access the meeting at different times. Therefore, why not consider a group Facebook page (you can't access it in school though) or use group text messaging. I'm sure you can find a way of sharing information beyond the limitations of the lesson!

Questions 1 & 2

Once you, as a group, have agreed a topic, you need to persuade your teacher that you can achieve the required outcomes with this topic as a focus for your documentary. Your teacher will require convincing of the following points;

• There is an 'issue' or 'truth' to investigate or seek (your documentary needs a 3-act narrative)
• You can explain why an investigation of this topic is important
• Your documentary is likely to have audience appeal (you need a target audience)
• You have an idea of the type of footage you will want to shoot and that the shooting of this footage is realistic and achievable ("We're going to interview the Prime Minister" or "We're going to film B-Roll of bull-fighting in Spain" would be worrying proposals!)
• You have an idea of the type of people you may wish to interview, including 'experts' who can illuminate the issue for you (but not necessarily their names yet)
• You have an idea of the type of B-roll you may wish to collect.
• There is an opportunity to include the conventions of your documentary type; talking-head interviews & voice-over for expository documentaries, a 'presenter' or filmed researcher for participatory documentaries, use of stills, use of B-roll, etc.

To convince your teacher, complete the Project Focus Summary in your Production Log (embedded Word document) and submit to your teacher. You can present your summary in any way you want, including question and answer format, extended writing or a table. There are other methods too. This is one of the documents that is likely to be 'shared', with all group members having the same summary in their portfolio. However, everyone must contribute, so I suggest that you complete this document in today's lesson time. You must address the points raised above but you can also include any other information you consider relevant that will help your teacher to evaluate your proposal. Identify the intended deadline for the submission of this summary in your Production Calendar.

Question 3

You need to identify a target audience for your product. There are many ways to collect target audience information, including;

• Examine audiences for similar existing products (IMDB, Pearl & Dean, BFI, etc)
• Survey people's interest ("Would you be interested in..." or "Which of these topics...", etc)

Once you have collected evidence to suggest a target audience, you need to construct a Target Audience Profile (TAP). You completed a TAP in Unit B321, so you know how to do this. However, a TAP without firm evidence to support your proposal is worthless, so don't JUST do a TAP! You should research existing audiences individually and, once you've shared your conclusions, agree and construct a group TAP (you should always have a single TAP for the whole production team).

Present your existing audience research & TAP on the Target Audience Research document in your Production Log (embedded Word doc). Identify a deadline for the completion of this work in your Production Calendar. 

Question 4

OK, you've agreed a topic and identified a target audience, now you need to demonstrate some understanding of the topic you've chosen. There are several ways to do this;

• Write a short essay (1 to 2 pages only)
• Construct a 'Key-Facts Sheet', using bullet-points, clip art, charts, etc.
• Construct a mind map, separating information into categories

Other methods exist too! You must be prepared to share this information with your group next lesson and your contribution will be assessed (I can feel another 'token task' coming on!)

Record a deadline for this task (next week's lesson) in your Production Calendar. Present your research in the Topic Research document in your Production Log (embedded Word doc). 

Out of Hours Learning

• Update the Lesson Evaluation document (see sidebar)
• Update your Production Diary to summarise the progress you have/will make this week (in Production Log).
• Complete the Project Focus Summary (in Production Log)
• Complete the Target Audience Research Document (in Production Log)
• Complete the Topic Research Document (in Production Log)

Mock Documentaries

We've added a 'Mock Documentary' page to the 'Exhibition of Pupils' Work' page in the sidebar. Evaluate your own documentary and consider the feedback you received during the lesson. Summarise these thoughts and future targets in your Production Diary (see Production Log on flash drive).

Peer Satisfaction Ratings (Mr Hood's Class)

Here are the peer satisfaction ratings for the mock documentary task. We will survey satisfaction ratings regularly during Unit B324. The results will provide us with evidence to justify the distribution of marks at the end of the unit. You will get a proportion of the total marks for your product (documentary) based upon your individual level of contribution identified in these results.

If you have achieved a lower rating than your peers, then maybe you need to put in a little extra effort to demonstrate your value to the group. The aim is to get equal marks for everyone in your group.

A word of warning; you can't compare one group to another as some people mark more harshly than others. The only valid comparison is between students in the same production team!

Click on the image to magnify.

Reminder for Mrs Macey's Class

I am very disappointed to see that only 3 students in my group have filled in the evaluations from our last 3 lessons, even when I reminded you in Monday's lesson. I expect all of the evaluations to be completed up-to-date by everyone by Monday 28th September 2015!

Year 11 : Week 3 (Controlled Hours 1 & 2)

In this week's lessons, you will answer the following questions;

1. How successful was our test interview film? What worked well? What could be improved? What have I learnt about filming interviews & B-Roll?
2. How will we change our working practices to make sure that the 'real' product is better?
3. How significant was the contribution from each production team member?
4. What is my role within our production team for the controlled hours coursework?
5. What will our documentary be about?
6. How can I provide evidence to demonstrate my knowledge of documentary types & documentary conventions?

Tasks

From now on, tasks relating to an expected entry in your Production Log will be written in red. You can, of course, make additional entries.

Objective 1

Your completed test film will be exhibited to your peers. Upon viewing, everyone will fill in the 'Test Film Review' document, identifying strengths and weaknesses (you do your own film too). I will share my review of each test film and we will distribute feedback forms to the appropriate film makers.  You will have time to review the feedback in the lesson. For OHL, summarise the task you were given and the feedback you received in your Production Diary using today's date (in your Production Log). You can add personal thoughts about the process or the quality of teamwork, etc.

Objective 2

You should review the feedback you received, looking for common threads, and use it to set targets for the construction of your main product (assessed documentary). Add a summary of these targets to your Production Diary entry (see objective 1).

Objective 3

Every production team member will complete a 'Peer Satisfaction Rating' questionnaire, assessing the value of the contribution made by each production team member. You should assess yourself too. These peer-assessment sessions will take place on a regular basis and be used to allocate final marks to each group member at the end of the controlled hours. You must contribute significantly to the process to gain marks!

Objective 4

You will need to complete some of the Production Details Form on the first tab in your Production Log; identifying the name of your production company, the project deadline (22nd Jan 2016) and the role of each production team member. The production company name should represent your team ethos or have a link to the film-making process for example, "United Films" or "B-Roll Productions". Every member of the team must take responsibility for overseeing an element of the construction process (this doesn't mean they have to do all of the work though).

Objective 5

You will spend some time brainstorming initial ideas for your documentary. I will give you a 'Thought Cloud' on a piece of A3 paper and you should make a note of every idea that comes to mind, regardless of how good or bad the idea is. Write the name of the person who suggested the documentary topic in brackets under each idea. Alternatively, each person could use a different coloured pen and you could provide a key, identifying each contributor. Other creative methods of collecting ideas are also available from all good stockists! (lol). I will scan your completed cloud and you can add it to your Production Log next lesson.

Objective 6

For OHL, use the embedded Word document in your personal Production Log to demonstrate your research & understanding of the Six Modes of Documentary. The best pieces of research will include screenshots from named examples (existing products) - identify the mode, define the mode and give an example.

Out of Hours Learning

• Complete the Lesson Evaluation document (see sidebar)
• Complete your 'Test Shoot' entry in your Production Diary (task, feedback & targets)
• Identify the project deadline and the tasks you completed today on your Production Calendar
• Complete 'Types of Documentary Research' (in Production Log)

Next Lesson

• Establishing an agreed focus for your documentary & getting it commissioned.
• Identifying a target audience
• Analysing existing products (documentaries)
• Researching your chosen documentary topic

Lego Documentary Quiz - Mr Hood's Class Results

I've posted this so you can see which questions you got right and wrong. I know you can't read the detail of the answers (that's deliberate) but you can see which answers are red and which ones are green. We must find some time to discuss some common errors, particularly relating to 'cutaways' and whether this documentary meets the exam criteria. Use you hard copy of the quiz to review the questions you got wrong.

Sound Effects & Music for Documentaries

Need a soundtrack for your documentary? Follow the link, audition a file, download the mp3 and then import into FCP X as normal (from 'download' folder on Mac). Don't forget to 'copy media to library'. Email me for username and password if you can't remember.

http://www.freesfx.co.uk/login/

Year 11 : Week 2

In this week's lessons you will answer the following questions;

1. How do I film a talking heads interview?
2. What is B-Roll?
3. How do I connect B-Roll to the primary storyline in FCP X?
4. How do I use cross-dissolves to move from one still image to another?
5. How do I use key-framing to drop the volume of a soundtrack so that we can hear dialogue?
6. How do I connect lower-third titles?
7. How do I reverse or alter the speed of a clip?
8. How do I add effects, including flash-back & CCTV effects, to my clip?
9. How do I correct the ratio of still images to avoid pillar boxing?
10. How do I add scrolling credits to my completed documentary?
11. How do I use the 'video animation' option to reduce opacity at the end of a clip (create a fade effect)?
12. How do I use 'handles' to fade audio?
13. How do I use the range selection tool to automatically add key-frames to the soundtrack?
14. How do I record a voice-over?

In today's lesson you will work in your B324 groups and attempt to film a very brief interview sequence, including B-Roll footage. I will then demonstrate, using screenshots from this page of the Production Portfolio Blog, how to edit your footage to construct an effective interview extract from a documentary. We will also consider other editing techniques used in documentaries.

Your completed documentary extract must include;

• Footage of a coherent interview
• Connected B-Roll
• A soundtrack (underscore) that uses key-framing to adjust volumes
• A voice-over introduction, identifying the focus of the project (but not the interview questions)
• Lower-third titles to identify your interviewee(s)

You don't have to include;

• Still images
• Historical archive footage
• Credits
• Effects
• Title

You must not include;

• Footage or audio of your interviewer (we don't want to see or hear the questions)
• Any footage that is not original (other than historical archive footage)

The total length of your documentary extract must be less than 1 minute.

Your Brief

As young documentary makers, you are seeking advice from professionals to improve the standard of your coursework. Shoot a talking heads interview(s) with a documentary maker(s) that addresses the following issues.

• How and why should you encourage an interviewee to include the question in their answer?
• Why is it important to include B-Roll footage in an interview sequence?
• What is the importance of soundtrack in documentaries?
• What other advice would you give to young documentary makers?

Advice

You may rearrange the order of the questions to construct a more coherent narrative. At least one member of your group must play the part of the experienced documentary maker (maybe more). Select appropriate locations and consider the framing of your interview(s) carefully. Think back to the conventions you observed in the Lego documentary! You may wish to present your interviewee(s) with the questions in advance so that they have time to prepare answers. You will need appropriate footage or stills to accompany your voice-over introduction.

You can seek additional advice from the Documentary Making Guru (that's me folks) but you only have 2 talk tokens for each group, so use them wisely! If you have successfully completed last week's OHL, there will be little need to ask any questions anyway! Of course, there's always the Production Portfolio Blog; it has all the answers!

Out of Hours Learning

• Complete the editing of your documentary extract in preparation for exhibition and assessment at the start of next week's lesson. All group members must be able to demonstrate a contribution!
• Update the Lesson Evaluation Document

Next Week

• Assessment of your documentary extract
• Assessment of your individual contribution to the documentary extract
• Start of B324 Controlled Hours (identifying roles and a focus)