Television Production

The Historic Dockyard. As a class, we took a visit to Chatham's Historic Dockyard to practice shooting actuality and to get a better idea of how to present information in an interesting way. In our group, we shot a short documentary about the Dockyard using the information that we saw on the boards around the museum. We each took the role that we will be representing in the actual production, and it was good to get a feel for the role we are representing and get used to the pace at which we'll need to film. We focused on 3 areas of the dockyard- the lifeboats, HMS Gannet, and the ropery demonstration. We started off in the lifeboat exhibition, and this is where we spent the most of our time, as I was presenting and needed to come up with something to say. It was difficult as there was people still walking around the exhibit which was distracting and I lacked the confidence to continue with my presenting as people watched. We did have some strange encounters, however, su...

Interviews. Vinters Park, Maidstone (30th April) and Jeskyns Country Park (T.B.C) We are currently in the process of getting in touch with the groundskeepers of Vinters Park, where we may be able to get vox pops from dog owners. This may not necessarily mean we will be talking to pug dog owners but we may still be able to ask people some questions. It will be good to keep these questions short and sweet so that we don't inconvenience the people we're filming too much. Are they rescue or breeder, why did you choose this route to get a dog? Why did you choose this breed of dog? What do you think about fashionable breeds such as it used to be Chihuahuas but it seems that now it's Pugs or Shiba Inus. The Pug Hotel, Rochester (1st May) We have arranged to visit a pug hotel in Rochester, which is run by a lady called Tasha who also owns her own pugs. We will be attending to film on Tuesday 1st, and will be aiming to get a lot of GVs of the dogs, as well as an in...

Fishpeople. Fishpeople is an example of a formal documentary that tells the story of people who have a deeper relationship with the ocean. This documentary is a light-hearted and easy-to-watch as it follows a relaxing subject with no particular sense of challenge. I chose to research this documentary as it follows a group of people who are particularly interested in a subject, which is what we are trying to achieve with Purebred, however it's carried out in a different format to how we plan to shoot. Fishpeople uses formal interviews cut with GVs to tell the story of each person involved in the film. They're represented in blocks, and not cut together like a lot of documentary formats that are telling the viewer about multiple people. Usually this would seem a slow and dragging way to edit a documentary but I think because this is an easy watch, it fits, as you're not having to remember the story from the person that they're changing onto. Not using a presente...

Ugly Delicious. Ugly Delicious is a docu-series following David Chang as he tries different staple foods from around the US and the world whilst learning the history behind it and trying different versions. I have seen almost all of the episodes, but I will be talking about the episode "Fried Chicken". Ugly Delicious has 1 season and is exclusive to Netflix. David Chang is a restaurateur, and goes on the journey to discover the best versions of food and most traditional restaurants in the US. In "Fried Chicken", you may have already guessed that Chang is learning about fried chicken, and while trying to get an idea of how fried chicken should traditionally be served, he taste-tests chicken and discussed the history behind it. I found the show very interesting, as often you don't consider where food has originated from. It's informing the viewer about the food that they regularly eat and don't really think about eating. Other episodes focused on...

Actuality. Today we learned about how actuality can be portrayed and how much, as a crew, we can script.  Chasing Dad: A Lifelong Addiction Chasing Dad is a documentary that a son makes about his father, who's been addicted to heroin and alcohol since before the son was born. It's shot entirely by the son and no other crew, which makes the documentary very unique and far more personal. Their relationship has existed but has been strained because of the father's addiction, which means the pair have fairly distanced relationship. This relationship level means that they have enough emotional separation that the son is able to get balanced answers from his dad and feel comfortable interviewing him, but also the son knows he can ask more pressing questions, and really get to know his dad's situation, because it's his dad and he's able to be much more personal with his situation, and even challenge him more. This also benefits his dad as he's able ...

The Pitch. Purebred Effie: -During Crufts 2018, PETA protesters stormed the stage, holding a sign reading “canine eugenics”.-Dog breeds have changed so dramatically that it is taking a negative affect on dogs’ health.-But what are the passions behind dog breeding and show dogs? Why are breed standards so important, and are the dogs really suffering? -To take part in a dog show (in particular a ‘best of breed’ show) a dog must conform to a set of appearance and temperament regulations. This is called a Breed Standard and every breed has one. -Purebred dogs are dogs bred for their appearance and temperament to be most desirable in their breed. This leads to certain traits being bred out of a dog, and this has led to massive changes in the appearance of dogs in the past 100 years. -The documentary is going to be presenter-led. -This ensures that we can shoot actuality scenes with the characters and a presenter asking them questions as they carry out their routine, whi...

Girls Incarcerated. Girls Incarcerated is a documentary on Netflix that is based in a juvenile correctional facility, following the lives of girls in the facility involving the drama, people arriving and people leaving, and also the staff who are there to keep the girls in check, but also be their support. It is shot handheld of what the girls do throughout the day, including regular interviews with them and using the interviews as voice over at times. There is no presenter of the show or anyone voicing the questions. Occasionally you'll hear the questions being asked for context, but it's never done regularly. I found it interesting how it was shot as this meant that the action could play out in front of the crew without anyone interfering with the action, and it also felt as though the characters could act more normally in front of the camera without having someone follow around always asking questions. They were able to get information about the incidents after they...