#like yes i agree. time place audience consideration & an understanding that the subject is sensitive & not always welcome. but also why is

[asiancatboy]

i wish we lived in a world where talking about suicide and suicidal ideation wasn't so taboo, treated with the sensitivity it deserves but not overcautious to the point everyone affected feels like they can't reach out or talk for fear of being institutionalised against their will

[roccorossetticogc]

For my graded unit, I ended up deciding to film my uncle Tony Rossetti instead of my initial choices of Warren Capaldi or my sister. Tony is a training director for the whole of Scotland and Northern Ireland with the company Ideal Boilers. Tony regularly travels back and forth to Hull and North Ireland from his home in Scotland to complete his job. Tony is very much family orientated who loves to spend time with his family and friends. He also has a passion for motorbikes and restoring a wide variety of old vehicles. I have decided to base my documentary on the interesting work life of my uncle as he knows all the tips and tricks about being a successful businessman. I think it would be good to share this information with anyone interested in looking to achieve success, which I think is the majority of us. After discussing my ideas with Tony, he agreed to take part in my documentary. We scheduled some phone calls to discuss my plan and decide on a location for the filming of the documentary to take place. Fortunately, Ideal Boilers have a training space located in South Lanarkshire college which I have decided is the perfect location for my documentary. After laying out a concrete plan and discussing it with my uncle, I set about doing my pre-production paperwork. In the process of completing my pre-production paperwork I researched success to help achieve a better understanding on the subject my documentary will be based on.

What is success.

Success is defined in the dictionary as ‘the accomplishment of an aim or purpose’. I strongly believe in this definition as you must aim big and believe in yourself and your abilities to be able to achieve the success you desire. Whilst I carried out my research on success, I learnt that everyone has a different outlook on what they believe to be success and how to achieve it. For example, financial success, career success and health success. In my opinion, success is always achievable when you put your mind to it. There was always be challenges and obstacles along the way, but with will and determination you will always get back on track and achieve the success you wanted.

I also thought it would be sensible to research shows and movies related to business documentaries where the main goal is success. I decided to do this to get a better grasp on the way I wanted to present my documentary and how to achieve the outcome I was looking for. The first show I researched was Dragons Den.

Dragons den

Dragons Den is a programme on BBC Two, where success looking entrepreneurs with a new business idea, pitch their ideas in the dragon’s den hoping to receive funding for their idea from the dragons. They have three minutes to present and convince the dragons that their business idea is worth investing in. If the dragons believe it is worthy, they will offer a sum of money, providing them a share of the business.

When watching this show, I took into consideration all aspects of the show and took note of certain features to get inspiration for my documentary. My idea for my documentary was to create an upbeat and happy vibe featuring bright lighting. However, I felt that the setting of Dragons Den was the complete opposite of the look I am going to try and achieve as Dragons Den tends to create a dark and intensive atmosphere.

The Apprentice

The Apprentice is also a programme which is aired on BBC one and occasionally BBC two. The programme consists of Sir Alan Sugar who is an extremely successful businessman who is on the look for a new business partner. The programme features a number of young entrepreneurs who have a new business idea and compete against one another to win to become business partners with Sir Alan Sugar and receive the money and skills they require to start their new business.

Whilst watching this programme I paid close attention to the ideas and details so I could cooperate them into my documentary. I really like the Apprentice as it has a competitive aspect to it and the challenges are different and interesting each week. For my documentary I would like to grasp the attention of the audience so they remain interested and want to keep watching, the same effect the Apprentice has on me.

Tips for making my documentary

When researching, I had a look at some tips on how to help with production techniques and how to manage my production.

https://www.desktop-documentaries.com/cinematic-techniques.html

Five main things I took from this source to help me with my documentary are:

Know the story - know as much information about the story and the idea for my documentary

Create a shot list - create a shot list so I have a clear idea on what I need to do on the days I film and can get a visual idea of my documentary

Shoot it like a script - get good shots, rearranging the space to suit you

Mind the metaphorical- I don’t need to always film footage that has a literal connection but has to have emotional resonance

Music is key - put some time into finding the right music as the music can make or break the documentary

https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/a-complete-guide-to-documentary-filmmaking/

The main points I took from this source is:

Make sure to have good lighting as the lighting is a crucial factor of making a good documentary

Avoid asking yes or no questions as your audience could get bored and the questions aren’t very interesting

Making sure your subject is comfortable because as you build a relationship with the subject you will get better footage

Make sure you do as much research as possible so you know the most you can about your subject and topic

Make sure when researching you make sure your location isn’t too noisy as sound is another crucial part of a documentary.

Legal constraints

When it comes to legal constraints, with filming my documentary they’re a quite a few but there are ways around them. Some of these include:

Not being able to show sensitive work on a computer screen, copyrighted music, copyright archive footage

The main problem I had was getting allowed to use the archive footage from ideal boilers. I had to do some research on what copyright was and how I would go about getting approval to use the footage.

I started by looking up the definition of copyright to make it a bit clearer. In doing so I got this definition “the exclusive and assignable legal right, given to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material.” After getting this definition, I done more research into copyright. While doing my research, I learned that copyright gives creators of original musical, dramatic, artistic and literary work the right to control the way their material is used. To be able to get a piece of your own work copyrighted it needs to be original in form and recorded in a permanent form. However, in the UK works don’t have to be registered to gain copyright. Being the owner of copyright gives you the right to copy the work, sell your work to the public, play your work live, broadcast your work and it also lets you adapt the work. Copyright on literary works, dramatic works and artistic works lasts the length of the authors life time plus 70 years after their death but for films copyright lasts 70 years from the death of whoever is last to survive from the director, producer, writer of script and the composer of the film music. For sound recordings, copyright lasts 70 years from the day the song was recorded. While doing my research I found out that in order for me to use the footage in my documentary I would need to find out who owns the copyright. Once I find out who owns the copyright, I would then need to submit a request. After I have submitted my request to gain rights to use the film, I would then need to wait for approval, otherwise known as a quote. Once I receive the quote, I’d need to agree to pay the licence fee in a written contract prepared by the copyright owner unless they offer you it for no charge. Once you have gained the rights to use the work you are free to use the work for whatever you want as long as you stay within the contract rules.

Iwatched the video below to help with my research. I also used the city of Glasgow PowerPoint on copyright to help me with my research and understanding.

In conclusion, I have realised that filming and producing a documentary isn’t as easy as it looks. You must take into consideration a number of different things. For example, location, dates of filming, copyright and many more. I now understand that before I film my documentary, I will need to complete a recce of location to gain an idea of what it will look like for filming in. This will include knowing how may windows there are to let in natural light and how many plug sockets are available in the location. I will also need to ensure that my interviewee is available on both days of filming. Any archive footage I plan to use, I will need to have the copyrights to. Through watching the programmes, I have previously mentioned, I now know how I want to film my documentary in terms of lighting and camera positioning. They have also helped me to decide how I want my documentary to come across to the audience as I want people to be drawn in, making them want to continue watching. Now that I have completed my research, I now have a better idea of how I am going to set up and film my documentary.