CDM 304
Documentary
Pitching
Our task for this project was to prepare for a portrait documentary on a certain aspect of someones life.
I had two ideas lined up.
My first idea was to do an ex director of the Samaritans charity. Its a plausible idea as she's a family friend of my dad which means she's already well familiar with me and my family.
My second pitch idea was to do a member of the united bible society who had recently just organised the world assembly where people come from all over the world and have a meeting. He's been to countries all over the world and is a realistic idea as I am good friends with his daughter.
Documentary research
The girl with the three-Minute Memory (Amnesia Documentary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeiMhUlipTk
A 24 year old woman named Clair was diagnosed with a rare brain condition called Encephalitis which has caused her to suffer from Anterograde Amnesia which means her memory resets every three minutes.
This documentary is how she lives her day to day life in the aftermath of her condition.
She carries on with life by repeating the same tasks every day which helps her develop a
long term memory. She also keeps a large diary with herself where she records everything she does in a day. In a way, we as the audience feel sympathy towards Clair but even so,
she always seems to be smiling
which gives a heartwarming feeling overall.
The documentary is shot in a variety of ways, including interviews, voice overs, some B-roll and archive footage
of Clair when she was in and recently out of the hospital. She volunteers diligently in a charity shop where she still lives her life in a somewhat normal way.
One good thing is that this documentary gives an insight of how people with short term memory loss deal with their condition. This documentary gives a message on how it's important to never give up,, with even a 3 minute memory, Clair still bravely lives her life in a fulfilling way.
Can You hear me now- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB86pd_VRgc
A man who migrated from Zimbabwe to the UK at the age of nine was granted a temporary work permit which expired 5 years ago. Michael Mathe is an ex-NHS worker and now a rapper from Birmingham who shares his views on the flaws of the immigration system.
He had escaped an abusive household in zimbabwe and was granted temporary right to remain in his child years. He was denied entry into university and isn't eligible for governmental support.
Since coming to the UK, he had his most memorable experiences and achievements but is now struggling to support himself without an income.
The documentary itself is quite eye-opening to a serious issue that this country is dealing with.This documentary contains a voice over and lots of b-roll footage, as well as a clip showing his music video. It tells the story in his own narrative as a result.
As of 2019, over 34,000 asylum applications were still pending a decision, which has left them unable to work, travel or be able to earn a stable income.
This documentary is able to give an insight into a topic that isn't spoken about openly so not many people understand the challenges.
Jessica Murray is a maker/ designer who explores her experiences with mental health. She shares the memories of her mother struggling and how she looked up to her as a young child, claiming she “grew up too quickly”. She suffers from depression and anxiety and has lived with since her years as a child.
This is just one of the countless issues that many people face each day as everyone deals with it differently. It's a documentary about a serious and very common subject around the media lately.
It uses B-roll of her designing a backpack as she voices over, this puts things into her perspective of her day to day life
One good thing about this documentary is that it could be helpful for people who are struggling with anxiety or depression but don’t know how to put it into words.
However this documentary could also give advice or some direction as to what Jessica Murray does to live with it.
Moodboard
Click here for
My elevator pitch
The two main things I forgot to include in my actual pitch were psychographics and demographics.
Demographics
The dictionary definition of demographics is
"Statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within it."
These can include age, sex, education, nationality, ethnicity and religion.
In short, the physical aspects of a person.
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Psychographics
The dictionary definition of psychographics is,
"​the study and classification of people according to their attitudes, aspirations, and other psychological criteria, especially in market research."
These can include personality characteristics, lifestyle, social class, habits, behaviours and interests.
In short, the more emotional aspect of a person.
Taking these two things into consideration for my documentary, I have found that my documentary is more suited to people from a large range of ages from early teens and above. As this is based on the Samaritans charity, this may be more helpful towards people from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
This documentary may also be more suited towards people who are interested in or need to explore the topic of mental health, regardless of social class, religion, etc.
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