Transition Unit: Initial Ideas

We have recently started our transition unit and we have come up with a few possible ideas for content we would create for this unit. I am hoping to be the director of this unit and I seem to be working with Cailan who says he would like to work as an editor. We wanted a project that would challenge us in our roles. I was unopposed to which topics we would cover but I did say to Cailan that I do not want to do fiction, I would like to do a news or documentary piece.

• Idea 1: Drug Cheats in sports documentary: I had been recently watching shows on Netflix like "ICARUS" and "STOP AT NOTHING", both of which follow ideas of how people have cheated in their profession. I thought this would be a really solid subject to follow as there are strong leads for stories. I think this idea would have allowed me to be very creative with my directing and likewise with Cailan's edit. However, after talking through this idea with Simon, I quickly understood while it was a good idea, it may be hard to create for this project. Simon mentioned that this subject may not give as much freedom to explore a different story. The main problem with this idea was that there was no new and relevant topic we could use. We would have to follow the same idea as in these documentaries and that would not work with the project brief. After talking to Cailan we both agreed this would not be a topic we should follow up. It was something possibly to bear in mind for the future, but not now.  
• Idea 2: Sky Sports F1 Interview segment: As a massive motorsports fan a topic I wanted to follow up on my 3rd-year project was a documentary about motorsport. Something I thought we could realistically complete in this time frame was a driver interview, possibly at a lower-end motorsport series. We would then follow the ideals that Sky use in their interviews. This is something that I feel I would be very comfortable in completing as I had already previously done similar work for personal projects. This subject would enable me to film a subject matter that I am truly invested in and I feel that I could be unique in my filming style. I showed examples of possible interview styles to Cailan and he agreed that this could be a challenge we could take on. It would enable both of us to fulfil our role and it would work well to complete the project brief. This would also work well because Simon previously mentioned not to complete a one-off documentary or episode as they will be hard to replicate as they do not have a "style". I knew that Sky F1 always had a set of ideas that were used in every interview and that would be easier to replicate.
• Idea 3: Top Gear Car Segment: In a previous unit we had completed a car show which looked really professional and we had an idea noted that we could have this as an option for this unit as well. The style of Top Gear segment that we would replicate would be one where a presenter reviews a car and then we film the cutaways. I liked this idea but was not that fond of completing another subject in the same year that was very similar. It would be easy to change the story in this instance as we would just get a different car, but I feel it would be less of a challenge than the others. Top Gear and Grand Tour both follow a very specific set of shots which may make it hard for me to bring my own style into it. After speaking with Cailan we agreed this would be an interesting subject, but one where we may struggle to bring our own creative decisions into. 
• Idea 4: VOX Documentary: Vox is an internet Youtube Channel which dedicates itself to creating factual content in an academic way. Vox covers a wide amount of subjects under various series titles which are all of interest. I bought this idea to Cailan's attention as we both watch a lot of internet videos and this would give us more creative freedom than that of a regular TV show or even on Netflix. With there being fewer boundaries online, we could push our own creativity on a project and it would be accepted by the online audiences. From watching a lot of Vox created content I think I would take this on as a great challenge as a lot of their projects is shot in a very minimalist way. It grabs the audience's attention and I feel that would be a great challenge that I could try and overcome. There is also room for freedom in the subject, as we could follow the guidelines from a specific series but change the topic matter. I think this would also be interesting for Cailan as there is a chance to have a load of graphics and charts on the screen which would challenge his editing abilities. 

After further contact with course leader Simon, I fully understood what style we should go down. After understanding how our show would have to be unique, I noted how we could do it.

Documentary Format -> Doc Strand -> Within That Strand is the story -> Finally the distinct approach from that series. 

In our case, especially if we go down the Vox route which seems most likely, we will be changing the subject matter rather than a distinct way of filming. Vox especially has a rigid format which is still adapted for most episodes, but it has a stylistic approach that we can base our studies off of. I personally am most interested in the Vox idea even though I have a passion for the motorsport idea. I feel we need to come up with a solid story that we can work with and are both interested in before we commit to it. We will be chatting more over the next few days and should have made a decision soon. There is a chance we could have found some new ideas or topics, but they will be noted in another blog post.