Pre Production - Correspondence with George over Production Role

As previously mentioned, I had been thinking of this idea and starting to capture little parts of footage over the summer. However, to make sure that this documentary gives a fair representation of events, I would not be able to be the producer.

After discussing with Simon, the logical step was to ask George if he would be the producer as it would link well with his main role of being an editor. Simon mentioned that this documentary should be a true story of events and I should not really be making decisions of which segments make up this project and what parts are left in. For example, if something frustrating happens through the process, that needs to be shown. Even if it may make me look a certain way as the presenter.

To help George, I gave him some reference material to start working on what type of segments we should include in our Auto-Biographical journey in our documentary. This reference footage was what I thought would be relevant to understand what style and storytelling formats worked and which did not.

The reference footage I sent to George was as followed.

JOE WELLER: FIGHTER

















WALK THE WALK | KSI vs Joe Weller Documentary

Senna - 2011 Movie

Icarus - 2017 Movie
https://www.netflix.com/watch/80168079?trackId=251143950&tctx=2%2C0%2C1d440e3b-8dca-4410-b357-ad4e9179b917-5244555%2C4b2686b5-c5db-4a9a-80c9-81f9689a9266_82112556X10XX1533308849294%2C4b2686b5-c5db-4a9a-80c9-81f9689a9266_ROOT 

My Scientology Movie
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x60977x

The Insider: Reggie Yates
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p03ymv61/the-insider-reggie-yates-series-1-1-in-a-texan-jail

After a week of analysis, George got back to me with positives and Negatives of each film, this was the list I compiled of what we both decided worked and did not. This has allowed me to decide key moments in our script and enables our story to include as many of the good stylitic choices as possible.

It has also allowed me to question some of my previous decisions and adapt them into sequences that work with our project. This evolution will allow the script to go deeper and enable a better emotional conenection between myself and the viewer.

POSITIVES - WHAT WORKED?

1. The Keylight in Joe weller's documentary was great, it gave an intense look at his feeling and thoughts before the flight. This was shot in a dimly lit room bar the key light. 
2. Drone shots work but only if used sparingly, if they are overdone it starts to become annoying for the viewer
3. Walking and talking on location worked well. This gives the viewer an honest reflection of the character and is not staged, unlike most PTC sequences.
4. The power of silence and black screens or low light scenes is powerful. This can be used to enhance an emotion in the viewer. We will hope to capitalise on this and I have a few ideas for an opening sequence which could use the power of silence or the power of darkness. 
5. Video diary style segments worked, but George noted they could have been shot better, spending more time on these looking either more natural or real would help us connect with the subject matter and the presenter. 
6. Authentic Actuality, Unconstructed RAW sequences allow the viewer once again to connect to the subject matter. Sometimes setting up a sequence can lead to un-natural responses. 
7. Cutaways needed for all areas. Joe wellers documentary lacked the cutaways. WE MUST have a cutaway for every sequence, even if this means extra shoot days... It adds to the professionalism. 
8. Got to know the characters - eg. Joe's Mum was a character we warmed too because of her involvement. But once again, this worked because it was unscripted and natural. Forced interviews could bring out the same emotion in the viewer, but it is harder to recreate.
9. Movement, Walking into and out of venues, walking to places all helps the viewer connect with the presenter. This could include visiting places of the past that trigger emotions or bring back memories. For this documentary, Brands Hatch would be an example of a place we could revisit. 
10. A variety of close up shots to help show emotion as they are "in your face" for the viewer and they cannot ignore what is happening and what emotions the presenter is having. This could include obscure close-ups, low angle, Hands or even the helmet for our documentary.
11. It as noted that an energy point early on helped bring the hype of the subject matter. When it took a long time to have an action point, George said he struggled to remain focused on the documentary.   
12. Moments of comedy help bring the presenter to a human level, these cannot be faked, however. This needs to be natural. Broadcasting a wide range of emotions not just sad or happy.
13. Variance in interviews is needed, including some actuality sequences. If they are all shot the same, they will look the same and the viewer may not be engaged as well as if they are shot unique to the situation. 
14. Stock footage really helped out with the history of the idea and why it is important to the presenter. This will be important to me as I know I have stock footage from when I was younger at Brands Hatch. This being included in the documentary would be great in helping prove the point of how much this means to me. 
15. Being very selective of the parts of the interviews that are included will help narrow the piece down and not let an interview drag on. We will want short and snappy answers to keep the energy moving. 
16. Shots that match the scene are important, Tripod or Handheld. This has to work with what's being shot and what kind of emotion you're trying to create in the project. 
17. Narration drives the narrative in a lot of cases, we can use that to our advantage as we will not want to have someone on screen explaining every part of our documentary
18. Hearing something before seeing it can create a special kind of emotion in the viewer. Normally "shivers" as tension rises is an emotion that can heighten the drama of a certain situation.
19. Unique camera angles show off the cinematography. Cailan will be making decisions of what he wants the shots to look like.
20. George said the best documentaries are ones in which there is a clear story arc, building up to a moment and the realisation after it.
21. A feature that the Reggie Yates documentary did well was within the first 30 seconds you knew what the story was about. This sets the tone and objectives very early on. 
22. Regular updates help drive the narrative, but I personally think we should stay clear of the video diary style as I want our documentary to be more cinematic.
23. Placing affection on other people bar the main character can help us learn more about the situation and what is going on. If it is focussed on one person it can be hard to gauge what's happening around them.

NEGATIVES & WHAT TO AVOID

1. The pacing is key, The Joe weller documentary was too slow and George said it could easily have been condensed into a much shorter piece. Luckily we have a time limit and if anything too much content, so I think we should not struggle to make the pacing fast enough.
2. Further to that point, making sure segments don't drag is key as this can lose the attention of the viewer and therefore they may lose interest in the subject. 
3. The ending needs a defining endpoint, as this is a one-off show we can not leave it on some sort of cliffhanger. Our conclusion will include something along the lines of how hard motorsport is and how seriously it needs to be taken. 
4. The sound design needs to match the project. Too many times in the documentaries I sent George, the sound design just does not work with what is being told on screen. We hope to obtain a unique soundtrack for our project. This will be cailan's secondary job as George and I both will be working on two roles already.

OVERALL

The discussion with George about his opinions on these pieces really helped me understand what, as a producer, George thought worked. Now I have this information I will be able to start planning possible scenes and sections for the documentary. These will be forwarded to George though the pre-production unit and I will be told by him what scenes will be included and which ones will not. These are decisions George will make and I will then plan and add to the script. This discussion was very important in helping the project move forward. I'm very happy with the research George shared and we compiled a list of notes which will help drive this project forward.