November was the second to last month I had on pre-production and it is where a lot of updates happened to the project. I am really happy with the progress made and I am looking forward to the last couple of weeks until hand in. These monthly blogs are to show what I did overall in each month, further detail can be seen in my other individual blogs and website.
Finishing first drafts of script & feedback
I started my scripting in November after feedback and advise from Simon and Helen throughout the past month and a half. The script made rapid progress and I had a first full draft within a week. It kept adapting over November and I was really happy with how much progress I made with it. It changed from a story with some depth to one with a lot of depth and one with a lot of obstacles for the presenter to overcome. That was one of my biggest issues as we had changed it from a doc about motorsport to one about achieving dreams, the number of possible stumbling blocks was reduced as the "mechanical" elements are the ones that would be an issue. However, after further development, I was able to craft a story into one that I am really proud of. I have a couple of weeks to make further improvements to it and finalise the timings for each sequence. When starting this unit, script writing was definitely my biggest fear as I have always struggled to put my thoughts into words.
Making it more personal
One thing I have always struggled with is talking about myself and being personal with subjects. I have always been shy, which has probably led to this, but this script has allowed me to explore my past with motorsport and given me the opportunity to look through a lot of good memories. So as mentioned in my script segment, a lot of progress has been made to make the story more personal and one that has greater meaning and depth and allows the viewer to connect to me.
Also through analysing the story and thinking about what would make it more personal, after advice from Simon and the group I have decided we should include my Dad in the documentary. The reason I never included it before was that I knew he would not want to be on camera. But after some discussions, we have come to the conclusion that there may be ways we could film which would allow him to be less self-conscious. The best idea would be to head to Brands Hatch and include a scene where we revisit the place where we went to when I was a child. If we set it up so that Cailan and George are filming from a distance and my dad and I are on clip mic's we may be able to capture a natural conversation while being filmed. The technical details are yet to be sorted, but this scene will allow the documentary to have greater meaning and an additional personal touch.
I am the contributor, not the presenter
This changes the way the story is told and how it is filmed. In my early scripts, I was manufacturing too many sequences which meant that it was natural and I was being perceived as a presenter. Being a contributor means that the story can be more personal and allow the viewer into my life. After understanding this I started to change the script, which had a lot of voice-over segments and lacked depth about my connection with motorsport. I will still end up having some commentary, but too much changes the tone of the documentary into one where I am an observer looking in, rather than being in the situations myself. This was hard to understand at first but once it became clear, the changes were made to the script and camera angles and I am happy with where I am at.
New interviews - Billy Monger
I have changed the story and script and in doing so I need some more contributors. I have included my Dad already in this post and he is certainly a new contributor, but the main one is the inclusion of Billy Monger. Billy is an inspirational person in the world of motorsport. After spending his whole life trying to make it as a racing driver he had a horrific crash, losing both his legs. He fought back in 2018 to achieve multiple podiums in Formula 3. (A few categories below Formula 1)
Billy will be included in the documentary through a special interview. He will be an incredible asset to our documentary as he will explain how he let nothing get in the way of him achieving his goal of Formula One. This will be an important interview for me, as he will evaluate what he let get in the way of his dream beforehand. It will allow me to understand what stops certain people from achieving their dreams.
The availability of Billy is still to be confirmed as it will be George's job come January to sort out this interview. We hope to chat with him only for a couple of minutes, so we would only need 30 minutes of his time. It would also be great for us to do this interview on a test session when Billy is driving so we can have a more natural chat, rather than one that is staged. If our only opportunity is one that is staged, we will still take it, but we would prefer to do something that is more natural.
Finding visual reference material
I started finding visual reference material in October and I have continued to do so in November to ensure I have as much relatable content for Cailan as possible. This is for when he comes to do the storyboards and needs a visual reference at how some scenes will look. This material can be seen in my other blog posts as I have gone into much more detail in them, but this content has really helped me understand what I should and should not be doing. I found a lot of rookie errors in some BBC shows and I was determined to ensure my script covered all areas. This is so the team are not struggling to get shots on the shoot days and enables me to race without worry that the team are getting great shots. The use of a location recce was not present in a lot of these which did not help the aesthetics of the content I watched. This content was also helping me understand a visual style which can be seen in my other posts. I want the documentary to be cinematic and fast-paced in some areas to engage the viewer, but in other areas to be calm and realistic to show the reality of the situation. I think a good mix is needed to get the right emotion out of the viewer. Further examinations and reference material can be seen in my individual blogs.
Emailing sponsors, deciding on the final budget
I wanted to get to work emailing people to find a bit of extra budget for the documentary. This was the generic email I sent out, but I was changing it depending on the company and what they specialise in. This has already started a few promising leads which I am excited to follow up and see if they lead anywhere. Any extra money will go back into the budget and ease any financial concerns.
What does it take to achieve the dream of a lifetime? That’s what I’m about to find out.
Hey!
My name is Alex Baldwin and I am a UK Based student in my 3rd year of University studying TV Production.
For our final year's project, we are creating a 20 minute documentary about me achieving my life dream, of racing in a motorsport race. We have been planning this documentary since May 2018 and we are really excited to start filming in January 2019. The general premise of the documentary is for me to go out and achieve a dream I have thought about my whole life. I will be recalling moments of the past about why this is so important and it will help drive the narrative of “chasing dreams”.
I am emailing you to ask if you would be interested in being a part of the project. We are aiming for a total budget of £1500 and would love to work with a company such as yourself. We do not expect one singular company to fund the whole project, but possibly 3 or 4 along with some support from my large social media following. In return for any financial investment, you will be invited to the race (how many tickets per company is tbc) along with Sponsorship on my race helmet and overalls. I am also grateful to have a social media following (56k on YouTube, 10k on Twitter, 8k on Instagram - If you want to check them out, my name is “alexzafro” on them all!) where I can further promote your brand. (All the fine details can be discussed!)
Please let us know if you would like to know more or would like to have a Skype conversation with myself and my team. We do need funding to make sure this project is a success, and we would love to be partnered with you! We think that the package we can put together for you will be very beneficial and one that would be unique from most Sponsorship agreements!
Thank you for your time and all the best
Alex Baldwin
The budget has not changed vastly from the last Monthly update, we are happy with where we are at and feel like it is a fair amount of money for us all to contribute. This still works out just under £1700, with myself and George trying to whittle down little costs as Cailan has said he may struggle to pay out first of two payments. After changing out plan, we decided split the money into three payments to the group bank account that George has set up. One in November which has been paid by all, one in January after the SFE student finance comes in, then one in March just before we need to pay for the race day and test day. Cailan was not present in these conversations but he agreed to them and now we can move forward and not worry about money.
George has also started to email companies to see if we can get some free equipment in return for product use in the documentary and also some feedback on their product. This has not got far as of yet, but we are hoping we can receive something out of this which will enable us to have higher quality equipment available to us throughout the shoot days.
We have started a fundraiser which can be understood better in my dedicated blog post. We have set the budget at a reasonably high goal, but we are confident that we can achieve some success from it.
Website
I have started the website which proved to be a really enjoyable process. The website has developed very quickly and I am very happy with how it looks. Aesthetically it suits our project and it has all of the important details needed for a project like this. For further information, you can see the website via the link below.
https://dreamchasertv.wixsite.com/documentary
A very busy month is complete, with just two weeks remaining I am very excited to see what is next. Not many changes will need to be made now, but I will give my all to ensure that I get the Top Grade that I know this project deserves! This progress would not have been possible without my tutor's help and peer support and I am happy that such progress has been made. The documentary is evolving quick and I can't wait to start filming in 2019.
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