the duckmarine's own video.

 

 

The video on the right is the only video currently on the Yellow Duckmarine's website so I thought I would look at this for inspiration on our video. 

They incorporated the live music from the street and the crowd noise, this shows the public's excitement for the Queen's visit.

There is also a selection of shots of the duck going into the water, and sailing around the Albert Docks. This is definitely something we will have to include as it is a vital part of the tour. I also think we'll include footage of the tour from the street as well, and if it is possible we'll include footage from the inside of the duck whilst on the tour. This way we will recreate a the whole tour to show the good points of the tourist activity, but without giving away the places on the tour as this might ruin the experience for potential visitors.

Although our videos may be similar, they're still dissimilar enough for ours to feature along side their own. This is due to the different subject matter, as their video features solely on the Queen's visit, where as ours is to show the whole experience of the tour.

I feel it would be a good idea to include the Queens visit in our video, but not is nearly as much detail as the original video.

documentary research.

In today's seminar we were given 'Film Art: An Introduction' to help give us a clearer understanding as to what is expected from our documentaries.

After reading through the article and researching online, I thought I would collect the most interesting/relevant points.

What defines a documentary?
1. A documentary typically comes to us identified as such - by it's title, publicity, press coverage, word f mouth and subject matter
2. The audience expects the documentary to be factually correct

What is a documentary?
1. A documentary aims to present factual information about the world.
2. This can be done in as many different ways as in fiction.
3. There are many different ways in which filmmakers can portray the truth. This can be done by recording actual events as they happen, or by providing factual charts, maps or other visual aids. However, the more the footage looks manipulated, the less likely the audience is to believe it is factual.
4. Interviews with participants helps to create a sense of fact, however the filmmaker is unable to manipulate the interviewee but rather just control where the camera is placed, avoiding telling the interviewee what to say, or how to act.

Two forms of documentary:
Rhetorical Form - An approach used to present the audience with a persuasive argument to agree with the opinion which has been stated within the film.

Categorical Form - A simplistic approach to film structuring, this allows the filmmakers to break the film down into categories, which can then be introduced and spoken about at different/specific times.

The 8 types of documentary:
1. Poetic Documentaries - These used music and metaphors and were fragmentary, impressionistic, lyrical.
2. Expository Documentaries - These speak directly to the viewer, often in the form of an authoritative commentary using voiceovers or titles. These often have a strong argument and point of view and they aim to persuade the viewer.
3. Observational Documentaries - The camera and the filmmaker simply observe and do not intervene
4. Participatory Documentaries - The filmmaker is part of the documentary, they aim to show how their being there changed the situation.
5. Reflexive Documentaries - The filmmaker draws attention to their own constructedness, and the fact they're representations.
6. Performative Documentaries - They stress subjective experience and emotional response to the world. They are strongly personal, unconventional, perhaps poetic and/or experimental.
7. Informative Documentaries -These are often based on multiple contributors giving factual information about a subject.
8. Collage Documentaries - An approach that combines moving image, archive footage, stills etc. to present a subject differently

and the winner is...

In today's seminar we pitched both the 'beauty and fashion' pitch, and the 'Duckmarine' pitch to the rest of our group. And although both pitches recieved positive feedback, the Duckmarines recieved the majority vote, and therefore we're going with this idea.

I feel that the Duckmarine idea will create a more comedic and lighthearted documentary due to it's quirky subject and unusual history. I think that it has a lot of potential to be informative and funny at the same time.
Also, by deciding on the Ducks, Dani has taken the role of director, and we were able to decide on everyone elses roles. They now are as follows:

Director - Dani
Producer - Dalena
Editor - Myself
Sound Editor - Chrissie
Sound Recordist  James
Camera Operator - Charlotte.

Skateistan: To live and skate Kabul

Today we watched Skateistan: To live and skate Kabul which is a short documentary by Orlando Von Einsiedel. It follows a group of teenagers who enjoy skateboarding. 

The composition of the shots were really well considered, this helps to make the film accessible for the audience. It creates a clear idea of the world that these skater are living. 

The centre of the documentary are the three main characters that also provide narrations using the voice-over technique. 

The set up of the documentary makes the audience feel like it going to have a completely different theme. It focuses on the beautiful scenery of Kabul and avoids the political conflicts.

I found it really interesting to see a group of teenagers take part in skate boarding in a completely different situation. It was refreshing seeing their youth shine through the decay of the country.

The Apology Line

The Apology Line is a short, fictional, documentary about people who ring a number and apologise for something. It is a poetic and experimental documentary.

There is a series of disconnected images which hold no direct relevance to the audio track, although they do indirectly relate.

The overall tone of the piece is quite emotional. The apologies vary from a crying man apologising to his now separated wife, to a teenage girl claiming she has cheated on her boyfriend and she doesn't care. There is a sense of hysteria in one of the phone-calls as a women apologises for hiding her disability.

I really like the concept of the documentary as it is something I have never seen before.

The voices aren't clear, and are sometimes hard to understand. However, it is obvious why they have done that.

documentary project.

For our next assignment we have been told to create a documentary lasting 5 minutes. Our documentary has to be focused on a subject relating to Liverpool, our destination. I am in a group with Dani, Chrissie, Charlotte, Dalena and James.

In Fridays seminar we were told we had to prepare treatments and pitches for two different ideas, and then present these ideas to the group. We decided to meet as a group to collect possible ideas and build them into presentable pitches.

On the Sunday, myself, Dani, Dalena and Charlotte met in the library to discuss our ideas.

Charlotte had already done some online research into Liverpool and found a quote from a man who called himself 'The King of Bling' which stated that 'Liverpool is Britain's capital of beauty and fashion'. This inspired her to looking further into the fashion side of Liverpool, as it is quite well known for it's odd styles and trends. She also found out more about 'The King of Bling' and found out he was quite famous around Liverpool for his beauty salon. It was decided that the next step would be to contact 'The King of Bling', and others similar to him and see if we could create a story around him and his work.
We all decided that this idea had a lot of potential, and that we should consider it as one of our two pitches.

Dani had remembered from previous visits to Liverpool about a quirky little tourist attraction called The Yellow Duck Marines. These were amphibious landing crafts previously used in world war two. They are currently being used for tours around Liverpool's main attractions, as well as sailing around the Albert Docks. Dani later got in contact with the firm, and spoke to the manager, Paul. He said he would be more than willing to let us film for them, as long as we provided a finished copy to them.

I really like the second idea has I think it has the potential to become a lighthearted documentary with an informative spin on it.