Script and Storyboard

Here is the progress of our script and storyboard for the documentary project.

Script:

Here is the screenplay and script that my team and I worked together to make. 

Reflection:

I think that for our first time making a script, this was a pretty solid attempt. There was a lot of unprofessional sounding words since we made this in quite a hurry trying to finish it to quickly start the recording process. For some parts especially the interview, we chose to write "improvise" because we recognized that the scene would flow much more naturally and better if we just let the actor improvise. If we set a detailed script for the interview, there was a chance that the acting would be stiff due to having to say the lines word for word. I think that this worked out very well as the acting came out naturally. Our biggest problem was writers block because at some point, we got stuck because we didn't know which idea we should commit to. In the end, we finished the script in the middle of the recording process, deciding to just follow the flow instead. This was a great idea because in the end, we gained the inspiration we needed and we finally finished the script!

Storyboard:

The storyboard for this project was made by both me and Rachelle. I had the task to draw the storyboard for the scenes 2, 3, and half of scene 5. Rachelle drew scene 1, 4, and the other half of scene 5. In addition to that, Rachelle helped to annotate the storyboard.

Here is the first draft storyboard that I made for scene 2. I made this sketch very quickly in just a few minutes after arriving at Jocelyn's house and reviewing the script. Since the script wasn't too clear, I decided to draw this draft storyboard so we could try acting it out with test shots before Rachelle has to do the final recreation shot with her as Harper's actor.

After testing out the shots, we realized that there were a couple flaws to the storyboard draft I made. Firstly, in the draft storyboard I drew the bag being thrown onto the couch immediately as Harper's actor walks into the room. While trying to act out this scene, we actually found that it was impossible to place the bag down like this. Instead, we revised it and made it so that Harper's actor would place the bag down with both hands slowly while sighing in order to give a more realistic effect of her being tired after coming home from school. Other than that, the scene with the opening of the laptop was also something we had to modify. Me and Jocelyn felt that if we decided to film it from a POV camera angle, it would seem to be disconnected. To make the scene feel more cohesive, we decided to just shoot from a medium close-up angle from behind, showing Harper's actor entering the scene to open the laptop to make it seem like it didn't come from nowhere. I think that these changes were actually really good and it will make it much more easier for Rachelle to understand when the time comes for her to act out this scene.

The fixed and final version of this part of the storyboard and the scenes I changed accordingly can be seen in scenes 2.2 to 2.5.

Storyboard:

Here is the final version of the entire storyboard compiled into one with annotations. 

Reflection:

As seen in the storyboard, the parts I drew are the ones in blue while the ones Rachelle did are in black. The process for the storyboard was quite fun because it involved me taking the script and observations of the environment for the shooting (Jocelyn's house) and making visual representations of how it could work in real life through illustrating it. I also got to experiment by trying the scenes out in real life to make sure that they would work realistically. I really liked having the chance to do trial and error because it helped me see what parts of the storyboard I had to revise and why. I also got to discuss with my teammates about this and they helped me film the ideas that I drew and had in mind. It was fun to see that my storyboard could actually translate into something similar in the real attempts at recording the scenes. Since the time frame was quite limited though, we unfortunately were unable to add to much detail into our storyboard such as having proper clean lines, colors and a lot of annotations but we did try to make the storyboard as clear as possible so that it could be understood by the actors and cameramen.

One limitation was that since I had to work with Rachelle, I had to wait until she was done with her storyboard to be able to annotate my parts for the storyboard. However, to just make it more consistent we both decided that Rachelle should just compile all the pieces of the storyboard and also annotate some of the clips just to make it easier and just to get it done all together. I think that in the end even though we finished the storyboard really close to the deadline, it still came out just like we envisioned, so I am satisfied with the end product.

Statement of Intent

This is the statement of intent that my team and I made for this documentary project. It will help to solidify the meaning and message we want to send with our documentary opening.

The statement was mainly written by both me (Jasmine), and Rachelle. Still, parts of it were added while discussing with our other teammates too.

Reflection:

Making the statement of intent was definitely a lengthy process as we kept on changing details of the plot and characters, not committing until quite late into the project. This made it so we couldn’t make the statement of intent fully because it would be a waste of time if we wrote lengthy explanations for the details that were going to be deleted anyways. I personally worked on the representation and helped with making the message of our documentary opening. I think it was actually quite fun to write this part of the statement of intent because it involved finding the deeper meaning within the details that we placed (such as characters, place and etc.). Although I did have a rough idea while we decided those details, I didn’t actually think about the purpose and way we would represent them until I actually wrote more about it. I think that this also helped us in developing the message too as the way things are represented affect the way that they are perceived by the audience, naturally sending a message (dominant reading by Stuart Hall).

Research and Development

This is where I will document all my research for the documentary project.

The Attack on Wembley (2024):

1. What sub-genre of crime documentary would you categorize this as?

Sports crime documentary.

2. Who is the target audience?

English people - They are appealed since this crime happened in London, UK which they are citizens of, making them essentially involved.

Sports fans and Football enthusiasts - This event happened in a stadium because the victory of one team for the first time in a long time in sports. The crime itself involves one of the most iconic stadiums in the world, which naturally appeal to sport fans who keep up with sports stories as well as are interested in the famous football players.

3. What typical documentary conventions were used?

- The narrative went from positive (hyping up the event) to showing all the chaos that happened.

- The “crime” scene was recorded.

- They interviewed parties that were related to the crime.

- Suspenseful loud sound effect to show how intense the crime was.

- They used seemingly real footage and radio recordings of the actual event.

4. Did this opening conform or subvert the conventions for this genre?

One convention that it definitely subverted was the usual convention of having the crime be documented at night. The sky was bright blue during this documentary as the crime was committed during the day but it didn’t reduce the intensity of the documentary. 

5. How does it create suspense using the following:

Camera

The opening had establishing shots to show the place where the crime occurred. This created suspense as the Wembley Stadium was portrayed as very “cool” and you wouldn’t think anything bad would happen because it has been described as such a significant location (put on a pedestal). This hermeneutic code by Barthes helps to build suspense as the audience doesn’t know what to expect next. 

Sound

During the beginning of the opening, the music used was very uplifting and “hopeful” but when the chaos started, there was a large contrast as it started to become loud and intense, making the audience become more on edge as it was unexpected. 

Mise-en-scene

What the producers did was add at least one individual from each party involved in this crime. During these short interview scenes, it is noted that the backgrounds for each individual corresponded with their role in this event. Although it might seem simple at first glance, this detail allows the audience to wonder the what these people did. This allows room for assumption by using the hermeneutic code by Barthes, leaving the audience to have their own suspicions, potentially raising suspense.

Edit

Similarly to the other details I've mentioned, this introduction clearly utilizes the element of surprise and centralizes around the hermeneutic code by Barthes. It is noted that the clips during the beginning, mainly showing the environment surrounding the Wembley Stadium are longer and more drawn so that the audience is able to absorb the seemingly magnificent view. This is of course cut short by the array of short, clips filled with chaos once the disaster was starting to be described. Again, the long drawn clips in the beginning helps to catch the audience of guard as looking at the view could be more relaxing at first, leaving the audience to wonder.

What parts of the opening did you find inspiring?

I think I was inspired by the way they laid out their interviews as it showed what the parties were involved in during the crime. This helps the audience become more immersed into the scene as each setting showed a glimpse of the individual being interviewed.

Worst Roommate Ever (2024):

1. What sub-genre of crime documentary would you categorize this as?

Attempted homicide or survivor story documentary.

2. Who is the target audience?

Young adults - This would appeal to young adults and the female audience as the crime shown in this documentary occurred when the criminal and the victim were both young adults and female. This provides the audience with a sense that a crime like this could happen to them to, making them watch it to potentially prepare for the unlikely scenario.

People with roommates - This crime happened between roommates so people with roommates may want to watch this to see signs that they potentially need to be wary of to avoid this crime happening to them to.

3. What typical documentary conventions were used?

- They used pictures from the actual crime or authentic pictures.

- The survivor is retelling the story, giving straightforward information of the main issue in the crime.

- The “crime” scene was recorded.

- They put the “interesting information” as the hook of the documentary.

4. Did this opening conform or subvert the conventions for this genre?

One convention they did subvert was not showing a footage of the “suspect or criminal” in the investigation room with the police officers. Normally during these types of documentaries they often add that to show the true nature of the criminal.

5. How does it create suspense using the following:

Camera

Again, they used establishing shots to show a seemingly nice and peaceful neighborhood where you wouldn’t expect a crime to happen. This leaves room for the audience to be suspicious or anxious for what happens next.

Sound

They used a lot of discordant and loud sounds in order to give a more dramatic effect while retelling the details of the crime. This usually connotes to disaster, therefore giving the audience an eerie or uneasy feeling. 

Mise-en-scene

The coloring of the introduction was noticeably quite dark and had less saturation. This makes the scene look unsettling like what would be experienced in a horror movie as darkness and dull colors usually connotes to fear and general unhappiness.

Edit

In post production they added a bunch of red color tint on the screen while describing some details of the crime to make it seem more gruesome. Throughout the introduction, they also added a lot of glitching effects which could give some of the audience a bit of a startle. The combination of all this makes the scene builds up a general theme of scariness and suspense.

What parts of the opening did you find inspiring?

I think that the blood effects helped the gruesome nature of the story settle more as it was bright red, contrasting all the other dull parts of the scene. 

Jimmy Savile - A British Horror Story (2022):

1. What sub-genre of crime documentary would you categorize this as?

Sexual assault and predatory crime documentary.

2. Who is the target audience?

British people and previous fans of Jimmy Savile  - Jimmy Savile was an extremely famous and prominent figure for all British in the past, especially since he even was once affiliated with royalty. Because he was always shown on British TV shows, almost if not all British people knew him. This documentary could evoke a sense of curiosity in British people and fans who have only seen his "good side". They become attracted essentially due to the star appeal.

3. What typical documentary conventions were used?

- The narrative went from positive (hyping up the and showing all the positive side to the criminal) to showing all the chaos that happened.

- They interviewed parties that were related to the crime.

- Suspenseful loud sound effect to show how intense the crime was.

- They used seemingly real footage and radio recordings of the actual event.

4. Did this opening conform or subvert the conventions for this genre?

Based on the previous crime documentaries I've watched, this opening did seem to conform to the usual conventions for this genre.

5. How does it create suspense using the following:

Camera

On most of the scenes even though they are taken from real life footage of the criminal, the producers often chose clips with close up shots in order to clearly show us Savile's face and appearance which at first glance seems friendly. I am unsure if this is intentional, but in some of these scenes Savile's eyes seem to be dull which would be considered unsettling. This could build suspense as the audience tries to figure out what is wrong with him. 

Sound

Since most of the opening consisted of spliced up real footage of Jimmy Savile and his show, there was a conscious choice to keep the sound of the noise there instead of editing it out. Besides making the scenes seem more authentic, the noise also could be interpreted as creepy as it sounds disturbing and is constantly going on in the background. This may heighten the feeling of suspense.

Mise-en-scene

The coloring of the scenes seemed very saturated, highlighting the eccentric and seemingly bright personality of Savile. Although saturation could usually connote to happiness, in this scenario it helped to further add more suspense as the colors seemed almost unnatural and inhuman.

Edit

There were some scenes where the footages of Savile were interrupted by a grey background with bold statements relating to his crime. For the audience who were not paying much attention to the sound or background describing the crime, this could help them to become aware much more quicker and ask more questions, building suspense.

What parts of the opening did you find inspiring?

I liked the grainy effect and the almost vintage style of the introduction since the crime was carried out quite a long time ago, therefore the footage of the criminal was in bad quality. However, instead of making it bad, this actually helped the scenes to feel creepy, therefore I might want to implement that into my own project.

Girl In The Picture (2022):

1. What sub-genre of crime documentary would you categorize this as?

Homicide.

2. Who is the target audience?

Women (young adults from 20-30) - When this string of crimes occurred, the victim passed on at a very young age. Women around the age of the victim may become interested in watching the documentary as they feel as if they are able to relate more to the victim and should also watch out for the thing that happened in the crime.

Fathers and mothers - Since the criminal of this case was the father, parents may want to watch the documentary to see what may potentially happen if they let their guard down and disregard dangers just because someone is a parent and doesn't seem like they have the heart to harm anyone.

People who live near the area of the crime - Naturally, since the crime occurred near them, this evokes a sense of fear and curiosity since a crime like this could have or will potentially happen to them, leading them to watch it out of curiosity of what the crime may have been like.

3. What typical documentary conventions were used?

- There is a reenactment of the crime scene. 

- There is a person narrating the details of the crime.

- Suspenseful loud sound effect to show how intense the crime was.

- They used dark colored scenes for most of the introduction.

4. Did this opening conform or subvert the conventions for this genre?

It kind of subverted the conventions for this genre because usually, they would use actual clips of the criminal and real video footage of interviews but instead, they just chose to act out the crime scene instead.

5. How does it create suspense using the following:

Camera

Through observation, it is clear to see that the producers intentionally hid the actors or characters faces to build a sense of mystery in the start. This way the audience will ask: Who is she? What happened to her? What did her husband do? It gives the audience a sense of wanting to know more after watching the opening.

Sound

The sound of the narration of the crime is very loud and clear which gives the audience a bit of a sense of understanding of the scene, however there is really loud discordant sounding synth that plays in the background of the narration, building a sense of unease as the audience may wonder: Does the situation get worse than this?

Mise-en-scene

The mise-en-scene builds suspense by using more dull or darker colors for the scenes. Audience’s minds may interpret dull and dark colors with a sense of danger or a sense of mystery especially because in some scenes, the lighting makes some details of the clip harder to see.

Edit

Similar to other crime documentaries, in some scenes, the opening for this documentary has a glitch effect that makes the scenes look a bit creepy. Usually, the glitching effect means that the video file is corrupted or broken in some way. This can be interpreted as this crime being almost cold and buried, therefore the crime video was almost broken in a way. This makes the audience feel uneasy, therefore building suspense.

What parts of the opening did you find inspiring?

I really liked how the crime was acted out as it made the audience more immersed in the opening. I think I may use some elements of that in the opening as I want the audience to interact with the opening in some way.

Ice Cold: Murder, Coffee and Jessica Wongso (2023):

1. What sub-genre of crime documentary would you categorize this as?

Homicide documentary.

2. Who is the target audience?

Citizens of Indonesia - Especially since production of content from Indonesia is quite uncommon for Netflix to produce, this may attract the attention of Indonesian citizens.  Other than that, this case was already so big in Indonesia so the people may just watch the documentary just for surveillance (Uses and gratification by Katz and Blumler. 

Those from high social classes (elites) - Since both the victim and the criminal are from high social classes and families with higher than average reputations, elites may recognize them, making them watch the documentary out of curiosity and possibly relatability.

Regulars of the Cafe that the incident took place in - Regulars of the cafe most likely never expected something like this crime to happen there because it is not just a regular cafe, but a cafe catered specially towards the elite. Those regulars of the cafe may stumble upon this documentary and watch it due to the shock factor of this crime happening in their usual coffee shop and also just out of curiosity.

3. What typical documentary conventions were used?

- They interviewed parties that were related to the crime.

- Recordings of the actual criminal in the courthouse.

- Images of the deceased victim.

4. Did this opening conform or subvert the conventions for this genre?

This opening seemed to take the more realistic approach compared to others, not using too many elements such as super loud background discordant music. It used a lot more real life footage than the other openings that I have watched, most likely since this crime and what happened in the court was recorded by news companies a lot more than for other crimes. Other than that, the opening showed the personalities of the parties involved instead of just having the regular question and answer format, allowing the audience to choose whose words they are willing trust based on their personalities.

5. How does it create suspense using the following:

Camera

For the camera, many of the clips of the criminal's court case were used in the opening. While this may just seem like a simple choice at first glance, by doing this, the audience is lead to wonder what the criminal must have done in order to gain so much attention and how severe the crime must have been. Again, this uses the Hermeneutic code by Barthes. The camera angle used in these clips are also high angles, making the criminal scene even more looked down upon or red-handed. 

Sound

The sound of the interview playing on the background allows the audience to keep track of the visuals happening on the screen. As the audience understands what is happening, this allows the opening keep the attention of the audience, making them more aware of what is happening. Other than that, the interview audio playing in the background conflict each other, one siding with the criminal and one opposing her. This may create a sense of tension as the audience must keep up with the conflicting ideas, resulting in a sense of suspense because one of them may be right and one may be siding with the wrong person. 

Mise-en-scene

The dark lighting creates a sense of anxiety as it connotes to the scenes being shrouded by mystery. Some of the clips chosen also show the criminal smiling so the audience can debate whether she is smiling because she knows she is innocent or if she is just a cold blooded killer. 

Edit

The edit of one of the scenes with the pictures of the victim and the criminal together, smiling again makes the audience have a sense of suspense as the audience may think "does the criminal not have a sense of shame smiling with the victim innocently like that" and makes the audience wonder what kind of person the criminal is behind the mask she puts on for the public and the media.

What parts of the opening did you find inspiring?

I liked the parts where they give us a little peek onto how the people interview acted and it was quite entertaining too. I'm not sure if I will use something similar for my team's documentary opening but I think that it would be pretty nice if we did as selectively constructing, picking and choosing the clips would help us steer the audience's dominant reading a certain way.

Clapper Board:

During media class, we learned about the clapper board. Although I knew what it was beforehand as it is quite iconic, I never thought that there would be a practical use for it. I learned that the clapper board is used to signify the start and ending of a scene and the scene number or attempt. For editors, they are able to see the wavelength of the audios recorded for scenes. Now, the use for the clapper board is to create a loud noise at the start and the end of the scene so that the editor saves time from searching through each recording for the parts that they will need to use. The loud noise created causes the wavelength to become a straight line which is very visible compared to other audios from the scene. The editor can now choose to cut the recording from when the line appears in the audio to when it appears the next time on the same recording. Since we don't have a clapper board, my team and I decided that we will just use the sound of us clapping to create the same effect that the clapper board does on a budget.

Here is the little drawing that our media teacher (Mr Nick) drew in order to demonstrate the capabilities of the clapper board. I personally think it was very effective and straightforward to understand!

Documentary Development:

The documentary development was written by me, Jasmine. I discussed with my team and we brainstormed, resulting in these ideas that we made. This also includes all the ideas we decided to scrap as well as why we decided to choose some options above others.

Documentary name development:

• Where did Christopher go?

Notes: We were inspired by the documentary: What Jennifer did Since it was a very simple title yet evokes the curiosity of the audience. It seems to do so by using the Hermeneutic code by Barthes by raising a statement which could be questioned that the audience can’t answer unless they watch the documentary and see for themselves.

• Two Weeks of Torment.

• In Plain Sight.

• Silent Street.

• The Chase for the Unforeseen.

We ended up choosing the title: Where did Christopher go? as it is very straightforward and catchy. We really like how it hooks the audience into watching the documentary as again, it asks a question that the audience can’t answer unless they watch the documentary. Aside from that, the title itself is the question that most people would ask in the scenario that the documentary sets.

Character ideas:

Criminal

Victim

Police

Here are the sketch concepts that I made for the potential police character that we unfortunately scrapped.

Ultimately, we decided not to have a police interview on the opening because it would consume too much of the screen time for the opening. We also wanted to make sure that the focus is mainly drawn to just the criminal and the victim, so removing an extra character would help us achieve that better. Instead, we will just have interview audios playing in the background from parties that are affiliated with the victim so that it would be more of a background chatter instead of something the audience needs to focus on entirely.

Character name development:

Harper: 

Harper is a name that denotes “one that plays the harp”. The harp connotes and symbolizes harmony, angels as well as a representation of life and death. Since the main idea of the concept for our documentary is the unexpected being the criminal, this name would be a great contrast to the personality and actions of the character. On the outside, Harper seems to live up to her name being known as kind and friendly. However, she is hiding a sinister part of herself as she was willing and able to kidnap someone seemingly bigger and stronger than her, contrasting the loving and soft nature of an angel.

Christopher:

Christopher is a name that denotes “bearing Christ”. Typically, this name connotes strength and reliability. Our team wants to portray the victim as someone who seems strong on the outside. By choosing this name, this could be portrayed. This will raise the question of how he got kidnapped by the audience as he may seem more superior in strength than the criminal, Harper. This aims to show that even if someone seems strong, they still can fall prey to crimes such as in this case, kidnapping.

Character development

The character development was recorded by Jocelyn while we discussed with other little details of the characters which could give them sort of a personality.

We discussed the personalities of the characters together as it may help us decide what the characters would do and act like in the documentary. In some scenes of the documentary, we are also planning to record audio of other students talking about the characters so this will also help direct what the other students will say about Christopher or Harper.

Christopher: 

At school: quiet kid, prefers to spend time alone, awkward, introvert, doesn’t like participating in class and gets picked on for that, has friends but doesn’t really hang out with them 

At home: spends time in his room playing games, doesn’t leave his room unless it’s necessary, doesn’t really talk to his parents because they’re rarely home due to work, only comes out to go biking 

Outfit: Something more suspicious or comfortable looking like a hoodie.

Harper:

At school: very cheerful, participates a lot in class (sometimes too much), always volunteers to be the leader in groups, very likable, friendly, pretty, popular, clumsy

At home: Always online so if anyone were to text her she would respond, when parents get home she always greets them, goes out a lot, always says yes to hangouts, she enjoys being in her house a lot (doing chores, texting other students, etc.)

General:

• Doesn’t open up to her friends, no one knows about her fully

• Too nice that it’s concerning

In the background audio, they could say something like this:

• “Harper has always been such a cheerful girl, she always makes people feel included! Everyone loved her.” 

• “I don’t know, she was always a little too much for me, i never liked having her around but she’s nice i guess. Too nice, sometimes.”

• “She’s always tripping on things and dropping things. I would have never expected her to do something so appalling, so well-planned, and thoroughly executed.”

Outfit: Something light-colored and soft looking.

I, Jasmine drew concept sketches for Harper and Christopher based on these characterizations as seen below:

Christopher:

Harper:

Casting:

Harper:

• Jasmine

• Rachelle

Rachelle and I were the main candidates for Harper especially since we look quite similar to each other. To take this into our advantage, I will take over the role of “real life” Harper while she would act in the recreation scenes since the actual criminal and the recreation actor can’t be the same person. 

Christopher:

• Thompson

• Devasya

• Jocelyn (Emergency)

Originally, we felt like our decision to choose Thompson for the role of Christopher was solidified, however due to him being unavailable in such a short notice even after recording some scenes with him already, we had to switch actors. Instead, our classmate Devasya accepted the role which was great since he is also quite tall which further solidifies the image of Christopher being stronger than Harper.

Shooting Locations:

We all decided to use Jocelyn’s house to shoot the project as it has a basement as well as it being in an area that is suitable (in a quite quiet neighborhood).

Ideas:

• Interviewing each party involved inside an “interview room” (just inside Jocelyn’s room).

• TV live interview scene which will happen somewhere outside of Jocelyn’s house or in the garage.

Reflection:

The first 5 analysis of the documentary openings were quite tedious and really slow to make but it did help a bunch for the documentary project. It helped me identify the typical genre conventions used in crime documentaries. After a while and watching all 5, it became apparent what similarities all crime documentary had with each other and how each documentary would subvert the conventions in their own ways. In producing our documentary, this helped us in deciding what details to add such as dark lighting in order to make our documentary opening fit the conventions of typical crime ones. Analyzing these documentaries also helped us identify the intentions of each one of those conventions and how they work together in order to attract audiences into watching the documentary.

Other than that, I also wrote the documentary development for this project. Writing down different ideas after brainstorming helped us collect our thoughts better and make the best choice when picking details such as the name of the characters, title of the documentary and etc. I had a lot of fun researching the denotations of the names for the characters.

One of the main problems I encountered during this process was the lack of motivation. During the start of the research it was actually quite fun since I got to watch documentary openings as well as research for creative ideas. However, after a while it became very very repetitive. While developing the ideas for the documentary, I also had hit multiple stumps where I would run out of inspiration and wouldn't know what direction to take for the development. This again made me lose a bit of hope. I did have fun with drawing the character ideas for the character concepts though!

Honestly, there wasn't really a big solution that I used to overcome this problem besides the extra motivation of the deadline pushing me to finish everything quickly due to my procrastination problem. Once I did get started though, I did get the momentum to finish all the research because I got out of my writer's block. I'm really glad I got this role because I think that my research and development of idea skills did definitely improve and it helped me to think creatively and more outside the box.

My Team

 This is my team for the documentary project.

My team members are Rachelle, Cheryl and Jocelyn. Their blog links are imbedded.

Reflection:

I am really glad to have been a part of this team with my friends because I believed that we worked very well together. Since we are close, we didn't want to let any of us get the burden of having too much workload so it motivated all of us to work on the project even more. I believe that in future large projects like this, I would like to group up with them because it made me much more efficient in working. We also had really good conversations about the concepts for the projects that we wanted to use. A downside is that the project kind of impacted our friendship a bit as we sometimes had little arguments here and there which is a problem which I hope to avoid in the future. Working with my team made this project possible to be enjoyable.

Weekly Progress & Plan

 This is where I keep my weekly progress and plans for the documentary project.

Week	Start Date		Task		Blogpost Title	Content	Deadline
W1	22 July
W2	29 July	Pre Production	Research	1	Brief	Description of the brief, embed powerpoint	W2
				2	Plan & Weekly Progress	Plan for the whole project, Weekly diary	W2
				3	Team	Your team + Links ot their blogs	W2
				4	Research	Research into documentary openings of the same genre	W4
W3	5 August		Plan	5	Statement of Intent	Plan for the product	W4
				6	Storyboard	Scene by scene storyboard	W5
				7	Location Scout & Risk Assessment	Possible shooting locations, risk assessment table	W5
W4	12 August
W5	19 August	Production	Produce	8	Behind the Scenes	Images of the shoot	W8
				9	Social Media (Research & Development)	Research into similar social media pages. Development of own ideas.	W9
				10	Thumbnail (Research & Development)	Research into similar thumbnails. Development of own ideas.	W9
W6	26 August
W7	2 September	Post Production	Edit/Reflection	10	Editing Process	How did you edit? Challenges, solutions	W9
				11	Self Reflection	Self Reflection Essay	W9
W8	9 September		Edit
W9	16 September		Submission	12	Final	Final doc, social media page, thumbnail	W9

Week 1:

It's my first week of media studies and I'm so excited to learn the new topics!

Week 2:

Today was the first week for media studies! We were just introduced to the new documentary project and I am very very excited! I’ve always been quite interested in making movies but never got the chance to so this would be a cool little starter project thats for school as well (killing 2 birds with 1 stone). We analysed a couple openings for the documentaries and it was honestly quite boring but I’m sure it’ll be very useful for when I am going to start producing my own documentary opening with my team. I also am planning to buy a new camera so I hope that’ll come in handy when we start taking footage for the project.

To do:

I’ll need to research and analyse 3 more documentary openings before next week’s lesson!

Week 3:

This week we developed our statement of intent and we decided to settle on an idea, however its still in its rough stages so we’ll need to discuss before we fully commit to the idea. We found a few people to potentially act for us so thats great. I hope that we’ll be able to get the ideas done really quickly so we can actually start to lay down the foundations for the project.

To do:

- Finish the statement of intent and discuss with my teammates about it.

- Decide and try to scout for more potential actors.

- Try to also decide on roles we should take on for this project.

Week 4:

This week my group and I started making our script and screenplay as well as started to figure out the locations for the shooting. I myself decided that it would be pretty cool to do a little sketch of the things that the characters would most likely wear just to help build their identities as well and give them unique characteristics. I think that the progress we have made so far isn’t enough so I might have to catch up on the research and the script on my own free time with my team. Just to add, this week we did a recap of Stuart Hall’s representation theory which will help our group decide what to portray to help influence the dominant reading of the audience when looking at our characters.

To do: 

- Finish the script and screenplay.

- Visit possible shooting locations as well as a risk assessment.\

Week 5:

This week me and my team continued on writing the script and screenplay and I think that we made pretty decent progress. We solidified the basic plot of the opening and I think it still needs a bit of work but its enough to give us a direction to go to as well as an idea of what the opening is going to look like. We are planning to make the storyboard after we clean up the script a little bit more. Besides that, we also made a filming schedule so that we could be more organized and it would also help us commit on days we could use to actually start producing the opening. Here is the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GP6YwpxcqXVCxKz5BSc2nDMR5u5dd1qiLAkB5GmUXss/edit

To do:

- Film the draft video and experiment.

- Clean up the script more.

Week 6:

We continued our critical self reflection essays and made the overall plans and outlines for it. Since we aren’t finished with filming our opening and making the thumbnail, I wasn’t able to answer all questions but I still filled in half of them so I think thats enough for now. We also learned about regulation so that could be useful especially since we need to know what we are allowed to put in the opening and what content we should censor from the audience.

To do:

- Film the actual opening scenes.

- Thumbnail development.

- Critical self reflection.

Week 7:

During the weekend, my team and I managed to record footage for the first scenes with our actor, Thompson. Even if it doesn’t seem much, this is a good first step for our polished footage and I’m sure we’ll gain momentum from now on. We’ve made a few changes to the script to make it seem more obvious for the parts where recreations occur to avoid misunderstandings with the audience. Our class has started testing out editing but I’m pretty sure that my team is left behind in that aspect since we haven’t finished the filming yet.

To do:

- Finish filming the rest of the scenes.

- Critical self reflection.

- Thumbnail development.

Week 8:

A lot of things happened this week. During the weekend, I had recorded my final interview scene as Harper in Jocelyn's house. This weekend was also when our actor, Thompson, suddenly notified us that he would be unable to record his scenes during the weekend. This is when we decided to make a big decision and change the actor for Christopher to Devasya. Although this may seem very bad, we had to make this choice as Thompson often was unable to record the scenes. Fortunately, Devasya was really good as Christopher and we were able to record all of Christopher's scenes on Wednesday. This will be the final week to submit the project so there is a lot of pressure. I have finished up a lot of the tasks I need to submit and I am sure I will be able to complete all the tasks I need to do as a majority of it is just writing the reflections for all of my blog posts. 

To do:

- Finish the Brief, this post, My team, Research, Statement of intent, Script and storyboard, Location scout and Risk assessment and the Filming schedule.

Reflection:

I think that having this weekly progress and planning blogpost was really helpful. At the end of each week, I would write about my experience, what I did, what I liked and disliked and much more. Writing it down helped to solidify and remember the mistakes I made and things I had to work on to improve. Other than that, the to-do list that I made each week also helped to keep track of the tasks I would have to do so that I wouldn't forget. Having it all in one blogpost also helped to remind me of what I have done so I wouldn't waste any unnecessary time checking it again. I think that for my future projects, I will definitely use this again as it was very good and helpful!