Pre-Production: Creative Elements (BBC)

  

 In Depth Look At The Subject

This video was made to be used as a basis for the information I could use to refer back to when in production. It also explains briefly some of the logistics for the project I have made a more in detail video on that in my logistics elements post. I felt making video diaries during the pre-production could serve as a good insight into my creative process while also keeping in practice some editing skills.  Also because of the song's themes, I will be talking about how people's mental health has been affected by phones and social media. 

Finding My Title

I have been really struggling to find a title for the documentary that sounded appealing. So I decided to make a video exploring the few ideas I had at the beginning by explaining what I thought was good and bad about them after going through those ideas I tried a few different experiments like using Chat GPT to show off the power of the internet and how young people are now using AI's to do their work. But Chat GPT didn't come up with any ideas that I liked as I thought they were too long and boring. This leads me back to the source material of 'I Like America And America Likes Me' to look at any lyrics. In the end, I came down to two names and despite the end of the video, I am still having a bit of indecision on truly going with either of them. So I am going to refer to Focus Group so the audience can have their say on which one is better and why.  

Title Feed Back

 The general consensus in the group was that "I See Her Online, All The Time" was a more appealing title for the documentary than "Belief!(In The Digital Age)". This was because of the fact that it rhymed and that it had a ring to it. But the minority in the group said that Belief!(In The Digital Age) did sound more positive and inspiring but one of the members forgot the name of Belief(In The Digital Age) so that could be a telltale sign that it may not be one to go with. Overall, It would seem that the best option for a title is "I See Her Online, All The Time" as it was the most popular among the group and relate to the overall message of the documentary being about overuse of the internet/phones being told through the view of a song.  

Plan For The Opening of The Documentary

For the first minute of the documentary, I want to have the audience be intrigued by whats going on with nothing much being explained. To achieve this I'm planning on a Cold Open where there is someone on their phone through out the day. The person would be in the same room sitting in the same way with time noticeably passing with the sun setting and eventually becoming night. there will be no lamps or lights put on in the room so by the time it gets dark the phone screen is the only thing letting the audience see the person. Once it gets dark, the person will turn off their phone leaving the screen pitch black and the title card will show along with the Isolated vocals mentioned in the Finding My Title video playing in time for when the words show on the screen. I think this could be a way to sort of show what many in this demographic deem to be what majority of their day looks like from a third person perspective. It's meant to show the banal lifestyle that technology has created for us all in a bit of a comedic but sad way that makes the audience question themselves with the documentary not saying anything to them directly. This is because there is going to be a lot of talking so if I get the audience invested early they are more likely to listen and digest what is said later on in the documentary. 

 

This is a storyboard I have made to refer back to during the production phase to get make sure that the progression of the scene is explained in a more simpler way that's quicker and easier to digest. I have listed above the drawings what is meant to be displayed or what the person in shot is meant to do, for example above the forth drawing it says "phone off" which is meant to show that the light from the phone should turn off to make the screen black so the title can be displayed. Making this storyboard benefits me as it can be used to go back to during production and post-production.

                                                                          Interviews

To keep with codes and conventions of a documentary having interviews with people about the subject of the documentary will be imperative to creative a high quality product. While filming using the rule of thirds I will position the camera so that it shows the persons head, shoulders and body to create the "talking head" effect. I will film two interviews, one with someone who knows the song and the band quite well and one with someone who hasn't heard the song and isn't a fan of the band. Of course for the purpose of the documentary I will let both people listen to the song before the interview begins. This way i can get two different perspectives and pull together ideas to help the overall message of the documentary. The two Locations I will shoot in will be in college for the sake of convenience and because the interviewees are most likely going to be in my class. Also in post-production I will add in the person being interviewed's name and if they are a The 1975 fan or not. 

For my camera set up I will have something similar to this LADbible Interview were they're are two cameras one right in front of the interviewee and one to the side and the cameras will be recording simultaneously and in post production i will cut between both the cameras recordings. There most likely will not be behind the scenes shots in the actual end product but i will try and shoot some to see how it looks and if i don't like it i will not add it in. 

Question List 

Can you explain the positive effects phones have had on your life in detail?

Can you explain the negative effects phones have had on your life in detail?

Has anxiety ever been a problem in your life? 

(If not) Explain your understanding of anxiety and how its effected young people

Would you classify yourself as consumerist?

Would you say consumer culture has inserted itself into mainstream culture?

Has social media had an effect on consumerism?

Is social media your main way you learn of news stories?

Is social media the main way you express yourself?

What Are Your opinions on The 1975?

(The rest of the questions would be about lines in I Like America And America Likes Me)

This question list is here for me to tell me when i am conducted the interview what i need to be spoken about so i have good clips to use from the interviews this is mainly so i can test if what i think about the songs meaning is agreed with or disagreed with. The reason why the section in brackets is there is so that while i do want some formulated responses i also want some genuine reactions and first thoughts to the lyrics/song. 

The Fire Scenes/My Skin Is Fire, Its So Desired

I have an idea that ties into one of the songs major lines "My Skin Is Fire". The idea includes me building a fire in the woods with black and white filter over the top of the footage while I am reading the lyrics of I Like America And America Likes Me in the over voice and as I get to the end of the lyrics i pull out a phone and toss it into the fire. This footage would serve as an way to show the audience that were talking about a new line and explaining what the line is i and delve into the meaning of the line along side the interviewees interpretations. The full recording could also double as a poetic documentary on its own which would just be called "My Skin Is Fire, It's So Desired". The reason I would like to have it in black and white is because it would be a reference to The 1975's YouTube mini series ATPOAIM or A theatrical performance of an intimate moment and a live performance of I Like America And America Likes Me. But also to show how phones have made reality bland and even in the beauty of nature the person in the documentary is still depressed by their surroundings and is trying to get rid of their dependency. Below is an episode from the series and the live performance to show where I've got the inspiration from but while this series is quite comedic I am trying to be quite serious and portray more of a message.

The rest of "I See Her Online, All The Time" will be shot without this filter however as it is meant to be mostly informative and could be distracting from the point. Also the reason I will be reading the lyrics instead of letting the song play is because their could be copyright issues if I were to use the song so its a good way to get around that. The camera when filming would be on a stand and fixed in one position this would be to show that the person is stuck in their ways but is trying to get out as they'd be seen gathering materials all the while still looking at their phone. 

Archive Footage

This is a interview from Radio X with Matty Healy from 2018 talking about ' Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships'. In the Interview, Matty Healy Talks about I Like America And America Likes Me as it is on the album. He mainly talks about what inspired the songs production and why it sounds the way it does.This footage could be useful to try and help explain the song in more detailed way as well as keep with the codes and conventions. There could be a problem with copyright as, obviously, isn't my footage so to prevent possible issues i could edit in a courtesy to Radio X to try and solve potential problems. There were other interviews where Matty Healy talks about I Like America And America Likes Me  in depth. For instance, He talks about the song on the podcast 'Tape Notes' but obviously this is only in audio form and wouldn't fit well with a documentary meant to be watched instead of listened to. 

Here is A Link to the podcast: TN:18 The 1975 - Tape Notes

BBC Three Watermark

This is the BBC three logo that they use on their YouTube channel. During my research i looked into different things that were made by BBC Three and i noticed that in their YouTube videos they would use this icon as a watermark in the the top left. So i have decided that so the Documentary looks more official I would add in this watermark over the top of of the video to keep to codes and conventions 

I See Her Online, All The Time Script

Here is my Script for I See Her Online, All The Time. This script has been made to help with direction when shooting the Intro Scene and The Black and White scenes as those scenes do not require any lines for the characters that appear in them. As well as this, the main part of the script is for the Presenter scenes where I explain the songs lyrics and what they mean. These scene don't have a lot in terms of physical movement but a lot in terms of verbal information. As you can see this is a very long script for a short documentary so the need for it will become extremely apparent when filming the presenter scenes.