Research and Initial Ideas

1. Factual Research
Georgia Brown

2. The Keepers (2017)
The Keepers is a new Netflix crime Documentary-Series about a nun who was murdered and the surrounding investigation and aftermath. The series
was based around 1-1 interviews with pupils, colleagues and friends of the nun including new footage they had shot, old found footage and
photographs. The main reason I am looking at this is because it is a fantastic documentary which isn't necessarily shot over a long periods of time like
other similar series, for example Making a Murderer. This is because mine will be shot within the time frame of a few weeks and so I didn’t want to
research something that in comparison would be far too big for my timescale. Another reason I am researching this is because of the 1-1 interviews
with the people who appear in the series, this is how I would like to do my interviews as I feel it gives the viewer a wider idea of the feelings or
emotions shown as they can see the faces and the body language of the person talking. I think it gives it a more genuine perception and therefore
makes it a much more successful documentary. I also love the use of photographs and old found footage that they have in this as it shows the viewer
what they are talking about so they can actually imagine it happening. I think that it makes it more real and more raw and emotional, for example if
you say someone died and showed the audience a picture then it would provoke a greater emotional response than if you hadn't shown the picture at
all as you can relate to them as you see them as a real person. I also want to use found footage to bring to life the stories that the interviewee will be
telling which I hope will make it a better documentary for the viewers. Additionally the way the crew almost always stay behind that “wall” of being
behind the camera is something I definitely want to do as I don’t want to be in front of the camera at all. However I do think that it is a positive as it
means all of the attention is focused on the interviewee and not on the interviewer and therefore people will pay more attention to what they are
saying. Another thing that The Keepers did which I am interested in is that it is based around the catholic church. I am very interested in doing a factual
documentary about religion or the church as it is very current and very, in my view, controversial at the moment and the subject that they tackle in
this is a very controversial and current topic of child sexual abuse within the church specifically by people of great power. I also like the non-linear
narrative that it follows as it goes from the 1960’s to the 1990’s to current time, this keeps the viewers interested and helps to explain the story bit by
bit making it encapsulating. Additionally the colours used in post production and the lighting of this highlight how it is a sad affair by the use of such
dark colours and low lighting. You may also say that the shadows and darkness could signify that there is something hidden which is what they are
trying to find out. Finally the music is this is very eerieas it needs to fit in well with the emotions and subject matter which is slightly depressing and
sad. Although my film may not be quite as sad i do hope to have some slow, possibly, piano music to compliment the old footage and photographs of
church. Altogether i think that the main thing that i have learnt when researching this was how usuful pgotograohs can be in explaining a subject, you
dont neccesarily need the picture to be moving for it to explain the story as long as the audio is interesting and fits in well.

3. Louis Theroux
Louis Theroux has done many documentaries over the years and many of them follow the same kind of narrative, Louis is
always in front of the camera, he meets 2 to 3 people and then later on meets up with them again therefore following a few
storylines within the one documentary. I like this idea as I feel that it will keep the viewer interested until the end as they want
a conclusion to each storyline. Although mine will not be nearly as long, 2-5minutes compared to an hour, I really like that
idea as it is much more interesting than just one person throughout the whole film as they may become boring or not have
enough to say to keep the viewer intrigued. In Louis’ documentaries he is always in front of the camera, interviewing the
guests/people and talking to them and the camera. This I feel creates a bond between the interviewer and the audience
making them more interested. I do however feel that sometimes having someone in front of the camera can take the focus off
the subject matter and therefore because of that reason and a few others I don’t think ill do that in my film. This could be
shown by the huge interest in Louis himself as he is very popular and people love his documentaries largely because he is
funny and a very loveable character and the way he can ask any question and try to get an honest response. This is very
different as far as the tone compared to The Keepers as most of Louis films, even if they are about sad or controversial
subjects they tend to have a humour about them. The main appeal to Louis Theroux’s Documentaries is him as a person and
the weird and interesting subject matter that he looks at as he as done everything from Nazis to brothels and people love to
find out about things which aren’t ordinary. Louis has also done three separate documentaries, two in Louis Theroux’s Weird
Weekends series and one as a movie about churches which is therefore directly related to what I am wanting to research and
document. The first one was about Televangelists (born again Christians), the second was about the highly controversial
Westboro Baptist ‘Church’, of which he revisited a few years later and the final one which is the movie was about Scientology.
Each of these films had a similarity between one another as they all contain Louis being funny and interviewing them stood
up, in front of the camera, and being taken/shown around multiple different locations. Whilst being about religion Louis
somehow still seems to keep the conversation as light as possible as so to keep the interviewee happy and as not to ruin their
relationship so that he can still keep talking and interviewing them without it being too tense.
My Scientology Movie The Most Hated Family in America (Westboro Baptist) Televangelists

4. Leaving God (2017)
One of the main reasons which I chose to research Leaving God was was because of both the content and the way it was edited
and made. It is about the rising number of priests and clergy members that leave the church as they no longer believe in God.
One aspect which I liked about this documentary was that it was made almost entirely using found footage with only one shot
actually being filmed for the film. Often during this documentary he talks about the past and when he does he shows a picture
of the time or thing that is he talking about. Personally I really like this as it helps the viewer to see rather than just imagine what
he is talking about. I think that it also really helps if you are talking about something from the past, as you obviously cannot film
that but by showing pictures you can critically discuss or examine what is on the picture and help the viewers to see what you’re
talking about. I also think that using images is really good way to compare things so for example, the past and the present but
also to project facts or ideas as sometimes just saying it to a camera isn't good enough as the audience may nit understand or
truly picture what you want them too. Unlike the other documentaries I have researched, you never see the man speaking as
there are no interviews at all and although that works for this documentary I think it is often a great focus point for the film. This
is because when the viewer sees the interview I think it makes it more real and they may believe the words and facts more than
if they are just being shown a picture or a block of text. Throughout this there are parts of the music that I do and don’t like, for
the most part I think that the quiet and mellow piano tunes fit really well with the topic of church and faith. However the way
this documentary is set up into fractions or chapters means that the music often just suddenly stops and a new song stars just
because a new section starts. This meant that the sound was slightly choppy however the actual music used was very fitting as
when you were meant to be lower or sadder it would play different music to the times when he was talking about exciting or
happy things. In addition I thought that his use and editing of the found footage was excellent as it fitted in perfectly with what
he was talking about and trying to convey. It never over powered his thoughts or his film it only added too it and gave it almost
more merit as you could tell his thoughts and opinions were based on something very real and that gave his film a truth. The fact
that many TV news reporters and celebrities appeared in the found footage may make people believe this man’s ideas more so
as they seem well founded and popular and therefore this may be a good way to impress the public.

5. Making a Murderer (2015)
Making a Murderer is a Netflix documentary-series which follows the trial of a falsely convicted man when he is accused of committing
another crime. There are multiple characteristics of this documentary that I think work so well and that I would like to use in my
documentary. Firstly the illustrations used throughout to explain the storyline and the new facts discovered were fantastic as they helped
the viewers to understand what was happening and helped to simplify complicated court or police terms. I would love to include this in
my documentary as it makes it more interesting and will break up the video footage. In addition I love the drone shots that were used
throughout as it helps you to visualise where everything was taking place and how close everything was to each other. Especially in this
case as it is about crime where you have lots of information to piece together, I think the exterior shots help the viewer to concentrate
on the words of the narrator or person speaking and also to understand how everything may have occurred and to put it all into context.
Unlike the Louis Theroux documentary that I researched this doesn’t have a narrator or interviewer in front of the camera, in this case I
think that it is because they aren’t necessarily interviewing the people that appear in it, as much as following and documenting their
story and hearing what they have to say about each thing that happens. Therefore it was unnecessary to have them in front of the
camera as they didn’t need to ask many questions and the focus could be on the content rather than the documentary makers. One thing
that I would be able to even nearly replicate is the extreme amount of time that they spent making this as they researched and filmed for
over a decade as the story unraveled and are already filming for second season. Of course tat is because this documentary is about such
massive subject whereas mine will be about one singe issue or fact that I can discuss for only up to 5 minutes. One thing I did like about
the interview styles was how they were always interviewed in their, almost, natural surrounding. Meaning they were interviewed at their
work or at their home rather than in a specific place r study which gave it more of n authenticity and made it feel less set up or staged. I
think that this will have made the audience believe the facts more as it felt real and less like a well researched and planned interview. I
also like that there were so many people involved in the interviews as their were around 15 people specifically interviewed, not including
footage from the trial where they were answering questions from the judge or lawyer, which meant that you could get a picture in your
head of what a large amount of people this effected. Altogether I really love this s a documentary style and of course I am not making
something of this scale but I will definitely incorporate many of it’s characteristics.

6. Research Summary
After doing this research I definitely feel as though I know what kind of characteristics I want in use in my
documentary to make it appealing and interesting to the public. Firstly I want to use illustration to explain facts
and figures. Not only does it make them less boring and keep the viewer more interested but it helps them to
retain the facts as they actually pay attention to them. They also look good and are a good way to explain
things and show numbers and figures without just writing them out as boring text. When I do present these
facts I want to have a voice over explain or at least to introduce them as otherwise it could become boring and
the people may not pay much attention to them. It may also be interesting to show them as the interviewee is
talking about something related to back up their points or views. When filming the interviews that I want to
include in my documentary I will be doing it from behind the camera so no one who is asking the questions or
interviewing will ‘break that wall’ and appear in front of the camera. This is because I personally don’t want to
be on camera and I also think that it takes attention away from the subject and matter of the interview. When I
do the interview I will definitely do it in a place I am either talking about or the place that they are from not a
café or something neutral as I think it adds to the context for the viewer and makes it more interesting and real
and especially less staged. Another thing that I will do in my documentary is use photographs to show a certain
moment or person from the past so that the viewers can see it first hand. When doing this I will have dialogue
over the top so that they know what it is. I also think that this will break up the footage and make the whole
documentary more interesting and give it more of a truth to it by backing it up with pictures that are fact. I will
also use found footage if possible to convey to the viewers the truth of what it was like in the times I will be
discussing so that they can see it for real for their own eyes and so that they will find it all more believable. One
ting that I majorly realised when researching the other documentaries was that there I a lot of background
knowledge and research needed so that my questions are informed and my facts are true. This will overall
make a better documentary that people will legitimately watch and be interested in. Finally I realised that
having multiple issues to discuss takes up a lot of time and therefore I shouldn't take on too much seen as I
only have 2-5 minutes for my documentary.

7. Initial Ideas

8. Idea 1
The first idea that I have is a short documentary about Catholic nuns in modern England. Since nuns used to
play a huge part in society I would love to interview some to find out what it is like in the modern world where,
especially in England, other religions are rising and even the percentage of non believers/atheists is rising too.
Years ago nuns used to be midwives and nurses looking after people in hospitals all over England not only in
specialist religious places. They also used to teach in schools and were often seen as those who worked with
and help the poor and needy. However in more recent times the image of a nun is seen less and less where it is
at a point where if you see a nun it is a rare sight where people literally stop and look. Since the percentage of
nuns has decreased I would be very interested in finding out why. I also think that it is very interesting that now
when you think of a nun you assume it is an older woman whereas in the past nuns were often young women.
Does this mean that less and less people are joining the sisterhood and that it is slowly dying out or is it just
because you don’t see nuns often in public and that they are not fairly represented in the media? To illustrate
my points and findings I would like photographs and illustrations showing comparisons to the past and present
along with interviews that I have conducted myself. These interviews will be with nuns and I would also like to
use their dialogue to play over some old found footage when they are talking about the past to show what is
was like then. I would also love to get some footage of a chapel in which they frequent and possibly their living
quarters to see where they live. I want to do this because I think that it is very interesting and defiantly has a
point to it. As our films need to be about something which could be followed on from with more episodes or
what not I think that this would be great as there are many different ways I could take this afterwards to other
parts of the Catholic church or other religions as they have almost all been affected by the changing times. I
think that I would like slow organ music or choir songs as they are fitting for the type of subject I will be
discussing and they would also set the tone nicely.

9. Idea 2
My second idea is a documentary on the Catholic church in 2018 England. I think that this would be an
interesting documentary as the world has change dramatically and considerably in the past 20 years or so and
nowadays religion can be a controversial topic when talking about modern day issues. Firstly would be the
LGBT+ group which is a movement for equality for people who are gay, lesbian, transgender and other sexual or
gender orientations whom have been persecuted for years and years other than the generic straight or cis-
gender people. The church is often quite strict on no sex before marriage and marriage being only to create
children and therefore I would be interested to learn how they approach this topic and how they move towards
understanding and incorporating it into their belief if at all. Additionally they also traditionally stand opposed
to abortion which is a big point of conflict against the women’s rights movement who believe it is their choice
where as the church believe it is a sin. Additionally this may start a conversation about Northern Irelands
change of laws concerning this and whether or not this means the church will change its views. Along with
many other issues that modern da people are fighting to set straight the church is often very traditional in its
views and I would be interested to se how they feel about political correctness and if that ever interferes with
the churches teaching especially sine in England unlike America you can be prosecuted for hate speech and so
forth. To make this documentary I would definitely include lots of interviews with key people like priests,
teachers, nuns with them sat in front of the camera being asked questions from someone behind the camera. I
would also like to have pictures and illustrations to show things that have happened in the past since the
church has a huge history. Despite the fact that this is something that I am quite passionate about looking into
as I find it very interesting having being brought up in the Catholic church yet not being Catholic myself, I think
that there are too many topics here to cover in the 2-5 minute window that I have and therefore if I did do it I
wouldn’t have the chance to go into as much detail and I would like and it would therefore probably not be as
good as it could be if I had more time.

10. Idea 3
My final idea would be about English Catholic schools and how they approach new modern day norms. It is well
documented that religious schools perform better than non-religious schools despite the fact that 70% of young
people (16-29) in the UK have no religious affiliation. Firstly I would be interested in how they respond to that
fact and if they try to convert children to Catholicism or not and just accept that fact; or possibly that is
something they try to do from reception by telling them that that is the only true way. From then I would be
interested in understanding how they approach the fact that young people are the most liberal group of all ages
and within being liberal comes having or agreeing with many ‘policies. Mainly but not only sex before marriage,
having abortions or being Pro-Choice, being pro Women’s rights/ feminism and agree with or being apart of the
LGBT+ group etc. All of these progressive and liberal groups and issues are ones which are generally and morally
against the catholic churches view and I would be interested in how they approach that seen as they are trying to
teach people who are, as a percentage, most likely agree with these views. I would also like to understand their
view on young teen sex and how they feel being celibate until marriage is a better option than not and how often
surprising people and not educating them on sex can lead to unprepared teen pregnancy and untreated
STI/STD’s. I would like to know if despite following the Catholic churches strict regime, they can clearly see that
the world has changed and whether or not they understand that and follow that in their teaching as to not be
ignorant. I would also be interested to see how diverse the schools are as I know that some catholic schools
accept students who follow other religions such as Islam and their views on this. To create this film I would
conduct interviews with students, teachers, and parents all of whom are and aren’t religious to get a good
understanding of everyone's views. I would conduct these interviews from off screen so that you could only hear
and not see me. I would also add in stills and photographs as well as illustrations to show figures and reviews. I
would also have just dialogue and show facts and figures etc to explain some points so that it is more interesting
than just reading it off the screen. I would personal like to do this as a documentary as I attended a Catholic
school yet was not Catholic, I also found that the percentage of people weren’t and only a few were and if so it
was because of their family not so much the teach of the school.