2. ExistingProduct
1
The first existing product I have chosen is about one of
the rollercoasters at Alton Towers. The original ride
opened in 2002 whereas this documentary was made
and released in 2018 meaning that the creator is trying
to reminisce to connect with the audience. Many people
who are fans of Alton Towers or rollercoasters in
general will most likely all agree that the ride in this
vide “Air” was a lot better than what the ride is in the
current day (now known as “Galactica”) and since
2016. in this context we can see the sale value of this
documentary and why people would want to watch it.
It also includes an interview with the designer behind
the ride and also many other major rides across many
of the Merlin parks which also helps sell the
documentary. This is because many people will want to
know the creative process and ideas behind this ride
and understand why it has failed in recent years.
3. ExistingProduct
1
The reason this works as a documentary is because
there are enough shots of the ride and other aspects
such as plans and concept drawings, to not make it a
boring one shot interview. Another thing I have noticed
within this product and also all of the other products, if
there is an interview segment you never get to hear the
questions being asked. Also this would work really well
as a web series as each week could be a new
rollercoaster which would keep the theme the same but
the content different.
4. Existingproduct
2
The second existing product is a documentary about
the first 3 Crash Bandicoot games and what they did
well and what the new games failed to do. The reason I
think this did as well as it has done by gaining 450,000
views on YouTube, is because a lot of people once again
have the same opinion as this. Example everyone likes
the first 3 games and a large majority of people dislike
the most recent Ps2 and Wii games. Another reason I
think this video has been such a success is because the
audience it is trying to attract is massive and has a
giant presence on the internet. The audience being
anyone who grew up playing this game anywhere from
the mid to late 90s, to the present day. In this video
there is only a 15-20 second clip of a interview
although the video is good enough with all of the
gameplay and animated segments to illustrate more
clearly what the narrator is saying.
5. ExistingProduct
3
The third existing product I looked at was a YouTube video
by someone by the name of AntDude. This video wasn't
really a documentary but more of a commentary and a
review on some of the bad crash bandicoot games. I think
some things that some things I can take away from this
video and transfer to mine is the small introduction
(which is also on all of these existing products) and in this
video there is a good balance between screen time of the
commentator and the gameplay etc. As there is no
interview in this video the screen time where I would use
an interview, in this video is replaced by the commentator
himself. In all of these existing products the narrator
speaks a little about the history of the subject of the
documentary. This is usually done at the beginning of the
video and it also sets the tone for the rest of the video. For
example in this video it starts with a sketch which sets
the tone of the video as more comedic.
6. ExistingProduct
4
The fourth existing product I looked at was a documentary
about the history of Spyro the Dragon. The reason I have
chosen this video to look at is because Spyro and Crash
Bandicoot have a very similar story and also very similar
if not the same. I this documentary there is no interview
or video sections of someone talking. This means that
everything the narrator is saying is just over the top of
footage of the either the game, advert or trailer he is
speaking about. I think I will use some of this in my final
product because it gives the audience something to look at
and gives them a clearer idea about what you are talking
about. It also allows them to see what you are talking
about. For example if the narrator were praising or
criticizing a certain aspect of the game it allows the
audience to see for themselves and either agree or
disagree, which allows more audience interaction as they
can voice there thoughts in the comments.
7. Research
Summary
Overall I have found a lot of similarity's and some
differences. One of the main similarity's I have seen is
that in the interview sections of these documentary's. I
think I will be using this technique in my product because
I think if you can here the interviewer asking the
questions it can break the illusion or distress the flow of
the interview.
Another common feature in the style of documentary's I
have been looking at, which are all based around
something in the past and how it has changed over the
years, is vides or photos of what the narrator is speaking
about. These videos play at the same time as the narrator
speaks and either have low volume or a soundtrack
related to the subject playing quietly in the background.
This is used for many reasons, the main one being to show
the audience what the narrator or the person being
interviewed are speaking about. The soundtrack is used to
add a bit more of an atmosphere to the video as it would
appear more awkward if there were no music.
8. Research
Summary
Another similarity is that most of these videos have elements of
comedy. For example in example 3 it has small jokes and pokes
fun at the bad aspects of the game. I think in my product I would
like to use this more light hearted approach. I also think that this
opens the documentary up to a wider audience as people will
watch it if there fans of the subject its about but if the narrator is
funny and likeable it makes people who aren't that interested in
the subject watch it. I do not want to make my documentary try to
be funny or a comedy because its going to be factual and a more
serious project but I would like to involve some subtle dry humor
into the video if the narrator or interviewee is talking about an
aspect of the game which seems to be more on the laughable side.
Something else used in every documentary is an intro. Things that
all of these intros include are things such as a bit of history about
the product and how it came around, and sometimes it will speak
about how popular the subject is and a few random facts such as
how much money it made or how many copies it sold. I am
definitely going to use an intro in my final product.
9. Documentary
Styleand
Design
The overall theme of my documentary is Crash Bandicoot
although I have to make it a web series so I must think about how
I could theoretically make it into a series. For this I have come up
with the idea that I would create a series of retro game that have
had a hard time standing the test of time and transferring onto
newer consoles. A few names for the series could be:
-Retro Games: Rise & Demise
-Old School Games
-Retro Games: What Went Wrong
-Old but Gold
For the looks and style of my documentary I want to use a bit of a
pixel art retro style to match the subject of the documentary's. I
would like to animate a small intro for the documentary to act as
something that will be seen at the start of every episode. If I have
some time at the end I would like to make a more specific intro
also to come after the other one just to act as a bit of original
visuals to play when I'm introducing myself and the subject of the
episode.
10. Documentary
Styleand
Design
Because my video is going to be mainly game play with
personality animated sections to act as transitions and
filler sections to show what I'm speaking about, I will need
a few more design and style choices to keep the audience
engaged. I have some ideas such as creating a few pixel
art glitch or flame animations to wipe the screen as a
transition. I would also like to create a pixel art name
presentation section for when the interviewee starts to
speak.
For the color grading and look of the overall video I would
like to keep it quite true to its original colors. This is
because one of the best aspects of this game in particular
is how game changing its color pallet was for the time of
its release. For the interview sections of my product I may
up the saturation a little bit so it matches the more
colorful aesthetics of the game itself and the pixel art
animations.
11. Documentary
Styleand
Design
I would like to try some presenting so it will allow me to
edit and switch around some new shots and improve my
camera skills a bit. This will also allow me to experiment
with some animation in the real world. For example I
could create an avatar or a pixel art animation of a
character who could be speaking at certain parts or doing
expressions. I could also try creating an animated world
with a real human in it. I would like to experiment with a
bit more green screen work.
Another stylistic choice could be creating a backdrop for
the interview and presenting sections as it will have a
little more theming and make those sections a bit more
suited for the theme of the video. I also think it adds a bit
more personality to the person that is presenting and adds
more character to the documentary as a whole.
13. Practical
Research
I wanted to practice with some of the animations for
my final product. On the previous slide I have tested
out the animation style of pixel art that I will be using.
I also started to play around with some different pixel
art shading techniques to add a little more depth to the
animation. I also started to practice what the text
would look like for the intro to my animation. The
reason I chose this style of animation to go with is
because it’s the same style as what will be used in most
games with a pixel art style. For example the Spyro
games on the Gameboy Advanced were very pixelated
therefore were forced to use an animation and art style
like the one I have chosen to use. The only thing that’s
different is that the actual games animation and art is
a lot higher quality with more pixels meaning the
animations look smoother.
