2. Purpose of Documentary
If we were to choose this topic for the documentary we would
likely take the investigative route, as it allows us to explore
further the information that we are trying to express and make
for a more interesting and informative documentary. Our main
goal would be to raise awareness of the impacts of alcohol in our
society to better inform the audience about their options when it
comes to help or advice about the subject.
3. Type/ style of Documentary
Eg. Mixed, fly on the wall, voice of god, fully narrated,
mocumentary
To make the documentary different from others on the same
topic, a fly-on-the-wall style could be adopted to atempt to give
a complete understanding of people’s drinking habits.
4. Mode of Documentary
To accommodate the investigative, fly-on-the-wall style we
propose, the observational mode would be used. The presence
of our small crew would also fit with the mode, as we would not
be obtrusive enough to alter the conditions of the environment
we would be using to film, rather attempting to capture reality
whilst following a subject and attempting to investigate their
drinking behaviours.
5. Codes and Conventions of Documentary
Codes and conventions used for this type of documentary would include
background footage for crossing between ‘scenes’, backing tracks’ music for
setting the tone or manipulating the audience’s perception of what we are
portraying to them and an offscreen presenter/ narrator accompanied by on
screen titles to introduce locations and people for the first time to inform the
audience further about who and what they are watching. Another convention
that would prove interesting is a recreation as it would provide some creative
insight into how people are when they are drunk or what mistakes people
might make as a result. A third potential convention would be expert
interviews, as it would be interesting to find information and opinions from
doctors or specialists about the effects and risks of alcohol on the public. It
would prove interesting for both target audiences and help to raise awareness
of any potential threats.
6. Narrative Style
Open, Non-linear & Circular narrative
In my opinion an appropriate narrative style for the piece would be a non-linear
narrative, as the issue of alcoholism spans over a wide reach of areas and it would be
difficult to have one specific train of thought progressing in chronological order. To
take advantage of this decision a multi-strand narrative would be employed to cover
as much investigative ground as possible and provide the audience with as many
different opinions and scenarios as possible. Overall, the narrative would likely have to
stay in the form of an open ended circular style as the questions as to the presence of
alcohol are, for the most part, unsolvable and will inn. A valid theory to apply to this
style would be Propp’s narrative theory as it means we could allot topics and people
into categories and represent them in a certain way. We, the filmmakers or presenter
would be the hero raising awareness of the perils of alcohol abuse. The doctors and
specialists would be the helpers, as they would be providing the useful and potentially
life saving advice for the audience. Finally, alcohol would be portrayed as the villain to
the story of the documentary as it would revealed how many people die from its
effects and influence. This would provide the narrative with a strong and entertaining,
although harrowing message.
7. Intended Target Audiences
16 – 25 eg. College students to post-university students.
In my opinion the above categorization seemed like the audience
that needs to be informed about alcohol and its risks. 16 year
olds are likely to start socially drinking at house parties and may
need to be informed correctly, rather than by their social groups
and people over the age of 18 will need to be aware of issues
such as spiking that can occur at clubs or social events. The
reason why the older people have been excluded is because of
the ‘been there done that’ attitude that appears to emanate from
older people. Aiming at the younger generation may pass on to
the older generation automatically and would benefit them as
they progress through life.
8. Experts
The main experts that could be contacted and would likely agree
to filming would be doctors, as they have to deal with issues
such as alcohol poisoning patients, hangovers, older patients
with malfunctioning organs etc. to effectively scare the younger
generation into being more responsible. Employees of
organizations such as cancer research UK could also be good
candidates as they could provide vital information such as facts
and statistics which are vital for an investigative documentary.
9. Filming Locations
Bar/ Pub/ Club/ House Party
The Street
Subject’s houses
Vox Pops
This appears to a simple subject for finding participants form the
public as it is a subject that the majority can participate/
comment on.
10. Strengths Weaknesses
• The topic is very general, giving us lots
of subjects to talk about and also
allows us a larger range of people to
ask questions to.
• The filming of the documentary would
be quite simple, only having to choose
shots, rather than stage every shot.
• Although expert interviews are
unnecessary, there are many experts
on alcohol consumption and related
diseases available if we chose to
interview one.
• The type of documentary would
provide quite strict time limitations
that would make the documentary
hard to film.
• A lot of drinking locations would be
unlikely to allow filmmakers, let alone
students, to film in their bars.
• The topic is quite un-original and has
been done many times over by more
experienced filmmakers.
• This type of documentary would
require heavy mediation and post-
production which would be extremely
time consuming, more so than other
types of documentary.
