The document summarizes the key details of a documentary treatment about how social media influences our lives and views. It will explore how social media impacted recent elections and how technology usage varies between generations. Interviews will be conducted with family members of different ages to compare social media use. Filming locations will include Portugal, Chelmsford, and Southend. The documentary will use techniques like slow motion, voice over, and cutaways. It will air on BBC 4 due to their focus on political and social issues.

1. Documentary treatment
By Grace Page

2. Initial Ideas
• I wanted to make a documentary as I find them very
interesting and like to watch them regularly, so I have a
basic understanding of them and their function
• However, I realized that without a fairly large budget , it is
quite difficult to make a documentary which looks
professional
• My documentary is about how the media influences our
lives in lots of ways, such as the election and our views on
the world
• I have a keen interest in media, sociology and politics so I
feel as though I will enjoy researching this idea, and
therefore will enjoy the whole process of putting it
together

3. What documentaries influenced me
• Influencers: How Trends and Creativity Become
Contagious
• This short documentary explores what it means to be an
influencer and how trends and creativity “tips” into the
mainstream and becomes contagious. It condenses many of
the ideas of Malcolm Gladwell’s landmark book
• The film has some outstanding interviews with social media
influencers in music, fashion and entertainment.
• The filmmakers attempt to help you gain a deeper
understanding of what characteristics make a person truly
influential
• <iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/16430345"
width="640" height="360" frameborder="0"
webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen
allowfullscreen></iframe>

4. What documentaries influenced me
• Us Now
• Most informed citizens are tired of being lead by
corrupt establishment politicians and they are
demanding significant changes to avoid active social
unrest. Fortunately, creative people aren’t waiting
around for politicians to approve of their ideas.
Instead, they are using new social media and
crowdsourcing technologies to invent new ways of
political representation.
• This is slowly happening and Us Now documents the
early innovators who use social media technologies to
invent the future of political participation.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3PQaTyoLRc

5. Working Titles
• Media’s influence on the world
• Did social media elect our Prime Minister?
• The world according to the media
• Social election

6. Purpose
• The purpose of this trailer will be to make the public aware
of just how influential social media is, particularly when it
comes to changing our views about things, such as politics
and world issues
• The recent election in the UK and USA were arguably
hugely effected by social media. According to NPR.org,
‘Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said Facebook alone had
helped more than 2 million people register to vote.’ It also
states that there were ‘over 4 Million mentions abut Trump
during the 2nd Presidential Debate alone’, showing just how
much it was discussed online. These statistics help to prove
to people how much social media potentially effected the
election
• http://www.npr.org/2016/11/08/500686320/did-social-
media-ruin-election-2016

7. Talent
• I will be using my younger brother (7) to see how much
technology he uses daily, compared to my friend (20),
my dad (45) and my nan (69)
• This will show the comparison between generations in
terms of how much technology is used in their lives
daily, and how more media usage can influence our
views and opinions in different age ranges
• The age ranges are important as some believe the use
of social media influenced new voters (ages between
18-20) to vote for Labour due to their effective Twitter
campaigns, due to this being the age range in which
most regularly uses social media

8. Locations
• As it is a documentary, a variety of different
scenes will need to be shown. This means there
needs to be many locations
• I will film in Portugal to show ‘Brits abroad’ and
their thoughts, as social media will be how a lot
of foreigners will be informed about the UK
election
• I will also film in Chelmsford and Southend in
order to show thoughts about the topic in the UK

9. My Ideas
• A code and convention of a documentary is to
have a voice over. I have decided to be the voice
behind the documentary
• As it is a documentary, it may feature interviews
from numerous people. Including those from the
public or teachers of media or sociology whom
the topic may link to
• There does not need to be one key location since
it is not based on a particular physical thing, it is
based on a global issue

10. Filming Techniques
• Possible slow motion
• Narrative/voice over correlating to visuals
• Cutaways as it is a documentary so may be in
different scenes
• Maybe a fuzzy look from new television videos
and reports

11. Filming
• The talent will be on a summer holiday break
so I will be able to film them both home and
away
• I will use my iPhone 7 camera and I will need
to borrow a camera
• For the interviews I will film in a room set up
with props so there is not other sound from
people walking around or talking
• I may also add music or sound effects to
scenes

12. TV Channel
• It will be on BBC 4 as this organization
concentrates more on political issues within
society