This document proposes a mockumentary called "Life of a Wasteman" that would follow a fictional slang-defined character in a realistic style. It would be an original concept exploring British youth culture humorously. Challenges include developing a believable story and character. The aim is comedy by presenting fictional facts. The target audience is primarily 16-21 year old males. Initial research feedback was positive but cautioned the need for a strong storyline. Further research analyzed successful mockumentaries for guidance on conventions and style.

1. Mockumentary: Life of a
Wasteman

2. Description
 This would be a “fly on the wall” mockumentary where you take a
fictional character and insert a slang term “wasteman”, which this
specific character is classed as, and show how that kind of person
would live his life. I got this idea from watching different comedy
sketches which eventually left me to come across different
mockumentaries such as “100% Bent” and movie “Borat”
 This would be an original idea because this kind of youth based
documentary has fully been attempted in a long length realistic
manner. This has mainly been attempted poorly as a parody of how
British youth are seen in some sense whereas a completely new
character is created.
 This particular idea would be typically hard to do because it would
entail, such as getting someone to play the part of the “wasteman” and
making up an entire storyboard of what this character would do and
make it all look believable and factual.

3. The Aim
 The purpose of this documentary would just be for
comedy as most of the proclaimed facts would be
completely fictional. Also it would be used to look
into the slang term “wasteman” and perhaps give a
new perspective on how it is seen. Typically this
kind of show would be on Youtube as it would be
fairly short and would come in small episodes but it
could also be seen on BBC as a comedy segment
to another show.

4. Conventions
 Conventions used in this production would be:
 Voiceovers – When the for when the narrator is
speaking
 Music – To add emphasis to certain scenes of the
documentary, also to keep it interesting
 Interviews – Segments for when the wasteman is
speaking directly to the audience
 Astons – If someone significant appears on
screen, an Aston may be used to give info on the
person
 Cutaways – For when I want to jump from one
scene of the documentary quickly to another.

5. Target Audience
 The Primary Target audience would typically be 16-21 year olds
and typically boys since the jokes and more of the comedy
would be better suited to a slightly more audience due to
language and the actions would be better suited to a male
audience.
 I know this because when I handed out questionnaires to the
public, more positive feedback for the idea from the males that I
handed the questionnaire to.
 A Secondary Target audience could also be seen from about 14-
16 year olds since whilst some of the jokes may contain
inappropriate comments, the documentary will be typically
immature and better suited to a younger audience who could
appreciate such immaturity, especially a lot of young people
would be featured.

6. Primary Research
 For this particular documentary research I pitched
this idea to a focus group of people and let them
voice their ideas on a voice recording. Some of the
more constructive comments were:
“This would be terribly hard but could turn out
incredibly well if done right”
“This idea is awesome, I’m looking forward to it!”
“Sounds good but be weary of the storyline and how
you plan to plot out how this documentary would run
smoothly”
 These comments made me think more into how I
would make this documentary work especially since it
would be mixed of factual and fictional statements.

7. Secondary Research
 For my secondary research I looked
at other examples of
mockumentaries like Borat and
110% Bent.
 I used these mockumentaries as
templates so that I would have an
idea of how to make a
mockumentary look like and still
make it comedic and legitimate.
 If this idea were to be picked as my
final idea I could improve upon the
research by going more in depth on
what aspects of each
mockumentary could be useful to
me.