The film will argue that space exploration benefits humanity and is not a waste of money and resources. It will discuss both sides of the argument in an unbiased manner, but conclude that space travel greatly benefits us. The short video will be 2-5 minutes, using a documentary style with graphics, footage, and text to easily convey information visually and auditorily. It will have a linear storyline exploring how much governments spend on space relative to their budgets and GDP, and how space exploration has helped and harmed humanity. The goal is to educate viewers and possibly spark further interest in the topic.

1. Subject Idea/Synopsis:
My film is talking about whether or not space exploration benefits human kind
and earth or if it is a waste of money and resources, that may be better spent
somewhere else. The concept will discuss both sides sincerely and honestly. It
will be made as unbiased as possible however the end result will be that space
travel is greatly beneficial to the human race (this is based on the research I have
done thus far, see Idea development and research ppt).
Format:
The Factual piece will be a short form video piece, it will share some similarities
with a documentary style piece of film, however it will be also serve to inform
the general public as a PSA style film. I want the video to be as easy to digest as
possible; this means as much visual aid as possible including info-motion
graphics as well as plenty of sourced footage to guide the audience. I will also be
using text to highlight important points on top of the voice over. This will mean
the audience will have a plethora of visual and auditory devices that can convey
the information they are trying to take in.
Genre:
Essayistic/ Expository Documentary
Style:
The factual will use primarily sourced/stock footage and draw upon a similar
style of editing as popular documentarian Ken burns. However as mentioned
before the piece will also utilise text pieces as well as info graphic style video
pieces to illustrate what the narrator is saying. Allowing the audience to take the
information in in what ever way works best for the individual watching.
Content:
The video piece will be between 2-5 minutes, probably leaning toward the 5
minute mark, it will explore a range of linked subjects to make it feel authentic
and to make the viewer understand the topic is well researched and the factual
piece is accurate to the literature surrounding the topic. It will have a (mostly)
linear story line that allows the audience to grab pieces of information and then
build on to those pieces of information. This should make the video easier to
digest. (See ‘Topic Structure’ for information of what the content of the video will
be)
Topic Structure:
1- Introduction to the topic: What it is that is being discussed, why it is going
to be discussed and what the two sides are.
2- Looking into each side of the argument: Why space travel is a waste of
time, money and resources. Look at arguments facts and points that
respect and support this viewpoint. Why space travel is important and
needs the time money and resources it gets (if not more). Look at
arguments facts and points that respect and support this viewpoint.
3- Break down government budgets: Look at how the governments with the
biggest space programs spend their money take a look at their overall

2. GDP, what percentage goes to space travel. Is it too little, is it too much or
is it fair. Help the audience visualise how much/little money is being
spent relative to 1 tax dollar or relative to the total GDP.
4- Break down the discussion even more, look at specific things that space
travel has given the human race/earth and specific things that space
travel has done to harm the human race/earth.
5- Subjective Conclusion: Explain why I feel that space travel is immensely
important and why it should be seen as a very important aspect of our
advance in science and technologies.
I will spend approx. 1 minute per subject, some will only take 30 seconds
and some will take longer than 1 minute. E.g. the introduction won’t take
as long as the breakdown of the federal budget.
Audience:
It is quite difficult to determine the audience for the product, as there is a huge
variation between gender and age groups who believe or don’t believe. Overall it
is something that is quite difficult to determine.
This means my product must be constructed in a way that is easy to digest for
anyone who is watching, whether they are educated on the topic or not. I will
stray away from dealing with too complex topics both for ease of digestion and
because the video cannot be longer than 5 minutes.
Intended aim:
The aim is to educate the viewer a little bit, whether they agree or disagree with
the points I am making is ultimately up to them, however I aim to teach them
something new, something they didn’t know before. Maybe even light a spark
that allows them to conduct their own research into the topic(s). I want the
audience to walk away from the video with a positive mental attitude towards
the subject rather than thinking they wasted their time.
How it will be shot:
The short factual piece will utilise stock/ sourced footage, I want to use a wide
range of shots to demonstrate the enormity and dynamic nature of something as
complex as space travel, it will build from predominantly close up and medium
shots at the start of the video piece to predominantly wide establishing shots
near the end, to demonstrate that all the little things that go towards space travel
come together to build a bigger much more important picture. I hope that this
use of cinematography will work to help guide the audience; I will also ensure
that near the end I will use slightly smoother and higher quality footage, to
represent the change in technologies. However not to a point where it is to
noticeable. I think it will just add a bit of a dynamic feel.
In a sense, visually I want the piece to act like a plant, growing from a small seed
into a big beautiful flower.

3. Production Schedule:
Week 1 During this week I will flesh out the script and do
most of the voice over recording.
Week 2 I will finish any outstanding narration recording that
needs to be done. And begin gathering sourced
footage and layering it with the voice over to start the
creation of a narrative.
Week 3 I will finish the video aspect of the production,
gathering sourced footage as well as creating motion
graphics where needed. I will also begin to add
background music to add emotion to the piece.
Week 4 During this week I will mostly be tightening any loose
ends up and trying to make the piece watertight as
much as possible.
Fact checking the information and just cleaning up
any potential mistakes that may have been made.