Research

1. Research
Bertie Stasiulevicuis

2. Existing product - Film

3. Existing product – Film (Quadrophenia)
• This film is a classic in the eyes of the mods. It follows a young mod called Jimmy and his journey to find his self worth and importance. Jimmy
goes through a lot to reach his goals, he has to deal with a lot of people and always seems to be learning, we see a lot of the story through his
girlfriends eyes too, this helps the viewer to see his life from a different perspective too. The soundtrack includes a lot of famous mod tracks
such as ‘The Real Me’ by The Who, ‘House Of Fun’ by Madness, ‘Town Called Malice’ by The Jam and many others too. I have chosen this film
because it is very well known within mod groups and praised highly, it also covers a lot of aspects I would like to include in my own
documentary, such as having music implemented in.
• Quadrophenia is probably the most realistic mod film out there, from the outfits, location and even the scooters, the producers have been able
to get it all spot on. This implements a huge visual aspect to the nostalgic feeling of the film. People who grew up in the 60s and lived a similar
life have said that it ‘brought back memories’. The outfits shown in the film are identical to those worn in the time. Brands such as Levi’s, (Levi's
are first shown in the film when the main character, jimmy, is wearing a pair that are soaking wet. This is because they were advertised as
being ‘shrink fit’ meaning that if you wore them in a cold bath they would fit to be perfectly skinny. No one ever knew if this really worked or
not!) other brands shown include Fred Perry, Ben Sherman and Baracuta.
• Location plays a vital role towards the film, Jimmy lives in London, which was a hotspot among the mods and rockers and the heart of fashion.
Towards the end of the film, Jimmy and his friends all take their scooters and ride to Brighton, as there used to be huge brawls on the beaches
between the mods and rockers, were multiple people were injured every time. In the film there is a scene where Jimmy and Steph are in an
alleyway. This alley has since been named ‘Quadrophenia alley’.
• The scooters the characters ride in the film were the same ones that were being used at the time, Jimmy rides a Lambretta, a popular yet more
common scooter for a mod to have. Whereas Stings character ‘Ace Face’ rides a GS Vespa, a more sought after expensive scooter.
• The Who also released an album titled Quadrophenia (released in 1973) alongside with the film, and it was called a concept. Meaning that the
film follows the same storyline as the album.
• The film is made with a few different shot types, when the character is in focus it will most likely be a medium shot, but there is a lot of scenes
with big groups of people, and a wide shot is usually used here. At the very end of the film, there is an extreme wide shot used, to show Jimmy
on the cliff riding his scooter. The story is told from Jimmy’s perspective, the main character, the film uses over the shoulder shots to show
conversation between people, and there is occasionally a point of view shot to show the viewer what one of the characters is looking at.

4. Existing product - Documentary

5. Existing products – Don Letts
• In the documentary titled ‘story of the skinheads’ director Don Letts focuses on the history of one of Britain's most famous
subcultures and the impact it had on music style and culture at the time. A common theme throughout is the kids who took
part in the subculture and are trying to find their place in society. The documentary contains a lot of music that was popular
at the time. The music started with reggae, but quickly moved onto ‘ska’ (skinhead reggae, created specifically for the uk
market.
• Don Letts speaks about how music and clothes were the only way for kids to express themselves, the shoes they wore were
described as ‘uncomfortable looking’ and they all had shaved heads, or very short hair. It was uncommon behaviour for the
skinheads to act the way they did in the 60s.
• ‘skinhead’ was not really a term that they would call themselves, it was more a way of speaking about them amongst other
people, it wasn’t until a few years later they took on the nickname as their own.
• Don Letts said that the skinheads brought style and new sounds, both found favour with other white working class kids, and
it seemed to contradict the emerging racism at the time. Racism was much more common in this time, teachers were
known to be openly racist toward black students.
• Skinheads wore button down shirts, brogues and smooth loafers, they were all constantly looking for the next trend to jump
onto, to keep fashionable. Most skinheads shopped at a shop named ‘The Ivy’. Don describes it as ‘The holy grail for
skinheads’ the shop owner even named a popular jacket (the Harrington jacket) because a famous tv show wore a Baracuta
jacket. It was a skinhead staple.
• The music that Don Letts uses is always related to the documentary he is making, for example there is a skinhead
documentary that he made, and a lot of ska music is played in it, in his mods and rockers documentary he plays songs by the
Who.
• Don Letts also does this with the locations that he films in, he usually travels somewhere that is infamous within the specific
community and interviews people who know specific information from first hand experiences, this is what I plan to do when
I am filming for my project.
• As Don Letts makes documentaries, most of the shots that we see are medium shots, this is the standard camera angle
when the interviewer is asking someone questions, but if the topic is something in the same area, they will usually use a
voice over on an extreme wide shot, to show the viewer exactly what is being spoken about

6. Existing product - Documentary

7. Existing product - Documentary
• Julien Temple has created a documentary on the sex pistols, he speaks on their rise to fame,
and how why they became so popular at the time. Julien Temple had previously made a
different documentary about the sex pistols (The Rock And Roll Swindle), but it was criticised
for being too focused on their manager. The Filth And The Fury tells the story of the band but
from the members point of view.
• The title of the documentary is a reference to a headline from the newspaper 'The Daily
Mirror' following a very controversial interview with the sex pistols, the interviewer tried to
get them in trouble for swearing and misbehaving on live tv, but this ended up going worse for
the interviewer, as the band gained popularity and fame from the youth at the time.
• Julien temple also uses music related to his documentaries in his content, it is a good way of
getting the viewer to get a more real authentic feel of what people enjoyed listening to
throughout the period of time the documentary is based on.
• Temple also does this with location, he will go to the places he is discussing and get a first
hand experience from someone who has either lived through it or has relatives who has, as
this is the most genuine form of information that you can gather without using the internet.
• Julien Temple uses a variety of different shots when making his documentaries, he made one
about the sex pistols and in this there was a lot of close up shots, just due to the way that they
behave, throughout an interview he will use a medium shot, he has also been known to use
wide shots as well, and extreme wide shots too when showing something that is on a bigger
scale.

8. Existing product - The Pebble And The Boy

9. Existing product - Film
• The Pebble And The Boy is a 2021 comedy film directed by Chris Green, this is
important towards my project because it is about mod subculture. The film
follows the story of a boy whose dad has recently died and in a scooter accident,
the boy decides to ride his dads old scooter to Brighton.
• The films soundtrack includes a lot of song made by bands and artists from the
80s, The Jam, Paul Weller, Secret Affair, The Chords and The Style Council. If I am
going to use any music in my own documentary, it will most likely be by some of
these artists. This type of music is important to play in films based on the
subculture as it is what the viewer will associate the themes with.
• Location plays a huge part in the story of this film, the main character has to
travel to Brighton to continue his dads legacy, when the characters make it to
Brighton, the shots change from mostly medium, head and shoulder shots to
wide shots, extreme wide shots and also a few drone shots.
• The story is told mainly from the boys perspective, and how his life has changed
since his dad dies and what he feels like he needs to do to get closure, his family
is in the film but only until he goes to Brighton, with a friend of his dads. The girl
becomes a big part of the film and is essential to the storyline.

10. Summary
• My research has helped me to narrow down the way I would like to make
my documentary, and specific aspects that I should focus on:
• Documentary style: From looking at some existing products, I have realised that
the documentaries were filmed with interviews, and then used as a voiceover
whilst showing what the interviewee is talking about. I think that it is a good way
of keeping the viewer interested in the topic. I am going to use a font similar to
the one used in 'The Pebble And The Boy' for the title, and also when introducing
the interviewees, if subtitles are necessary, I will also use this text.
• I also plan to add a montage into my video, I will get a lot of clips of my location
and use a related song over the top of the videos to help the viewer get a feel for
Margate.
• I am also going to film a direct interview. This means my interviewees will have
had a first hand experience with mods in the 1960s in Margate, this means that I
will be able to capture some stories of experiences that have been had first hand,
meaning it is more authentic.
• My video wont have many specific colours, as it is going to be footage of the
location, but for my opening scene I have made an animated interview, and this
includes red, yellow and white, three colours which are used on the mod logo.

11. Audience
• I created a survey to discover more about my audience, the questions were
related to my product and have helped me to refine my final product.
The first thing I decided to find out about my
audience was their age, most of the people who
completed my survey were 18-24.
80% of respondents said that they have heard about
mod subculture before, which was a bit of a surprise
to me as I didn’t realise how popular it was.

12. Audience
One of my questions was 'do you think youth subcultures
are still relevant?' And 80% of people said that they are, I
think this is because most of the time teenagers fall into
one of these, this could be skating, football, etc.
I was interested in the type of music that people my age
knew that were in relation to the mod subculture. The
answers I got were helpful because I am going to use
songs from these bands in my final product.

13. Audience
I asked about what elements of the documentary that
people would like to see, by doing this I now know what I
need to include and what out of the options has priority.
By doing this I will keep the viewer interested. Music and
interviews were the most popular options.
I also asked what the audience thinks is most important
out of interviews and location, and the majority answer
was location. So, from this I have decided that I will use
the interview as a voiceover for the shots of the location.

14. Audience
Half of the people who completed my survey claimed
that they were part of a subculture, this is a good thing
for me because it means that they will most likely be
more interested in learning about a culture they have
not heard of before.
I also asked how young people identify themselves
today, and the most common answer was clothing,
followed by music, both of which are topics that I plan to
cover in my documentary.

15. Audience Summary
• From my survey I have found out that 80% of people who were aged 18-24 had heard about the mod
subculture, this was a bit of a shock to me as I thought it would only be people who were a bit older who
knew about them, furthermore, most people even knew some of the mod inspired bands. This was good
feedback towards my project because it means that as people know, they are more likely to be interested.
• 80% of people also thought that youth subcultures are still relevant today. 50% of people believe that they
identify themselves with clothes, 20% with music and the other 10% believe that there is other ways of
expressing yourself.
• My survey told me that when watching a documentary about mods, the most important aspect to them is
the music, for example playing songs that were popular at the time to give the viewer an idea of what life
was like. After music, interviews were the second most important thing to see according to the audience –
this gives them the chance to hear a first hand experience that happened at the time of the topic. People
were also interested in the location, which I believe helps to paint a picture, and if I was to use archival
footage, or photos taken in the 1960s, they will be able to imagine how things took place.
• Overall I am happy with the feedback I have gained from my survey, it has given me an idea of which
documentary aspects are more important than others and what I need to include to keep the viewers
interested.

16. Market Research
I have found some other mod documentaries:
• Lambert And Stamp is a documentary about two filmmakers who set out to create a documentary about
unhappy youth, but instead found and mentored Pete Townshend, who later became famous for his band
‘The Who’. The documentary has been rated 89% on rotten tomatoes, 4.4/5 on Amazon UK, and 6.6 out of
10 on IMDb.
• The Who, The Mods and the Quadrophenia Connection is a documentary about the misunderstanding in the
mod movement the film also speaks about the film Quadrophenia. It is rated 8/10 on IMDb.
• John Simons: A Modernist is a documentary that has strong detail about mod fashion, for example
how the Harrington jacket got its name, the film was rated a 7/10 on IMDb.
• In 2014, the BBC made a documentary about revisiting the mod scene in present day, Phil Daniels
(lead of Quadrophenia) played a huge part in this documentary. Meaning that it gained mass
popularity.
This information is important to me because it proves that there is a big market of people who want to watch tv
that focuses on the mods and rockers, these documentaries have stayed popular over so many years, therefore
there will still be a lot of people who enjoy to watch them. The second documentary on this list was a revisit to
the mod scene, and it was really successful, this is another reason why I think that a documentary based on it
would still do well as there is an obvious market for people who want to see or even learn more about the

17. Voice Over
• Including a voice over in a documentary is vital, this conveys the
mood, sets the tone and engages the audience.
• Every documentary has a voiceover, and it is usually done by the
director, but sometimes someone else will be hired to do it if their
voice fits better and sets the scene more.
• A voice over is usually recorded afterwards, meaning that someone
can decide what to narrate, whereas an alternative is when there is
someone in the shot, with a microphone speaking about what is
happening at the time.

18. Direct and indirect interviews
• A direct interview is done face to face, and it is a very standard way
of recording with another person, they are most frequently done in
a question and answer style, the answers will be based on topics covered
in the documentary, more specifically the interviewees personal life.
• An indirect interview is more of a casual conversation style, the
questions cover a wider topic and are not always personal to the
interviewee.
• Interviews are great to have in documentaries because it gives the viewer
a first hand experience with someone who plays a role within the topic
of the documentary, and interesting answers always come from
interviewees.

19. Archival Footage
• Archival footage is video obtained from other sources, such as an old
tv show, film or even documentary that is inserted into the current
project, this helps cover information on some points without having to do
any additional filming, this can also be still images.
• This footage can be useful when discussing an older topic, a lot of the
time if something from the past is being spoken about, it is no longer there,
so archival footage helps people to understand what is being spoken about
if they are less familiar with it.
• In my project, I will most likely have to include some archival
footage because of the locations, some places that I will speak about are
not close to me, so I will use the obtained footage to show the viewer
where certain things were taking place.

20. Montage
• A montage is a series of separate videos that are edited together
to make one long continuous sequence, they allow filmmakers
to integrate a large amount of information to an audience in a
shorter span of time.
• Whilst a montage takes place in a documentary, the viewer
will normally hear music, or a voiceover. These are both done to set
the scene throughout and keep the viewer updated on what’s
being discussed.
• A common use of a montage is to pass time, if there is a lot
of information to be told that spreads over the span of a few years,
a montage is the best way for this to be told.

21. Exposition
• Exposition is information that is told to the viewers to help them get
a better mental image of what is going on, it usually includes time
and location
• Exposition occurs at the start of the documentary and introduces
the most important themes to the viewers
• An example of this is used in a documentary about mods and
rockers that I have found on YouTube, it starts with “It’s March
30th, 1964 and the great British public is shaken out of its bank
holiday slumber by alarming news”

22. Experiments

23. Audio / lighting Experiments
Me and a friend decided to film some experiments for our projects. We wanted to see the
difference between how audio sounds in different places, and also how lighting can differ
based on whether you are inside or outside.
We started this experiment by going outside, we used a
spot in the college with very little people, we found
that the wind was quite loud outside and that there
were other interruptions such as an air conditioning
system and doors opening.
We went into a classroom inside the college
afterwards too, the audio was much easier to
hear as there was no background noise
whatsoever.
The lighting however was not as good, we
decided not to turn the lights on or open the
blinds so we could get an idea for how it could
be in that type of room, and although it wasn’t
as good as the outdoors, you can still see
everything that is necessary.
In terms of lighting, this was a great location, you
could very easily see myself and everything that was
in the background. The sun was shining very bright,
meaning that the colours were also very prominent.
Outdoor Indoor

24. Over the shoulder shot
I decided to also experiment with some different filming
techniques, the first one I tried was an over the shoulder shot,
in the shot it shows Karl on his phone looking at mod related
images. I think that this technique is a good way of showing the
viewer something on someone's phone or laptop, or whatever
else is in front of them
Long - shot
We experimented with a long shot type video, this
was to see if you could still hear the interviewee. In
the video you can still hear him but it is mostly
drowned out by the sounds of the outside, such as
the cars and wind. If it was shot inside, there's a
chance that it would be much clearer.
Video Experiments

25. Zoom Pan
The next experiment that we tried was a zoom, this was done to
check that when the camera is zoomed in on the person or object
in focus it is still obvious what to focus on, this gave us the exact
desired affect that we wanted, this technique drowns out
everything in the background. I think this technique will be helpful
if the area that I’m filming in is busy and crowded, if I can zoom in
the main person the viewer will know exactly where to look, and
the other people wont be focused on.
We then tried a pan, I started the shot by filming the field on
the right of us, then I turned towards Karl for a few seconds to
hear him speak, I think that this technique will be useful for
when someone is describing something, whoever is filming can
initially focus on whatever is being spoken about, then turn to
the person speaking.
Video Experiments

26. Premiere Pro Transition Experiment
• I decided that I should add a transition into my documentary to
make it more authentic. I had a look through the pre-sets on
premiere and decided to try one called ‘Barn Doors’. The
standard effect is both halves of the screen open sideways, like
a barn door would.
If you go into the adjustment layer of the transition,
it comes up with a box with four arrows on. Clicking
a different arrow will determine which way the
video leaves the screen. On this page, you can also
change the duration of how long the transition is on
the screen.
I ended up using the
upwards transition style,
I think that the standard
one is a little bit
unprofessional and looks
messy, but the upwards
style fits better with the
aesthetic of the
documentary.