Research Dossier For My Documentary

 

Research dossier for my documentary

I carried out 20 questionnaires by giving out leaflets to people of the age of 16-60, male and female randomly, this is to produce the primary data collection to find the main target audience for my documentary film and begin to develop my idea, which is  about the theatre group of people with learning disability, my questionnaire shown below;

Result;
age : 16-19 = 70%
age : 31-40 =10%
age : 41-50 =20%

Male = 85%
Female = 15%

Fan of documentary ;
yes = 45%
No = 55%
the result also shows that people who like documentary film given the rate out of 10
4 = 5%
5 = 10%
6 = 25%
7 = 5%

Other 55 % don't like documentary film.
People who like documentary film  (45%) spend 1-3 hour per week watching documentary film.

90% of those never heard about people with learning disability who join the drama group

20% believe the topic of people with learning disability is  effective and
5% believe it's ok and other 5% believe that it's very low


The analysis of the data gained showed that the average who like documentary film watch documentary film 1-3 hour per week. The majority of people have never heard of people with learning disability who joined the drama group before. After all my data collection of primary research show that my topic of documentary film appealed more to men the age of 18-55. I also talked to other students, teachers and elderly people and they suggest that my idea of video could also appeal to those who are involved with people with learning disability e.g. people who have those in the family or people who work with these people. On the other side the data gained from questionnaire stated that there are less people who interested in this documentary idea of mine.
However, instead of finding a new idea I decided to developed the idea and try to make this film more interesting and exciting by watching a few different videos on Youtube that are similar to my idea and correcting the shots and techniques used in the documentary film. As a media BTEC student, I watched many different types of documentary film and make notes on what techniques and camera used is good for each type of documentary before starting this project.
I also go on the channel 4 and BBC3website and did another primary search on the audiences and market for my documentary and I learnt that the documentary on both channel show between 11 to 13 hour per week, it has a very similar number of hours on air, which I  believe has to do with the media industry business.
I  found a similar ideas on documentaries on Youtube, which could be of good use to developed my documentary as I could learnt from the editing and camera techniques used in the scenes.

Us and Our Education - Documentary exploring Learning disabilities in School and Work

- Interview (people with learning disability, witness and expert)
- Voice over
- Shot of performing and those in a group having fun
- Shot of staff and the group working together
- Talking and leaning /teaching
- Music (sad-exciting)
- Close up shot
- Description
- Shot of the reason why the group like the community
- Shot of why the community created
- Shot of the advantages of the dramatheapy discussing with the staff




I also looked at other documentaries with learning disability subjects that are not involved with the theatre group to make note of other useful techniques and shots that could be used to created and share the emotion with the audience.

"If You Listen, You Will Hear Us"

- Powerful and emotional text
- Slow motion shot
- Those people with learning disability happy emotions

 

Advantages of dramatherapy

As Dramatherapy isn't reliant on cognitive ability it addresses the needs of clients at different levels. Through the use of touch, musical instruments, music, objects and fabric the clients are able to gain a sensory experience. Dramatherapy is a highly interactive and intensive therapy but can be enjoyable, playful and fun. Games, songs and movement can be fun and can give a sense of mastery and achievement which can build self esteem.(Source:http://www.dramatherapist.net/dramatherapy-for-people-with-a-learning-disability)

Drama therapy has helped people with stress and anxiety, depression, addictions, grief and loss, physical illness, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, behaviour problems, special needs, family dysfunction, relationship issues, anger management, negative thinking, parenting frustrations, divorce, career and financial challenges, mind-body-spirit issues, developmental and physical disabilities, and limitations and struggles of just about any kind. It is also used in the business world to promote leadership, visioning, creativity, and communication and is a wonderful tool for personal growth and creating the life one desires.

Drama therapy is used in a variety of settings including but not limited to holistic wellness centres, mental health facilities, schools, hospitals, substance abuse treatment centres, adult day care centres, correctional facilities, community centres, after-school programs, shelters, adolescent group homes, nursing homes, private practice settings, corporations, theatres, housing projects, medical schools, and training organisations. (source: http://creativespirithealing.com/what-is-drama-therapy/)

The initial goal of therapy is the relief of suffering (Yalom). It ranges from wanting relief from anxiety or depression to wanting to learn how to communicate with others, or to be more trusting with others. Dramatherapy benefits the following:
People with mental health problems (children and adults),
- Adolescents with social and emotional difficulties,
- People with learning disabilities: those who find using words difficult,
- People with autism and developmental delay (children and adults),
- Older people with dementia, and depression,
- Offenders (youths and adults),
- People who are at the end of life,
- Children with life limiting illness,
- Physically disabled and neurologically impaired people
 (Source: http://www.dramatherapypractitioner.com/benefits-of-dramatherapy)

Dramatherapy sessions are highly structured which is very supportive for clients with ASD, yet at the same time they are client-led. Going at the client’s own pace, interacting in the moment, and being led by the client’s preferences offers them a sense of empowerment and a time and space that is just for them. Working with the clients inner psychological needs, the Dramatherapist uses a range of art forms tailored to each individual client. Dramatherapy is often a sensory experience and uses elements such as touch, sound and colours to engage the senses. These can be increased if a client requires a heightened sensory experience or decreased if the client has any sensitivity.
Dramatherapy includes singing, rhythm and music which provide structure and an enjoyable creative outlet. Movement is particularly useful for those clients with ASD because it allows the clients to get a better sense of themselves in space and in relationship with the therapist. It allows the client to interact with the world physically and therefore explore how they fit in with their environment. Using developmental movement techniques from  Sherbourne, clients can experiment with a range of different relationship experiences with the therapist including “with”, “shared” and “against”. Exploring these different relationships through movement encourages the ability to build relationships and promotes eye contact within the therapy session itself, and this may transfer to the rest of the client’s life.
Play is another important element in Dramatherapy, being essential to a child’s development and used in different ways throughout a child’s and adult’s life. The Dramatherapist is able to work with play at whatever level the client requires, building yet further the experiences of the client.
(Source:http://www.dramatherapist.net/dramatherapy-for-autism-spectrum-disorders)

 Similar comunity in the UK

Access all Areas  - Access all Areas is an east London based theatre company for adults with learning disabilities. We run a weekly theatre project at Hoxton Hall, a multi-sensory storytelling project, accredited training and find opportunities to find paid work in television.
http://www.access-all-areas-uk.org/

Act Too - Provide a range arts-based services for learning disabled people in the South London area, including the Baked Bean Theatre Company.
 http://www.acttoo.com

Advocreate - Advocreate is a theatre workshop and community film making service for adults with learning disabilities and carers. We offer a range of creative approaches to develop self advocacy skills and can create drama, documentary, animation and information DVDs. We employ workshop assistants that have learning disabilities as co-facilitators.
http://www.advocreate.com/

All Stars - All Stars cast members are all adults with learning difficulties. Performing a minimum of two shows every year to the general public we, also like to show our support at as many local events as possible. This helps our members to see and be seen as useful members of their local community.
We also run workshops to act through every day situations that people face in their every day lives living in the community. Such as: - Returning goods to a shop, complaints to the council, dealing with verbal and physical abusive and how to report it. These are just a few of the subjects we have tackled! Our aim is to help break down social barriers and improve peoples' lives by improving a sense of confidence and self belief.
allstarstheatrecompany.co.uk
Angel Shed Theatre Company - Angel Shed Theatre Company is a charity based in Islington, supported by sponsorship and donation. We run theatre workshops and stage performance that bring together children and young people aged 7-16 from all parts of the community whatever their social or educational background.
 http://www.angelshedtheatre.org.uk/
Birds of Paradise Theatre Company - A professional touring theatre company producing adventurous and challenging work that places disability into the public arena.
http://www.birdsofparadisetheatre.co.uk

Blue Apple Theatre - Blue Apple Theatre is a highly ambitious theatre company which brings all the benefits of taking part in theatre to adult performers with learning disabilities, and enables them to present high quality productions to the widest possible audiences.
http://www.blueappletheatre.hampshire.org.uk/

Deafinitely Theatre Company - Acclaimed Deaf-led theatre company based in London.
http://www.deafinitelytheatre.co.uk

Forward Arts - We are a support group for adults with learning disabilities and mental health issues. Each week we run drama classes, dance classes and performance classes. We put on two production shows each year at Medina theater on the Isle of Wight and everything to show from the edited music to props to adapted story lines is all put together by the Way Forward members.
http://www.wayforwardprogramme.co.uk/

The Freewheelers Theatre Company - We are a support group for adults with learning disabilities and mental health issues. Each week we run drama classes, dance classes and performance classes. We put on two production shows each year at Medina theater on the Isle of Wight and everything to show from the edited music to props to adapted story lines is all put together by the Way Forward members.
http://www.wayforwardprogramme.co.uk/

Graeae Theatre Company - Leading professional touring theatre company of disabled actors, run by disabled people.
http://www.graeae.org
Heart ‘n Soul - Heart ‘n Soul  is a learning disability arts organisation based in London working locally, nationally and internationally to create and share original work in a range of art forms. Heart ‘n Soul created The Beautiful Octopus Club, a participatory nightclub celebrating learning disability culture and now co-ordinates a national network of similar clubs.
http://www.heartnsoul.co.uk
Mind the Gap - Theatre company working with learning disabled actors providing a range of performance, training and development activity including national touring productions and accredited theatre training courses.
 http://www.mind-the-gap.org.uk


Research before the start of the film
Before I started to film I went to the theatre to look around the areas to plan which section I could put my camera on; the stage, changing room, out side, drink bars etc. I also talked to the organisaser/witnesses and talked through what they doing each week, what is the best day to get each part of the scene and film on that day. I also got the contract sheet and explained to the organisaser what I was doing and what the contract sheet is about before I started to film. Within this note am able to plan out which day is the best to film each part of the scene.
I also looked at how to get there which I found that there is a bus that stops near the theatre which it's an advantages for me as I have a bus pass that are able to travel any where from Lowestoft to Gt.Yamouth (college bus pass available to be used on "First buses").

Research on a Documentary programme on Channel 4
As this project is about 3 Minutes Wonder which is a program that is shown on Channel 4; I then looked on channel 4 and checked out different documentary programmes that is shown on other 3 Minutes Wonder programmes. I found that there are popular short documentaries that is show on Channel 4 which have a wider range of audiences, most of it is shown as an epso projects in a completely different topic e.g. S6 and S1
S6 website: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/24-hours-in-ae
S1 website: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-secret-life-of-students



UK laws on filming in public

 Photography tends to be protected by the law through copyright and moral rights. Photography tends to be restricted by the law through miscellaneous criminal offences. Publishing certain photographs can be restricted by privacy law. Photography of certain subject matter can be generally restricted in the interests of public morality and the protection of children. However members of the public and the media do not need a permit to film or photograph in public places and police have no power to stop them filming or photographing incidents or police personnel.(Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography_and_the_law)

Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights to its use and distribution, usually for a limited time, with the intention of enabling the creator of intellectual wealth (e.g. the photographer of a photograph or the author of a book) to receive compensation for their work and be able to financially support themselves.
(Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright)

Moral rights are rights of creators of copyrighted works generally recognised in civil law urisdictions and, to a lesser extent, in some common law jurisdictions. They include the right of attribution, the right to have a work published anonymously or pseudonymously, and the right to the integrity of the work.The preserving of the integrity of the work bars the work from alteration, distortion, or mutilation. Anything else that may detract from the artist's relationship with the work even after it leaves the artist's possession or ownership may bring these moral rights into play. Moral rights are distinct from any economic rights tied to copyrights. Even if an artist has assigned his or her copyright rights to a work to a third party, he or she still maintains the moral rights to the work (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_rights_(copyright_law))

Privacy law refers to the laws which deal with the regulation of personal information about individuals which can be collected by governments and other public as well as private organizations and its storage and use. (Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_law)

Child protection is a set of usually government-run services designed to protect children and young people who are underage and to encourage family stability, this can be linked to Child labour, Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organisations. (Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labour)

Other
As the way my documentary been set out and by having the the contract of filming permission and actor/actress/extra with out any harmful or offensives material in the scene I have a very low risk of infringing Ofcom board casting code. Considering  defamation is not included to anyone as my documentary film is about the good side for the subject so this mean I'm not risking any other law to put my self in the position of breaking the law or other risk of being sue.

Channel 4 Viewer Trust Guidelines

Rules and Procedures for Best Practice & Compliance
The Executive Producer (or Series/Programme Producer where there is no Executive Producer) for each Channel 4 programme is responsible for ensuring that this document is circulated to every member of the production team and that every team member follows the procedures and guidance it contains. These guidelines apply to all factual programmes or items or portrayals of factual matters across all genres.

Introduction
Programme-makers must never stage, construct, reconstruct, re-enact or otherwise fake any scenes of actuality and pass them off to viewers or to Channel 4 as the real thing.

The Responsibilities of Broadcasters and Programme-Makers
The importance of viewer trust is not limited to current affairs, documentaries and conventional factual programmes. These guidelines apply equally across all genres of programming where there is a factual element, for example, to an entertainment show with factual elements. Our viewers must feel confident that they can take what they see or are told in a programme at face value.
The use of a dramatic reconstruction, sometimes involving real people rather than actors, is a perfectly acceptable technique, provided viewers are not misled and clearly understand or are informed, for instance, by labeling on screen or in voice over, the true nature of what they are seeing. Reconstructions must not, however, distort the known facts.

On rare occasions, halting a project which is not working out (perhaps because the story does not stand up) is the right course of action; inventing the story is never an option.

Viewer Trust
Since the early days of factual film-making the making of programmes has always been more sophisticated than the simple recording of action in real time. It is a creative, rather than literal, medium, often reflecting the style of the film-maker in a similar way to a writer. The structuring and compression of experience is inherent in the making of a programme. However, although the editing process will inevitably condense events which have occurred over a period of time, this process must not distort reality and mislead viewers. The truth must not be sacrificed for the sake of a more entertaining programme if the effect is to cheat the viewer. Similarly, viewers must not be misled about the nature of material they are watching. If it is claimed or suggested that footage is actuality, then that is what it should be; if it is not, then that must be made clear to viewers.

The Ofcom Broadcasting Code
Compliance for a programme must be a shared and collaborative process between the broadcaster and the production company. Although Channel 4 is ultimately accountable to Ofcom for compliance with the Ofcom Broadcasting Code ("the Ofcom Code") and all our programme-makers (from the most junior to the most senior) have a contractual responsibility to have read and to comply with its provisions and with all the guidelines and procedures set out in the Channel 4 Producer Handbook. Ofcom will not hesitate to impose the most serious sanctions, including substantial fines, for failure to ensure that programmes are accurate and truthful or where viewer trust is breached.

Fact-checking and Accuracy
A corner stone of maintaining viewer trust is ensuring that programmes are factually accurate. You must have checked all facts and allegations in your programmes and be able to substantiate their accuracy, as appropriate. This includes claims by interviewees which may sometimes need to be corroborated.

Editing Interviews
As well as not misleading the viewer, it is vital that interviews and other contributions, including observational filming, are edited fairly and that you do not distort or misrepresent the person's known views, position or experience. Many programmes, especially in 'life style' and ‘formatted documentary' genres, are driven by the strong, sometimes colourful, characters that feature in them and the audience enjoys sharing their journey or transformation. However, in representing characters and their journey in order to tell their experience in an interesting and entertaining way, care must be taken not to distort the truth and mislead viewers or be unfair to the contributor.

Filming Criminals or Criminal Behaviour
This is an area fraught with difficulty and can lead to authenticity problems. If people talk about their crimes openly or are prepared to let you film them carry out an apparently criminal act you must tell your commissioning editor and programme lawyer straight away and get advice.

Someone admitting to or carrying out a criminal act could well be prosecuted after transmission and your footage could be obtained by the police under a court order. Ask yourself why they are doing it if they are incriminating themselves. Do they understand the consequences? Or are they trying to have you on? Remember criminals tend not to be truthful and they will have a vested interest for their own self-preservation to deny it if challenged later.

Early legal advice from Channel 4's legal & compliance department must be obtained before filming or as soon as reasonably practicable.

The Role of the Legal & Compliance Department
Compliance is a shared responsibility between the broadcaster's editorial teams and the programme-makers, with appropriate and timely advice from the legal & compliance department. Channel 4 has an experienced and highly skilled team of programme lawyers dedicated to getting our programmes on the air within the parameters of the law and the Ofcom Code and defending them after broadcast. Help them to help you by seeking advice at an early stage and throughout your project and by being candid with them and your commissioning editor about any issues which may mislead viewers so that they can be addressed promptly.

The programme lawyers advise on all Ofcom Code and media law issues relating to programme content, including, libel, contempt and privacy and on matters of editorial ethics. If you need advice and you don't know who the programme lawyer is for your programme please ask your commissioning editor or call the legal & compliance department direct. Channel 4 also operates a Duty Lawyer system for programme advice out of hours. You can get advice 24/7 from the Duty Lawyer if your problem is urgent. The Duty Lawyer's contact details can be obtained from the Viewer Enquiries Department on the main Channel 4 telephone number.

Note: If you are unclear about anything in this document please seek advice from your commissioning editor and/or, as appropriate, a member of the Channel's legal & compliance department.

(source:http://www.channel4.com/producers-handbook/c4-guidelines/viewer-trust-guidelines)