Working hypothesis and interpretation
The main topic of my film is about the stigma surrounding mental health and the way the media portrays it to audiences. It will include mostly interviews as I will be needing as many different views and opinions as I can get, but will also show some footage and pictures from things like newspapers and TV shows that talk about/show mental illness. As we can only use 10% archival footage, I will ensure everything I use is completely relevant to the subject so that it's as interesting as possible and gives the audience more information.
Topic
My documentary is about mental health and the stigma surrounding it, as well as the media representation of it. I chose to do this topic as I have previous experience with it; last year I made a documentary about the struggles of mental health, and this time I will looking more at the stigma surrounding it and the way the media portrays it. I will be interviewing different sorts of people to really understand how people view mental health, and whether or not the medias representation of it is accurate enough for what it needs to be. The end result will show people how we as a society view mental health and how we can work together to make awareness of it better for people who do suffer from some sort of mental illness.
Action Sequences
My film will include many interviews from different people of different genders/age groups. This will give the audience many different perspectives of the topic as well as providing some information too. The overall look I'll be going for in terms of cinematography will be to have a calming setting for the interviewee to feel relaxed, as well as creating a visually lease image for the audience to see and appreciate. I'm hoping that the interviews will all vary in opinions and that they all have something different to say regarding the topic so that it's not too repetitive for the audience.
I also want to include
I also want to include
Main Characters
I haven't fully planned who will be in my documentary yet, but I know that I will need quite a few interviews from different people. These interviews will make up most of my film as this a very opinion based film and I believe that by getting as many views as I can, it will make it less biased and more interesting for people to see different points of view. I will also include some voice overs that will be taken from the interviews to be used on top of footage.
Conflict
The main topic is mental health and the stigma surrounding it. I want to get different opinions from people to get all sides and all views of of mental health to ensure that I've covered as many things as possible. Many different thoughts and opinions will be shown, some more controversial than others in the sense that it may not be common belief amongst people. Until I've done all my interviews, I can't tell who will say what or why, so I hope that when I have completed them all I'll have a range of views and opinions so that I can show that this isn't a one sided documentary. It will explore different areas of mental health and the way people view it, as I know that people have many views on the way mental health is handled and the way it's represented in the media etc. I want to see why people thing what they do and understand why they think it, for example, some people think mental health is a myth and that it isn't a serious illness, others think it is. I want to hear the whys of peoples opinions.
The main topic is mental health and the stigma surrounding it. I want to get different opinions from people to get all sides and all views of of mental health to ensure that I've covered as many things as possible. Many different thoughts and opinions will be shown, some more controversial than others in the sense that it may not be common belief amongst people. Until I've done all my interviews, I can't tell who will say what or why, so I hope that when I have completed them all I'll have a range of views and opinions so that I can show that this isn't a one sided documentary. It will explore different areas of mental health and the way people view it, as I know that people have many views on the way mental health is handled and the way it's represented in the media etc. I want to see why people thing what they do and understand why they think it, for example, some people think mental health is a myth and that it isn't a serious illness, others think it is. I want to hear the whys of peoples opinions.
Audience Biases
On Camera Interviews
Structure
The start of the film will show the archival footage of mental health stories in the media to give people an idea as to what the rest of the film will involve. It will them go on to some interviews and random bits of footage relating to the topic. It will end leaving the audience to think about their views on social media, as well a number for a support line (Samaritans) to show that help is available for people who are struggling with a mental illness.
The film will be covering some very important topics but I don't want to be too over the top with it; I want it to make people think about the way they view mental health in general, but I also want it to be an informative piece of film with facts and statistics regarding mental health.
Form and Style
The lighting used in my film would be quite gentle and natural; if I can, I would like to interview people in their homes so that they feel more comfortable, but if that's not possible for whatever reason I will find a quite place in college/nearby to take them.
I also want to try and get 2 cameras running whilst I'm doing the interviews so I can get some different angles of people talking and make it a bit more visually exciting.
The editing won't be too over the top; I want it to be natural and focusing on the topic at hand. I may edit the saturation slightly to be more fitting with the mood but I certainly won't do anything dramatic. I also plan to include some archival scenes of news articles where the media has wrongly presented mental health as well as using some clips from films/TV shows that do the same.
Resolution
At the ned of this film, I would like people to have a better understanding of the stigma surrounding mental health and realise how it can really affect peoples day-to-day lives. I'm hoping that they will go away more aware of mental illness and it's effect on people, as well as being more aware of how the media often wrongly portrays it and makes it something it's clearly not. This film will allow them to see the truth behind mental health, and not what the media portrays it to be.
At the ned of this film, I would like people to have a better understanding of the stigma surrounding mental health and realise how it can really affect peoples day-to-day lives. I'm hoping that they will go away more aware of mental illness and it's effect on people, as well as being more aware of how the media often wrongly portrays it and makes it something it's clearly not. This film will allow them to see the truth behind mental health, and not what the media portrays it to be.
Unique Qualifications
I feel as though I am well qualified to do this project as I have previous experience with this topic-I did a similar documentary for my FMP last year which has given me the confidence and knowledge that I need to be able to do it again, but better.
As well as this, I also know many people who have dealt with mental health issues and I want to make something that represents them well. Even though this is probably something many people could make, I fell as if I can make it more personal and informative as, like I said, I've done something very similar before so I know what things to look out for and look at mistakes I made before so I know to not do them again.
I feel as though I am well qualified to do this project as I have previous experience with this topic-I did a similar documentary for my FMP last year which has given me the confidence and knowledge that I need to be able to do it again, but better.
As well as this, I also know many people who have dealt with mental health issues and I want to make something that represents them well. Even though this is probably something many people could make, I fell as if I can make it more personal and informative as, like I said, I've done something very similar before so I know what things to look out for and look at mistakes I made before so I know to not do them again.
Logistics
One obvious problem I will face would be the fact that people are normally quite unwilling to discuss their mental health problems on camera, so I will have to find a way around this to ensure that they are comfortable with talking to me and don't fell too under pressure etc.
One obvious problem I will face would be the fact that people are normally quite unwilling to discuss their mental health problems on camera, so I will have to find a way around this to ensure that they are comfortable with talking to me and don't fell too under pressure etc.
This is a well written proposal that clearly outlines the purpose, structure and key elements of your idea. Very good work Hannah.
ReplyDeleteWhen reflecting on your finished product in your evaluation, compare your final piece to this and discussed how your idea may have changed or evolved.