Documentary Learning Contract
March 27, 2010
CONTENT
What is the community that you will make your documentary?
My documentary will be about ‘urban pranksters’ in Melbourne. There are many sub-communities of these ‘urban pranksters’, some of which include Improv Everywhere and Urban Playground. These ‘urban pranksters’ are out to create socially awkward scenes without getting into any ‘real’ trouble. There is a huge community of these pranksters online, and participants are members of more than one sub-community. For example, many of the members of Improv Everywhere are also members of Urban Playground in Melbourne. This community is a virtual one that exists mainly in cyberspace, however do have presence in ‘real’ life through their “missions” that are executed across the globe, including cities like Melbourne, Stockholm and London. Some examples of their missions include the No Pants Subway Ride of 2010 that had 5,000 people across the globe riding on the trains without pants.
For this project, I will be focusing on the Melbourne chapter of this community – while relatively small, has managed to execute several successful missions in it’s time, the most recent being last year’s Zombie Shuffle in Melbourne’s CBD.
Why do you think it is a community?
This ‘urban prankster’ community is one because it fulfills the following:
- There is than one active member.
- There is a common interest: improv pranking
- There is interaction between members: through open discussions about past present and future missions, and physical meetings during each mission
What theory about community have you read that is relevant to issues in this community? Summarise the relevant ideas.
There has been some debate between scholars about whether virtual communities can and should be considered a ‘community’ in the traditional sense. Preece (2000) says: “Some people view online communities as a social phenomenon, others focus on the structure of the supporting software”. (p.348) In the same reading, she talks about how the definition of ‘community’ has evolved from the pre-Web 2.0 age. She says that while communities were mostly based on physical characteristics (as I have quoted her in this post), communities of modern time are based more on “people’s relationships”.
She quotes Howard Rheingold (1994):
“Virtual communities are cultural aggregations that merge when enough people bump into each other often enough in cyberspace. A virtual community is a group of people, who may or may not meet one another face-to-face, and who exchange words and ideas through the mediation of computer bulletin boards and networks. (p.57-58)
Are you agreement or disagreement with these ideas?
I strongly believe that virtual communities are as ‘real’ a community as ‘traditional communities’. I agree with Preece that the definition of community has had to evolve through the years, following technological advancements that have come with the Web 2.0 age. Some feel that virtual communities are not as solid or ‘real’ as a physical community. However given the evolution of communication technologies that allows for astonishing levels and means of interaction and communication (as compared to, say, 50 years ago), I believe that virtual communities are in fact very solid and ‘real’ communities that should not be taken for granted.
How can you use these ideas in your documentary?
In my documentary I will show how this virtual community has ‘real’ life presence, how it functions virtually, and how it has characteristics of a ‘real’ community. I will discuss how ‘real’ a virtual community can be.
What is the structure of the documentary? (this could be a short treatment of the way you see your documentary unfolding)
I will creating a collection of short video clips about this community, their ‘missions’ and prolific members. There will not be any sort of a narrative structure, the audience can choose watch the video clips in any particular order, where they will be able to grab random bits of information about the community. These clips will be housed in a single website or blog, and will be backed up by a written article that will tie everything up together.
7. What is the style of the documentary (you can refer to documentary theory if you know it; f you don’t, discuss how you see the relationship between you the documentary maker and your subject, and how that will influence the work you produce. Examples of other documentaries will be relevant)
I will be employing the Observational Mode of documentary where I will be a passive fly-on-the-wall and record what happens in their missions. I will not participate, but merely be a passive observer – allowing the audience to interpret the content for themselves. I believe there will be some instances where I will need to feature the Participatory Mode of documentary especially in the interview process.
TECHNICAL
8. What type of media will your documentary consist of (e.g. audio files, text, stills, video, animation etc.)
Video clips and text.
9. Given that your documentary will be published online, how will you tailor production and post-production to be appropriate (e.g. image size, frame rate, design issues, copyright)?
I will be compressing my video clips to a web-friendly size and upload them onto Vimeo for easy embedding and streaming. Credit will be provided to any (creative commons) audio pieces I may use on the clips.
10.What are your skills in making this style of media?
I have been trained in video production and editing. I am very familiar with camera work and post-production processes on Final Cut Pro.
11.Are you enlisting the help of any crew during the production phase of your documentary?
No, I will be executing this documentary by myself.
12.Will you need to borrow technical equipment from the school techs? If yes, what do you want to borrow? When do you want to borrow it?
Yes, I will be borrowing a camera and tripod for the shoots. I will also be requiring the use of the edit suites during post-production which I hope to be able to start by May.
PERMISSIONS
13.What talent do you need to get release forms signed for?
Interviewees.
14.Are you going to interview any minors? (if yes, you must get their release form signed by their parent/guardian)
No.
15.Do you need permission to shoot on location?
No.
POST-PRODUCTION
16.What software do you need to edit your documentary?
Final Cut Pro
17.Do you have sufficient skills with that software?
Yes, I have had prior training.
18.Do you have sufficient access to that software?
Yes, in Buildings 6, 12 and 9.
PUBLICATION
19.What social software environment will you publish our documentary to?
Vimeo, Twitter, a website/blog and I will be pitching it to the main IE chapter in New York to put it up on their website.
20.Is the media you are creating appropriate for that environment?
Yes, it will be a series of embeddable videos that can easily be placed across media platforms.
21.Have you become a member of that environment?
Yes, I am a member of Vimeo, Twitter and IE.
22.Have you done a ‘test’ publication?
Not for this project. However I do have experience posting on Vimeo, Twitter and creating a website/blog.
23.Does the environment stipulate any limits (e.g. file size, dimensions, file types, copyright, legal issues) that you will need to meet?
Yes, videos will need to be compressed and scanned for any copyright infringements.
LEGAL
24.Have you got copyright permission for all the content you use?
Will need release forms to be signed.
25.There is no defamation or slander?
No.
26.Any legal issues?
No.
RISK ASSESSMENT
27.What are the most likely things that could go wrong with your project?
As most of the shoots will be done on-location, weather is a big issue that I cannot control. I will have to take that into consideration.
28.What is your back-up plan if these things occur?
If the weather is too bad to keep shooting, I will have to request for some video clips on their end and create montage that will go with the interviews.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
29.What is the date of your rough-cut showing?
Week 11, 14 May ‘10
30.What is the final due date?
Week 12, 21 May ‘10
31.When do you intend to start production?
Week 6, 6 April ‘10
32.When do you intend to start post-production?
Week 8, 20 April ‘10
33.Given your production start date, have you already booked any technical equipment you need?
No. I will get this done after I have confirmed the dates of my interviews.
34.How do these dates work in with assessment deadlines from other courses?
Weeks 6 and 7 will be tight because we have our submissions for CommRev and the Research Workshop due then, but things should go pretty smoothly after all the shooting is done. Post production shouldn’t take more than a week to complete.
35.If you are using talent, does their availability suit your production schedule?
Yes, there is an event scheduled in week 6 and 7 of the semester that I intend to film so it all works out quite well.
36.Remember to collect all the credit information as you go.
Yes, I will be armed with a logbook to take down all important information during the shoot.
