Mind Map
Mood Board
Proposal
Rational:
At the start of this course, my greatest strength was my practical implications when filming and editing and my major weakness was in research and connecting my sources to my product. I could make a good video using professional filming techniques and intuitive editing to create drama and tension for characters in a short frame of time (like a trailer). Now I want to do something completely different, by using a longer time frame to invoke another tone; comedy.
Idea:
My project will be a short “mockumentary” film in a style like Life’s too Short or the Office, but with themes and characters that are more like the characters in an Andy Samberg production, like 7 Day’s in hell or Brooklyn 99 and with costumes and dialogue like something out of a parody film like Super or Kick-Ass. This mockumentary will be about a boy trying to become a superhero by figuring out exactly what his power is, when really, he doesn’t have one.
The main elements of this film will be interviews with various characters and short scenes of the main character trying many things to unlock whatever powers he can think of.
Practitioners:
This field of comedy is most popular as TV shows, with many different series like the previously mentioned The Office (both British and American), Life’s too Short (both produced by Ricky Gervais), Parks and Recreations, and several Monty Python sketches. However, the genre does have a strong cinematic presence, with cult classics like Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat with has an absurd character interacting with real people and documentary style film making to help it feel more authentic (because part of it is), Woody Allen’s Take the Money and Run, which uses extreme physical comedy to contrast a serious narration and newer productions like Andy Samberg’s 7 Days in Hell and Tour De Pharmacy.
Production Schedule:
11/03 – 17/03 = research on practitioners, competition and audience; surveys, questionnaires, internet research (Monday – Wednesday), figure out the legalities of my concepts, book needed equipment and decide on the budget (Thursday – Friday).
18/03 – 23/03 = catch up on anything missing from the research, proof read everything (Monday – Tuesday), evaluate everything (Wednesday), begin planning for the pitch (Friday).
25/03 – 31/03 = plan the pitch using the research, refine the details of the intended product (Monday – Wednesday), present pitch (Friday).
01/04 – 07/04 = pre-production; in-depth production schedule (Monday), script (Wednesday – Tuesday), start storyboard, consent forms (Friday).
08/04 – 14/04 = finish storyboard (Monday), character design, shot log, props list (Tuesday – Wednesday), location recce/release, risk assessment (Friday).
15/04 – 19/04 = shooting script, sounds list (Monday – Tuesday), obtain props and costumes, film test shots (Wednesday – Friday).
22/04 – 28/04 = catch up on any missing pre-production
29/04 – 05/05 = begin filming, get everything that needs the less prominent characters, get the shots in released locations
06/05 – 12/05 = get any remaining filming done, record any needed audio (voice over, sound effects, etc) (Monday – Tuesday), begin editing by cutting together footage (Wednesday – Friday).
13/05 – 17/05 = finish editing (add sounds and effects), upload final product.
Bibliography:
No Film School (2018) Mockumentaries – Everything You Need to Know. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl2AgnUP-CU (Accessed: 27 February 2019).
Harkness, J. (2014) The Mockumentary Sitcom: A Closer Look at Form. Available at: https://the-artifice.com/mockumentary-sitcom/ (Accessed: 27 February 2019).
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockumentary
Wicks, A. (2015) The 12 Funniest Mockumentaries. Available at: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/10/12-best-mockumentaries-of-all-time.html (Accessed: 06 March 2019).
Rowe, S. (2014) Andy Samberg: from Dick In A Box guy to daft detective. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jan/03/andy-samberg-brooklyn-nine-nine (Accessed: 16 March 2019).
Cale Gray FMP 