A2 Media Documentary: Treatment
by Harry Jones
1. The Idea
1.1. The focus of this documentary will be on the issues raised between Majority vs. Minority sport within the UK.
1.2. This will explore the role of sport in society today, exploring the social, moral and ethical issues that are presented within modern sporting culture.
1.3. The documentary will focus on the lives of retired and current international athletes within minority sport (specifically Beach Volleyball) , and how their lifestyle, careers and training psyche differs from that of high class majority athletes i.e. Premier League footballers
1.4. This may involve focussing on the life of just a single athlete, by relating their story to the other issues present.
2. Purpose of Documentary
2.1. The purpose of my documentary is to make people more aware of the issues involved with minority sport in this country, as well as provide insight into the lives of such athletes.
2.2. I also want to raise awareness about the moral and social issues that sport culture creates within society today, and expose the opinions that various audiences have towards this.
3. Time Scale
3.1. I will have approximately 10 months to plan, film and produce this documentary, from roughly June 2015 to March 2016.
3.2. The documentary is too last around 5 mintues
4. Locations
4.1. Minority Sport: Beach Volleyball Training Centres (Boscombe Beach, Leaf Elite Athlete Academy), Gym Facilities, Offices of Various Experts
4.2. Majority Sport: Football Stadiums (AFCB Football Ground), Iconic Venues (Olympic Village, London), NGB Offices (British Olympic Association)
4.3. General Sporting Locations: Mountains for Skiing, Park for public sport activity, Cricket Grounds, Tennis Courts, Rowing Lakes, Swimming Pools
4.4. Locations for Interviews: Offices, Public Areas, Sporting Landscapes, Cafes,
5. Experts
5.1. Minority Sport
5.1.1. Jake Sheaf (Great Britain International Athlete
5.1.2. Zara Dampney (London 2012 Olympian)
5.1.3. Kirk Pitman (New Zealand International Athlete)
5.1.4. Lewie Lett (Great Britain Beach Volleyball Coach)
5.1.5. Geoff Allen (President of Volleyball England)
5.2. Majority Sport
5.2.1. Premier League Football Player (AFC Bournemouth)
5.2.2. Premier League Coaching Staff (AFC Bournemouth)
5.2.3. Annie Vernon (London 2012 Olympian)
6. Equipment
6.1. Camera
6.1.1. DSLR
6.1.2. GOPRO
6.1.3. Compact
6.2. Tripod
6.3. External Lighting
6.4. Microphone
6.5. Laptop Computer
6.6. External Storage Harddrive
6.7. Software
6.7.1. Editing
6.7.2. Presentation
6.7.3. Blog
6.7.4. Documentation
7. Constraints
7.1. One constraint I may have with this idea is that the content of the documentary will be covering a wider range of issues that may be difficult to represent effectively within a 5 minute production.
7.2. The documentary will also be focussed around a wide range of people, locations and various issues that may be difficult to accommodate for logistically i.e. arranging timings around different schedules, transfer of equipment
7.3. There may also be an issues in condensing all of the information presented into a concise argument that an audience will be able to engage with.
8. Solutions for Overcoming Problems
8.1. In order to ensure I can mange my logistics effectively, I am going to allocate time within my project in which to organize all necessary meetings, interviews and filming before the required the deadline, so that I am well prepared and organised in advance.
8.2. In order to condense my project, I will be collecting data and feedback from my target audience in order to find out what they want to see; I will also systematically select the content which I feel will be the most interesting and engaging in order to create an effective product. This will help keep my documentary within 5 minutes.
8.3. CONTINGENCY PLAN
8.3.1. If this project is not feasible, then I will look at producing a documentary that focuses on "A Day in the Life of an Athlete", which would focus on the life of an elite athlete, including their homelife, competition demands, lifestyle and other aspects of their sport. This could involve interviews with their coach or a an expert psychologist about the demands of their life.
9. Audience
9.1. The documentary will be targeting audiences aged 16-65, both male and female with a primary focus on sporting participants and professionals within today's sporting society.
9.2. The documentary will also focus on advocates and socialites who are concerned about the functioning of society and are engaged in the world around them. They would take an interest in the role that sport plays within our culture.
9.3. My documentary may have a global appeal, as other audiences outside of the UK may take an interest in the way British society functions around majority sport, and whether this is detrimental to democracy.
10. Themes to Explore
10.1. Funding
10.2. Hooliganism
10.3. Corruption
10.4. Life Style
10.5. Morality
10.6. Olympic vs Domestic
11. Questions
11.1. It is it right for a football player to be paid more than a doctor?
11.2. Why does British society promote football hooliganism and hostility?
11.3. Who works harder; A footballer or an Olympian?
11.4. Are internationals second tier to domestic sportsmen?
11.5. Why do we obsess over football?
11.6. Should minority sport be governed by result based funding?
11.7. How much do we appreciate our olympians?
11.8. Is sport a business?
12. Documentary Styles
12.1. Poetic
12.2. Expository
12.3. Participatory
12.4. Performative
12.5. Reflexive
12.5.1. As I want the documentary to be informative whilst avoiding being to persuasive, I may consider the blurring of the Reflexive and Expository modes in order to achieve this.