finished final pitch

My Final Pitch

My Final PitchBy Stefan Mekki

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Proposed Idea & Purpose of my documentary.The main idea behind this documentary is to highlight the fact that we live in a society where if you put your mind to it and enjoy it, anything is possible. In addition to this, I think this type of documentary will allow me to be as creative as one can be. This is due to the fact that the idea of the documentary is to also allow me to try and experience different things.

In terms of purpose, I think that its similar to the idea of the documentary, however it differentiates due to the fact that the main purpose is to show the world what it actually takes to break a world record, along with what's the actual procedure to becoming a record holder.

For the full extended version to this piece of work visit:http://stefanmekki2.wix.com/smekki2

When presenting 4 ideas, I had 1 idea in mind from the start = and that was to break a world record since watching The Record Breaker by Ashrita Furman.Ashrita is the happiest man Ive ever seen, since he dropped law and started doing what he lovedMain idea of documentary was to highlight the fact that we live in a society where if you enjoy something and you put your mind to it, anything is possible.2

Audience & Market Research

I decided to set up a focus group in order to conduct some primary research. With the focus group, I asked several questions and this was some of the feedback that I received. Question 1 Do you prefer Vox pops or Interviews?The first question I presented to my focus group was whether they would rather see Vox pops or interviews. 4 out of the 5 decided to choose vox pops. This has put me in a small predicament as my documentary contains an interview with the man who inspired me, Ashrita Furman. However after taking this feedback into consideration, i have decided to include vox pops with the public in order to find out what they/society think in terms of what characteristics world record holders need in order to break a world record.Question 4: Where would you watch a documentary?

For the fourth question, I received a mixture of answers, however the most popular were 'at home' and on 'BBC Three'. These answers are perfect due to the fact that that my channel choice for my distribution in BBC Three. In addition to this, BBC Three can be accessed online and through Apps on iPhone and android. Which is the type of mobile phones teenagers tend to have.For the full extended version to this piece of work visit:http://stefanmekki2.wix.com/smekki2

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Audience & Market ResearchAs part of my primary research I have decided to conduct a questionnaire, along with the focus group I prepared a questionnaire for potential target audience members to answer. This included people who featured in my focus group. The questionnaire consisted of 6 questions which varied from themes to music to presenter style.


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I included my second question in order to find out what type of world record I should break. The primary reason in which I decided to include the 3 options was due to the fact that I felt comfortable with all 3. Prior to receiving the results I was edging towards a food challenge because of my ability to eat food in large amounts and very quickly. As the results show, over 90% of people would rather see a food challenge over the other two. For the full extended version to this piece of work visit:http://stefanmekki2.wix.com/smekki2

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Audience & Market ResearchAs part of my market research, I done a in depth analysis several documentaries similar to mine. Although, there werent many, I had to dig deep in order to find some that were similar in terms of audience, content and structure.

On YouTube there are several videos that have been uploaded that have a similar topic to my idea. One channel which dominates this field is the official Guinness World Records official YouTube channel. With over 770,000 subscribers, they upload depending on when a world record has been broken. On average they upload 3 new videos a week, which can vary from World Record attempts, to interviews with World record holders. Their target audience is similar to mine as the majority of theirvideos are within a time frame of 2-5 minutes. Furthermore many of the videos uploaded are weird and wacky record attempts, this appeals towards the same audience as mine due to the fact that many 14-17 year old boys would enjoy something weird such as 'breaking biscuits with shoulder blades'.For the full extended version to this piece of work visit:http://stefanmekki2.wix.com/smekki2

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The documentary has several conventions in which are similar to mine, with one being the music. In 'The Record Breaker', a lot of the music (e.g. 2:05) used sounds optimistic due to the upbeat, fast, positive rhythm. It makes the viewer feel engaged as if something special is about to happen, therefore keeping the viewer on their toes and most importantly interested in the documentary. With the music I plan to use, I want it to have a similar effect as it does in 'the Record Breaker'.

Similar to 'The Record Breaker', 'Man vs. Food has a similar structure and concept to my idea. Several cutaways of food is used in order to maintain the focus of the actual challenge. More often than not the cutawayswould be of the food Adam is talking about. Along with the Cutaways, they often use fast pace editing (seen in episode 1, season 1 3:26) which is used as a transition technique. This will get theaudienceexcited andintrigued due to the fact that they will have to keep their eyes peeled on the screen in order not to miss what's happeningFor the full extended version to this piece of work visit:http://stefanmekki2.wix.com/smekki2

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Viability of my Proposed Idea


BBC is my channel of choice for a number of reasons:Its target Audience Encourage british film makers, due to their channel ethosGenre that features on the channel (entertainment) and I think my documentary fits that

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Budget & Costs


Total cost of making the documentary will be 89,623This includes all of my key personnel, Equipment and Additional costs9

Budget & CostsDue to this being a low budget documentary, I feel that I could make several cut backs in order to save money. Key Personnel: Camera Director = 3,483 = Hire a university media internEditor = 3,483 = edit myselfAssistant Editor = 2,488 = Hire a university media internEquipment:Cameras = 6,967 = Use my own cameras or borrow from school/friendTripods & Dollies = 1,493 = Use own tripods/dollies or borrow from a friend/schoolSony Vegas (editing software) = 278 = Already own the softwareAdditional Costs:- Graphics = 200 = Hire an A-level or university CAD studentFor the full extended version to this piece of work visit:http://stefanmekki2.wix.com/smekki2

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Budgets & CostsIn order to receive extra funding for my documentary I have decided to contact several fund companies in order to help me. One which stood out was Brit Doc.

Brit doc are mainly a UK based company in which help small film makers pursue their dreams by helping them with funding. The main reason in which I would apply to Brit doc is due to the fact that I am a young aspiring British film maker. In order to submit to them, contacting them with an enquiry via their website about funding would be the best and quickest way.


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Research, Development and Creative DecisionsThroughout this unit, I have been constantly adding to the mapping my idea task in order not to only track my progress, but to show how my idea has changed since conducting several pieces of research.

Here I have gone on to describe some of the factor that have changed due to the secondary research I have conducted.

The one that stand out the most to me is the third paragraph. This is because it relates to the purpose of my documentary.

we live in a society where if you put your mind to it and enjoy it, anything is possible.For the full extended version to this piece of work visit:http://stefanmekki2.wix.com/smekki2

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Research, Development and Creative Decisions


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Research, Development and Creative DecisionsIf I was to fit all my creative decisions into the pitch, wed be here all day. So Ive decided to pick out a one directly from my treatment.

The style of documentary I have chosen to pursue is a participatory documentary. There are a number of reasons behind this decision, with one being the documentary events and situations will be influenced and altered by the presence and actions of the presenter. Take Supersize me (2004) as an example. Cameramen follow a man who eats McDonalds constantly for a whole month. A documentary like that is hard to plan in terms of shot lists and storyboards, however due to the fact that there is a purpose to the documentary, that's what makes it a participatory documentary. Another reasons for my choice is my target audience. From personal experience I enjoy participatory documentaries due to the fact that I feel that I am following the presenter on a journey. This makes the viewer feel more engaged with the documentary because nor the presenter or viewer know what's going to happen next.For the full extended version to this piece of work visit:http://stefanmekki2.wix.com/smekki2

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Thank you for listening To see the full version of all my work, please visit:http://stefanmekki2.wix.com/smekki2

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My choice of channel to broadcast my documentary is BBC Three. I chose this channel for a number of reasons, with one being target audience. More often than not, on a Sunday evening BBC tend to broadcast a double episode of Bad Education, which is the channels most popular programme and therefore my documentary will inherit the audience from Bad Education, and use the programmes popularity in order to encourage viewers to watch my documentary. Furthermore, if bad education is not on, Family Guy is it usual replacement. With Family Guy attracting an audience similar to mine, it will also encourage viewers to stay and watch my documentary. In terms of my documentary being commercially viable, I feel that my documentary will be one of a kind on BBC Three and will provide innovative content to younger audiences.