Exemplar B: Merit: Man, Machine and Mountain: Documentary

1. Concept I am going to document ‘The Race to the Sky’ which is a car race up a dirt mountain in the Cardrona valley, situated thirty miles from Wanaka. I want to get across the point that car racing is a very dangerous sport but it still pulls in many people to give it a go. I want to know what drives people to become involved in cars – what is so gravitating about cars? I want to give a strong impression of the excitement of the race as it is very impressive when you are there, and I have been going for several years. I want to use a lot of artistic and fast-paced shots. The documentary will appeal to the film festival audience as it will be fast moving and easy to watch because of all the interesting shots of cars driving fast that I will get. It will basically be entertaining without getting into too much detail about the race and other issues as there is not enough time to explore these in the short format. For this reason I will also interview the drivers and try to get some funny stories and interesting comments that I can cut in with the footage. The main thing will be to shoot the racing footage well as this is what will sell my documentary to the audience. I know that not all people like car racing but I want to make it professional and slick enough so that people who don’t like racing will enjoy the documentary just for its style and professionalism.

A reason I chose this topic is because it won’t involve too many challenges. Getting interviews will be quite easy for me because a family friend, Trevor Crowe, is a family friend. He drives for Subaru which is the same as Possum Bourne therefore it should be easy to get interviews with Possum. I have also been told that many of the drivers would be all too happy to do an interview. It’s also an area I know well and I have been to the race a few times in the past. One of the main challenges will be getting the action on tape so I might need to get 2 cameras so that I can have someone else in another place to film. It will also be hard because I will have to be in about 5 places at once: at the start, the finish (3500 ft up a hill), half way up the track and of course among the drivers. This just means that it’ll be 3 long 10-hour days in a row of non-stop action. A big advantage will be that I will do all the shooting on one weekend and then I will be able to spend lots of time editing which is my major challenge as I have never edited anything before. I will need to put lots of time aside so that I can get used to the editing software and I will definitely be getting an access card so that I can get into the editing room as much as possible.

2. Treatment: Style My documentary will have a fast paced action packed feel to it because motor sport is a very fast moving sport with lots of action. With artistic angles, fast shots contrasted with slow motion and the sophisticated feel of the marquee café. It will not be full of information because I don’t want it to be too boring. I will focus a lot of attention on getting the editing right as the pace of shots and transitions will be what really make this documentary work. Most of the visuals will be set in montage with shots of varying length depending on the pace of the action at that moment. I am hoping to get some humour out of the drivers too as this will be appropriate in appealing to the audience in this upbeat documentary. I will edit these in as sound bites intercut into the other footage to give plenty of variety and keep the pace up.

1 Hopefully I will be able to match appropriate comments to images and I will make sure that I make notes after each interview so that I can get enough shots on the day. Most of the information will be portrayed by images instead of dialogue. Original funky music will help set the lively atmosphere I want for my documentary. Sharp cuts choreographed to the music beat will be effective and once again give it an up-beat feel as well as a polished style. The overall structure will follow the race from start to finish with interviews cut in through the documentary. I will have a sunrise shot at the beginning (fast motion) and will end with the award of the trophy to the winning driver. The documentary will mainly be in the expository mode as I am keen to give a strong impression of the excitement and danger.

2. Treatment: Conventions

Interviews: I will interview some of the drivers and ask them why they do it and how they got into it. I want to contrast young enthusiastic drivers with the older ones like Possum Bourne and Japan’s legend Monster who have been doing it for so long. I want the contrast of the satisfaction they get from the race let alone getting a good time with the dangers that they face. I know a few of the drivers quite well and they are quite good at telling funny stories so I will ask questions to draw some of these out as well.

Voiceover: I want voiceovers of some of my interviewees. I will use them so that I can use cutaways to fast paced action. This will stop my documentary from being so monotonous and make it more appealing. I’d also like to have voiceover where it is necessary to explain any of the action the audience sees. I will also use a voiceover narrator to link and explain what is going on in the documentary.

Live Footage: Live footage will make up the bulk of my documentary. I want to give the audience a ‘be there’ feel like they are watching it for real with no dramatisations or biased outlook. I will focus on getting some really effective shots of cars racing as this will be visually impressive and will work well intercut with the interviews. I will use the zoom lens and tripod based pans to follow the action closely and make sure that I position my camera to get some interesting and effective high and low angles to increase the edgy feel. I will need to spend a lot of time practising this as I know how hard it is to get good steady shots with the camera zoomed in. I will definitely use a tripod.

Music: I will use some original upbeat instrumental music from my old school band to give parts of the documentary an up-beat feel. They have agreed to do so but if it doesn’t work out I have some commercial music as back-up. I want to have some music that will really fit with the images and will wait until I have shot and completed an early cut before getting the band to have a look and try some improvising.

Stills: I will use a montage of stills which will be very daring and artistic looking with dirt flying up around the cars to show the extreme action especially where it looks like cars are coming close to spinning out. By freezing these moments I will focus the audience on the extreme dangers of the sport.

2 3. Justification A lot of young people these days are interested in cars. Not just by doing them up (ie Boy Racers) or reconditioning old classics, but also racing them which means risking their lives for the love of speed. Many people wonder why these ‘crazy’ people do risk their lives, including me, so I want to enlighten the viewers on why the speed and adrenaline make them do it. Most of this enlightenment will come from the impressive shots that I hope to get – it will look fun and exciting and even beautiful as well. I can make this an interesting documentary because it can relate to many people, both young and old, because drivers will also be both young and old. It will not be biased or judgmental or offensive in its content which makes the documentary perfect for the film festival. People will also be impressed and amazed by the beautiful scenery down at the race which will appeal to quite a few in the audience. But people also want to watch other people and try to understand why the do what they do. So it is very important that I get good interview sound- bites with the drivers to give the human dimension to the race and fast cars. People in the audience will also be impressed that I managed to get good interviews with some very famous rally drivers who also come across well on camera. This will make my whole documentary seem more professional. One of the most important things in documentary is choosing good talent and my family contacts make that easy. This proposal is manageable because it is a single weekend shoot and I know the location and drivers well. I also know the organisers well which will make it easy to get where I want to go. My big challenges will be in making sure I get enough quality footage of the cars but over the whole three days this shouldn’t be a problem. I will just have to work really hard all day long! A single event like this makes a good topic for a documentary as it gives an easy structure and also an easy focus (danger and excitement) and allows me to spend lots of time perfecting the editing to make it as professional as I can. It won’t be experimental in any way but because so much of the other films and documentaries at the festival are experimental, this documentary will provide a nice relaxing break for the audience.