Research Project - popular in the 1960’s

Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study

- this style is: you film EVERYTHING
and its Background
- introduction to the topic - the object is to intrude as little as
possible in order to capture the
- defining your topic spontaneity and uninhibited flow of live
- you can add from another source (write events
the surname (year),.…)
- “According to…” can be used only on Criticism of Direct or Natural Cinema
the second paragraph (most common - some feel that if the camera is
mistake) not hidden the participants are
- do not put ideas that will gain already still aware of it
an answer to your topic or problem; do - if your event is boring you don’t
not make conclusions yet have a film
- refrain from giving your own opinion
(you can use it at a limited amount) Cinema Vérité
- formulate your S.O.P (Statement of the - the filmmaker PROVOKES an event
Problem) can be answerable through - this style permits and even encourages
your documentation interaction between the subject and the
- avoid questions answerable yes or no director
- do not use “is” in a question - this style is not about being fair
- formulate 5 questions Can a documentary filmmaker be
- make a Paradigm of your objective? Or does the very act of selecting
Study/Conceptual Framework topics and deciding how they should be
- PR ➡️ causes ➡️ solution portrayed become a personal statement by
- sources should not be 10 years later the filmmaker?

Documentary Robert Flaherty

“those films that deal with historical, social, - some believe to be the founder of
scientific, or economic subjects, either documentary filmmaking
photographed in actual occurrence or re- - his style is about culture and looking at
enacted, and where emphasis is more on different lifestyles
factual content than on entertainment.” - In 1915, began filming Nanook of the
- Academy of Motion Picture North which is a story of an eskimo. It
Arts and Sciences was released in 1922.
Approach of Storytelling
• Narration (Fahrenheit 911) Ken Burns and History Documentaries
• Reenactments/Recreations (The Civil War) • Like a biography it is a catchall term for
• Animation (Bowling for Columbine) films about an event that happened in the
• Filmmaker as part of the story (Paper past
Chasers/vlogs) • In Historical Documentaries, you are at
• Interviews (Fog of War) the mercy of old archival footage,
• Confessionals to Camera (Blue Vinyl) photographs, drawings, and re-creations.
• Archival Footage (Eyes on the Prize) • Ken Burns uses authentic materials of
• Cinema Vérité (Kurt and Courtney) photos, folk music, present day locations,
• Direct or Natural Cinema (Grey Gardens) and the words used by people that time.
• Direct or Natural Cinema
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Basic Steps of Documentary Pre-Production presented; suggests an intimacy
• Brainstorm ideas and develop goals between narrator and audience; this
• Research story type of narration is seldom objective —
• Choose interview subjects its biases reflect the speaker’s
• Choose equipment package background, conflict, and values.
• Make a budget 3. Interviews - the interview is a common
• Write a production plan documentary techniques. It allows
• Hire Crew people being filmed to speaks directly
about events prompted by the questions
Items Needed for Your Documentary asked by the filmmaker. An interview
• A one page treatment of your concept may take place on screen, or off screen,
• One paragraph biography of your talent on a different set. Interviews in a
• Shot Sheet/Shooting Schedule documentary gove the viewer a sense of
• Dual-Column Script realism, that the documentary maker’s
• Log/Video log views are mutually shared by another
• Completed Project person or source, and thus more valid.
4. Point-of-View (POV) Shot - a shot which
Chapter 2: Review of Related shows the scene from the specific point
Literature and Studies (RRL) of view of one o the characters.
• Literature 5. Flash Forward - on the model of
- written accounts (which are based on flashback, scenes or shot of future time;
personal beliefs and experience) the future tense of the film.
ex. written articles, essays, books 6. Flash Back - a scene or sequence
- Internet sources (sometime an entire film), that is
ex.blogs, video logs, PDF articles, E- inserted into a scene in “present” time
books and that deals with the past. The
• Studies flashback is the past tense of the film.
- based on responses on the subjects, the Dramatization of what has happened in
the past and its influence from the past
author interpreted the results from a
events from the present.
certain phenomena that a researcher
studies
Review of Related Literature
ex. researches, journals, archives
- tentative answers to your study; an
- don’t need to write a Roman Numeral overview on what somehow you will
- after Local, you don’t need to put the encounter
next letters - to strengthen the study
- 2 foreign and 3 local (except internet - you can find the tentative answer at the
sources)
summary of data on the study
The Documentary: Film Techniques - in the government, the red tape means
1. Exposition - in a documentary, the there is graft and corruption happening
exposition occurs at the beginning and
introduces the important themes of the Indirect & Direct Interview Technique
film. It is important because it creates Indirect
the viewer’s first impression and - we see subject talking in the camera,
introduces the viewer to the content. but we don’t see or hear the interviewer
2. Direct Narration - we see and hear the asking questions in the same shot; this
narrator of the film as the narration is gives the impression of the character
speaking directly to the viewer.
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Direct can speak directly to the viewer,
- we see subject talking to the camera, offering information, explanations and
and we see and hear the interviewer opinions
asking questions in the same shot or in Close-up Shot
part B of a two-parallel track; suggests - one way filmmakers break down
journalistic basis of reporting narrative scenes is by inserting close-up
Montage in an unexpected context; when this is
- an edited sequence that elicits a strong done the shot is often a close-up in
emotional reaction on the part of the order to draw our attention to the
viewer image/subject
- often used as transitional or climactic Editing
sequences; static shots. - refers literally how shots are put
Reaction Shot together to make up a film.
- a primary means of conveying meaning Traditionally a film is made up of
within the context of narrative is sequences or in some cases, as with art
through the use of a reaction shot — a cinema, of successive shots that are
medium shot or close-up of a assembled in what is known as collision
character/person just after a significant editing or montage
action occurs within the scene Storyboard
- a series of drawings and captions
Talking Head (sometimes resembling a comic strip)
- the image of a person, as on a that shows the planned shot divisions
television documentary or news show, and camera movements of the film
who talks at length directly to the
camera and usually appears on the
screen with only the head and upper
part of the body visible

Sound
• Diegetic Sound
- it is sound that the characters can Research Design
hear as well as the audience, and - to choose between:
usually implies a reaction from the • Quantitative Research (to have a
character. Also called “literal sound” statistical treatment/instrument or
or actual sound scientific) or;
• Non-diegetic Sound • Qualitative Research (interviews,
- it is sound which is represented as documentary analysis, observations,
surveys)
coming from the source, i.e its source
is neither visible on the screen, nor
Statistical Treatments:
has been implied to be present in the
1. Pearson R - Comparative study
action. Also called “non-literal sound”
2. T- Test - limited to only 30 respondents
or “commentary sound”
or less
The Voiceover
3. Z-Test - more than 30 respondents
- is a commentary by the filmmaker, 4. Analysis of Variance/Anova - variability
spoken while the camera is filming, or of the different factors of the study
added to the soundtrack during the 5. Kai square - similar to Anova and T-test
production. Through this the filmmaker
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Chapter 3: Research Methodology
- make an introduction regards to this
chapter
- Research Design - introduction, its type
and why you’re going to use it
• Golden rule: always use the third
person/ third person rule
• future tense (before defense); past
tense (after defense)
- Research Instrument - adopt a certain
or make your own questionnaires
• Validation of Instrument - if it the
researchers made the instrument (3
persons to validate)
• if using an adopted questionnaire,
you may include the investigative
documentary (for supporting details)
- Statistical Treatment - mean, median,
mode
• Slovin’s Formula - the accuracy of
the percentage
• Purposive Sampling
Technique/Method - also included in
the Statistical Treatment; known the
number of respondents
• formulas:
- Frequency Count
- Simple Mean Data - usually
applicable for adopted
questionnaires

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