Research Part 1

       Fortunately, I started to brainstorm early on throughout this course and thought about how under represented the elderly are in media. So, I thought my group and I could create a documentary somewhere around the topic of seniors and their lives through the decades and how it's changed. We are still unsure on what exactly we want to create since so far it is too broad. I discussed with Isabel on how we could bring our idea to life and she mentioned that she goes to a particular nursing home often and that she could ask for permission to visit and interview some seniors. But before I get too ahead of myself, I researched on what makes a solid documentary. According to this article, Stewart Dunlop suggests that a good documentary raises more questions than answers which interested me a lot. Simply because out of all the documentaries I've seen in class and on my own, I am always left wondering what will happen next. 

        To make a documentary strong, it must keep the audience engaged and anticipated. Another thing Dunlop stated was that documentaries tell the truth and the viewer serves as the juror. In other words, as the consumer watches the content, they play the role of deciding on whether the story is ethical. They apply the situation to themselves and think, "What would I do?" So, this is another thing that I decided to keep in mind with what my group ends up creating. 

      I then started to ask myself, "What are the most popular documentaries?" According to Box Office Mojo, the number one documentary is Michael Moore's, Fahrenheit 9/11. This documentary was released on June 23rd, 2004, a couple years after the horrific September 11th attacks in 2001. Yet, after viewing the trailer, it seems as if the piece is almost mocking the public for not having the ability to truly know what goes on in the government. By adding upbeat and action-like music, it kept me interested even though politics don't interest me that much. So, I realized that the trailers soundtrack was what keeps the viewer interested as well as the voice over narration as shown below.

Although I am not creating a trailer, I understand that the director manipulated the documentary but only enough for the presenting aspect. Other than that, it made the viewer feel like they were apart of it. So, that is what I am striving for in this project. Moreover, I found that in this article, it explains key things to keep in mind while capturing a documentary. What stood out to me the most was the last way which was "Enter late, exit early." In other words, ease your way into the climax, and leave the resolution unanswered. 

Citations:

• “Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004).” Box Office Mojo, IMDB, www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=fahrenheit911.htm.

• Dunlop, Stewart. “What Makes a Good Documentary Film?” DocumentaryTube, 5 Jan. 2015, www.documentarytube.com/articles/what-makes-a-good-documentary-film.

• Bernard, Sheila Curran. “4 Ways Documentary Filmmaking Can Capture Real-Life Drama.” 4 Ways Documentary Filmmaking Can Capture Real-Life Drama, Screenwriter's University, www.writersstore.com/documentary-storytelling-the-drama-of-real-life/.