Structure of my documentary.

 The introduction is classed as one of the most important parts of a documentary as it usually determines whether someone continues to watch it or not. It has to stand out and be able to draw in and keep the attention of the viewer. The information has to be topic specific and precise. My opening camera shot will be a slow motion 10 second clip in the academy of students walking to their lesson. This will then allow me to cut to a 3 second clip of someone walking, like a metaphor for walking through the path of life to which everyone can relate to.

I will then cut straight to an interview as not to lose the audience's interest and to get the different viewpoints across. The first interview will be of a schooling professional, ideally Mrs Tomes to see what is being done and how it helps students to progress to the next stage in their lives, with the necessary skills that further education and life require you to have. The next interview will be of someone possibly a student that disagrees with what the schooling professional thinks, as to get a view of what the younger generation think about the options that are available to them, and to see whether it is improving their knowledge and ability in any way. If the student can't give as many examples as the schooling professional then clearly it isn't having an impact or in reality people are cutting corners.
 (update on 26th of April - I decided to put an older clip of a person with some sort of political power talking about his opinion after the schooling professional as he is the one that helps to set up these options in order to improve skills for when students progress to universities and later life. It also breaks up the interview pattern so that it isn't as repetitive. It then cuts back to the student interview to see whether anything has actually changed).
The interviews are broken down to the individual questions as to disturb the continuity so that it remains interesting and informative. One question is broken down so that before the question has been answered by one person another person's opinion is cut so that there is a direct contrast between answers. The first two interviews relate to the present system of education as I'm currently part of it.

Another short clip of someone walking is shown with written illustration over the top, the fact that there isn't a verbal narrator emphasises on the interviews as other than the backing music there is no speech. The last interview relates to the future as the next step from school is university. I will interview a professor from Warwick Medical School to get his opinion on the skills students possess before and after their time at university.

Example of a documentary

Crossing the line Firstly outline basic information, and a general hypothesis.
Interview with people and saying what the question is to let the viewer understand where the answer has come from. The questioning is happening in the same place in which the issue had arisen, and names and titles of people are shown clearly. A person of higher authority is interviewed and his opinion of what is being done is given, his title is more recognisable as important and therefore his words are focused on in greater detail. More footage of the crossing is shown to show how easy it is to open the barrier and cross, and how it is similar in many other places as well. Although this documentary can be classed as performative as well, as certain aspects such as the film maker being visible to the viewer mean that elements of both modes are used. This could be because this is an amateur production or to create a sense of connection between the film maker and the interviewee, as it was about an issue that had already affected both of them.

Documentary, scripted questions

My documentary is based on whether schools prepare students for the 'real' world. Therefore my questions have to be directly linked to school in order to stay on topic, and get the most relevant answers in the time that I have to conduct the interviews.

I will include information from articles that has been published in newspapers and on the Internet, such as an article in The Guardian which states that the struggle of students is "of no fault of their own" and blame the examination system as it doesn't prepare students for the step from GCSE to A-level. They use quotes of specific people of importance such as an examiner who they quote saying "Of course it's nice if they write an introduction, but they won't get any marks for it." Their hypothesis was about how secondary schools are not adequately preparing students for higher education.

With this in mind my questions should be thought provoking but easy to understand, interpret, explain and expand upon. My interview questions will be open and should be personal as I will be asking students about how they feel, so the topic is specific to them. Although the questions I use will be to prompt a more specific answer as to narrow the interview to a final opinion of the interviewee.

1. Do you think schools prepare students for the real 'world'? (By real world, I mean when students leave education and move onto to university, family or work.) 
2. Why do you think this?
3. Do you think this could be prevented?
4. Do you think everything is being done to teach valuable and necessary life skills? 

To get an overall view of students I will create a simple and short questionnaire to get a basic view and see whether it agrees with my hypothesis or argues against it.
My questionnaire will consist of:

1. Do you think school prepares you for the world after you leave education?
2. What does school do to prepare you for after education?
3. Do you think when you leave school you will be prepared?
4. Do you think more can be done to ensure students are prepared for life after education?
5. What do you think can be done to improve knowledge about life skills necessary after education? 

I will be able to form a basic outline of information which will make it easier to put in statistics from other sources and see whether this is an overall view or just the view of people in this school.

Story...

On the 31st of October 1994 I was born into a seemingly normal family which on the surface looked perfect. Although look deeper and you will find the fragments of the lives of people who have been shattered. At just a couple of months old my so called father decided he didn't want me. My mum suffered for the lack of strength he had so he turned to drugs alcohol and a life of violence, which is no place to bring up a child. On a daily basis my mum suffered abuse and had no where to go and no one to turn to, we were living in Holland and had no money to leave. At around a year old we finally escaped the hurt. We had family again and I grew up in a loving environment where my mum brought me up single handed.

When I was about 11 my mum started to change, she wasn't the stable person that I could rely on and she was finding it harder and harder to look after me. By 12 I cooked for us both, did housework, made sure my mum was ready for work and then walked to school on my own. After a few months of being almost independent I heard my mum say she didn't want to carry on in this life and if she didn't have me then there would be no reason to live. She suffered from depression, well that's what the doctor suspected but then she would change and be full of energy. I would come home from school and she would have painted the whole kitchen and living room, this became a regular occurrence. I was worried and I started to take my mum to the doctors to explain what was happening, he chose to ignore my 'childish' opinion and give her more medication. One day after school I caught my mum crying on the floor staring at the tablets, I wasn't sure what was happening. I called a friend of the family and we stayed at her house for about 12 days. I went to school as usual and when I came back my mum was gone. I couldn't understand why the doctor sent her away, but for the whole night she was away I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat and couldn't think of anything else. Until the age of 13 I never understood what Bipolar disorder was, all I knew was it was something my mum had and that the things she said weren't her fault and that no matter what she still loved me, even though I could see in her eyes she didn't want me around her. I never told anyone about it but my teachers were informed and I distanced myself from most people I knew. At the time a character out of Eastenders had bipolar disorder and everyone was laughing about it, why would I tell people now, when it's not actually funny and I had to live with it everyday. 'It' being a condition in which people go back and forth between periods of a very good or irritable mood and depression, and the mood swings between mania and depression can be very quick sometimes only a second. I never knew when I got home which mum I was going to get. The one who wanted to die or the one who thought she could fly.

My routine consisted of waking up at 7:00am and making my breakfast, going for a shower, getting dressed, waking my mum up at 7:30 although sometimes all she wanted to do was sleep so I would bring her breakfast to her in bed and made sure she had taken her tablets, but I knew to check her mouth to make sure she had swallowed them. I would lay out her clothes for after she had a shower and at 8:00am I helped wash the dishes before going to school. I had been doing this for almost two years, but still had no help from teachers or anyone to check that I was okay about having the responsibility of taking care of my mum. By the time I was 14 she seemed to be more stable in her life, and I could tell that she wasn't faking when she told me she loved me. I had grown used to the daily workload added to school work, the weekly doctors appointments to assess the improvements of the 'condition' like it was something alien and not happening to a person. I have never liked doctors, I think they are incompetent people who read symptoms of illnesses that you can find in a few seconds on the Internet. Two weeks before my 15th Birthday, just to prove I was right the doctor apologised for 'his mistake'. What was I hearing, that the past 4 years of constant work and upset, all the tears and times that I had to do things on my own could have been prevented. The words 'mis diignosed' circled in my head. A major illness had taken up my life when a simple tablet everyday would have been sufficient. One tablet to slow down my mums heart rate and endorphins wouldn't have given an elevated mood or increased energy, and the tiredness of all the hyperactivity.

In spite of all this I was an average child and grew up with manners and respect, but was subjected to weekly conflict between my mum and my nan. I had to go to court and fight so I didn't have to stay at my nans house as she insisted I was being neglected. School was where I could escape and I excelled expectations of below average grades in year 10 GCSE's. It didn't matter to me, I had friends. When I found out I was moving after everything that had happened, I was lost and considered suicide although from previous knowledge of lack off support I didn't tell anyone. Scunthorpe, the place Tinie Tempah has never been to was all I'd ever known, I knew I was safe there. I hated my mum for her decision to move to Coventry with her fiancee but at the same time was happy that she was well and after previous years thats what I wanted, but I didn't say a single word to her for a month. How could she pull me away from my life. I spent my days alone in my room, school had never taught me about moving house or moving schools, only that I was secure if I stayed in the same place. Although at some point we all have to move out and move on to our own lives.

When I started at Stringer, at the time it was the most important time in my life, my final year at GCSE level. Days past, then weeks and I was still quiet and conserved. I didn't know how to act around new people as I didn't know anyone at all, another thing school never prepared me for. After a few months I got to know people who I could relate to and be myself around. I was predicted average grades of C's but never expected to exceed these. When my results came back I got A's and was proud that I made my efforts and sacrifices of a larger social life paid off. A month later I was accepted into sixth form, my life seemed to be going places. All through my life, when something good happened something else would come along and drag me down to reality. A couple of months into sixth form, and two weeks before Christmas my uncle died of a brain tumour. He lived in Holland and we couldn't make it. As usual I didn't tell people how upset I was, and I kept thinking about my dad. He was somewhere in Holland and I wondered after all these years if he ever thought about me, even for a second.

That brings me today.
17 years old, loves to cook, can clean and be independent, ignores doctors and looks on the Internet instead. I know that school didn't prepare me for what I faced and it isn't just me who feels the same. It doesn't teach you how to cope with bereavement or show you how to see the best in what you have, how can you expect students to do all this if you haven't taught them the basic knowledge of life before they leave and go their separate ways into the world. I now know what Bipolar disorder is, how to balance work with other things, how to cope with challenges and work out how to solve them or work around them. If I had been taught the basics of this then I would have been more confident in my choices and be aware of what could be thrown in my path of life. But because of this I know I can achieve something great in difficult circumstances, I still haven't met my dad but thats a complication I can face at a later date, but most importantly, my mum has her health and loves me and I'm optimistic about the future.

This is the inspiration for my documentary. What other milestones am I ill prepared for such as further education and finding work and how does that not only affect me but the rest of the population, and whether anything can be done to improve this.

Modes of Documentary - The expository mode.

The expository mode: This mode focuses on issues in an argumentative frame using a traditional narrative structure, mediated with a narrator who directly addresses the audience. There is a direct and constant relationship between the narration and images or film footage which in concession are in support of the argument of the film. The narrator may also appear as a 'character' for example, in many of David Attenborough's films documenting many issues that affect the planet and it's inhabitants. This helps to show that the issue is important and it does involve the viewer, it also evokes a bigger reaction. It is used to question content that the viewer may be aware of but unsure of what the causes are, in which rhetorical questions are used and later possible answers could be given to build up an understanding of an issue. The purpose of the footage is to strengthen the narrative that is being spoken, so that when a view is given there is evidence to back it up and make it more valid.

This documentary type is used quite frequently, and other media forms such as film features, news stories, and television programs rely on it as a way of transferring information. It is easy to create however can lead to a biased view, although with the footage as evidence this wouldn't be as likely.
Personally I think this mode is most effective for a more serious documentary as you can research your topic or hypothesese and illustrate your findings in a clear and precise way, and then further evaluate and interpretate the information that has previously been found to what it is like now.

Research notes.

Are schools really preparing students for the 'real' world?

 These websites show that there is a trend not only in this country but throughout other parts of the world. Schools are becoming ill prepared for the advances in technology and students become ill prepared for the rise in expectations that come with the move from secondary education to college and sixth form level, and then to university level. In order for students to be equipped with the necessary skills to advance through further education then these skills need to be taught from a younger age and intergrated into other subjects.

The gaurdian: Secondary schools are not adequately preparing students for higher education

This article says "In the past few years there has been extensive debate on "dumbing down" in British secondary-school education. By this it is meant that standards are falling, examinations are universally easier and all students achieve better results". However if you compare viewpoints of students now and their parents, then in most cases the parents may not understand the work their children have been given as the intensity and difficulty of work has increased. So because of this I would argue that this statement is false and would argue that expectations are rising and therefore the standard of work must then have to increase to keep up with this demand. In order to prove my point, I will create a questionnaire and hand it to pupils and their parents. In this time I can ask whether they feel prepared for university and work, and their parents views on whether they feel satisfied with the not the grades their children were getting but the skills that school should be teacher to prepare their children for later on in life.

Are Business Schools Preparing Students for the Real World

In this abstract it notes that Hospitality Programs are failing to meet industry needs for skilled and competent employees. The question that they started with was "Are Business Schools Preparing Students for the real world? The case of 'Hospitality Revenue Managers". They use evidence from the field and start with an answer in which they go on to use relevant information and reasoning to specify certain points that are of 'slow response' and to where improvements can be made. It follows up this information with a mapped out future of what this can result in if it carries on, and how it will effect the individual and the economy.

http://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/schools-prepare-students-for-work-423

The title of this article is 'Schools have a long way to go to prepare students for work' Now the title has caught the attention of the reader, the first paragraph goes on to say which group of people it is most likely to affect. Reports from key researchers is used for example Ofsted, this makes this information stand out, as it has been found from an official source rather than from a secondary and less reliable source. The article is broken down into paragraphs so it is easier to read and understand why that information has been put there, it also helps to highlight individual problems as the headings are a guide to the next pieces of information. Towards the end of the article, it starts to point out what other schools are doing to make sure that help prepare students for work, which helps to point out what other schools can do in order to help in any way they can for their students.

 4thought TV

The documentaries shown here are five minutes long and show a person talking about a topic, popular or not, that is significant to them. They express their view and the views of others as not to show a biased view, and they give evidence to back up the points they are making. It uses mainly rhetoric content in order to get the viewer thinking about their view on the issue as well as look at the other points of view. Information from the papers and on the internet is used to either argue for or against this chosen topic, but alternative arguments are used so that the documentary doesn't become biased. It usually ends with a question which is left deliberately unanswered so that when it has finished, the viewer can continue to think of possible answers and understand that other people can and do have different views to them, and to accept that not everyone is going to agree with what you believe in.

documentry notes

Concrete Circus
Showing a different side to sport and talent in younger people in a way that connects with younger generations.

Forgotten places, ordinary people, sports has now become a popular topic.

Telling of story that helps connect so people have an insight into where it all started, he strayed from social conventions to pursue his dream that in the end he achieved. Showed great determination and put up with injuries. Showing that it is challenging and tough, and that they have to stick to deadlines, it's not all about fun and you have to put effort in and practise.

Personal achievements, sacrifices and views of others around them and how it has affected them and what they think about it.

Publicised certain equipment so became instantly more popular. Made with simple shots that show clearly what is happening and reinforce what is being said, also close up shots of relevant people who are giving their opinion. Shots of people working are used to show how simple it is to do but the lengths they will go to achieve their vision.
Names and occupations are given to make what is being said stand out.
This is not just their dream but they do it for others as well, they don't have many other options for work so they have to get recognition for what they do.
It shows the journey, even filming from point of view shots out the plane window.