JRN 572 - Lecture 14
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Transcript of JRN 572 - Lecture 14
JRN 572 - Researching & Writing the News DocumentaryRich Hanley, Associate ProfessorLecture Fourteen
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• The class concludes this week
with a summary review of material covered since the start of the semester.
• Think of this as a highlight reel of critical points instead of a comprehensive rehashing of what has been covered to date.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• The final version of your draft
script is due finals week. See the date on Blackboard.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• A point of tension in the
documentary field is whether to compose even a draft script before recording begins.
• Our view in this class is the same as that of the BBC: a draft helps shape the idea because it is part of the preparation, or pre-production, process.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• Do documentarians operate
without a draft script? Yes but with great risk.
• What happens most of the time is producers confront a blob of film or video and try to find a story in it. Good luck with that on deadline.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• The BBC emphasizes
preparation, preparation, preparation as the following passage posted in earlier lectures drawn from a BBC Academy writing seminar underscores:
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• “When making long form
documentaries the urge to just get out there and film can be huge, leaving considerations about the script later until the edit. However there are very good reasons to firm up your script before you shoot …
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• “After all, documentaries are all
about storytelling and scripting in the beginning will give you a good plan, allowing you to work out the shots you want to get as well as shape the program during the production process.”
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• Let’s repeat that a final time:
“documentaries are all about storytelling.”
• Without a firm sense of the story, documentarians are guessing that a story exists and do so at their peril.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• “The script may change shape
during the production – you never know what may happen on a shoot,” the BBC recommends.
• But preparation allows for flexibility that “can bring your story together and keep the production on track.”
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• BBC writer Hazel Marshall
summarizes this approach:
• “Good stories don't just happen. You need to know when to be creative and when to be analytical. You need to know what you're looking for and that's when good craft comes into play.”
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• “Good craft” means a firm
process that can be applied is available to all who wish to pursue this form and do so with a fair chance of success.
• The craft process for both news and sports is as follows:
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• Idea formation• Mode of storytelling• Story development research• Archival / b-roll footage research• Pre-interviews• Treatment• Outline• Script drafting
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• For the class, the goal is to write
a draft, pre-production script for a 30-minute documentary.
• But please note the format can be applied to a documentary of any length.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• It all starts with the idea.
• Ideas are easy and are all around us, some drawn from observations, others from reading.
• Writers should always be ready to see an idea in everything in their visual horizon.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• Ideas for documentaries must
be factual and be of relevance to a given audience.
• Try to create an idea that is original and contains at the outset a broad narrative arc.
• Don’t confuse a story idea with a list of things that happened.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• Now comes the hard part. Is the
idea something that can be painted to reality?
• This is the point where preliminary story development and archival and b-roll research begins.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• Results of hat preliminary
research should suggest the mode.
• The most widely-used mode is that of the “voice of god,” or the narrative voice-over, which is the most efficient way to present expository (background facts) information.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• At this point, the research
continues to follow a broad-based approach to see if the idea is original and that there are basic visual elements available.
• In short, validate the idea as something that is original and can be composed as a visual as opposed to textual work.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• The idea must then be tested on
closer, molecular inspection.
• Bernard’s concept of 10 elements as posted in the textbook’s Chapter 3 provides a firm trajectory in testing an idea at the level of firm detail.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• The 10 are: - Access and Feasibility
- Affordability- Passion and Curiosity
- Audience - Relevance - Timeliness
- Visualization
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• The 10 are (continued): - Hook
- Existing Projects - Is This a Film You’d Want to See
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• All of these 10 are important but
some are more important than others.
• For example, Access and Feasibility is at the top of the list for a reason.
• Are the key people accessible and is the idea realistic? If not, move on.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• Affordability is of a great
importance, too.
• Yes, it’s possible to produce, write and direct a documentary for $500.
• But that’s not a competitive production budget for if you wish commercial distribution of the finished film.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• In addition to revealing whether
the idea is in compliance with Bernard’s list of 10 elements, the preliminary research into the idea ought to show broadly whether the concept of the three C’s as identified by Trisha Das are available at the core of the story.
• The three C’s are:
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• Character• Conflict• Change
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• Make sure to honestly test ideas
against all 10 and the three C’s.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• At this point, firm confirmation
or continued identification of potential interview subjects ought to commence in a process known as the pre-interview.
• The pre-interview provides information and will determine whether a person is worth putting on-camera during the production phase.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• Pre-interviews can take place
via phone or email or in-person (depending on geography).
• The responses can be applied to the subsequent steps in paraphrase form, so it is fine if these are informally pursued.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• With the research deepening
and the pre-interviews underway, the scripting process ought to commence with ongoing composition of a treatment.
• A treatment is a summary of a documentary that shows how the story will unfold.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• Please note: the treatment can
serve as container for all your research points including pre-interview material until a point where a solid formulation can be drafted.
• In other words, the treatment is both a process and a goal en route to molding story development and research into visuals into a narrative.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• The treatment should indicate
the flow of the narrative as segmented by the traditional three-act structure as an organizing tool.
• This is where the idea begins to take on a life of its own as for the first time it is rendered in textual form that reveals the shape of a documentary.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• The outline follows the
treatment.
• This textual device organizes the information as it is presented point-by-point in a form that can serve as a blueprint for the script.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• The script itself should be
drafted next.
• It must be rendered in two columns, with the video on the left and the audio on the right in draft form.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• There is no expectation that the
draft script will be the final script, as research continues, new material emerges and filming commences.
• But it serves the purpose of forcing the fact that the writer must write to pictures and, as such, needs to calibrate the writing to that form.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• The draft script also serves as
yet another test, or validation point, for the idea.
• Is there enough “cover” or video for expository material?
• That’s just one question the draft answers. As such, it can enhance preparation when production begins.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• In short, matching the
information with the visual elements at this stage provides a good test of the writer’s capacity to imagine how a documentary will look when linked to factual material posted in the script.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• It’s important to recognize that
in factual, visual storytelling, the script is never finalized until the end of post-production, when the documentary is locked for distribution.
• But the drafting process that begins in pre-production is essential to making sure a story is well-told.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• That’s the process, and that’s
what we have covered in class this semester.
• To be sure, the tension about whether to script or not to script, to pre-interview or not to pre-interview, will persist in some quarters.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• But if you wish to be successful
in the craft of writing and researching (and producing and directing) documentary films, you would need to know two things:
- You can never have enough cover.
- You can never have too much preparation.
JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review:• Writing and researching for a
draft script will guarantee that you will be successful on those two points.
• Thanks for a great semester and please consider producing your ideas for the screen!