Identifying Your Audience

A potential audience member for my project could be Gary McGam. Gary is a quiet yet active family man who is in his mid 30's. Alongside spending time with his family, Gary enjoys watching Youtube videos and socialising on Facebook. Gary has an interest in researching into peoples history.
Gary likes to watch documentaries about sport and nature, he also enjoys watching family drama's. His favourite TV program is "who do you think you are?" and his favourite movie is "Dear Zachary".

I am going to create a documentary about my sister Jackie, who is a sports lecturer at Southampton university, she was adopted at four years old and is now finding out about her history. I will also include things about family life and focus on the dramatic events that have happened to her.

This idea 'fits' Gary because he is passionate about family. I also think that his like for dramatic documentaries like 'Dear Zachary' will encourage him to watch the film and also because he will be able to relate to many of the subject areas that will be covered within the documentary such as family issues.

I will create a facebook page that links my youtube page and my blog. I will place a trailer onto these websites and then eventually the finished piece. I will monitor the hits that these pages receive to accumulate information about the people who may be interested in watching this documentary, I feel that many people will be similar to Gary.  I will also focus my advertising on facebook and youtube because this will be where my audience will access the trailers etc.

To reach my audience I am going to create a blog just for people to follow the production, I will then post regular updates. I would also like to make a trailer that I can link on the blog. A poster would also be another way to get peoples interest. In addition to that I am going to create and interactive family tree, so that people can look at and find out more about Jackie's family before the piece is actually viewed.

I would like to place information about the project on a website that I will create, I think that this would be an ideal location for the interactive family tree and regular updates on the project. I will also create youtube and vimeo pages so that I can post trailers and viral videos for people to view, I would also like to link these videos to the website. Another route I could try would be to get my trailers into blogs such as 'its nice that' to try and generate some interest behind them.

The Simpsons - The 'Perfect family' research

'The Simpson's' is a comic American animated TV series about a family living in the eventful town of Springfield. It features the family from day to day as they negotiate a series of surreal adventures. The Family consists of five members, a dog and a cat. The husband, 'Homer Simpson' is an ape like man, who is famed for liking beer and cannot control his anger. The mum, 'Marge Simpson', is a stay-at-home 'mom' who nags the children, and primarily looks after the house and well-being of the family. 'Bart Simpson', is the reckless son who always seems to be in trouble for his countless pranks, in several episodes it is suggested that he has ADHD. Daughter 'Lisa Simpson', is the nerdy child prodigy who loves animals and music. In addition to the main characters, silent baby 'Maggie', Grandad 'Abe', cat 'Snowball 2' and Dog 'Santa's little helper' all make up the family 'Simpson'.

 Matt Groening created 'The Simpsons' in 1987 as a filler for 'The Tracey Ullman Show' after being contacted by James L.Brooks. He based most of the characters on members of his family, and even named them all accordingly. In 1989 the show became a FOX network, half hour prime TV show, with more characters being introduced, including the 'comic book guy' whom Groening claims is some-what of a self portrait. 



Original 1987 animation



 Each member of the 'Simpson' family is completely different in multiple ways, whilst 'Homer' is the very typical angry dad, always thinking of himself,his stomach and leading the family into thoughtless encounters, 'Marge' is on the other end of the spectrum. As the mother, she is the glue that holds the family together, ensuring that things are carefully planned, she also admirably tolerates 'Homers' Oafish-ness. As the family terror, 'Bart' lives up to his role of the typical naughty son. He pulls pranks on his father purely to wind 'Homer' up and then cackles at the result of being chased because of it, and also repeatedly annoys most members of the animated town of 'Springfield'. Next youngest, is 'Lisa' who is a very bright young daughter, and usually displays her annoyance at the family's disregard for the environment and the arts. Youngest of the Family is the small baby 'Maggie' who interestingly never seems to make a noise, although she communicates using facial expressions and the help of her pacifier. However in one episode, she displays a possible 'prodigy' side ("smart and smarter" - episode no. 326), and this gives an indication that she may take after her older sister. Described individually, these family members seem like they are worlds apart. However, when put together in different situations, they seem to work as a family unit. At times, they annoy and frustrate each other when the episodes problem is first presented but ultimately pull together by realising each others strengths at the end.

 I think that although 'The Simpsons' definitely do not conform the media's idea of 'the perfect family', they are a good indication of the typical family. Speaking to Los Angeles times, shortly before the 500th episode was due to be aired, creator Groening told writer 'Robert Lloyd' that "James L. Brooks insisted from the very beginning that the characters had to be real and if it were just a cartoon he wasn't interested in pursuing it". I think that this outlines the writers desire to create a family that everyone who was watching the show could relate to, therefore creating the almost impossible to achieve 'perfect family' stereotype would have been foolish because viewers would not have been able to find a connection.



Current 2012 animation



 In 'The Simpsons', as previously discussed, the family are all very individual but also gel together as a family. This is reinforced by the use of aesthetics during each episode. As is commonly known, 'The Simpsons' are animated yellow characters, this was a choice suggested by one of the animators, and was well received by the production team. Although this was a choice only to differ the animation characters from other cartoons, I think it denotes comedy and playfulness, enhancing the comic aspects of the episodes. Other aspects of the episodes that depicts the characters are; the opening credits - where the characters are each shown interacting with other residents of Springfield and gives a snapshot of their personality; the theme tune - is playful and matches the speed of the chaos that surrounds the family, in parts the tune is also of-key which shows the the family are slightly dysfunctional; the characters clothing - is usually the same in episodes, almost denotes the repetitiveness of the way that the family continue to argue then make up, then argue again in every episode. Using the same clothing also allows the family to be well known for the sake of merchandising.

 I think that this has helped me to develop my research because it has shown that there can be different ways of depicting a family, and also has given me some ideas on the different ways that I can introduce significant characters in my documentary. Watching the way that family dynamics is presented during this animation has also given me some ideas on the differences of opinion about the idea of 'the perfect family' amongst animators and moving image producers. I think that by looking at the time-scale that each story each episode story is told within, it has given me an idea of how long it takes to tell a story. This could possibly affect the time-scale I choose to tell my story.

"Little Miss Sunshine" - The perfect family research

 "Little Miss Sunshine" is a 2006 adventure/comedy/drama that tells the story of a dysfunctional family that race across America in their VW camper to get their daughter to a beauty pageant in California. At the start of the film, we find out that 'Olive' (the youngest daughter) has progressed from an interstate beauty pageant, to the next level of competition and that she must travel to California to compete. After being introduced to the family dynamics, including a homosexual uncle who tried to kill himself; a brother who has taken a vow of silence; a stressed out mum; a failing dad and the heroin addicted grandad, seven year old Olive seems to be the only undisturbed member of the family.
 Directed by husband and wife team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, 'Little Miss Sunshine' was released in the USA in 2006, shortly followed by a release in most parts of the world. Produced by Fox Searchlight Pictures, with an estimated budget of $8,000,000 , this mainstream black comedy has reportedly won over 50 awards, including 2 Oscars.
 With a cast of well know stars, including Greg Kinnear (You've got mail, Ghost town), Alan Arkin (Get Smart, Edward Scissorhands) and Steve Carell (40 year old virgin, Despicable Me), Abigail Breslin who plays their young daughter 'Olive' was a new face to the screen, having only previously starred on screen in small roles, most memorably as 'Sarah Davis' in the 2004 'Raising Helen'. Aged just 8 years old during her portrayal of the innocent girl 'Olive' experienced co-stars claimed in USA today that they "were astounded by her seriousness of purpose during shooting" and writer Claudia Puig announced she felt that had "Olive had been played by any other little girl, she would not have affected us as mightily as it did". I think that the casting of this film really affected the success of this film.
 In the pre-production stages of this film, writer Michael Arndt came to producers from Big Beach productions with a screenplay, and they were "instantly disarmed by the offbeat but distinctly American family...that thrived in spite of themselves." The Big Beach producers teamed up straight away with Bona Fide Production, who also felt drawn in to the cutting raw humour of the screenplay, and started to help develop the characters into people that every member of the audience could relate to. This film was created with the intention of seeming as non stereotypical as possible whilst actually portraying the stereotypical American family, this is visible in the directors notes as they describe the characters "A motivational speaker who can seem to motivate anyone"  "a divorcee who struggles to keep her second attempt at a family together" and "recently suicidal after a downward spiral". I think that, although very amplified and outrageous, these differences in character, outline the differences that every family in the world faces.
 During the film, all of the family members lives become more entwined as we get deeper into the story, however at the beginning we are introduced to the characters one by one. I really like the way that each character is built up individually first, and then we see them all as a family for the first time at the dinner table, and we watch as they have an awkward conversation that erupts into and argument about suicide and the appropriateness of the conversation. I think that this sets the basis for the film, and eases the audience into the darkly comic ideas of the writers. I think that directors Dayton and Faris chose to introduce the characters this way so that the audience could be shown how each character was individual in their own way, and how this ultimately results in an unstable family.
 An old yellow VW van is the focal point of the family's travel and transport, and whilst adding the comical element of being broken, and the family having to run to catch up and get into it, I think that the van also has another meaning. According to a review by Vicky Luzon - "an old VW van typical of the 1960s and 1970s, a time when the Conservative idea of perfection had not yet taken hold" I think that this history combined with the family running for the van almost denotes the family running to find and catch up with perfection.
 The directors have twisted the popular "perfect family" scenario of a mum, a dad, a daughter and a son, by adding a grandad and an uncle. I think that they have done this to portray a more realistic example of the 'American family' and therefore relate to a larger audience. I also think that this sense of an "un-perfect family" also adds to the awkwardness of the whole character dynamic.
 In contrast to that, as the movie progresses the family begin to seem more alike and then as 'Olive' performs her naive yet suggestive dance at the end of the pageant, we finally see the family come together as a whole and support her amidst all of the perfect "beauty pageant queens" because they see her as perfect for their family of "weirdos". This whole outcome is accompanied by a musically descriptive soundtrack, with the list of songs containing emotive music such as "No One Gets Left Behind" and "We're Gonna Make It" by Mychael Danna and DeVotchKa. I think that the producers chose to use this selection of music because it encourages and allows the audience find a connection with the family and therefore root for them to not only make it to the competition, but to make it as a family.
 Summary
The family is depicted:

- Through use of odd clothing/costumes , i.e Olive's basketball uniform.
- By using quick cuts between characters to denote awkwardness and sharpness
 The family are over all depicted as a geeky and out of place American family. This is shown through the use of language and script, the way that the characters relationships are introduced and also the overall story and outcome.
Watching this film has been helpful towards the research for my project because it was an example of an un-perfect family who eventually accepted each other, it has also enforced my idea of the perfect family dynamic being a mum, dad, son and daughter, but have realised that this is infact not a realistic view of family, "Little Miss Sunshine" outlines the real idea of 'family'. I hope that I can research more into the public view of the perfect family, but this has been a really good start to finding out the movie industry's take on that idea, as futher research I am going to look into the cartoon/animation depiction of family.

Initial Ideas

Because of the freedom we were given to create our own piece with little guidance, I decided early on that I wanted to do some form of documentary because of previous experiences in that genre. Having had troublesome documentary projects before, I wanted to use this last project to overcome the problems I could possibly face and finish with a good piece of work.
 I played around with the idea of a artistic documentary that outlined the peoples view of "truth", I wanted to explore how much of what the government tells us is true, and pry into the conspiracy theories that circulate previous events in the UK. However after a little research on the Internet, and trawling through a search of over 20 million hits, I decided that the subject was too broad for the type of project I wanted to create, and I would not be able to get in contact with the correct people.
 I then started to think a little closer to home, and realised I wanted to create a simple documentary about someone in my family. I first decided on my grandad, because I had never met either of my grandad's, and felt like a personal journey to discover more about them would be a good thing to document. However this idea had to be abandoned because my Nan decided she didnt want to participate, and without her getting information would be difficult.
 Eventually I came to my sister. She lives in Southampton and my dad adpoted her when she was about four, she has had two children and I only recently discovered that she wasn't a blood relative.
 I dont know much about her history, and the rest of her family, so I decided to create a documentary that follows as I discover about her as a child, growing up and being a young adult in the rebellion years.
 Therefore I propose to do a project that looks at how the media and movie industry portrays "the perfect family" whilst creating a documentary about a young girl who was adopted.

Mobile Monday - 5 second Film

The five second film that we were asked to create was surprisingly difficult to plan because it only allowed a short time frame to tell a story. I chose to use a video that I had previously filmed because within my final major I wish to use old footage captured by members of my family. I think that this was a good starting point to experiment with the use of old footage that might not have been intended for this use. I wanted to try and manipulate the footage to create a new story.

 My five second video features three characters who are directing themselves towards the cameras making faces and moving in peculiar ways. I decided on these pieces of footage because their body movements and facial expressions introduce them as characters, in my final major project I hope to be able to introduce the subject "characters" in the correct way.

 The purpose of my FMP is to develop and present all of the skills that I have learnt during the two year of the course. I have had multiple problems whilst creating a documentary before so this time I would like to prove that I can overcome problems and produce a good piece of film. I would like to use this project also to challenge myself into researching in-depth, creating a piece that is memorable, and using the resources that are available to me to fully plan this project and production.

Promises to myself:

- Use the resources and equipment available to me to achieve the best results.

- Do not allow work to pile up and complete work at my highest standard.

- Look for a solution to every problem.