Story board

This is our story board made my Ceri-beth and myself, it is subject to change as we are still coming up with new ideas to make it more interesting such as creative transitions and story line.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_am6SP4E80

Production studio research

Run the world festival

Run the world festival 

Run the world festival is an event thats held annually in Qatar. Its an event that takes place in Katara a iconic spot in Qatar. Run The World Festival has been operating successfully for the last 5 years in Qatar, making it the largest youth festival in the Middle East!

Run The World Festival has brought youth in Qatar together to deliver, showcase and work with:

• 500+ Artists and Talents
• 70+ Nationalities of Organising Team of Youth
• 250+ Young Interns
• 150+ Startups and Vendors
• 80 Trusted Sponsors and Partners
• 250,000+ youth visitors 

5 key elements around the world that bring youth together to craft a constructive impact:

• Arts
• Culture
• Entrepreneurship
• Technology
• Sports

This includes action sports such as BMX and skateboarding. Its a great event that brings the community together normally hosting a small competition with amazing prizes from large sport/skate companies in Qatar. They set up a small with skateboarding ramps and rails. Also when the free event isn't on its open to the public and people from all over Qatar come to watch and skateboarding being one of the main attractions with live performances from Redbull athletes and load music. 

Plot summary

Casting choice

Cast

Our film is about a skater called Kamel Zara, he is the main focus and is the only cast in the film. Kamel is a male, aged 23 with dark black hair and is currently working for an engineering company here in Qatar. Kamel has a slim build and is 5"11. Kamel studied engineering at College of the North Atlantic here in Qatar and has lived here all his like even though he is originally from Palestine.

Social media research

The image to the left is an up to date list of social media users from 2015, generally, the most popular social media websites are listed on the left. These are the most visited websites. 

However, this will not help promoting our short film documentary as it may not target our audience directly. Some websites used are also not relevant to the film industry and marketing so they will not be relevant to promoting short film documentaries. Some of the top social media websites are though, even if it's not aimed directly at a skating audience, our film is also aimed at teenagers.

Because of this i have decided to create a small questionnaire for my demographic finding out what social media sites they use the most to watch films.
For our specific audience it would be a shorter social media list, just including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Flickr would also be on there. Whatsapp is also a large social media input but less so for us to be able to promote our short film. 

Primary research 

This table shows that the most used social media site to watch videos is YouTube. Launched in May 2005, YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small. This platform allows us to get instant feedback from viewers using the comment section, also an easy way to share the video on other social media sites. 

Even though the most popular site to watch videos is youtube its not the most popular in general, from this information we have decided to make several social media accounts to spread the video while promoting the film and the production company. 

Website sitemap

The website sitemap is a plan of how we are going to lay out our website, making it easy for any viewer to navigate and find what they are looking for. Planning it before hand will mean we can plan about how we are going to advertise, as you can see to the right we have chosen to link any social media sites and also to the left of that our trailer which we hope will convince the audience to want to watch it.

Prop & Equipment list

This is a list of the equipment and Props needed to produce our documentary. 

Costume planning

For the short film there is no real fixed costume for the skater Kamel Zara. Because skating is a sport much like football and the younger generation tent to find father figures and people they look up to. This consists of wanting to dress like them so pro skaters come out with pro model skateboards, shoes and clothes. Skateboarding has stayed true as a sport but has largely become commercialised via large competitions and clothing brands that back extreme sports like DC shoes and Quicksilver. These are extreme sport companies that also have their foot in the skateboarding field but also work within other action sports such as surfing and snowboarding. Other companies like Thrasher and Grizzly are predominantly skateboarding but also have clothing thats based on the skateboarding fashion. Thrasher for example also has a magazine that they release monthly and features pro or up coming skaters and also sell their goods or others that pay for advertising.

To conclude Kamel Zara is a skater and has been the majority of his life and there fore dresses like a skateboarder, even though he doesn't feel like he does because he's become accustom to that life style. So as long as he comes dressed as he normally would then thats the costume plan.

Website homepage draft

Front page

A video will be on repeat on the front page. It consists of loads of bouncy balls being dropped onto a skateboard thats then reversed. This video relates to our documentary via the skateboard but its mostly a visual effect that will also present in the film.

This page will clearly represent cast, this consists of Film makers, directors and any features such as Kamel the skateboarder. There will be photos showing the viewer what they look like creating a more personal connection.

A small introduction about the artist and any social media links to promote the artist. Also a small description of why we chose the music such as atmosphere and the mood it sets.

This page is about the documentary with a small synopsis of it. Describing the storyline and location in the hopes to interest any viewer to watch the film 

Film name

This is our Logo and name for our film designed by Ceri-Beth and i. The minimalistic professional design reflects the cinematic look we are trying to produce; high quality production and post.

The black and white logo links with the Production company logo Madbuddha following a simple colour scheme that will also be seen on the website and any other content produced like the film postcard. Having a colour scheme that flow through all content allows the viewer to quickly identify the similarity and but two and two together creating a strong brand image. 

Shot list

Film postcard design

This is a rough design of the film postcard that will be used to promote the Documentary and also give the viewers an idea of what the film is about in the hopes to make them want to watch it.

Key information is present like Production company name, Film title, small description to interest viewers and and features plus directors.

A eye catching image representing Qatar (desert) and skateboarding making it clear to the viewer what the documentary is about.

We will follow a colour scheme of black and white with a hint of gold linking in the desert and its famous sunsets and rises (golden hour)

About Kamel Zara

Kamel Zara

Kamel Zara is a Palestinian born male aged 23. He is currently living in Qatar and has lived here all his life. He is sponsored by Quicksilver and DC shoes in Qatar, he graduated in 2014 from CNAQ.

Location Planning

Ceri-Beth and i talked about locations that we will use in our documentary, this is our list.

All locations are in Qatar and each are very identifiable by architecture, they are also major hot spots will this will interest the local audience.

Analysing editing

         Kilian Martin: Searching Sirocco

This short film is made by Brett Novak a filmmaker and skateboarder. The short film explores Kilian Martin a freestyle skateboarder traveling all over from the urban city, to a desert and even a snow climate. The juxtaposition of the locations compliments the visual pleasure and interesting the audience. 

The editing used throughout is very fluid using continuity editing. An example of continuity editing is the creative traditions. From the beginning to 0:25 Kilian is shown in an isolated snow climate, he them gets stuck in the snow and the camera pans down and out and Kilian is seen falling into a desert climate. This is a vast contact in terms of location. This visual transition is continuity because it flows while the location is very obviously changing at 0:30. This is not the last time this type of transition is used and i feel its very effective in making the film more visually pleasing and making the film more interesting for the viewer, i would like to recreate transiting like this in my work.

The use of ramping (ramping is the process of progressively speeding up or slowing down the frame rate in your video footage) amplifies the trick (1:45). With the use of non-diegetic sound it creates a cereal moment which feels life time is slowing down even more than it has been. The slow motion makes the trick seem more elegant and the tricks seem to flow. The whole flowing vibe that is also found in his skating style is helped by the cinematic shots edited in-between the tricks amplifies this vibe by using slow camera movement like pans.

2:02 is another example if the creative transitions. This time he goes from a vast, isolated desert to an urban translation then into the city. This mass contrast is present throughout the different locations giving a mew fresh feel to each new scenery. Non-diegetic sound also changed when the scenes change. In the desert it is more of a magical soundtrack, somewhat mysterious and unknown. The song is very mellow and adds to the loneliness of the location creating a personal connection with the skater and really showing his passion for the sport. And on the other hand when he transitions to the urban landscape, the volume increases (beat drops) adding to the juxtaposition.

A huge part of making the transitions work is framing them correctly, they did this by making the skater do the same running and jumping on the skateboarding in the two locations. Another key rule is not to break the 180 degree rule which they haven't above.

The continuity editing helps tell the story to the viewer making it easy for them to follow. It does this by implying a spacial relationship and ensuring a smooth flow from shot to shot. This helps to create realism making the editing invisible so the tricks seem real and not constructed. Using this editing technique will allow our subject to be portrayed even more casual while enhancing the viewers experience and amplifying the tricks.

Match on action is used to help tell the story. The film shows the skater traveling to different locations, using match on action helps tell the story, showing the subject skating to new areas. This helps the film flow and works well with the continuity editing, taking the viewer on the journey with the skater.

Most transitions used apart from the major location changes are cuts. This is common when filming skateboarding to help the viewer keep up with the tricks. If cuts aren't used non-continuity will be present and that breaks up the storyline which isn't good.

3:42 a fade transition is used when Kilian jumps over a drain in the city into a salt lake. The fade helps to imply a passage of time and location. Promoting a dreamy effect by the use of smoke and a fade, exaggerating perhaps what a character is thinking or even a dream. 

Sound editing

Visual
Time	2:47-2:56	3:44	5:05- 5:15
Image	Skater performing a trick.	Skating	Slow motion pan up to sky, with birds flying
Music	The music is arranged to collaborate with the start of the skaters trick. The music mellows and a traumatic narration that is already in the music narrated via a female voice, then the music is begins again after the small cinematic section.	The volume increases playing a non-diegetic song. The song is more prominent than the diegetic sounds produced by the skateboard.	Music slowly fades and left with an extended note on a guitar.
Effect	This working with the slow motion makes the trick more dramatic by impacting the viewer and making it more interesting. This collaboration makes the trick more dramatic. Once the music dulls and the narration is played it created tension, the woman’s voice sounds distressed and is a complete juxtaposition of the slow motion visuals. Once the music starts again the first image seen is the skater performing a new trick just like the beginning. This adds pace to the skateboard trick and makes it seem more exciting for the viewer.	Because the song is upbeat and has a magical tone, it makes the tricks seem more elegant and smooth, creating a cereal atmosphere that grasps the viewers and draws them into an ‘out of this world’ experience because of the magical sound track and synergy with the skateboard tricks. The positive atmosphere created by the music is very effective in intriguing the audience and making it more interesting, also makes the tricks seem more flowing.	This helps the viewer understand that it’s the end and actually makes it more dramatic. Kind of like the end of a rollercoaster; once you’ve completed the ride you have those few seconds that you move slowly before getting off, you reflect on the ride, amplifying positivity and makes you leaving wanted to go again! (in this case re watch it)
Diegetic/non-diegetic sound	Non-diegetic	Non diegetic song mixed with diegetic sounds produced by the skateboard. If the diegetic sound via the skateboard was absent it makes the tricks seem weird. But having the song more prominent really enhances the viewers experience by combining both visual and sound.
Dialogue	No dialogue just a woman’s voice that is a part of the non-diegetic music.	No dialogue

Logo

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 - 0

2 - 1

3 - 5

4 - 1

5 - 4

6 - 1

The most preferred colour scheme for our logo was number 3. 

Moodboard

Audience Profile

For our short film we need to analysing our audience, this will help discover information that can help to build 
common ground between us and the audience and target them via Mise en scene and advertising such as the postcard and where to show trailers etc. 

Our demographic is based on the skateboarding audience, this audience is stereotypical male because its a male dominated sport. Even though skateboarding is mostly male we will also target women in our sub demographic that will be target because Qatar is being represented. 

The skateboarding audience is 12 - 20 year old males, this is the age where skateboarding seems to peak, this includes the skaters and also customers that buy skate related apparel. We are going to target the male and female demographic by the inspirational story and the relatable subject that connects to the audience emotionally. Hard core skaters will be interested in the raw skate-footage like the tricks and the motivation to get back up and keep trying, even if your body is wounded much like whats seen in 'WE ARE BLOOD'. In our focus group this aspect seemed to attract the audience the most, male and female. This will be a good way to connect to both genders and expand our demographic.

Male

Kareem, age 13, student. Kareem has be skateboarding for 8 years and lives in Qatar, Kareem will be targeted via his knowledge of tricks and will look up to the subject and relate to the story being told of skating in Qatar; its positives and negatives.

Female

Ceri-Beth, age 17, student living in Qatar. Ceri-Beth will be target via cinematography and will be interested in the emotional story being told. She will relate to key locations the documentary will be filmed in.

Focus group video

Collaboration: 

Joe: filmer 

Ceri-beth: Questions

Questionaire summary

Our target audience shown from this data is 16-20 year olds. And a large 60% are interested in documentaries, this means we have a large target audience to work with.

The vast majority of our audience seem to think a unique story line is the most important thing and makes a documentary more interesting. Exploring skateboarding in Qatar is a very unique topic and hasn't really been explored before. Especially an in depth exploration of a local skater with their ups and downs.

A casual interview was the most preferred style of interview and i feel it will suit our over all theme better and the skateboarding culture in general. Because its an emotional topic that the subject will be exploring a casual interview will work best and will make the story line more believable and create a personal connection with the viewer. The audience decided a mix between the documentary being about the skaters life and the location will work the best, and we agree. 

Ceri-Beth wrote the questions and was then sent out via social media for our target audience to answer.

Synergy in a documentary

We are blood 

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4542660/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Website: http://www.weareblood.com/

Story

Beginning

Who: Kamel Zara a Palestinian skateboarder who has been in Qatar all his life. He is currently working for a engineering company working long hours and receiving minimal pay. His dream is to follow is passion of skateboarding and turn it into a career.

Interview style introducing himself with the editing style of the short documentary skateboarding in Madagascar.

This shows the skater, his name and also a video of him skateboarding. I hope to create the same kind of visual effect when introducing Kamel.
Where: All footage will be captured in Qatar and the audience will be made aware of this by cinematic establishing shots of the city skyline and iconic architecture. Much like the establishing shots seen in we are blood;

Middle