Documentary: Target Audience and Statement of Intent

The text below that describes our target audience is written by Maxi but the statement of intent of Dave(s) shown in this blog post is written by me (Nayana)

Target Audience

Our first concept of the documentary we're going to make is called "Dave". It is a mockumentary that features 6 individuals, all named Dave, who all go to the same school. The 6 Daves all have drastically different personalities, problems, and strengths. Some are timid, some are very egotistic, some play basketball, some are nerds, etc. Once they find out that they all share the same name, they decide that they're going to have a competition, and whoever wins gets to keep the name. The opening of the documentary will focus on the introductions to the characters in the style of an interview, which we plan will intrigue audiences as they may be shocked at how different all the Dave's are, despite sharing the same name. We hope that our documentary will show people how everyone lives their own life, and that life doesn't revolve around a single person. Furthermore, we want to show different students can be from each other, even though they all go to the same school. We aim that through this opening introduction to our characters, we will be able to give all our audience members a way to see themselves in our characters and to resonate with their struggles, problems, strengths, and more, which will have them captivated to keep watching the documentary. 

The target audience for this documentary will comprise high schoolers, between the ages of 15 to 25, from a multitude of races but more specifically Asians. This is because the cast of the documentary will all be a part of this demographic of people. The psychographics of our audiences will vary quite heavily though as all the Daves will have very different personalities. Many different audiences will be able to relate to these characters as they may see themselves in them. For example, teenagers who are nerds and play video games will see themselves in one Dave, while jocks who love going to the gym will see themselves in another. This goes as well for their attitudes, and lifestyles, as some Dave's may be really outgoing, productive, and cool, while other Dave's will be introverted, shy, and unconcerned. 

Our documentary aims to be satire and be a form of diversion for audiences as the characters of the documentary are all intended to get a laugh out of audiences. However, one key purpose of the documentary is that we want to show audiences/tell them to never judge a book by its cover and to embrace diversity, no matter how different you may be from someone, as everyone has their own place in society. 

Since our target audience comprises such a young group of people (Gen Z), their media consumption habits most likely are heavily based on social media platforms, and streaming services. They will most likely want to watch our documentary on services like Netflix, or maybe YouTube, as it will allow them easy access to our documentary by providing it on a platform they are used to. Distributing it on social media will also allow them to share it, talk about it to their friends, and more. 

As previously mentioned, our documentary is mainly catered toward teens/young adults. Thus if an audience member is a part of that age group, they'll be caught up with all the references to modern pop culture that may be included. But, if an audience member is outside of that age group, they will need to know about the habits of Gen Z kids, the different stereotypes that are associated with them, etc. 

We aim to make our documentary as accessible and inclusive as possible, to allow as many people to watch and get a laugh out of it. So, we plan on including subtitles as well as having a Dave with a disability to further represent this group of audience members. 

When watching the documentary, we hope audience members will realize how diverse we all are as people. How not one single group is better than another, and to realize that we are all perfect in different ways. We hope that audiences will be able to get a laugh out of the documentary, due to its unserious and playful nature, but we also hope to instill the message of diversity and hopefully allow them to gain a new perspective on life that will guide them to interact, talk to, and make friends with people/groups of people that they may usually never talk to, due to preconceptions in their heads about them that our documentary hopes to eradicate.

Statement of Intent

As mentioned, this mockumentary focuses on 6 very contrasting high school students who have the same name "Dave" as they fight to see who deserves to be the best Dave. Our hook in this introduction is the interview with all different personality Dave who corresponds to the usual stereotype we see in school through the representations we try to achieve - crypto (nerd), quiet (creepy and emo), muscle (athlete), player (popular jock), happy (LGBTQ), soft boy (kind and shy). This builds a juxtaposition of how the same name can express so many different kinds of personalities. This broadens our targeted psychographic as we cater to many types although our demographic remains the same - people from age 15 to 25, active social media users, and have previous knowledge of the expressed culture which is Gen-Z meme culture.

As we create a mockumentary, we want to explore the comedic effects we can have, adding montages that are satirical and implicitly funny showcasing all of Daves' absurdity, and embracing the differences each character may have. Through our interviews, we also want to highlight how they are living in the same school environment and know each other (on a daily basis) through the replies other Dave may have to the words another gave during the interview, This will express that everyone is still friendly and not actually a serious competition. 

This product will be distributed directly to streaming platforms online like YouTube, Netflix, and Disney+. This is to accommodate our target audience who are most likely to already be technologically literate and their preference to use social media platforms. This will also allow them to interact with the media and other people such as sharing the content or leaving reviews, building social relationships as stated by the uses and gratification theory from Blumler and Katz.

By defining our target audience and statement of intent, we clearly know what is the aim of our mockumentary and we can work diligently towards that direction to successfully attract and engage with the target audience.

Quick Cuts


This post (written by Nayana) contains my understanding and practical work about quick cuts.

A "quick cut" sequence in the film is a series of rapid, short shots edited together with dynamic camera angles and movements. Its purpose is to create urgency, excitement, and intensity, often used in action scenes or tense moments. This technique engages the audience, heightens emotions, and visually stimulates, effectively conveying fast-paced energy within the narrative.
Edgar Wright
The film director Edgar Wright employs quick cuts to give life to mundane situations. For example, he adds energy and dynamism to simple everyday tasks like getting ready, going to the bathroom, and filling in paperwork. Another technique is to mix the quick cuts with shots of a longer duration for comedic effect, as well as adding a crash zoom to the shots. Some of his films are; Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, and Baby Driver

My Example




Me and my teammate, Sharon decided to make a short clip about a student who had to get a last-minute signature on their group's paperwork. The brief asked us to make a boring school task to be made more energetic and dramatic using quick cuts. This project was the first for us to make together and I found it really fun as we work well together and it was easier for us to connect our ideas and our skills to make this video. Sharon made the storyboard which we used throughout the shoot and I helped being in the video with simple added directions. 

I am quite proud of a lot of the scenes as I felt it was very fun and matched well with the music. I also really liked the shaky shot we did while running to the teacher's lounge as it showed how panicky and rushed the emotion were during the action. Although I had a lot of struggles with using sound effects because I couldn't match them well enough hence why there are barely any sound effects so I want to learn more about how to incorporate the sound effects in the shot. Many of the shots actually didn't match with the music perfectly which was a bit bothering but it was good enough for satisfaction. I also felt confused when to use smash zoom, normal zoom or no zoom so that may made the video felt a bit more awkward.

I might want to propose to use these quick cuts in our actual documentary project as I feel it is perfect for a lot of the scenes but it may make it not look like a documentary and more like a sitcom.

Documentary: Plan and Progress

Here contains the weekly progress of our documentary project, which includes the timeline that we ideally should follow. 



Week 2, 28/07/2023
- 3 small analyses of documentaries
- introduction to the documentary project
- homework: watch an episode of a documentary

Week 3, 04/08/2023
- we watched American Vandal
- learned how to make a big analysis of a documentary
- made American Vandal big analysis
- made our teams and decided on a theme (mockumentary)
- homework: make a big analysis of a mockumentary

Week 4, 11/08/2023
- we start our brainstorming for the documentary: high school, social media, drama, friend groups
- we learned about how to make the target audience
Problem: we have no clue what to do
Solution: we will have to discuss more with our missing team member (Timo)
To Do: we will have to have a decision by next Wednesday so we will discuss a lot more until then

Week 5, 18/08/2023
- I was absent

Week 6, 25/08/2023
- we continue our storyboard and screenplay
- we decided on a filming schedule
Problem: getting our casts together, finishing our screenplay storyboard, confirming the filming schedule
Solution: ask all our cast and finalize everything
To Do: ask our cast and film next week, here is our schedule:
  • August 28 - 30: Maxi and Timo argument
  • September 1, 4-7: Other Dave scenes
  • September 8: Danny (Crypto Dave)
Week 7, 1/09/2023
- We finished half a scene before Maxi and Danny had to leave for Bangkok
- Did conceptual drawing for our thumbnails
- Did trial shots and might lead to different places for everyone
- Started our critical self-reflection
Problem: Maxi left us with an unfinished screenplay so our flow is very disturbed
Solution: Maxi needs to finish his screenplay and use social media to keep in contact
To Do: Finish our tasks and shoot 

Week 8, 8/09/2023
- We started our shoot and have done 80% of our scenes
- Updated our blogposts: development, research
- Finalized our thumbnail design and elements
Problem: One of our major Dave (Danny) got sick so we need to push our last shot to Monday
Solution: Push shoot back to Monday
To Do: Finish shoot and start editing

Week 9, 13/09/2023
- We finally finished our shoot and can get started with editing
- We did the photoshoot for the thumbnail
- We started editing our thumbnail with the final typeface for "Dave(s)" and got the animation
Problem: Danny was sick on Monday and on Tuesday, he didn't have time to shoot on the time other Dave was available. 
Solution: As we cannot push it back further than Tuesday, we changed Danny and his entire Dave role to Juna as "Not Dave" also known as Kevin. So we had to change our screenplay and some of our blog posts
To Do: edit our blogs, continue our edit, continue self-reflection

TikTok and Douyin


History

Douyin is the original version of TikTok, which was released in 2016 and is owned by ByteDance. Then it is brought to the US and the international version, TikTok, is released in 2018.

Regulations

Douyin
for children under 14 years old:
- the app is locked from 10PM to 6AM
- only 40 minutes per day
- promoted videos by the algorithm: science experiments, museum exhibits, patriotism and culture videos, education, and PE lessons

TikTok
no regulations

What are the difficulties of regulating media in the digital age?

TikTok and Douyin are social media streaming platforms that allow audiences to watch short, vertical videos that could be personalized to cater to each user. Due to this, regulations became something that could be said to be significant today but in today's media digital age, there are more difficulties appearing. 

Douyin contains strict regulations that don't allow children under 14 years old to watch freely. Even with these regulations, it can still be difficult as there are always possibilities for users to lie about their information and bypass the given regulations in order to watch Douyin freely. Now there are also many technologies that can increase the level of difficulty, for example, VPN. Users can use VPN to access TikTok or other content that may not be appropriate for them yet, making it harder for platforms to give regulations that are actually effective. But due to the given regulations, it can be said that China's freedom of speech is much more limited than internationally.

TikTok on the other hand, has no strict regulations or rules regarding using its platform which allows


Social Media Regulation | US Law Section 230

A media platform is not held responsible for the publicly generated content on its site.

Section 230 allows platforms to moderate content without losing their immunity.

Andrew Tate


Back in 2022, Andrew Tate is permanently banned from YouTube for breaching hate speech regulations. Then in 2023, Andrew Tate got banned from other social media; Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for hate speech and misogynistic and sexist comments. His account has been described to be dangerous and a vast source of harmful content "that spreads like wildfire" which urged the removal of his accounts in the given social media. 

A spokesperson for Meta, which owns both Instagram and Facebook, said last week that the company removed Tate's official accounts from the social media platforms for violating the company's policies on dangerous organizations and individuals. The Meta spokesperson also confirmed that the ban is permanent. Tate had 4.7 million followers on Instagram before being dismissed.

A TikTok spokesperson also said that following an investigation by the platform, an account belonging to Tate has been permanently banned. TikTok is using software to identify and remove any further uploads of videos found to violate its Community Guidelines.

"Misogyny is a hateful ideology that is not tolerated on TikTok," the TikTok spokesperson said. "Our investigation into this content is ongoing, as we continue to remove violative accounts and videos, and pursue measures to strengthen our enforcement, including our detection models, against this type of content."

This decision wouldn't allow viewers for direct (legal) access to his content which might engage in controversies among his supporters and those who support the decision to ban him. But this decision will erase the possible spread of misogynistic and sexist opinions hence erasing the so-called "danger" but there is no doubt there could be hate aimed at the platforms that banned Andrew Tate.

Many have agreed to disagree about Andrew Tate. Many have taken his side, defending him for just saying his opinions loudly and for being a "traditional" man. Many have also said his opinions are right which was shown by the 80,000 people who took his course and listens to his every word. They mentioned how platforms and haters twisted the facts and exaggerates to make him seem like the villain, breaching his freedom of speech with very biased insight regarding this issue.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11581995/Who-Andrew-Tate-banned-social-media.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshwilson/2022/08/30/the-downfall-of-andrew-tate-and-its-implications/?sh=4eafd800ca07

Component 3: Final Piece

This blog post, written by me (Nayana), contains the final piece of our music promotion package project. Music Video   Use this link in case...