Formal Proposal for Documentary

TOPIC

The topic of our documentary will be alternative sports focusing on Free Running. We chose to do this topic as it is relevant to our age group and is becoming more popular in the recent years. There is not much familiarity with the sport at the moment, therefore, we feel that informing people on this topic would increase awareness and hence forth increasing popularity in all ages.

TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY

It will be an investigative documentary as our genre analysis research allowed us to realise that most documentaries were of an investigative form. We will investigate what Free Running is and where it started. We will include interviews with experts, trainers and the athletes themselves. Therefore it will also be a mixed documentary as it will include interviews, voice overs and observations of the sport.

STYLE OF DOCUMENTARY

The style of the documentary we are planning to create will be informal due to the fact that we are aiming it at teenagers and the people who participate in the sport are of the same age group. The editing will be fast paced and clean cut due to the sport being energetic, therefore, the editing will match the content of the documentary.

CHANNEL AND SCHEDULING

The channel for the documentary will be Channel 4. This is because our target audience research, the majority of our target audience said that their favourite channel was Channel 4 above any others. The programme will be aired between 8pm and 10pm as this was when the majority of people, from all age groups, watch television, as we found out from our questionnaire results.

TARGET AUDIENCE

As briefly mentioned, the target audience will be both males and females aged between 16 and 20. This is due to Free Running appealing to mainly people of this age group. however, the documentary may also be watched by people of older age groups.

PRIMARY RESEARCH NEEDED

Our primary research includes giving a questionnaire, related to the subject of alternative sports, to groups of people of all ages allowing us to determine a target audience, channel and schedule. As well as this, other research includes interviews with our target audience.

SECONDARY RESEARCH NEEDED

We will use information from Free running websites, such as http://www.urbanfreeflow.com/ , to gain more knowledge of the subject including different levels and competitions as well as stunts and movements performed. We will also research into the differences between Free Running and Parkour.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

The narrative structure will be linear. It will begin with a voice over explaining some main facts about Free Running and where it started. The images will be archive footage of Sébastien Foucan and other Free Running groups performing tricks. The middle will focus on public opinions and interviews with the experts, trainers and athletes. The end of the documentary will investigate how free running is becoming a new alternative sport of the future, appealing to the younger, athletic audience.

OUTLINE OF CONTENT

The beginning of the documentary will focus on the evaluation of Free Running from where it started with Parkour to how it is seen today. It will include interviews with participants of the sport as well as public opinions and hopefully interviews with the police and what they think about the sport, does it disturb local residents? Is it classed as vandalism? The next section will be filmed in the gym (popular for young Free Runners) focusing on the training needed to be able to perform certain sports. It will talk about safety and how because it is constantly younger generation starting, the safety aspects of the sport have increased with only being able to train in the gym, under the surveillance of an instructor until they reach a certain level and are able to train outside. The end of the five minute section we are filming will be centered around the aspect of Free Running becoming a new and popular alternative sport for the younger generation.

RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS

- Camera
- Microphone
- Permit to film in the gym and the training
- Archive footage of Free Running clips
- Voice recorder
- Editing equipment