Sunday, May 17, 2009

The Links - Teenage Binge Drinking Documentary

The final product is uploaded onto the web. Enjoy and please leave comments with feedback, we will use the feedback to make the product as a whole shorter. Once we have done that we will contact BBC and enquire if they would like to use it as an educational documentary, hopefully teenagers around the world will watch it and learn something useful.

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbJhMumorNY

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ9-nXQ0KF0

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1ygI_Po0-Y


Evaluation of the final product

Teenage Binge Drinking Documentary

 

Our teenage binge-drinking documentary is aimed at 16 to 18 year olds. Our mission was to shock, teach and show teenagers what binge drinking can cause to you’re brain and body, thereby, if possible, stopping them from doing so in the future. I am the editor/producer of our product, I was the cameraman for all of our interviews and I made sure that the sound was being properly recorded. I used my IMac to produce the documentary, the focus group, both of our commentaries and the making of/out-takes, and then I burned it all onto a DVD using IDVD.

 

I believe that we have managed to fulfill our mission brief because the documentary is gripping and sad due to the music and the choice of downloaded videos and our audience response showed us that we have achieved our aims: teaching teenagers about binge drinking, aiming at 16-18 year olds and we showed them all the consequences that we found disturbing, we did this through graphs, images and through our interview with the doctor. We highlighted the useful information to make the images clear and we always stated where our resources came from. We researched binge drinking all over the Internet by searching the key words.

 

I found that the interviewee’s were perfect because of how they expressed they’re own experience and knowledge on camera, specifically the doctor Brian Heasley and the ex-chief of police. I learnt that its not so easy for people to do this, but Giacomo and I made it easy for the interviewees to express themselves in a good way, we were as helpful as possible.

 

Brian Heasley was a great help with our project because of what he knew, he’s had to deal with drunken teens over and over again and he taught us a great deal about binge drinking. Zak Day as an interviewee worked out perfectly because we didn’t want the documentary to get boring, his stories and feelings, I find, help persuade the teenage audience that things that happen, could have been hindered. Since he is a teenager it shows another side of binge drinking. The extra footage that we filmed at a bar/restaurant of the actors drinking was a spontaneous idea, which was a great help to completing our documentary, I think it works well because they get drunk and take drugs which is exactly what Brian says will happen, and it causes the most deaths.

 

The re-enactment of the car crash was well done, it was one of our first ideas and it turned out to be perfect. We could of filmed it much better if we had a camera with a light attached to it or if the camera was on a tripod, also it would of looked better if we could have driven the car right into the tree, but since it was our friends car and he was kind enough to fake the crash we didn’t ask for more, in addition to that it would have been to expensive to crash the car. Under the circumstances I think it looks as realistic as possible. We couldn’t have done what we did without the help from Adrian Thomson, Jackson Vogel and Volker Kaufhold, mainly because they were our transport, but they also were actors and helped us find useful footage.

 

A weakness is the first clip of Zak Day in the casita, it is the only clip that has bad quality sound, and this was because we had forgotten to turn on the microphones, an avoidable mistake in the future. Also, in some interviews, for example when the ex-police is walking along the pier, you can hear Giacomo say “si”, we couldn’t take the sound away because the interviewee was talking at the same time, next time we know that we should both never talk while the other person is talking even if you feel like you should acknowledge what they are saying.

 

Another weakness, the second clip, which is the CCTV footage of people fighting in the introduction, is too long; a couple students at our school commented on this after we screened it and passed out questionnaires. Once we received the questionnaires we realized that the students still didn’t completely understand the definition of binge drinking, therefore we added the definition at the very beginning of our documentary. We were also told that when the long-term facts scale inwards and rotate that it was hard to read, therefore we decreased the amount of rotation. The comments we received from our peers are presented in unit 2. As well as this evaluation I have recorded myself commenting on our product, you can find it on the DVD that came with these Portfolios.

 

We also wanted to cut out the images of the car and bike crash in china out since it was not really related to our subject, another reason for doing this is so that we can send it to BBC, it has to be shorter and we would also have to cut out the BBC News extract. When we filmed the doctor at Can Misses we had to use the camcorder from school as camera 2, if you look closely you can see there are lines on the side of his face, this is when the video file is interlaced. We couldn’t get rid of it. Next time I would make sure we can use one of our own camera’s as a second camera.

 

As a team, I find that Giacomo and I work very well together, we have different minds but we know what we want and we know that together we can achieve our goal; if I had to do this again I would do it with Giacomo.

Treatment for Product

Gex & Krakower

Shayan Studio Production

 

The Product type/Purpose:

We are making a moving image, it will be similar to a documentary and it will be aimed at stopping all 16-18 year olds from binge drinking (Drinking till the body cant handle it), because, consuming an excessive amount of alcohol at a daily rate will indefinitely cause future problems associated with mental and physical health issues. This documentary will provide evidence of the effects of alcohol when it’s drunk in moderation and show the audience what happens to teenage binge-drinkers. We will try to shock the audience with facts and footage as well as teach them about alcohol in general.

 

Description of Content

The documentary will be made up of; interviews, re-enactments, informative texts and facts about binge drinking, including graphical images, but it will contain no narrative speech. Different people will be interviewed such as; a doctor, a taxi driver, a bar owner, a bar PR, a policeman, and Brian Heasley (who has professional knowledge of alcohol consumption and a lot of experience dealing with teenagers under the influence)

It will begin with a compilation of footage showing the audience some shocking images and interesting facts, after that you will see interviews, more information and a re-enactment of what can happen to teenage binge drinkers. The documentary will be produced on digital format cameras and edited using Final Cut Pro software for Mac.

This documentary will be made up of 3 parts:

·      The introduction (building up the shocking atmosphere).

·      The main body (analyzing teenage binge drinking).

·      And the ending (this will not be a conclusion, rather a compilation of all the info we have gathered about teenage binge drinking).

The script was written in 3 parts, which we will break up into chapters.

We are drawing a storyboard similar to that of a comic book, this is to help us create a professional moving image.

 

The outline script:

Scene 1

The introduction will be an opening shot of a compilation of shocking CCTV footage of violence on the streets due the consumption of alcohol. This will include vandalism, fighting. The compilation will also include footage or pictures of people in hospital in critical state due to the consumption of alcohol. All of this should be grim and shocking enough to grab the audience’s attention immediately and make them want to watch on. No narration, only some dialogue when Brian Heasley appears. It will look dark since we are aiming at not using daytime footage.

 

Scene 2

Brian Heasley teaches the audience about the health risks that can be caused by binge drinking. He will be seen at his centre (24/7 Ibiza), on the streets of San Antonio, at Shayan Studios and at our school. (Morna International College)

  

Scene 3

A police officer tells the audience about his experiences and his opinion about binge drinking and teenagers in San Antonio. We will film this in the heart of San Antonio just before it gets dark and it will probably lead into the night.

 

Scene 4

A doctor who works at a hospital on the island teaches the audience about the worst possible scenarios and illnesses due to Binge drinking. We will film the interview in the hospital during the daytime.

 

Scene 5

A teenager, who has had experience with binge drinking, gives the audience his meaning and thoughts about binge drinking. We will film this in a villa, if that is not possible then we will film it at Shayan Studios. There will be footage of the scenario leading up to this; it will be lighter than in the beginning.

 

Scene 6

The documentary will end with a worst possible scenario. The re-enactment of a car crash will be put together to drop with the music while the teenager is telling the audience a story about something that has happened to him in relation to a car crash. This will be filmed at night, realistically, with the actors pretending to drink alcohol.

 

Scene 7

Facts, health and safety warnings and risks will be shown without music.

 

Music-Sound

We will start the documentary with Beethoven, Fantasia in D minor, this will set the sad mood. Then we move on to Aphex Twin, Nannou, this is more upbeat; this will be playing while the audience sees San Antonio and the club scenes. The we movie on to another Aphex Twin track, Stone in focus, this track is deeper and will start playing when the hospital is shown. The last song will be a track written and performed by Trentemoller, The forest, this track is a tribal beat mixed with house genre.

We will use sound effects from Soundtrack pro to make the moving image more vivid.

 

Locations

The feature film will have footage shot at various locations on the island of Ibiza, each location will set a certain mood, and each mood will suit the momentary theme of our documentary. None of these places have been dangerous, however we are still going to present a risk assessment sheet.

 

·      Shayan Studios at home

We will use the studio to interview various people with information about binge drinking, behind the interviewee is a green screen wall, which is used to animate the background, and the studio will also be used as an editing suite. The shot is a leveled shot aimed at having the head on one side of the image so that we can add images on the other side behind the interviewee.

 

·      Street of Santa Gertrudis, Ibiza, Spain

We will film on the street in Santa Gertrudis village, which is outside of Giacomos house. This is footage of a re-enactment of two drunken teens getting into a car and going for a spin into the countryside. There are various shots we have taken: Shot 1 is taken from behind the 2 drunkards following them to the car

 

·      In the car

On the same street in Santa Gertrudis, footage of the two drunks driving away, leaving the village. There are close ups of the driver and passenger drinking non stop while driving, and shots through the wind screen showing how crazy they are driving.

 

·      In Giacomo Gex’s house

We filmed in the kitchen (shot of fridge opening, take Vodka bottle out, close fridge) hallway, sitting room (close up of actors drinking) and garden (shot from behind the 2 actors leaving house really drunk, arm in arm singing songs).

 

·      In the West End of San Antonio

This area will be perfect for the theme of our documentary. We are going to use not only the appearance of the place but the people who work and live there. Here we will interview random passer bys and bar owners. We will also be interviewing Brian Heasley in his 24/7 ibiza centre. Brian will be showing us around the town and introducing us to other bar owners.

The shot will be a long shot of the west end from the bottom of the street, gradually we walk up the street and you can see what it looks like. At the top of the street we take a shot of Brian Heasley standing there, then we follow him to 24/7 Ibiza.

 

·      24/7 Ibiza Centre

We will interview Brian Heasley about what he does with 24/7 Ibiza, this will be done in a room he calls the praying room, in there you can see all the prayers various teens have written down and posted on the wall. The shot will be taken from the back of the room looking at Brian, behind him are the prayers, good quality sound, but image is not bright enough.

 

·      In a Taxi

We will interview a taxi driver about the different experiences he/ has had with underage drunks. The shot will be taken from the passenger seat aimed at him, he will be driving and at the same time tell us some stories.

 

·      In a Police Station

We will try get an interview with the ex-chief of police of San Antonio to ask him about his experiences with underage binge drinkers and how they had to deal with them.

 

·      In Hospital

We will be interviewing a doctor who works at Can Misses hospital in Ibiza, he will be able to give us information about how many underage people have been admitted to hospital due to excessive consumption of alcohol, In addition to that he can also give us professional information, including Statistics, Facts, diseases and illnesses, which all comes from binge drinking.

 

 

 

The Primary Research:

Our primary research is mainly focused on Brian Heasley and his work at 24/7 Ibiza. We have interviewed him and his colleagues at various Locations such as the ones listed above. In addition we have interviewed a doctor, a taxi driver, a policeman, a bar owner, and Zak (teenager). All of the footage is on tape.

 

The Secondary Research:

I have collected a lot of information from various resources for our documentary. The Internet is very useful in this case; it helps to find statistics and many facts about binge drinking. I have been collecting all the websites that I have found useful and stored them on a Microsoft word page. In our case, living in Ibiza, the secondary research is necessary because we don’t have many professionals that we can question about binge drinking.

 

The time available for planning and production:

The deadline is May 15th 2009, it is now January 7, 2009.

 

How the final product will be presented:

We will present the final product on DVD, there will be a menu included, from the menu you can then choose to watch the final product and any extras that we will make available.

 

 

 

The Audience for our Product:

Our product is aimed at teaching/informing/helping all underage binge drinkers. In addition to teenagers this documentary should be useful to teachers, parents, etc. Anyone who wants to know the facts and statistics about what alcohol can do to a young mind should watch our documentary, you will be entertained and shocked at the same time.

 

The Contingency Plans:

 

·      Weather

In case of bad weather we will shoot indoors such as Shayan studios.

 

·      Extra Necessary Footage

There is a possibility that we may not be able to get hold of CCTV footage of a fight, or drunk violent acts. If this is the case then we will use a home video of a fight or a brawl. If we cant get hold of the images of people in the hospital that were looking for then we wont include those images.

 

·      Props

If we cant get hold of a stretcher then the people will have to be carried out of the bar, if we cant get the medical outfits for our re-enactment then the people will have to look like normal civilians.

 

·      Lighting

If the shots are too dark then we have a chance at making it brighter on final cut pro, if that doesn’t work then the footage will be used solely for audio purpose, if the audio is no good then we will cut the piece completely.

 

·      Audio

If the sound of some of our footage is not clear or to quiet then we may only use the footage, if that isn’t necessary then we will cut the piece out.

 

·      Interviews

Incase some of our interviews don’t go as planned, for example if we cant get hold of the person or if we don’t have enough time to ask all the planned questions, then we will ask another interviewee more questions than usual, this means we may include more of 1 person than another depending on the information we need.

 

·      Objectives

We have many assigned objectives, there may be chance that we cant finish all these objectives, therefore we will have to set new dates for those specific objectives.

 

·      Equipment

In case of equipment failure such as cameras, we would have to use the school cameras. If my headphones don’t work we will use Giacomos Bose headphones, which we will carry around all of the time. If the laptop breaks down, I would have to invest in a new computer.

 

 

 

Budget

 

Material

Cost

Total

16 x DVCAM tapes

2.10 € each

33.6€

Equipment

-

-

Hire Sony HDV Camcorder

112€ per day (3 Interviews)

336€

Camcorder

28€ per day (12 Interviews)

336€

Studio Lights

988.78€

988.78€

Tripods

318.35€ + 63.65€

382€

MacBook Pro

70€ per day (6 weeks)

2100€

Monitor

84€ per day (6 weeks)

2520€

IMac (contingency plan)

2000€

2000€

Microphones

14€ per day (12 Interviews)

168€

Headphones

6€ per day (12 Interviews)

72€

Editing Software- Final Cut Pro

966€

966€

Green screen

Free (Shayan Studios)

-

Transportation

75€ per day (10 days)

750€

Props/scenery

-

-

Used Wine Bottles

Free

-

Used Vodka Bottles

Free

-

Personnel

-

-

Actors

100 per day (8 actors)

1000

Storyboard Drawer

100€

100€

Translators

20 per hour (3)

60€

Iskysoft video converter

40€

40€

 

Total:

11,852.38€


Contact

Gex & Krakower Production: Giacomo Gex and Loki Krakower Riley

·      Mobile Phone Gex: 635-079-008

·      Mobile Phone Loki: 687-811-244

Email: giacomo_gex@hotmail.com

          loki@jovianarchive.com