Documentary Development

This Blogpost (Written by Maxi and Me [Timo]) features the development of our Documentary; Dave. This blog post contains our statement of intent, name development, thumbnail development, screenplay development, storyboard development, title screen development, as well as more creative decisions and the processes and reasoning behind them.

DAVE

Statement of Intent:

Our documentary, Dave, focusses on 6 school students who find out they all share the titular name, Dave. They then decide that only one of them can have the name, and decide to have a competition to see who ends up being able to keep the name. Our point of interest though is that all Dave's have very different personalities and interests. This builds comedic effect through the juxtaposition of how each Dave is so different despite them all sharing the same name. This also allows us to broaden our target audience as we can cater towards people from different psychographics. Our main demographic however is mainly people from the ages of 16-25, who are active social media users and up to date with Gen-Z "meme culture".

As a mockumentary, we aim to include many comedic moments that our implicitly funny. We aim to add comedic affect through the stupidity/absurdity of the actions/personalities of our characters. We will have multiple interviews that introduce the audience to the characters, as well as footage that follows the documentarians as they argue about the production of their documentary.

We hope to be representative of people in the general high-school population, as well as of all the different types of people you find in this modern generation. E.g, we will have a Dave who loves playing video games, who will represent the "Gamers" of Gen-Z, a Dave who goes to the gym, who will represent the "gym bros" of Gen-Z, a person who makes TikToks and is into social media, who will represent the "influencers" of Gen-Z, etc.

Our documentary will be distributed on Netflix, and YouTube as a YouTube original series, as our target audience are very technologically literate. They will most likely prefer to access our documentary on these platforms, as social media apps like YouTube are very popular among viewers from this generation and allow for sharing of content between audiences, which will lead them to be able to build social relationships with their friends and recommend the documentary to them and talk about what they like.

Development of Character Names and Casting Process:

We wanted to showcase six distinct personas under the name "Dave" for our documentary, each accompanied by a fitting nickname aligned with their unique characteristics. 

Our initial ideas:

Muscle Dave: An egotistical "gymbro" who prides himself on gym attendance and physical prowess.

Creepy Dave: A reserved individual emitting an unsettling aura and minimal communication.

Nerd Dave: Socially awkward and primarily focused on academic achievements.

Crypto Dave: Enthusiastic about trading and promoting the world of cryptocurrency.

Player Dave: Thinks that all the girls like him.

Happy Dave: Perpetually cheerful, making sincere efforts to unite the group, though occasionally overly enthusiastic.

We later refined this list by replacing Nerd Dave and Crypto Dave with two alternative characters. The decision to remove Nerd Dave stemmed from concerns regarding similarities with Creepy Dave, potentially resulting in repetitiveness and lack of engagement. Crypto Dave was omitted due to the perception that his character lacked comedic impact and might not resonate with a broader audience, leading us to seek a replacement that would enhance comedic appeal.

These two characters were reimagined as "Softboy Dave" and "Not Dave," resulting in the final roster:

Muscle Dave

Creepy Dave

Softboy Dave (replaced Nerd Dave): Introverted and slightly awkward, striving to be kind, following the "Softboy" style popularized on the social media app "Pinterest."

Player Dave

Happy Dave

Not Dave (replaced Crypto Dave): A student named Kevin, initially mistaken for being a Dave due to being new to the school like the other "Dave" newcomers.

Regarding the casting process, we had compiled a list of actors we believed embodied the characters perfectly:

Sheva Azwar - Muscle Dave

Baron Rizky - Creepy Dave

Taka Partha - Softboy Dave

Davin Kurniawan - Player Dave

Giann Suwangsa - Happy Dave

Arjuna Nakao - Not Dave

We carefully selected these actors based on their real-life personalities aligning closely with the characters they were to portray. For instance, Sheva Azwar, fitting for Muscle Dave, frequented the gym and had a confident demeanor, mirroring the desired character traits. The selection process was also facilitated by our preexisting friendships with these actors, ensuring a smooth filming process.

However, unforeseen circumstances necessitated adjustments to the cast. Sheva Azwar was unable to participate, leading to the inclusion of Han Hyun Woo, another friend fitting the physique and persona for Muscle Dave. Despite these changes, we were confident in the selected actors' ability to authentically portray their respective characters.

The final cast consisted of:

Han Hyun Woo - Muscle Dave

Baron Rizky - Creepy Dave

Taka Partha - Softboy Dave

Davin Kurniawan - Player Dave

Giann Suwangsa - Happy Dave

Arjuna Nakao - Not Dave

Shooting Location:

For the location of our documentary, since all of our characters are high school students, we decided to shoot in a high school. Since all team members and actors go to the same school, Regents Secondary School Bali, we decided that it would be easiest to shoot in our school. This meant that we would not have to travel anywhere else for the duration of the filming process, and could use any other students we needed as extras for the shoot. We could also use the multitude of different classrooms and facilities that our school had and provided for all the different shots that we would end up needing. Thus the only location that we filmed in was:

Regents School Bali (Classrooms, Hallways, other facilities, etc.)

Possible Documentary Names:

In the development process, we thought of many different names for our documentary before we settled with Dave(s)

On the Daves

Dave Club

the Dave Fight

Hunger Dave's

Finding the Best Dave

Dave War

Daves

Dave

Dave(s)

What was most important to us was how we wanted the name Dave to appear in the title of our documentary, since the characters of the show, and the whole plot of the show would revolve around people with that name. The original idea, if we continued past the opening, would be to have a fight/competition to which all the Dave's would compete in to see who would get to keep the name. This was the idea behind names such as "the Dave Fight", "Finding the Best Dave", and "Hunger Daves", which is a reference to the series of the Hunger Games. However, we felt that this would give away too much of the plot before the reader even started watching, and thus we wanted to go for a simpler and more subtle approach. We ended up choosing the title Dave(s), with the S in brackets as the S shows that it is a plural, therefore more than one Dave exists within the show. But we didn't want to show it normally by having the S come after an apostrophe, instead we put it in brackets as it is more unique and looks more interesting for audiences. They will wonder what it means for the S to be in brackets, compared to if it was written normally with an apostrophe, and provides intrigue for the audience to click on and watch the documentary.

Development of Title Screen Fonts:

For the word "Dave" we decided to settle with the font Lumios Typewriter New as we believe it conveys a sense of mocking seriousness. As our documentary it is a mockumentary, we try to be serious but at the same time funny. This font has been used in other mockumentaries we researched such as the office, and we believe it fits well with our mockumentary. 

For the "s" in brackets, we decided to do it in a hand drawn font as it follows along with the story of the producers of the documentary not knowing there were going to be more than 1 person named dave in their interview. This adds a sense of comedy as it shows audiences that they were unprepared and had to add the details in back later. For the color choice, we decided to have it be drawn in red as we wanted it to stand out compared to the rest of the title. Also, it is a common convention in the media world to have annotations/changes to a script or text be written by using a red pen. Since the S in brackets is a revision to the title, writing it in red pen would make the most sense and follow conventions of the media industry. 

Screenplay Development (Original Draft): 

INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY - DAY

TIMO and MAXI argue about the candidates chosen for their interview, while they are secretly being recorded by another crew member.

TIMO

What do you mean you got 6 people??? There's literally only 1 name on the list!

MAXI

(CONFUSED)

Huh? What are you talking about? I told you I got 6 people. They're literally all here waiting right now!

TIMO

Then why the hell is there only 1 name on the list.

MAXI

Give me that!

Maxi GRABS the paper from Timo's hands

MAXI

What? Damnit Nay must've forgotten to add their names from the form! Alright c'mon just follow me, I'll show you myself.

Timo PICKS UP his CAMERA and follows Maxi.

CUT TO:

INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY / CLASSROOM - DAY

Timo and Maxi hastily walk towards the room the interviewees are waiting. Maxi opens the door roughly and yells.

MAXI

VOILA! Told you so. Alright, now which one of you here is...

(CHECKS PAPER)

Dave?

While Maxi looks up from the paper we follow his gaze to reveal:

6 DIFFERENT people STANDING UP in unison as they look around in a daze. They all share the same name; Dave. The 6 Dave's are as follows; Muscle Dave, Crypto Dave, Creepy Dave, Happy Dave, and Player Dave.

The Daves look around IN CONFUSION as we:

CUT TO:

INT. INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY

ROLL MONTAGE of DAVE'S sitting down in their interview chairs.

MAXI (O.S.)

Could you please state your name for the camera?

DAVE'S

(SIMULTANEOUSLY)

Hi, Im Dave.

We PAUSE, after the final dave answers, as we:

CUT TO BLACK.

FADE IN:

INT. INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY

MUSCLE DAVE walks in from the side and SITS DOWN on the interview chair. Timo asks the Dave's about what happened on their first day of school.

MUSCLE DAVE

(FIDDLES AROUND WITH MICROPHONE)

TIMO (O.S.)

Could you please tell us how your first day of school was?

MUSCLE DAVE

(ENTHUSIASTICALLY)

Yeah man it was crazy! My family moves around a lot, so first days of school are no big deal really. And since my names Dave Aardvark, I'm always first name on the list. So my teacher called "Dave Aardvark", and I said "Present!"

CUT TO:

CRYPTO DAVE

And I thought "Woah!" Another dave in the class! So guess I've got 1 friend already.

CUT TO:

PLAYER DAVE

Yeah so by the end of it we had 6 new Dave's in our class! It ended up being so confusing that the class had to give us all nicknames to differentiate between us.

TIMO (O.S.)

So what's the nickname you were given?

CUT TO:

MUSCLE DAVE

(STARES INTO CAMERA, RAISES EYEBROW)

Isn't it obvious?

(FLEXES MUSCLES, WHILE NODDING HEAD)

Muscle Dave.

CUT TO:

ANY DAVE

He's really not that muscly.

CUT TO:

HAPPY DAVE

Well they called me Happy Dave! Its probably cuz I just get along everyone! We became friends like instantly, I love all the Daves!

CUT TO:

PICTURE of Happy Dave's selfie. Happy Dave is posing and joyful, while all the other Daves are visibly disgusted.

CUT TO:

ANY DAVE

We're not friends.

CUT TO:

CRYPTO DAVE

Honestly I don't know why they call me crypto Dave. Like I don't even talk about crypto that much.

CUT TO:

INT. SCHOOL BUILDING - DAY

MONTAGE of Crypto Dave's crypto enthusiasm

--Crypto Dave goes up to multiple people in an attempt to introduce a brand new CRYPTO APP he just got to multiple people.

--Walks up to one person while pointing at his phone, they walk away.

--Asks his friends as they sit at lunch if they've ever heard of "Dogecoin".

--While on his laptop, he calls people to come and look at the exponential growth of a crypto coin.

--More shots can be added if needed.

MONTAGE END

CUT TO:

INT. INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY

PLAYER DAVE

(LAUGHS)

I think everyones just jealous honestly. With my looks and everything I could literally get any girl I want, so they just call me a

(DOES AIR QUOTES MOTION)

"player".

TIMO (O.S.)

Would you care to tell us about what how the girls in your class think about you?

CUT TO:

INT. SCHOOL BUILDING - DAY

MONTAGE of Player Dave attempting to flirt with girls.

--Player Dave goes up to multiple girls in the hallways, in his classroom, etc, as they all brush him off and walk away.

--Player Dave walks up to a girl at her locker, she walks away.

--Player Dave Waves to a girl in the hallway, she gives him a weird look.

--Player Dave tries to sit next to a girl, she scooches over.

Player Dave's voice accompanies the clip as a voice over.

PLAYER DAVE (V.O.)

(CONFIDENTLY)

Yeah the girls love me man! Every single girl i talk to literally can't even resist me. I think I just have this sort of aura that they're just attracted to. You wouldn't get it.

MONTAGE END

CUT TO:

INT. INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY

SOFTBOY DAVE sits in his interview chair wearing a CARDIGAN as he listens to music with his AIRPODS in, unbothered by the fact that he's currently in an interview. Much to the confusion of the interviewer.

TIMO (O.S.)

(CONFUSED)

Hello? Excuse me?

Softboy Dave slowly looks up and takes his airpods out.

SOFTBOY DAVE

(NERVOUSLY)

Oh sorry, didn't know we were starting.

TIMO (O.S)

What were you listening to?

SOFTBOY DAVE

Uhm, Wave to Earth.

TIMO (O.S.)

Right. Would you mind sharing your most used social media app?

SOFTBOY DAVE

Let me check...

(CHECKS PHONE, LOOKS BACK UP)

Pinterest.

CUT TO:

TIMO (O.S.)

So, we've been told they call you Quiet Dave.

QUIET DAVE

(STARES BLANKLY INTO THE CAMERA)

...

TIMO (O.S.)

Alright.

CUT TO:

MONTAGE OF DAVES.

--Cut between 2-3 second shots of the Daves in their interviews

--Goes from Dave 1, to Dave 2, etc, until done.

--Montage is accompanied by voiceover by Muscle Dave and Timo.

MUSCLE DAVE (V.O.)

Well when you have so many different clashing personalities in a single group, things are bound to get a little wild y'know.

          TIMO (V.O.)

So then what happens next?

MONTAGE ENDS (When Timo says the final line), when we:

CUT TO BLACK.

BLACK SCREEN

SUPER: "Dave(s)"

Screenplay Revisions:

During the filming process, some lines were added and changed. This was done as some lines felt a bit unnatural to be said by the actors, and we decided that it'd be better to add lines, and edit them a bit. We also decided to scrap the character of Crypto Dave as a whole and instead replaced him with "Not Dave", a character who isn't called Dave but was a new student on the day so was grouped in together with them anyways. We decided to do this because we believe that it would add more comedic effect than if we included Crypto Dave as the team believed his scenes would be quite boring and repetitive. We believe including a character thats not called Dave would diversify the story even more and create a more unique story.

Here is the main part of the screenplay that we changed: 

NOT DAVE

I'm not even called Dave man, my real names Kevin. People just grouped me in with them cuz I was a new student.

CUT TO:

INT. SCHOOL BUILDING - DAY

MONTAGE of NOT DAVE (Kevin) being called Dave and approached by other students.

--Kevin is sitting down on his phone as students come up to him and ask him if he's the new kid, Dave.

--While at his locker, students pass by him as they shout, "Hey Dave!".

--While at the urinal, another students takes the one next to him, looks towards Kevin and nonchalantly says "Hey Dave".

--While walking in the hallway, Kevin gets approached and hugged by another student who says "Hey Dave! Nice to meet you man!".

--Kevin then screams, "MY NAMES KEVIN!!".

MONTAGE END

Storyboard Development: 

Here we can see the storyboard of our documentary. This was made and drawn by Sharon.

This storyboard helped us in the process of creating the visual sense of what our documentary would look like from scene to scene. By using the screenplay, I helped describe to the storyboard artist (Sharon) what I had in mind for most of the shots. In the filming process however, we didn't really rely on what was drawn in the storyboard as we had developed new and different ideas for the scenes after the storyboard was created. Thus many of the shots were made solely by using what was written in the screenplay, with the visual elements of the scene being left in the hands of our Director (Timo).

Thumbnail Development: 

These are some possible thumbnails for our documentary. They were drawn by Sharon, Timo, and Nayana, but in the end we decided on the final one together. Again, as with our documentary name, to chose the thumbnail we had to consider the impression we want to make on our target audience and how they will think about the documentary as a whole. Some of our ideas like the name tag thumbnail (top left) show that the name "Dave' will play a big part in the documentary. The thumbnail on the middle left pays homage to a poster of the 1999 film "Fight Club", that had a similar style. This may have attracted fans of the movie to come and watch our documentary, but we decided that our target audiences may not understand the reference. Our final choice, the thumbnail in the top right, shows an image of all the members of the cast in a line against a monotonous background. This is meant to exemplify all their different personalities, with the title of the documentary "Dave(s)" in text above them all. This shows audiences that the name Dave is an important part of the story, but also that there are multiple people in the show with the same name, and that they all have different personalities due to the expressions and actions of the characters in the picture. Here is the thumbnail in its final form, made by Timo: 

We decided to go with a clear white background and have our characters show in a normal color tone as we believe it is the most natural image for audiences to see when they're scrolling through their netflix home page trying to find documentaries to watch. We did not want to have something too colorful, packed, or edited, as we believe it doesn't conform to standard documentary conventions, and seems a bit childish. This may deter our audiences from wanting to watch our documentary.

Production - Behind The Scenes

 This blog post contains our production/filming process. Written by Timo

Our filming process spanned across 5 days, all shot in Regents Secondary School Bali. The behind the scenes process was documented by Sharon and Nayana. 

Day 1

On the first day, we shot the first scene that contained an argument near the school lockers. 

Day 2

On the second day, we shot Muscle Dave and Happy Dave's individual scenes.

Day 3

On the third day, we shot Quiet Dave and Softboy Dave's individual scenes

Day 4

On the fourth day, we shot Player Dave's interview scenes and montage.

Day 5

On the final day, we shot all the Dave's together, Not Dave's individual scenes, as well as Maxi's follow shot.

In conclusion, the filming process went smoothly, our actors gave good feedback on the shots and if they had any ideas we tried our best to implement them. With Maxi (our screenwriter) missing 3 days of the shoots there were a few struggles in directly translating the screenplay into actions, however, we fixed this by videocalling him. Other than that the filming process went very well.

Media Regulation Debates

Here are some debates on media regulation. Written by Timo

Should media companies be in charge of regulating their own content, or should the government have a bigger role in this, and why?

Media companies self-regulation:

- Allows for creative freedom and diverse content.

- Promotes innovation and competition in the industry.

- Can adapt to changing trends and audience preferences quickly.

Government regulation:

- Ensures adherence to ethical standards and prevents misinformation.

- Protects vulnerable groups from harmful or inappropriate content.

- Maintains a level playing field by preventing monopolistic control.

Conclusion:

I think that there should be a balance between both government and self regulation. This is because most self regulations in media are done because of the boundaries set by the government.

How does government regulation affect what we see and hear in the media? Can too much regulation stifle creativity and free speech, or is it necessary for protecting the public?

Government regulation's effects:

- Shapes content by setting standards for appropriateness and accuracy.

- Can lead to censorship if overly restrictive measures are applied.

- Balances freedom of expression with public welfare and safety.

Impact of too much regulation:

- May stifle creativity and limit unique perspectives.

- Can discourage open discussions on controversial topics.

- Might lead to a lack of diversity in content due to risk aversion.

Necessity of regulation for public protection:

- Prevents the spread of false information and harmful content.

- Upholds societal values and norms, ensuring content aligns with them.

- Protects individuals, especially minors, from explicit or harmful content.

Do social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter need more rules and oversight, or should they be left to regulate themselves? How might this impact our online experiences?

More rules and oversight for social media platforms:

- Prevents the spread of misinformation, hate speech, and harmful content.

- Ensures a safer and more respectful online environment.

- Holds platforms accountable for their role in shaping public discourse.

Self-regulation:

- Maintains freedom of expression and platform innovation.

- Avoids potential biases in governmental oversight.

- Platforms may struggle to effectively address rapidly evolving issues.

Impact on online experiences:

- Stricter rules can reduce toxicity and improve user experience.

- Overregulation might limit open dialogue and diverse opinions.

- Finding a balance is crucial to foster healthy online interactions.

Should schools teach students media literacy? How might this help us better navigate the media we consume, and is it the responsibility of educators or individuals themselves?

Teaching media literacy in schools:

- Equips students with critical thinking skills to evaluate media content.

- Enables recognition of biased or inaccurate information.

- Empowers individuals to make informed decisions about media consumption.

Benefits of media literacy:

- Reduces susceptibility to manipulation and misinformation.

- Fosters a more informed and engaged citizenry.

- Strengthens resilience against the negative impacts of media.

Responsibility for teaching media literacy:

- Falls on both educators and individuals.

- Schools provide a structured environment for learning critical skills.

- Individuals must continuously refine their media literacy skills in a rapidly changing media landscape.

Third Party Regulation (Dominion vs. Fox)

In 2020, the biggest thing in western media was the ongoing presidential election of Trump v Biden. Many controversies arose around the elections. It first came into play, when former president Trump claimed that he won the election prior to the vote count being finalized. After the votes were finalized and Biden won, this was followed with Trump making allegations of voter fraud and election rigging. One of the most notable cases was the lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News, alleging that the network had defamed the company by repeatedly broadcasting false claims that its voting machines had been used to rig the election in favor of Joe Biden. 

The lawsuit alleged that Fox News had made these claims without any evidence, and that they had done so knowing that they were false. The network's hosts and guests had repeatedly claimed that Dominion's machines had been hacked by foreign actors, and that they had been used to flip votes from Trump to Biden. However, no evidence of any of these claims was ever produced. 

In 2023, after a three-year legal battle, Fox News settled the lawsuit for $786 million. This was the largest settlement ever paid in a libel case. The settlement was a major victory for Dominion, and it sent a strong message to other media outlets that they could be held accountable for spreading false information about election fraud.

In the wake of the settlement, Fox News fired one of its most popular hosts, Tucker Carlson. Carlson had been a vocal supporter of Trump, and he had repeatedly made false claims about the election. His firing was seen by some as a sign that Fox News was finally taking responsibility for its role in spreading misinformation about the election and can be seen as a form of self-regulation.

The Dominion case is a reminder of the power of the media, and the responsibility that media outlets have to report the news accurately. It is also a reminder that there are consequences for spreading false information, especially when it comes to elections.

Quick Cuts

This post shows a video me and my partner Maxi made showcasing quick cuts. 

Quick cutting can be defined as a film editing technique which refers to several consecutive shots of a brief duration. It can be used to quickly convey much information, or to imply either energy or chaos. It can be used to portray boring tasks as energetic and exciting, which we've done in this example.

In the following video, you can see how we've used quick cuts to show our character arriving late to school. Overall, I think the video and edits effectively portray the panic the character feel and his efforts of trying to get to school on time. It also provides comedic effect in combination with the audio effects we chose to put it with. Something I feel we may have wanted to do differently though is to have more consistent lighting though, as some parts of the video felt too dark, while others felt very bright.

Target Audience

This Blogpost (Written by Maxi) features the development of our documentary, including the target audience, the concepts we've discussed, and more.

CONCEPT: Dave

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 Dave's 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 compromise high-schoolers, between the ages from 16-18, 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 Dave's 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 with someone, as everyone has their own place in society.

Since our target audience compromises 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 towards 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, as to allow as many people to watch and get a laugh out of it. So, we plan on including subtitle's as well as having a Dave with a disability as 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 allows 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.

Self reflection:

I believe finding our specific target audience definitely helped us in making specific content decisions about the subcultures we wanted to include in our documentary, and the forms of humor that would be most appreciated by these audiences. 

TikTok Regulation

TikTok and Douyin are two short-video sharing platforms that are owned by the same company, ByteDance. However, the two platforms operate under different media regulations due to their different target markets.

Douyin is the Chinese version of TikTok, and it is subject to the strict media regulations of the Chinese government. These regulations prohibit content that is critical of the Chinese government, the Communist Party, or any other sensitive topics. Douyin also has a number of other restrictions, such as a ban on underage users appearing in livestreams, a limit of 40 minutes per day of app usage for users under 14, and a ban on content that is "contrary to basic scientific knowledge."

TikTok, on the other hand, is not subject to the same level of government censorship. This is because TikTok is not available in China, and it is therefore not subject to Chinese law. However, TikTok does have its own set of content guidelines that are designed to protect users and promote a safe and positive environment. These guidelines prohibit content that is violent, hateful, or discriminatory. TikTok also has a number of features that are designed to protect children, such as parental controls and a "teen mode" that only shows whitelisted content.

In the United States, TikTok is also protected by US Law: Section 230. This law provides immunity to websites and platforms for content that is created by their users. This means that TikTok is not legally responsible for the content that is posted on its platform by its users. However, TikTok does have a responsibility to remove content that violates its own content guidelines.

Difficulties Regulating Media

Regulating media in the digital age can come with a few difficulties. The digital age has made it much more difficult to regulate media. In the past, media was largely controlled by a few major players, such as television networks and newspapers. This made it relatively easy for governments to regulate media content, as they could simply work with these major players to enforce their regulations.

However, the digital age has led to the rise of new forms of media, such as social media platforms and online streaming services. These new forms of media are much more decentralized than traditional media, making them much more difficult to regulate.

TikTok is a good example of a new form of media that is difficult to regulate. TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to create and share short videos. TikTok is incredibly popular, with over 1 billion active users worldwide. However, TikTok has also been criticized for its content, which has been accused of being harmful to children and young people, as TikTok is a user-based platform, content is difficult to regulate because anyone can post anything they want. 

This is a video briefly explaining the regulations

Social Media Regulation (US Law Section 230)

US law Section 230 (1996)

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, a former professional kickboxer who frequently made misogynistic comments about women online, has been banned from the largest media platforms including Facebook, YouTube and TikTok after concerns about his influence on his millions of followers escalated. Andrew Tate’s disgusting comments, include saying women who are raped are partially responsible for the attacks, described in detail how he might attack women and criticized people who seek mental health treatment. In a YouTube video posted on Tuesday, Mr. Tate addressed the social media bans and said clips of his comments had been taken out of context.

The nature of this situation can be considered as hate speech which caused these large media companies to regulate the content. The platform's content moderation decision was instant as they removed all of his accounts not allowing him to upload anything that went against the platform's ToS, previously they provided Tate with a warning but he didn't remove or change the content he was uploading. 

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, removed his official accounts on Friday and said they were in violation of its policies.YouTube took down several channels affiliated with Mr. Tate “for multiple violations of our Community Guidelines and Terms of Service, including our hate speech policy,” said Ivy Choi, a spokeswoman for the company.  

With 6 million followers on Instagram and more than 740,000 followers on YouTube, and his videos on TikTok having millions of views, consumers on these platforms range from adults all the way to young children, if young people kept being constantly exposed to Tate's content they could grow up to think that things like misogyny and rape are tolerable. This case implies that freedom of speech is limited and action can be taken if people cross certain lines set by media companies.

Research

 This the research for my documentary.

- Genre

- Genre Conventions

- Target Audience

- Representations? How are they portrayed?

- What did you like/dislike about it?

Making a Murderer - Season 1, Episode 1 (2015)

The opening of the documentary released in 2015, titled Making a Murderer is a true crime documentary

that depicts the story of Steven Avery after his release from jail after 18 years followed by him filing a lawsuit against Manitowoc County. This documentary conforms to the regular genre conventions of crime documentaries by using dark colours, suspenseful and dark music, and using zooms. All of these methods are used to connote the severity of the case. Furthermore, the target audience for this documentary are adults as this documentary features content that can be considered to be quite mature. 

This documentary contains representations of criminals and police officers, however, this documentary does not conform to how they are usually represented. This documentary portrays the criminal in a good light by using wholesome music and shots, on the other hand, the police are represented in a negative light through the narration and by playing audio files that make the officer seem villainous. I personally enjoy this documentary as it is an expository documentary and I like the way it keeps suspense as the documentary uncovers the truth.

Life in a day - YouTube Originals (2020)

The opening of the documentary released in 2020, titled Life in a day is a lifestyle documentary which depicts the life of thousands of people around the world on a single day. This documentary does not conform to genre conventions of a lifestyle documentary as it uses real footage submitted from people around the world. The target audience for this documentary are people above the age of 16, as it shines a light on the creation of life and the realistic hurdles and expectations that comes with it. 

The opening scenes represented child birth in a way that seemed very dramatic, as a very dramatic song was played during the scene, it also depicted it to be very painful as the diegetic sounds of their screams are also shown. This also represents women or mothers to be strong and courageous. This documentary can be seen as a poetic documentary, as it makes the audience feel inspired. I personally dislike this documentary as it is quite mature and I think that the concept makes it seem as there is too much going on.

Gordon Ramsay Uncharted - Season 2, Episode 2 (2021)

The opening of the documentary released in 2021, titled Gordon Ramsay Uncharted is food and travel documentary which depicts the celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, traveling to Indonesia to take in the local culture and local food. This documentary conforms to the norms for both food and travel documentaries, travel documentaries use lots of drone shots, establishing shots, and map illustrations, which this documentary follows. Furthermore, food documentaries usually use close up shots and slow-motion shots; all conventions this documentary follows. The target audience for this documentary are food and travel enthusiasts.

This documentary also represents Indonesia as a country and the people from Indonesia. This documentary portrays Indonesia in the most authentic way by showing the negatives as well as the beauty in the country. The locals are represented to be very lively and energetic, as cultural activities such as dances and cow riding are shown. I personally like the documentary as it has a comedic factor by having Gordon Ramsay say quippy jokes.

MH370: The Plane That Disappeared - Episode 1

The opening of the documentary released in 2023, titled MH370: The Plane That Disappeared is an investigative documentary that shines the light on a worldwide phenomenon, which was the disappearance of flight MH370, Malaysia Airlines. This documentary conforms to the norms of most investigative documentaries, using interview segments and statements from the victims or people involved. The target for this documentary is very broad as everyone can consume this documentary because of the pure scale of the very real and tragic event of the plane disappearing. The documentary represents how people mourn, they do this by showing the victim's desperation for an answer. I like the documentary because it is very suspenseful and I appreciate the authenticity of the documentary.

Schumacher (2021)

The opening of the documentary released in 2021, titled Schumacher is a sports and biography documentary about a renowned Formula 1 athlete Michael Schumacher. This documentary conforms to both sports and biography documentary norms, firstly, it shows highlights of races, and secondly, as in most biography documentaries, this documentary uses quotes from Schumacher. The target of this documentary are petrolheads and Formula 1 fans. This documentary represents athletes and how hard athletes have to work to achieve and maintain where they are. I personally like the documentary as it tells an inspiring story.

American Vandal - Episode 1 (2017) 

American Vandal is a documentary about a high school student who is being investigated for committing the crime of vandalizing vehicles at his school and spray painting genitalia. This documentary seeks to uncover the truth behind the vandalism. The documentary was filmed by Peter Macaldo who is a student in Hanover high school. 

The main target audience for this documentary is people in the age demographic of 15 and above, mainly targeting teenagers in high school. This is because the documentary revolves around the high school life and the humor used in the mockumentary is very explicit and quite immature. 

The documentary used a lot of handheld shots, this creates the effect of it being authentic and makes it seem more personal. Furthermore, the camera angles used in the documentary were very inconsistent, connoting that it was shot by someone who isn’t professional. It also used a large amount of stills, which conforms to the general representations of true crime documentaries, stills are used as a form of proof to provide the audience with a visual aid. This documentary used a variety of editing techniques that created an impact on the audience. Firstly in the intro segment, they ironically used slow crossfades of what can be deemed as unnecessary shots with slow-motion effects, this created a serious and overly dramatic opening sequence. Furthermore, whenever stills were presented they would punch in with a digital zoom creating a more dramatic reveal. The use of 3D models and animations makes it seem as though the documentary is professional, or taking itself seriously. Like most true crime documentaries, these animations and 3D models provide a more realistic visual aid to the viewers so they can feel as if they were there and can make the whole situation more personal.

The voiceover narration helps to keep the audience engaged by providing commentary on each scene and keeping a serious tone throughout. However, the narrator's comments and the constant exposure to interviews with students, teachers, and others make the audience question who the real criminal is. This keeps the audience on edge and hooked on the narrative. The non-diegetic sounds of cameras clicking whenever pictures of the vandalism are shown to exaggerate the crime. The use of vertical images and footage from social media shows that the vandalism has gone viral online. This is all edited to be fast-paced, which creates a sense of chaos and intensity.

The central theme of the docuseries is the power of social media. The documentary also explores the different perspectives of the people involved in the crime, and how these perspectives can change over time. I personally enjoyed this documentary because I enjoyed the humor and the comedic timing of it.

Malam Minggu Miko - 2012

Malam Minggu Miko is an Indonesian mockumentary showcasing the love life of a young man named Miko, who has been single for his entire life. This mockumentary shows his current non-official relationship and the struggles that come along with it.

The main target audience for this documentary is teenagers to young adults, ranging from 16-25, this is because this documentary focuses on a young man's love life and contains humor fit for that specific target audience. 

This mockumentary used handheld shots, I think that the director chose to do this to convey Miko's emotions as it is similar to how messy his love life is. The documentary also used only one primary shot for their interview segments, having a medium shot framing the subject directly in the center, this grabs the audience's attention. This documentary also uses a lot of mechanical zooms compared to digital zooms, this creates a more shaky zooming effect which connotes the discreteness of the cameramen documenting Miko's love life. Furthermore, they used swooping animations to transition their scenes which can make the scene and tone of the documentary seem more playful.

The audio used in this documentary also keeps the audience engaged by using the non-diegetic sound of music that changes depending on Miko's mood. The use of non-diegetic sound effects such as twinkling also further emphasizes Miko's emotion, for example, when the girl he is talking to flirts with him. The documentary also uses sound effects as an auditorial aid in transitioning, they do this by adding a swoosh sound effect which connotes the fast time jump that the story is experiencing and the drastic difference between the previous scene and the new scene.

The central theme of the documentary is the pressure on adults to find love. Furthermore, this documentary also explores the different social classes in Indonesia. Personally, I liked this documentary because of the pacing and editing used, it was simple yet effective. The shot selection also emphasized the emotion of each character just right.