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:
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:
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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:
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