Similar Product Research by Kim Potter. Candidate number 8180

Similar product research-LA Ink: Season 1 Episode 1

Mode-Reflexive mode, as the people in the documentary all know that the filming is taking place and they talk to the camera knowing it is a documentary, however it is not reflexive in another way as it is not a reconstruction of the truth, and is not really trying to show any 'truth', but it does make the audience aware of the editing and the sounds. It is also expository mode as the documentaries purpose is to inform about peoples stories and why they get tattoos and also about the main character Kat Von D and her journey into opening her new shop and shows how successful she is as a female tattoo artist.

Camera work-Lots of close ups when one person sat talking on their own. Long shots of LA. ALso lots of close ups on tattoos being done, and then over the shoulder shots of people looking into a mirror at their tattoo once it is complete.

These close ups of artists actually tattooing people would be good for us to use in our documentary if possible as it would help to show the world of tattooing and also maybe expose how much talent is needed when becoming a successful tattoo artist.

In my opinion these kind of over the shoulder shots are effective in showing the reactions on the people who have just received their tattoos, and can also show their appreciation and sometimes reveals how much the tattoo may mean to that individual with their reaction to the finished piece.

Editing-Voice over by main person:Kat Von D-explaining what is coming up in the episode, and how she feels about whats going on- like an insight into her mind. Lots of non diegetic music.

Mise en scene-Kat Von D's tattoo shop:LA ink. Lots of shots of LA between shop shots. Peoples homes that she visits. The beach.

Audience-I believe the main target audience for this documentary would be around 15-30 as it is about people within a tattoo shop and people going in and getting tattoos and the stories and meanings behind them tattoos, this may be interesting to young people who are wanting tattoos and may help to show them that many tattoos have meaning behind them and have been thought out a lot before going ahead with them. As Kat Von D is the main character and is a vary successful tattoo artist and also covered in tattoos herself, it shows that views on women and tattoos may have changed, and also that women can be very successful tattoo artists, which may not have been the case 20-30 years ago.

Theses shots of Kat Von D and her Tattoos show her to still be appealing to males in a slight sexual way, as both shots are quite seductive poses, showing skin, even though it could be said to be showing her tattoos off, it can still also be it is to appeal to males and for them to look at her in a sexual way. This shot also links in with Laura Mulvey and 'the male gaze' even though to some men she may not be seen as attractive because of all her tattoos, to other men, they may find her highly attractive. In these shots Kat Von D is not only flaunting her tattoos, but also her body, and showing sexual appeal. This shows that even though the documentary is about tattoos and her career within the tattooing industry, there is also voyeurism that will appeal to people, even if it is subconsciously. 

Similar Product Research, Jamie Ellis, Candidate number 9150

This is the first of my specialized topic documentary reviews

Marked – Death of the Yakuza

A documentary revealing stories and lore behind the tattoos that are used by the Japanese equivalent of the Italian mafia, the deadly, yet honourable, Yakuza. The history and meaning behind these artistic and symbolic tattoos is revealed, as well as an individuals experience behind them. 

This documentary is in an expository mode, with the voice over depicting and translating the actions on screen. This type of documentary is the one I would most like to do, because to me, they are the original type of documentary and I think it would suit our documentary very well after my similar product research into other tattoo documentaries.

Rayner is a great theorist for these kinds of documentaries. “The process by which media presents the real world”, as they present the world behind the ink, the world that these tattoos create for these people. From tales of taking over the family business, to taking back the reigns of power over your life from an abusive boyfriend, each tattoo has a meaning. 

We’re looking to shed light on modern tattoos, the iconography behind them, as well as people’s personal opinions on them too. And this theory supports our way of working. 

Another strong theorist is Perkins. The idea of “stereotypes are not simple” suits tattoos greatly. Each tattoo has a special meaning to the individual. In my eyes, this makes it impossible to stereotype someone with a tattoo because to have a stereotype, you have to have a majority. However, with tattoos, there is no way to have a majority, because it’s very difficult to find somebody with a similar tattoo with a similar meaning. 

The Mise en Scene

The costumes in the documentary aren’t chosen, there are what the subjects chose to wear. They appear to be stereotypical costumes, such as traditional kimonos. They do this to simply reinforce that these people are part of, or were part of the Japanese Yakuza organisation. This contrasts with the costumes that the normal people wear, to show the distinction between these people.

Our costumes would be, well, I'd like the interviewer in some sort of smart attire, to show off professionalism and the interviewees to just look natural. We'd be there to interview them in their natural environment, rather than making it look like a staged interview. 

The lighting is ambient. It’s not blinding and it’s not natural, it’s just soft lighting. This could be relating to the “shady” business of the Yakuza, so the lighting could relate the interviewees pasts.

Our lighting will more than likely be natural. we wouldn't be bringing any sort of additional light source with us, mainly because I simply don't think we'll need it. 

 Below is the dojo location

                                                          Below is the empty bar location

The locations and sets where the documentary is filmed are stereotypical once again. The first is set in a dojo, whereby the first interviewee depicts his tale into the world of the Yakuza. His tale is more of a respectable and honourable one, which relates to the dojo even more through its ties and themes of honour. Another location is what appears to be an empty bar. This relates to what the interviewee’s story is behind his early Yakuza life, but could also be a typical Yakuza hangout. This person’s tale into his yakuza decent is a seedier one, as he just wants the girls and the money that come with the typical Yakuza image. These locations have been chosen for more than just their aesthetics; at least, that’s why I think they were chosen.


Our locations for filming will have some connotational link to the subject that our interviewer/presenter will be talking about.                          

                                                                                                Below is a traditional tattooing technique

There are little props used in the documentary. The ones that are used in the documentary just enforce what the interviewees are telling us about themselves, such as traditional tattooing kits and the tattoos themselves. This is a good close up shot of the tattoing process, which is a type of shot i'd like to get during filming if we're allowed into a parlour.


Our props are going to be limited too, for the simple reason that there are no real props that relate to tattoos that we can get hold off. It would be great if we could get inside a tattoo parlour and take images of the equipment, but it's too early to predict that far.

The way this interview has been filmed is pretty simple. It's been filmed as an over the shoulder mid-shot. this is the style we'll be trying to use as it looks quite professional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=070akNz4DPM

Institutional research by Kate Parkinson. Candidate number -9204.

When I started to look at institutions distributing documentaries or similar I found that the channel most likely to show one off documentaries or controversial documentary series are Channel 4. Channel 4 have done shows such as Skint, Educating Yorkshire, My daughter the teenage nudest and most relative to us they do a show called My Tattoo Addiction.

Shows such as Skint are classed as controversial because they are looking into the life of youngsters struggling with family life, living off benefits, getting themselves in trouble, etc. Skint was scheduled to be on at 10pm which is post watershed, they will not want children watching it as it is so controversial. Most of Channel 4's one of documentaries are scheduled for after the water-shed.

Here is a clip of Educating Yorkshire which gives an indication of the style of documentaries Channel 4 show and why it is classed controversial and post watershed material.

When I found this information on Channel 4 I did some more research into their documentary background and found that they are actually looking for people to showcase their own documentaries for them to play on Channel 4. They are also looking for new presenting faces. If we ask an aspiring presenter/actor to be in our documentary something like that could be a perfect way of kick starting you career.
I compared our ideas for our documentary with the questionnaire they had published on their website which was this:

What are your commissioning priorities?

We are looking for single films in the Cutting Edge strand, Documentary Series, hour long films from new directors in the First Cut strand, and international feature docs which we showcase in the True Stories strand.

Kate: Our documentary will be a true story of different people's views/ beliefs/ stereotypes on tattoos. It will be edgy and cool to appeal to our target audience. We could use bad situations that happen in the documentary to build tension and keep people's interest.

What are you not interested in?

There are some ideas that clearly don't fit with our stated purpose of reflecting Contemporary Britain, and won't work for our C4 output.

Kate: Our documentary will reflect Contemporary Britain as tattoos are quite a stereotypical thing, people, especially British people, are very opinionated about tattoo's and what they represent so our documentary will cover that situation completely and we will uncover varied people's opinions on this.

What are the tariff prices for programmes you currently commission?

It varies, but roughly £150K for a one hour fully commissioned Channel4 programme. For True Stories roughly £40K for a pre-purchase, £10K for a licence but it can vary depending on the project.

What is the biggest creative challenge your team or genre faces?

Finding the really big ambitious ideas that will re-write the rules in the new post Big Brother world, and will break through to become major events in the schedule.

We are always looking for great new presenters.

As most True Stories are international co-productions and the financing of these films can occassionally be tricky.

Kate: As we found whilst doing our similar product research Tattoo Documentaries aren't very original so a big challenge for us will be making ours new and fresh, finding a way of making it original and better than others. However, I did find that not a lot of Tattoo Documentaries are British they all seem to be American or Canadian and different cultures can have varied views on these kinds of situations therefore ours being British could bring a totally new reaction to tattoos.

What advice would you give to new talent companies keen to connect with your team?

Research what we commission and what each commissioner is looking for, then target that commissioner directly via the 4producers online submission sytem.

For projects looking for co-production funding, please submit online. For acquisitions / licences, please send direct to Anna Miralis.

We will also be making ours for a target audience of 16 - 40 therefore our documentary does not have to be shown so late, ours will be edgy and grown up without using bad language and other features that make the other documentaries post watershed.

Similar product research by Kate Parkinson. Candidate number 9204.

The untold story behind The Rocks tattoos

Mise-en-scene
The rock is being interviewed but the background behind him is blurred out.
Old images of the rock with his tattoos.
The Rock showing off his tattoos in his wresting gear.
More old images of The Rock with influences to his tattoos.

Old images of The rock getting his tattoos were used in the documentary

When showing his tattoo in his wresting gear the background is always black.

Camera shots, angles and movements
Medium close up of the rock being interviewed.
Extreme close up of his tattoo over his chest.
Camera pans around his shoulder to show all of his tattoo.
Close up of his face, he is looking focused.
More medium close ups of his interview.
Zoom in to his tattoo, close up again of the tattoo.
Camera moves around his body, with the tattoo mostly centred.
Camera pans around from the front of his body to the back.
Medium close up of him showing his tattoo.

Audience
The audience for this video would be very interesting as The Rock is so well known. As an entertainer he will be an idol to younger children, especially boys which may attract them to this video. A lot of children like to copy the actions of their idols so The Rock showing off his ink may influence younger children to want tattoos when they are older. Him being so well known and popular will bring in a bigger audience anyway.

Theorists
Michael Rabiger - This tells a good story of why and how an influential character in the media had his tattoos done. However, it does not value neutral information as the whole documentary focuses on The Rock and his stories and opinions. The documentary does include an interesting character in the form of a popular, well - known, idolised wrestler, as he is so popular, especially with a younger audience, he is not trying to encourage or influence people to get tattoos he is informing people of the reasoning and inspiration behind his inking. This Doc develops a detailed knowledge of one character is particular, as he is such a big character and in the spotlight the documentary gets away with just having him there.
Renov - This documentary informs as The Rock is giving a detailed analysis of why he had his tattoos and what was the inspiration behind them, he is also informing us what they mean to his career and why he likes tattoos so much.
Male voyeurism is used in this documentary as when the camera is focusing on The Rock's tattoos he isn't wearing much at all and is very much showing of his body, people who have seen or know of The Rock will know he's also known for his built appearance which could also be an attraction to watching this documentary.

Voyeurism is used in this documentary - The Rock

How this will help develop our documentary
We will not be able to have such a popular well known superstar in our documentary so as well as it works for this documentary we could not bring that idea into ours. Using only one character and one story works for this documentary because of who he is however we could not use those ideas in ours.

Similar Product Research by Kate Parkinson. Candidate number - 9204

Tattoo Age: Mutsuo

Mise-en-scene
View of the city its filmed in, the buildings, lights, sunset.
Tattoo artist introduced - driving in his car.
First interview - with a tattoo artist.
Tattoo artist walking into the shop.
Watching a person get there tattoo done.
Look at Mutsuo doing a tattoo in the reflection of a mirror.
Images of different peoples tattoos.
Interview with another tattoo artist - equipment and designs in the background.
More images of different peoples tattoos.
Most designs are very colourful.
Another clip of Mutsuo doing a tattoo.
Clip of Mutsuo taping up someones tattoo.
Shot of the outside of the shop and the name.
Mutsuo walking down the street in Japan - shops, buildings, roads, etc. in the background.
Japanese people walking around the streets.
Shots of the inside of the shop.
Shot of different customers and workers in the shop.
Old images of Mutsuo doing tattoos.
A lot of filming gets done in the tattoo places, this is personal and gives close up looks in detail at the life of these tattoo artists and why they do what they do and the type of people that come into the shop. We will try to find a place that will let us film them and the shop as I think that would be effective.

Camera shots/Movements/Angles
Establishing shot, Osaka Japan, where it is filmed.
Close up of the first guy introduced driving in his car.
Mid-shot of the main guy getting out of his car.
Close up of another tattoo artist getting interviewed.
Tracking of the artist walking into the shop.
Close up of them doing a tattoo.
Mid shot of someone getting there tattoo done.
Close ups of images of peoples tattoos.
Mid shot of another guy getting interviewed.
Close up of a person getting their tattoo done.
Close up of concentration on tattooists face.
They use plenty of close ups of customers getting there tattoos done, this gives the documentary detail and as every documentary I'v analysed so far uses this angle I think it would be good to use for ours.

Audience
The target audience for any tattoo documentary will be people between the ages of 16-40 as that age group will be people most likely to have tattoos or be thinking of getting tattoos. This is quite a modern documentary so may attract more of the younger generation. It is also international as it is filmed in Japan so the audience may be mixed nationality and can make a comparison to their culture. The video is very male dominant, the tattoo artists are male and all the customers filmed were male, this could just be because the shop is in Japan but it may put women off watching.

Mode
Using Bill Nichols modes of documentary I can see that this documentary is expository mode as there is  a voice over being used to explain detail of what's going on and about the artist and his shop. The camera crew is never visible on camera or ever heard. They have original footage of Mutsuo doing tattoos and archive footage of him doing old tattoos. It informs the audience of his background which lead him to be a tattoo artists and his inspiration of his designs. Other people getting interviewed praise the artist for his work and describe his work ethic.

How this will help our development
Our documentary will be a modern look at the tattoo age and people's views and thoughts on tattoos in modern times. We will use old images of people getting tattooed and original footage and videos as this looks effective and makes the artist look more experienced. I like the idea of footage being mostly in the shop as its personal and a detailed look at everyday life of an artist and what happens, i will see if I can use this in ours.

Similar product research by Kim Potter. Candidate number 8180

Similar Product Research: Ancient Ink-Blood and Tattoos

Mode-Participatory as the film maker is taking part in the documentary and is impacting on the events recorded as he is recorded getting tattoos himself and the tattoos he has are looked at. This documentary is also Expository mode as it exposes the history behind tattooing and educates about where tattoos started and how different cultures see them. Also archive images are used to show the history of tattoos and what they were like many years ago, it also shows that tattoos would show a persons status and be seen as a mark of beauty on women in some tribes.

Mise en scene-The mise en scene is mainly people in tattoo studios and tattoos people have. Also different areas people receive tattoos outdoors such as on a beach in Hawaii as that is traditional.

Camera work-When tattooing or looking at tattoos-close up. When at new place, long or extreme long shot and sometimes pan around to show surrounding and area.

Editing-Voice over when showing archive pictures telling you about the history of tattoos and what the pictures are and what they mean. Non diagetic music played with voice over.

Audience-The target audience for this documentary may be around 20-50, and both male and females, I believe the age of the target audience may be a little older than some tattoo documentaries as this is mainly about the history of tattoos, how far back they date and the meanings of tattoos in different cultures. Tattoo artists also may be interested in this as it shows how tattooing has changed over the years, and shows some ancient ways of tattooing. People who are not particularly interested in tattoos, but are interested in history may also enjoy watching this. This documentary is filmed in many different places such as New Zealand and Hawaii, so I believe people from different countries will be interested in watching it as it may reveal things about the history of tattoos in their country. The aim of the documentary is to reveal how long tattoos have really been around, and that they can sometimes have very strong meaning, in some cultures they are seen as signs of beauty and wealth, in others signs of worriers.

What we can use from this when creating our own -

Similar product research by Kate Parkinson.Candidate number - 9204.

Living Canvas - Tattoo documentary

Mise-en-scene
Designs of tattoo's, there was all kinds of designs.
Equipment, e.g. the needle, water, paper.
Framed designs on the wall.
Bottles of ink sat on a shelf.
Designs all over the studio walls.
Interview with a body peircer.
Images of people getting tattooed.
Interviews with artists and students with tattoos with designs in the background.

Camera shot/Angles/Movements
Close ups of the designs on the walls.
Close ups of the tattoo artists doing tattoos.
Mid-shots of the characters being interviewed.
Close ups of the equipment used - this shows detail and we can use it in our documentary.
Pan around of all the bottles on the shelf.
Black in and out between shots.
Low angled shot of a guy getting interviewed - makes him look important and in control.
Quick cuts.
Zoom in on the main guys face tattoos.

Audience
The target audience for a documentary like this would be males and females between 16-40. It used to be that women that got tattoo's were stereotyped and seen as different, however, women have got more used to having tattoos now and it has been more excepted and nowadays women can be covered in tattoos. This would mean a wide variety of people would be interested in this documentary. People between 16-40 are most likely to be interested in or thinking about getting tattoo's. The edgy designs in the documentary will be appealing to a younger audience.

Mode
Using Bill Nichols theory you can see they have used the expository mode for this documentary as it educates and informs viewers about tattoos and peoples different views on them and that not everyone will feel the same about them. The camera is pointed at the people being interviewed and the crew never get involved in the action, this is what we will do in our documentary. They use original footage of the designs and people being interviewed and also use pre-recorded of people having their inking done.

How this will help produce our documentary
We will be using the idea of filming people getting their tattoo done as this looks effective and gives detail to people who have not had one done that may be thinking about it. We will also do close ups of designs to show the different taste people have in what they get inked on them. In our documentary we will also be filming but will not be getting involved in getting filmed, we will be solely the directors and producers, similar to this documentary.

Similar product research by Kate Parkinson. Candidate number - 9204

Skin deep - Tattoo Documentary

Mise-en-scene
Mostly set in the tattoo parlor of the main characters.
Inside the tattoo place there are designs for tattoos all over the wall.
There is a little room in side full of equipment for doing tattoos.
In the opening scene they show the owner doing a tattoo for a young woman.
They also do interviews with the owner inside the shop.
Only do Christians tattoos, eg. Crucifixes, Angels, Hands in the prayer position.
The tattooist is big, bald and covered in tattoos.
Interviews customers that have had tattoos in that shop.

Camera Shots, Angles and Movements
Establishing shot of the tattoo shop.
Long shot of who you presume to be the owner mopping the floor.
Pan of the whole shop where you see the designs all over the walls.
Close ups of the designs on the wall.
Close ups then zoom outs of the equipment used.
Close up of a tattoo being done.
Panning across the designs, close ups of the designs.
Close ups of his tattoos.
Close ups of the other people being interviewed.

Audience
The target audience for this documentary will be people between 18 - 40, these are the people most likely to get a tattoo or be thinking about getting a tattoo. Nowadays both men and woman are interested in tattoos and getting them so the gender audience will be mixed. Not all cultures and ethnic groups believe in getting tattoos therefore only certain groups will watch it, as the specific tattoo parlor used in the documentary specializes in doing Christianity tattoos perhaps they will be the groups that watches it most.

Mode
Using Bill Nichols modes of documentary you can see that they use the expository mode for this documentary as it informs and educates the audience about tattoos and interest in tattoos, interviews with people who have had tattoos informs of peoples reasoning and why people may get tattoos in the first place. The camera crew stay behind the camera and do not get involved. They have original footage of the people getting interviewed and of the shop itself.

How this will help me make my documentary
This documentary has developed my ideas further, I already had the idea of doing a close up video of someone getting a tattoo done but after seeing how affective it looked in this documentary I defiantly want to use that idea now. For our documentary I would like to find a tattoo shop that will let us look round and take close up video's of designs and equipment used in the shop as in this documentary it looks personal and effective and works really well.

Brief and the groups initial responses to brief

Brief 7-Documentary. An extract from an original documentary TV programme, lasting approximately 5 minutes, together with two ancillary tasks: a DPS from a listings magazine focused on the documentary and a newspaper advertisement for the documentary.

Kim-I was first drawn towards making a documentary as I believe it would be interesting and educational for me to create as well a for the audience. I also thought nearly anything could be a topic for a documentary.

Kate (9204) - I thought the idea of doing a documentary would be interesting. My initial thoughts about a topic were to do strong beliefs or stereotyping perhaps about strict ways of living or religion. We then came up with the idea of opinions on tattoo's. We thought about asking people there different opinions on whether tattoo's are likeable or whether people do not like them. are tattoo's ruining your body or are they art and meaningful?

Jamie 9150 - I felt myself being more drawn towards the idea of a documentary, because they've always appealed to me. I find them interesting, deep, meaningful and can shed light on some controversial topics to show the truth of the matter. So when I heard the possibility of doing a documentary, I was very pleased. In my mind, ideas for the documentary came racing through. Originally i was thinking of doing a documentary on a local service, like the police, or staff at some local schools or colleges to compare them. However, when I joined with Kate and Kim, they had the idea of doing a documentary on tattoos. At first, I was a bit skeptical of the idea, I was wondering how we'd structure it, what exactly the documentary would feature. However as time grew on, and the more we brainstormed ideas, it soon became a great subject for the documentary in my eyes.