Raised by Queers is a documentary following/presented by Keiron Richardson 'Hollyoaks' actor and his exploration of being while in a same-sex relationship. Kieron through out the doc is preparing for his twins to be born via a surrogate and meets with other people across the LGBTQ+ community and how they feel towards it. The doc follows Kieron in 'real time' as he receives calls from his surrogate about the twins being born.
The documentary celebrates fifty years of progress since July 1967, which saw the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales. Kieron is a modern gay man, one who has embraced every legal milestone achieved since then, and has always dreamed of having children of his own. The film sees Kieron and his husband Carl entering fatherhood, and goes behind closed doors as they begin life as a family, with personal footage capturing their beautiful twins’ arrival.- Burning Bright Productions
This doc is very upfront and bold about what it stands for. Even in the title being fast and snappy it is what it says and doesn't try to hide what it's trying to show, 'The phrase is now LGBTQ - so we are reclaiming the word Queer,' Kieron, 31, explained, defending the title of the show- Daily Mail.
The doc is actuality mixed with camera footage from the crew and camera phone footage when the twins are born. Interviews are conversational and means that more dialogue can progress from structured questions to other conversations. Kieron often talks to the children of the people featured too.
Interviews are set in contributors houses/in one occasion a nursery attached to a contributor house, this allows the viewer to relate to them more and breaks down any barriers/misconceptions about same-sex couples/parents. The access goes further to the hospital after the twins are born and we see them with their parents.
By using a well known recognisable actor from Hollyoaks the documentary gains the following of viewers from that show, this helps the documentary spread the message it's holding further. It also has an array of sexualities within its contributors showing diversity in parenting. The conversational interview style helps to make the documentary less formal and more relatable for the viewer.
The presenter Kieron, is also used in voice allowing information to be quickly conveyed over another scene and/or sequence.
The repetitive phone calls that both the dads receive through out the doc are all from their surrogate, this builds anticipation and allows the audience to go on the journey and be involved with them.
The documentary fits in with Channel 4's remit and aims to educate the general public (includes general facts and knowledge about LGBT people and anecdotal stories), it also promotes diversity. It shows a range of ways that different people with different sexualities can become parents, this level of education and awareness helps to normalise the LGBTQ+ community having children.
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Overall from this documentary I've learnt:
- The importance of having a variety of contributors in a documentary as this provides a wide spectrum of opinion.
- Access to locations is vital and can help with the story telling aspect of interviews, the setting is very important to set up the character.
- Real life events like the surrogate phone calls in this situation allow the documentary to have something to be based around.
- Having a presenter who is personally involved is important as they then aren't detached from the subject.
I will use this in my pre-production to; try to find locations for interviews that are relevant to the interviewees to avoid just putting them any where, finding a 'presenter' or lead contributor who is personally involved in the subject, and finding contributors that demonstrate the wide spectrum that is Drag.
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