Daniela Carson
She's produced shows such as 'Queer Britain', 'Don't tell the Bride' and 'Embarrassing Bodies', her work has been aired on Channel 4, ITV and BBC.
As part of our research Jemma (director) emailed Daniela some questions and found some to relevant to my role as a producer.
Where did the idea for Queer Britain come from?
A BBC development team consisting of producers and researchers will be continually researching current trends and coming up with ideas and topics to make into documentaries. These then get pitched to the channel commissioners who determine whether or not the idea is original enough and whether the programmes commissioned are diverse enough.
Do you have any advice into researching contributor stories?
Decide what topic needs to be discussed, and then begin to research and write a draft script. You start this by blocking out what your beginning middle and end is. You want to know what your topic is, how you want to conclude your topic, or whether the topic shouldn't be concluded and left for people to come to a conclusion.
How do you script to get specific answers from your contributors?
...your pre script tells you what you journey your film needs to take you on, and so you should be casting your contributors to fulfil a certain function in your film. You may have the best contributor ever who has loads to say on the topic of gender, but if your film is about racism then their knowledge on gender might not be relevant. So you are casting contributors specifically to tell part of your story. Your script should be a thesis. And you should simplify this thesis into film 'BEATS'. So that each contributor is giving you a beat or a few beats, whether it be that they tell you about the feeling of being victimised (at the stat of the film)- this would be a beat. Then at the end of the film, you may come back to that contributor give you another beat about the feeling of being empowered. And the journey in between from victimisation to empowerment you might want other contributors to tell you their personal account for all that's in-between. Peoples personal experiences being marginalised etc. But then finishing the film with empowerment may be a situation where the contributor is not empowering others who they identify with.
How did you make sure it was original for the documentary market?
Once production starts on the programme the series evolves to take its shape. The directors and series producer will research and discuss topics that are relevant to the Queer community. We spent months talking to people, researching and understanding topics that are relevant to the LGBTQ+ community.
How did you make sure the contributors were right for camera?
Generally it is the skill of the director to meet the contributor without cameras in advance so the contributor gets to know you and can relax and understand your intentions for filming. The the next time you are with them and filming, you would have already broken the ice.
If the contributors are suitable for filming because of a lack of ability to open up, then you would have already screened them at your first meeting. And if they aren't suitable then you are likely to need to find another contributor.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From these questions I have learnt;
- How I can ensure the contributors I have are good for camera and will help the story I am trying to tell.
- How I can effectively research into my contributors.
- How to keep our idea original.
I will use this in my pre-production when I Skype Tanya with Jemma to see if she is a good contributor/how she well she is when asked questions, by doing this not only can we get to know her and break the ice but she is also able to ask us any questions she may have. I'll also use it for scripting, by using contributors that will add to the impact of the documentary and having a strong structure that will use the experiences the contributors have had to tell the story.
No comments:
Post a Comment