Documentary Script and Storyboard

This week we finished the storyboard as a group. We generally stuck to the idea I had to begin with (seen above), however focused on adding more scenes in collage, to even out the number of stop-motion and collage shots. 

Madgie then worked on the final drawings for the storyboard (seen below). Her drawings massively improve the initial concept and I can see the documentary coming together much clearer now. 

Alongside this, I worked on the script. To begin with, I researched how the scripts of other documentaries are formulated. I focused on the BBC's 'Blue Planet' series, as this is the sort of tone I'm hoping to go for with the text. I analysed three beginnings and three endings to transcripts of this series. 

Overall I found the sentences were generally simple and that the rule of three, superlatives and plosive alliteration were commonly used for dramatic effect. They even managed to contain a fair amount of numerical data without ruining the poetic nature of the script. 

With this in mind, I set about working out the stance the script would take. I came to the conclusion the documentary would start positively, looking at the unique and diverse characteristics of the forest. Palm oil would then be introduced fairly neutrally, but by the end, the stance would twist and look at all the negatives palm oil has had on the forest. I found facts from our research that fit this stance (research that covered the economical, environmental, social and political aspects of palm oil). 

In the second draft, I wanted the script to feel more like a poem, fitting with the expository/poetic mode the documentary will take. The volume of facts in the previous script would be too much information for a viewer to be able to take in, and not particularly entertaining. 

The third draft looked to cut down the sentences to the essentials as only 200-250 words can be read a minute. I was looking to get it down to 120 words as the imagery would speak for itself.

Me and Madgie both worked on the final script. We listened to a podcast about palm oil, which made the point that the West generally focuses on the negative affects palm oil has on the animals. While of course this is a serious issue, the effects palm oil has on the people is generally forgotten. As a result, we tweaked the script slightly to focus more on the social aspects in Indonesia rather than the animals. 

This is the final script we came up with:

What Went Well

• Madgie's storyboard makes visualising the documentary a lot easier
• I'm very happy with the final script - it touches on all the social, economic and environmental elements I wanted to include
• The script research was a good beginning point when looking for inspiration

Criticism

• 60- 90 seconds of documentary is a very short space of time to produce a well-rounded, descriptive script
• We had to cut out the impacts palm oil has on animals due to the time constraints