Our Inspiration (FOP)

After a month's absence, I am back yall!

 

Today I'm writing about my project, moreso what inspired my group and I to do a mockumentary. 

 

You can view my other groupmates' viewpoints here and there. 

 

My inspiration came from the popular mockumentaries 'The Office' and 'Parks and Recreation' produced by NBC, which mock the documentary filming and editing style. However, I wanted something dark but stupid. Something you know is satire, but it would take a second to realize it. One thing about this style is that it's easy to film and edit, but you get so much value and use from it. You can use the documentary style to build many different types of films; from educational to action, you can turn almost any event or topic into a documentary. And in this sea of variety and commonality that makes it so easy to mock, but at the same time, if the event we created actually happened, someone would’ve made a documentary about it anyways.

 

If you don’t know, you’re about to know: I work at Publix and McDonald’s. I wanted to do something there, but Publix would not allow it, and since my McDonald’s is a 24/7 location, we were not allowed to close the inside to allow for this. Also, my manager at McDonald’s kind’ve doesn’t like me anymore soooo… asking is useless.

 

If you read the previous post, you know we want to do something mocking crime docuseries, but nothing serious. The premise being someone got life in prison for robbing a gas station with an alligator or a ladder or something ridiculous but with serious undertones. I wanted something cinematic as well. Documentaries use many aerial shots and close-ups, and I tried to mimic that film style. The type of documentary we want to encapsulate the style of is like that of true crime or sci-fi—low-key lighting mixed with sunset or sunrise aerial shots, a b-roll of gritty things, etc.. 

 

Another thing is audio. Documentaries have clear, crisp audio, which is a difficult thing for high school students to accomplish, but we will. We also want to use music that properly seals the “dead air” between witness audio clips or scenes. 

 

Next week I'll post a storyboard, general outline, or a script of what we want. So, of course, more to come!

 

See y'all next week!