Proposal

Below is the text from my proposal for my new brief. It is a self initiated brief that also involves a competition and working with a new group of people.

Rationale:
(Why are you doing it? How does it fit with your own sense of development? What is your particular interest in this area?)

I want to produce a documentary film in order to explore my interest in moving image that I developed at the end of last year. Technically it will also help to develop my camera, sound and editing skills. Finally it will be a different genre of moving image that I haven’t tried before that I can try my hand at.

Context:
(Where does the project fit in the real world?)

I will be producing the documentary film for the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival. This means that I have to keep it in mind that most of the people viewing the film won’t know about the existence of a fixed gear community in Leeds or possibly even what a fixed gear bike is.

Brief:
(What exactly are you/is somebody else expecting you to do?)

I will be creating a documentary film looking at the fixed gear bike scene/community in Leeds for the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival.

Partners/Key Stakeholders:
(Who else has an involvement or interest in what you are doing?)

I will be working with the members of the fixed gear bike community in Leeds. In particular I have got in contact with the creator of ‘Fixed Gear Leeds’ Samuel Hodgson, who runs the blog and facebook group. He’s shown interest in working with me and we currently have and ongoing dialog.

Outcomes:
(What exactly will you have, or will have happened, at the end of your project?)

I will have a short documentary film and will have built up a relationship with the fixed gear community.

Measures of success/evaluation strategy:
(How will you know how successful you have been? You can’t evaluate effectively unless you know what your aims were.)

My aim is to produce a documentary that is of a good enough quality to gain a place into the Sheffield Documentary Festival. I also want it to be a film that represents the community in a positive way and is something they are pleased to be part off. I don’t want them to feel like I am exploiting them. It also has to be enjoyable for people who are not part of the community and I think this will go hand in hand with creating a documentary that will do well in the festival.

Research:
(What do you need to find out to help you deliver the project?)

• Leeds fixed gear community – What do they get up to? What do they think about the scene? Future of the scene? Bikes, tricks etc.
• Documentary film making
• Sheffield Documentary Film Festival – Previous entries. Ones that have got through in previous years.
• Technical skills – Filming, sound recording and editing. Different styles of filming such as filming while on bikes and at trick sessions. Filming on location.
• What people will be interested in learning about the fixed gear community?
• What the fixed gear community wants to say? If anything?
• Planning the documentary. How long will it take? Will I be able to do it all on my own or will I need more people to help me film etc.
• Are there any docs out there already looking at fixed gear bikes?

Why is it live?
(How does it meet the live requirement of the brief?)

Firstly I am making the documentary with a view to entering it into the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival, so in essence it’s a competition brief. I am also taking elements of working with a community that is new to me so I will have to take that into account.

Resources:
(What will you need at every step of the project? Physical 1 space/people/hardware/software/money/transport are all resources to plan for.)

• Camcorder and tape (preferably HD)
• Digital SLR camera
• Final Cut Pro
• Fixed gear riders to interview and film riding
• Locations