DOCUMENTARY - SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT - CATFISH MERCHANT

Documentary scripts are different from a film script, there is no strict way of doing a documentary script because they are mainly for the director to use, if it is a self-shoot then the best script format to use are the 'Two- Column' Script format, this is a template with 2 or 3 columns with the video on the right and audio on the left.

I have been reading a book called 'Making documentary films and videos' by Barry Hampe he quotes

"Would-be screenwriters have been brainwashed about the importance of formatting. They've been told that every producer receives gazillions of spec scripts, but can produce only one or two films a year. Therefore, in every production office there sits a film school graduate whose job is to reject - for any reason whatsoever - 99.9% of the scripts that come in. One of the reasons for rejection is that the script has not been properly formatted. That may be true in Hollywood for feature film scripts, but ... In scripting a documentary, the script doesn't matter."

This information made me a little bit more confident in writing the documentary script as I am used to writing film or tv scripts.

Our group arranged to meet to discuss the script up at the UCA campus, at first we were going to split the script into 3 sections and one to person allocated to each section but this was going to pose to be difficult, as I am presenting I wanted to have the same tone throughout, it is harder to write for someone else without knowing the tone we speak, if it was from an outside contributor an audition would have been held and we would have a sense of the accent before we started.

We all had certain jobs that we needed to do for the shoot, I was going to organise an interview and a shoot at Janes stall, Katie was to organise the reconstruction of her case study and Taz was to get the fashion students.
I suggested that we all write down what we wanted to see and I would go away and work on the Audio side.

Below is the information from my group that I needed to add to my script.


Notes from Taz.
    



Notes from Katie.

From looking at the notes and the structure that we have discussed within the workshops as well as the reading material reading myself and Katie took a section each and we came up with the first draft.
this draft is the one that we went through in group tutorial.
The feedback notes are underneath the image.

                                             CATFISH MERCHANT SHOOT SCRIPT

VIDEO	AUDIO	TIME
MONTAGE OPENING SEQUENCE Archive Clips of videos from YouTube, News articles on the scams, Images of the people who have been Scammed.	MUSIC IN – UPBEAT V/O PRESENTER The state of fashion claimed that in 2017 the fashion industry was worth £2.4 trillion and IT Is the world’s seventh largest economy if ranked alongside individual countries as Great Britain.
EXT. PARANA CAFÉ - DAY Dissolve to image of the Strood sign. PTC TRACKING Medium close up shot of presenter sitting at a table, with shopping bags on display, talking to the camera.	MUSIC FADE OUT PTC PRESENTER My name is Carla Buckingham and for my own sins I am a maniac bargain hunter but like many people I get sucked into the glamorised online deals, Low prices for quality goods, but this is not always the case…
Medium close up of cashier counter, customer handing over money to the cashier Close up of clothing rack and customer looking through it.	V/O PRESENTER Consumers have become more demanding, more discerning and less predictable in their purchasing behaviour.
INT.PARANA CAFÉ – DAY PTC PRESENTER CUT TO: Back in the café, mid shot of presenter talking to the camera. INT. BROMLEY BRIDES - DAY Dramatised reconstruction of looking at prom dresses, looking at the price tag and putting the dress away. CUT TO: Looking at cheap prom dresses online, sitting on the sofa and looking at the laptop.	PTC PRESENTER It’s that time of year again when students are getting ready to leave school and the last thing they have to celebrate is prom, buying the dress should be fun and stress free but that was not the case for one student, when the whole day was nearly ruined by an online fashion company, here is Katie’s story. MUSIC IN – SOFT V/O KATIE Prom was the only thing I was looking forward to and it was highly anticipated, my parents were buying my dress and I felt excited and but that came at a price . . .
INT. KATIE’S HOUSE – DAY Dramatised reconstruction of looking at prom dresses online. Close up of laptop/phone, looking at the dress and then purchasing the dress, closing the laptop.	V/O KATIE I decided that I would take a look online to see if I could find anything for the budget I Was given and yes, I found the perfect dress and at the low -price of £10.98 now all I had to do is wait. . .
EXT. UNIVERSITY FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS, ROCHESTER – DAY Medium close up shot of presenter in front of the university. CUT TO: Presenter walking down fashion design department hallway.	BACKGROUND MUSIC IN - UPBEAT PTC PRESNTER We have come to the University for the creative arts to talk to some fashion students who actively work in the fashion industry so they can tell us about how brands get ripped off and why companies can get away with false advertising.
INT.FASHION DESIGN, UCA. DAY Medium close up of FMP student, sitting in chair and talking one to one. Over the shoulder shots of noddies and Mya talking. CUT TO: Shots of the rooms with mannequins and fabrics, students working on their projects. CUT TO: Back to the interview.	MUSIC FADE OUT. INTERVIEW I am here with Mya who is an FMP Student. Talk to Mya about false advertising and the effects that it can have on the fashion industry and what to look out for when searching the web for fakery. Show her the picture of the dress Katie had bought online and ask about the ‘typical’ signs of a scam and ask her view on the picture editing. Ask how she thinks scamming businesses will affect her and others who are looking to go into the fashion industry.
EXT. STROOD HIGHSTREET – DAY Montage of the shops on the high street Medium wide shot, presenter walking on the alleyway/high street towards Jane’s stall shop.	V/O PRESENTER I wanted to find out more about the effects that it may have for small UK businesses who advertise online, so I came to Strood to talk to Jane, who is the owner of Janes Stall.
EXT. STROOD HIGHSTREET – DAY Panning shot of the front of Jane’s stall shop. Medium close up and close up shots of inside the shop, people buying the clothes and looking through the racks.	PTC PRESENTER Jane has owned her own business for (...) and is well known around Medway for quality clothes at a low price she is a great example of a small business owner making a decent living but how easy is it in this social climate of the fashion industry?
INT. JANES STALL – DAY Mid shot of formal interview, one to one. Cut to: Over the shoulder shots, on both sides. Back to the mid shot in front.	INTERVIEW WITH JANE. Ask Jane about how she would describe her business and how advertising online has had an impact on sales. Get her views on companies that false advertise and how she avoids being scammed herself.
INT. KATIE’S HOUSE – DAY Dramatised reconstruction of receiving the dress in the post. Close up shot of picking up the parcel, opening the packaging and getting the dress out. Medium close up shot of trying the dress on, looking in the mirror. Close up of the details of the dress.	V/O PRESENTER So, was it the same for Katie when she finally received the dress that she had anticipated for? MUSIC IN – SOFT V/O KATIE The day finally came, and my dress arrived, and I was so excited to open it and see the dress and it was nothing what it should have looked like.
INT. UNIVERSITY FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS – DAY Medium close up of fashion Atelier student, formal interview, one to one. Close ups of the dress, looking at the detail. Student talking as they look at the dress.	INTERVIEW WITH FASHION ATTIERLIER. INTERVIEW Have the actual dress and discuss all the faults with it. Discuss the quality and comparisons to the one advertised.
INT. JANES STALL - DAY Demonstrations of the process she goes through to get her clothes live. Clothing getting modelled, close up panning shots of the models, wide shots showing the entire dress.	V/O PRESENTER Back at Janes stall she demonstrates the process she goes through to advertise on line. She uses the images of the model to display online to promote her shop, but it is also incredibly easy for any scamming company to steal and use her image.
INT. PARANA’S CAFÉ – DAY Medium close up shot of presenter sitting at a table, with shopping bags on display, talking to the camera CUT TO: RECONSTURCTION INT. BROMLEY BRIDES – DAY Girl tries on dresses, looks at the price tag again, opens up the purse with little money in there and then getting the card out. Close up shots of purse and medium wide shots of the dress.	PTC PRESENTER Getting scammed online can actually cost you more than a normal dress from the high street. You could spend from £10-150 on a scammed dress and still have to go out and buy yourself a brand-new dress last minute, that would probably cost you the same amount. V/O KATIE After getting scammed, I had to buy my prom dress last minute and with very few options on where to purchase it for a reasonable price.
INT – PARANA’S CAFÉ – DAY Medium close up shot of presenter sitting at a table, with shopping bags on display, talking to the camera. Close up shot of presenter giving advice.	PTC PRESENTER In short, there are many ways of getting scammed and very easily too. However, there are ways of preventing this from happening to yourself or to anyone else you may know. 1.  Check where you are purchasing from, mainly the address. 2.   The display image they have used for advertisement, does it look legitimate? 3.  The price, this is usually the big indicator of whether an item is legit, how cheap is it? Does the dress look like it is worth that much? 4.  Also look at who you’re buying it from, specifically the websites you’re using. 5.  Look at the reviews and feedback the company gets; you can mostly trust the feedback of people who have purchased from said companies before. Overall, just be aware and on alert when purchasing from small brands or do your research, I can’t express that enough, it will save you from disappointment and it will definitely save you money. Know what you’re buying and who you’re buying from. (add catchphrase here)

The keynotes that Helen mentioned through was to make sure that the previous shot links to the next shot, we have to make sure that if we are talking about something or someone it has to make sense in the next frame. We had another look and Katie worked again on the image part of the script and I worked a bit more on the audio part and put in the timings.

The timings are subject to change.

Below katie working on the script.

                                            CATFISH MERCHANT SHOOT SCRIPT

                    By Carla Buckingham, Taz Belgum and Katie Cahalane.

VIDEO	AUDIO	TIME
MONTAGE OPENING SEQUENCE GFX Archive Clips of videos from YouTube, News articles on the scams, Images of the people who have been Scammed.	MUSIC IN – UPBEAT V/O PRESENTER The state of fashion claimed that in 2017 the fashion industry was worth £2.4 trillion and IT Is the world’s seventh largest economy if ranked alongside individual countries as Great Britain.	“10s RT=”10s
EXT. PARANA CAFÉ - DAY Dissolve to image of the Strood sign. SEQUENCE MONTAGE People shopping, handing money over to cashiers, bags of shopping.	MUSIC FADE OUT V/O Consumers have become more demanding, more discerning and less predictable in their purchasing behaviour	“05s RT=”05s

PTC TRACKING ON SCREEN CAPTION. SEQUENCE 1 Carla sitting at a table, with shopping bags on display. PTC and then a cut to Carla in her wardrobe, as she says her lines. Show the dress.	PTC PRESENTER Hi I’m Carla and for my own sins I am a maniac bargain hunter but like many people I get sucked into the glamorised online deals, Low prices for quality goods, but this is not always the case. Back in 2014 I was subjected to an online scam when I bought a dress online and it looked nothing like the one that was advertise and here is one I bought this year. I Wanted to find out if their where many other people who had been scammed in this way and when are these merchants best time of year to catch us out..	“12s “12s “10s RT = “34
INT.PARANA CAFÉ – DAY PTC PRESENTER SEQUENCE 3 - Back in the café, presenter talking to the camera.	PTC PRESENTER It’s that time of year again when students are getting ready to leave school and the last thing they have to celebrate is prom, buying the dress should be fun and stress free but that was not the case for one student, when the whole day was nearly ruined by an online fashion company, here is Katie’s story.	“17s RT = “17s
SEQUENCE 4 – INTERVIEW Formal/comfortable interview, Carla interviewing Katie about her scamming story. One to one interview. Cutaway to reconstruction of Katie’s story. Weaving in and out of the interview.	MUSIC BACKGROUND Ask Katie What happened, why and how she dealt with her up set over the prom dress purchase that she made. Ask her to show what the picture looked like that she thought she was buying.	“12s RT = “12s
EXT. UNIVERSITY FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS, ROCHESTER – DAY SEQUENCE 5 PTC WALKIE TALKIE Carla in front of the university, panning shots of the university logo. Cut to the presenter walking down fashion design department hallway.	BACKGROUND MUSIC IN - UPBEAT PTC PRESNTER We have come to the University for the creative arts to talk to some fashion students who actively work in the fashion industry so they can tell us about how brands get ripped off and why companies can get away with false advertising.
INT.FASHION DESIGN, UCA. DAY SEQUENCE 6 Carla interviewing the FMP student, sitting in chair. Looking into rooms with mannequins and fabrics, students working on their projects. Weave in and out of the interview and location.	MUSIC FADE OUT. INTERVIEW I am here with Mya who is an FMP Student. Talk to Mya about false advertising and the effects that it can have on the fashion industry and what to look out for when searching the web for fakery. Show her the picture of the dress Katie had bought online and ask about the ‘typical’ signs of a scam and ask her view on the picture editing. Ask how she thinks small businesses are affected.	“3 “10s “10s RT = 23s

EXT. STROOD HIGHSTREET – DAY SEQUENCE 7 Montage of the shops on the high street - GFX Presenter walking in the alleyway/high street towards Jane’s stall shop.

V/O PRESENTER I wanted to find out more about the effects that it may have for small UK businesses who advertise online, so I came to Strood to talk to Jane, who is the owner of Janes Stall.

“12s RT = “12s

EXT. STROOD HIGHSTREET – DAY SEQUENCE 8 The front of Jane’s stall shop. Inside the shop, people buying the clothes and looking through the racks.	PTC PRESENTER I have come to a town in Medway Kent to talk to Jane, she has owned her own business for (...) and is well known around Medway for quality clothes at a low price she is a great example of a small business owner making a decent living but how easy is it in this social climate of the fashion industry?	“21s RT = “21s
INT. JANES STALL – DAY SEQUENCE 9 Formal interview, one to one. Location weaving in and out of interview, looking at the clothes on the rack and people picking up the clothes.	INTERVIEW WITH JANE. Ask Jane about how she would describe her business and how advertising online has had an impact on sales. Get her views on companies that false advertise and how she avoids being scammed herself. Ask about her returns policy.	“7s RT = 7s
INT. KATIE’S HOUSE – DAY SEQUENCE 10 Dramatised reconstruction of receiving the dress in the post. Formal/comfortable interview, Carla interviewing Katie Picking up the parcel, opening the packaging and getting the dress out. Weaving in and out of interview and reconstruction. Trying the dress on, looking in the mirror.	V/O PRESENTER (change to interview) So, was it the same for Katie when she finally received the dress that she had anticipated for? MUSIC IN – SOFT V/O KATIE The day finally came, and my dress arrived, and I was so excited to open it and see the dress and it was nothing what it should have looked like.	“18s “10s

INT. UNIVERSITY FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS – DAY SEQUENCE 11 Fashion Atelier student, formal interview, one to one. Looking at the dress with student and discussing it.	INTERVIEW WITH FASHION ATTIERLIER. INTERVIEW Have the actual dress and discuss all the faults with it. Discuss the quality and comparisons to the one advertised online.	“4s RT = “4s
INT. JANES STALL – DAY SEQUENCE 12 Demonstrations of the process she goes through to get her clothes live. Clothing getting modelled, looking at the entirety of the dress and process.	V/O PRESENTER Back at Janes stall she demonstrates the process she goes through to advertise on line. She uses the images of the model to display online to promote her shop, but it is also incredibly easy for any scamming company to steal and use her image.	“5s RT = “5s
INT. PARANA’S CAFÉ – DAY SEQUENCE 13 Carla sitting at a table, with shopping bags on display, talking to the camera. Cut in and out Girl tries on dresses, looks at the price tag again, opens up the purse with little money in there and then getting the card out. Close up shots of purse and medium wide shots of the dress.	PTC PRESENTER Getting scammed online can actually cost you more than a normal dress from the high street. You could spend from £10-150 on a scammed dress and still have to go out and buy yourself a brand-new dress last minute, that would probably cost you the same amount. V/O KATIE After getting scammed, I had to buy my prom dress last minute and with very few options on where to purchase it for a reasonable price.	“16s “9s RT = “25s

INT – PARANA’S CAFÉ – DAY SEQUENCE 14 Carla sitting at a table, with shopping bags on display, talking to the camera. Presenter giving advice GFX – sources online, evidence put in small montages. PTC EXT CAFFEE

PTC PRESENTER In short, there are many ways of getting scammed and very easily too. However, there are ways of preventing this from happening to yourself or to anyone else you may know. 1.  Check where you are purchasing from, mainly the address. 2.   The display image they have used for advertisement, does it look legitimate? 3.  The price, this is usually the big indicator of whether an item is legit, how cheap is it? Does the dress look like it is worth that much? 4.  Also look at who you’re buying it from, specifically the websites you’re using. 5.  Look at the reviews and feedback the company gets; you can mostly trust the feedback of people who have purchased from said companies before. PTC PRESENTER Overall, just be aware and on alert when purchasing from small brands or do your research, I can’t express that enough, it will save you from disappointment and it will definitely save you money. Know what you’re buying and who you’re buying from. (add catchphrase here)

“40s “15s RT = 55s

Now having worked on a documentary script I have learned not to worry so much about the dialogue but to concentrate more on making a match between the transition shots, working between the two of us is better then three people working on it (Actual writing it) as we were able to send by a word document to each other.