Commissions | Challenges with Finding Contributors

We had initially planned to include insights from a driving instructor and a student of theirs so that we could potentially shoot a driving lesson and interview both of them for their insights on the world of driving for young people.

Unfortunately, the first driving instructor we contacted, Nazia, no longer wished to participate.  Therefore we had to contact other instructors in the area.  Sonia took up the task of finding another instructor and was able to secure Paul, a driving instructor in Maidstone, who was willing to participate.  In the weeks leading up to the shoot, however, Paul stopped acknowledging Sonia's correspondence and we were left with no instructor and no student with little more than a week left before we were supposed to start shooting.

Whilst we tried to get in contact with other instructors, I spoke to my best friend, Aidan, who was willing to participate as he was in the process of learning to drive.  Though it is not necessarily ideal, Aidan would be our last resort if we could not find any other contributors willing to participate in our film.

We had also planned to speak to my dad about what driving was like when he was my age, but due to work commitments, he was no longer available to shoot at a time that would be convenient for us.  Whilst this was a setback, I decided to ask my grandparents if they would be willing to help, and they were delighted to offer themselves for interview, which ended up working better than I had hoped, as my grandad in particular is fantastic at telling stories and had a lot to say about learning to drive in the early 60s.

Commissions | Test Shoots

Some of our sequences will involve shooting in a car, which is something that I have not done before.  In order to get a better idea of how we will shoot this, I practised shooting a timelapse in my car using a GoPro camera.



This worked nicely, although I feel I set the framerate too high, which made the timelapse a lot longer than I feel it needed to be, therefore, when it comes to shooting for the actual documentary, I will half the framerate.  Katie also tried something similar with her GoPro:

Commissions | Research for our Documentary

Now we had a much clearer idea on the focus of our documentary, we needed to look into the specific details of what we were going to talk about, particularly statistics and evidence for any claims we would be making.

Fortunately, the gov.uk website has a plethora of publicly-available statistics relating to driving and relevant to our documentary.  This was probably the best source of factual information we could get our hands on, as the statistics come straight from the government, and so apply to virtually everyone in the country.

As well as statistics from gov.uk, we also found information from moneysupermarket.com, confused.com and Admiral, which focus on economics and insurance, and so were vital sources of information for our work.  We also found articles by the BBC and the Telegraph to gauge attitudes toward driving as well.  Here is a summary of what we found:

• Government research has shown that of the 1.2-1.8 million people that take their practical driving test in a year, 43% of those are aged between 16 and 19.
• Over the past decade, the number of people taking their driving test has dropped by about 25% - we want to focus on why teenagers in particular may not be taking their driving test compared to teenagers of several decade ago.
• According to government surveys, there is little to no change in the proportion of people taking the bus, train or bicycle and so alternative means of transport do not seem to account for fewer young people taking up driving.
• As of the last few years however, these surveys have shown the general public has more of a willingness to walk for short journeys (less than two miles) instead of using a car.
• Statistics from confused.com show that after a steady decline from 2011 to 2014, the average cost of car insurance has been risen by around £200 (about 20%).
• Confused.com also shows us that the average premium for younger drivers is on the rise.
• For a 17 year old driver is £2,112 and the average premium for an 18 year old driver stands at £2,012 - whereas the average 34 and 68 year old driver pays £639 or £515 respectively.
• On average, men pay 12% more for their insurance premiums than women, suggesting that younger male drivers are subject to the most expensive insurance premiums.
• According to Admiral, 1 in 10 personal injury claims can be linked to ‘crash for cash’ scams. 
• The average cost of a driving lesson is now £24, and with the DSA (Driving Standards Agency) recommending 47 hours of tuition under the supervision of a professional instructor, the total cost of lessons for a learner will be £1,128.

We also thought that it would be useful to get some primary research of our own in the form of a survey.  This information would become vital in giving us opinions of the general public - the information would also be anonymous, which would theoretically mean that the people answering may be more inclined to answer honestly.  Here are the questions for the survey, the survey itself and the results (NOTE: any answers submitted now won't be included in our results because we have already finished the documentary):

• How old are you?
• What is your gender?
• Did you have access to a car as soon as you passed your driving test (within one month of passing)?
• How often do you drive?
• Do you own your own vehicle?
• How much did your vehicle cost?
• Are you currently insured on a vehicle?
• How much do you pay for car insurance every year?
• Do you feel you are paying too much for your car insurance? (Explain your answer)
• Do you feel black boxes are a good incentive to drive safer? (Explain your answer)
• Why do you drive?
• Could you continue your day-to-day activities without being able to drive?
• How often do you cycle?
• How often do you take the bus?
• How often do you take the train?
• Should the price for younger drivers be higher or lower than older drivers? (Explain your answer)
• Do you feel young people are, on average, more or less likely to drive dangerously than older drivers? (Explain your answer)

The survey was very useful in showing us viewpoints from various people in a short space of time, and we received responses from 144 people by the time we started shooting.  This gave us a good insight into the topics we wanted to raise in the script and the general attitude toward young drivers and black boxes from the sample group.

Commissions | Contextual Research: 'Death Row Dogs: Dangerous or Not?'

'Battersea Dogs Home has been saving the lives of millions of hounds for over 150 years, but has its hands tied with breeds banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act. It is forced to destroy around eight Pit Bull Terriers every month. Professor Green visits the landmark charity to find out more about the heart-breaking challenges it faces every day. He meets Caramel, a loving dog whose fate hangs in the balance of a police assessment, and the man that will euthanise her if she is classed as a Section 1 breed.'

Link to the documentary

The documentary opens with a clear question of morality toward euthanising 'dangerous' dogs which is presented through the commentary and establishing shots.  We are then introduced to Professor Green, the presenter.  His style of presenting is rather informal, and very conversational, but he is still able to ask key questions and depict the issue informatively.  Whilst the issue we are exploring is not necessarily about morality, we are exploring the ethics of fairness, so I have chosen to look at this documentary to see how Professor Green tackles these ethical questions.

The documentary feels very much like a journey for Professor Green, and not just him showing us the facts.  He is being led through Battersea Dogs Home as his own personal story to find out this information - he takes the role of the investigator.  I feel that our documentary should have a similar feel to it through my presentation of the issue of car insurance premiums for young people, as this is a personal issue to me; I should highlight my journey as I find out the facts myself.

The camerawork also reflects the personal and journey-like tone of the documentary with a lot of handheld shots and shallow depth-of-field provoking a strong sense of realism, as if we, the audience are following Professor Green in this journey with him.

The commentary works as a tool to transition between interviews by injecting further statistics and facts, giving the audience a breather before heading into the next segment.  I feel we should adopt similar techniques in our documentary as we will need to rely on both the opinions of our interview subjects and the statistics behind the issue to get our point across.  Music is also used to transition from one location to another and from one information point to another.

A plethora of G/Vs and establishing shots are used throughout the film to remind us where we are and what the documentary is about.  By using so many shots of the dogs at Battersea, we are also being reminded of the lives at stake.  Therefore, I can see that the G/Vs used need to have purpose and meaning, and not just thrown in for the sake of it.