Idea 1:

My initial idea for this product is to create a lifestyle-based vlog type of documentary, initially, I decided to cover something which holds a lot of purpose within my own life and many other peoples, across not only the UK, but the world. For me, men’s mental health is something that is a major issue not only now but has always been something present within society and a large majority of lives. However, despite this being such a big issue within society, I feel that it isn’t covered no where near as much as it should be. This to me is something I find quite disappointing within society, as there could be and should be more material and awareness for these issues and how young men and boys in particular can help themselves and better their own lives as the number of young men suffering by themselves is something to me that simply cannot keep going on. My aim and goal is to document a personal journey by putting myself through the paces and steps to better myself, in a bid to show to other young men of how they too can better themselves, but instead of just winging it and displaying stats and figures, I’m going to speak to various professionals and gathering their tips and methods to better myself. Most modern mental health documentaries usually tend to cover the stats and standard ways of bettering your own mental health, however, don’t tend to cover the actual progression and journey a person can go on by putting these changing into place. This is exactly what I want to document, by taking myself on that personal journey and building up to an end goal to prove to not only myself but to the audience that you can achieve if you put your mind to it. For me, I feel that this idea in general will be a challenge of my skills and abilities as it is so different to what I am used to producing, as previous projects have seen me take a motorsport focused route, so taking on a serious topic like mental health, requires me to adapt to a different style of filming, including my tone as I present, as it wouldn’t seem right if I was trying to convey a deep and meaningful subject while being a very bubbly presenter, but at the same time not being too boring and monotone.

These reasons will cause me to change and adapt as an on-screen presenter. This product will also challenge me physically and mentally, as I aim to be putting myself through the paces to show progress and a journey within my product, by taking on various habits which I aim to stick with to show viewers progression throughout. I think a main aim from this product would be simply just an improvement. Whilst that is such a simple term, there is multiple levels to it in this case, as it isn’t just an improvement in one thing. Throughout my time of making this product, I aim to see my own mental and physical state improve and progress throughout the time I spend making the product, as this was one of the main and only ways to make this product unique to me, instead of following the traditional stat listing or fact based. Another way I aim to see improvement, is through viewers, as the whole documentary itself is designed to help viewers make improvements and progress through themselves, as they have been able to see myself act and progress in my own mental and physical conflicts.

 Something I aim to improve is mainly my presenting skills as a main way I see myself doing this is through my interviews and making sure I ask the right questions in response to how my previous questions are answered as to make a good interview, I need to be able to bounce back off any answer I am given. By the end of the product, I aim to be able to attract attention from broadcasting companies or men’s mental health charities through my final product. I feel that this particular product is relevant to the current condition of today’s society, as mental health is such a president issue that affects everyone, however, is now becoming a topic in which a large majority of society are aware of and slowly becoming more open to in recent years. This has allowed for more media content to be created surrounding the subject; however, the content being created is all directed at a certain route and style, which has left a gap for unique content to be created. This will allow for me to explore and test my own skills and abilities, from presenting to editing and planning, the product itself allows me to push my own boundaries of what I have previously been able to do and adapt to new styles. This product will be challenging for my planning firstly, as to make this a successful product, I need to plan out various key points. One of these key points is my interviews, which for this product are key to its success. I need to select my interviews well as they will help to provide the information needed for the journey of my product to begin. Another thing I need to research is the locations of my documentary, as I want to be able to make each interview unique and different to any other, I have filmed before. Locations also play a key part in my product as each part of my documentary is key to conveying emotions as I aim for the final part of my documentary to be emotional as it is the reflection point of the documentary to show my progression throughout the journey, this comes with various points of my product which feature various locations which change throughout. Research into camera angles and editing skills, will be key for my progression to create the documentary I aim to make, with it being a more aesthetic looking documentary, so the graphics I use need to fit the scenery as well as camera angles capturing the best parts of every moment. This is something I haven’t really explored before as it differs from everything I have filmed and made in the past. In the creation of this product, I feel like I will gain various skills especially when it comes to the presenting side especially, as this style of product is something I haven’t done before, and haven’t seen much similar products as of yet where the presenter uses this specific style, so for me this will be something I have to experiment with and look into in order to find the style that fits me and my product the best. As previously mentioned, my editing abilities will be tested throughout this project as I adapt to a news style of aesthetic editing and a style more fitted to conveying emotion, instead of just showing what is happening.

 As previously stated, I found that while mental health is a big topic, there isn’t many that focus on men’s mental health and especially in the style I am aiming for showing a personal journey within myself. For me, I feel this limits the number of products available for me to investigate, however, also helps to solidify the idea for my product further as it is more unique and challenges a niche market. Despite this I found a strong documentary by Roman Kemp, which inspired my ideas for interview framing and shot types etc as the angles are unique to that product. Various blogs and social media sites have various points of information and methods which may help to fund the quality of my product. To make this product successful, I feel like it must be a well marketed and recognised product within the field I am making it for. To do this though, I need to advertise myself to the right companies and people, such as men’s mental health charities like Andy’s Man Club etc. another way I am going to market myself and this product, is by making a series of short YouTube and TikTok products/videos basically documenting the journey as it happens, in a bid to build a following before I eventually upload the full finished package onto YouTube as a full documentary. After it has been uploaded, I will also be able to clip it down and post onto TikTok and Instagram as reels and short clips which will gain views and build a small personal brand in a bid to outreach to bigger broadcasting companies who are interest in making similar products. The ideal target audience for this product is young Men aged 17-30 within the Uk and particularly Yorkshire as it is seen as a more ‘rough and ready’ area where mental health isn’t talked about much, particularly with young men.

Having figured this is a niche market, I took to sites such as YouGov where my findings were even more surprising with there being next to nothing about Men’s mental health in general, let alone within areas such as Yorkshire. For me, this drives me more to create content like this to bring awareness to the subject.  For me personally, this project will be a major step forward in the path I choose for life, as it allows me to explore and gain on a serious of different avenues. It allows me to broaden myself and my skillset as a presenter, which will be more appealing to broadcasting companies through my versatility in the industry and abilities to present various styles of products. It also allows me to better myself as an editor which will help me immensely in my current job as a video editor, as exposing myself to new concepts and styles of editing is a strong way to better myself and boost my market as I will be a more versatile editor who can adapt to various styles of editing and become a more valuable worker in the market which could attract attention from bigger companies. Ultimately, this product allows for me to better myself as a person by putting myself through the paces and challenges to become a better person in myself and broaden my mindset further into success. However, I feel like this idea could pose a plethora of difficulties, most of which lie in my hands. A main one for me is whether I can keep my mentality focused on the product and not allow myself to become run down with the task itself or the editing that comes with it. Speaking of editing, a big issue I could face, is whether I am able to edit effectively and efficiently with the time I have available to me. This comes down to finding a balance which allows me to edit as I go along, instead of filming and editing in one go, as this will put extra pressure on my shoulders and potentially cause more risk and chance of mistake.  Another issue I could face, which will potentially ruin the whole product, is if my files or editing saves become corrupted, as this will cause a complete halt on production and potentially make my whole product impossible to complete with the allotted time remaining. To avoid this, I always make sure I have multiple saves of each project and have my footage saved into multiple places, this helps to avoid disruption if footage gets corrupted in certain places as it is saved somewhere else. Gaining a high grade from this product comes down to my planning and execution, as to create a high-grade worthy product, I need to plan for a high-grade product. This includes sourcing interviews, making shot test reels and researching similar products effectively, so I have an effective product to base my own from.  To gain a high grade from my final product, I need to make sure it provides a clear message throughout and is easy to follow from a viewer’s point of view, whilst still looking aesthetic and flowing effectively. Originally, I had the idea of creating individual vlogs each week, to show my own progression for the task itself, however this would only focus on the 21-day task/ challenge instead of how I am finding the editing process or the filming process each week. Therefore, I feel I will still do the weekly vlogs but include them within the actual product as a round up at the end of each week. As well as this, after each week of production I will sit and make a separate vlog to show what I have achieved this week, with various errors and issues I faced. Each vlog will be accompanied with screenshots from editing timelines or various clips from a week’s filming.

Idea 2:

My second idea for this project is to create a motorsport-based documentary which follows my original trend of mental health, and how the sport itself can have a big impact on everyone involved, whether it be within the actual driving side of it or within the broadcasting or mechanical teams. I have worked on a documentary like this before, based around the motorsport scene but instead of mental health, it followed about how expensive British motorsport is becoming. As I already have a few contacts within the motorsport scene, I feel that this will be easy to market and push out into the social media scene of motorsport. However, instead of focusing on the big leagues such as Formula 1, I am going to focus on a more British based motorsport such as the BTCC as not only is it a more niche market, but also, I am more familiar with it and how it works, due to being involved with the series from a very young age.  This fits in how I aim to work my idea with it being based solely around the mental health aspect of it and how deeply it can affect everyone involved. This is something that isn’t really covered within motorsport. It is talked about within the media, but no one really takes time to deep dive into the topic and show to viewers and fans how tough it can be amongst the drivers. Especially, when a large majority of the time, it is the fans who cause the mental stress and pressure on drivers and teams to perform and supply strong results. The issue of mental health has been talked about before from drivers as people such as Lando Norris have appeared on talk shows such as ‘Good Morning Britain’ talking about how they feel themselves and bringing awareness for other people within the scene. By creating a documentary like this, I hope to shed some light on the entire situation and bring more coverage than what may have been show before. 

Having already created a documentary like this, I can transfer some already existing skills across to this product. These include things such as my knowledge of camera angles, as having already filmed motorsport prior to this, I know how to gage how I set up my camera to be able to capture the best quality of footage for each location. This becomes complicated when filming motorsport, as the cars travel with such speed, it becomes near impossible to capture a decent shot unless you have the shutter speed and exposure right, if this isn’t done right, the car just becomes a blur on the footage, which isn’t ideal and makes the quality of the product look poor. However, in terms of camera angles, I feel that I will gain greatly when it comes to setting up and framing interviews correctly, as for this product to look as I intend it to, I need to frame interviews differently to how I usually would. The main purpose of this is to capture the emotion of the interviews and help the viewer engage and overall feel more connected to the piece they are watching. I have seen this type of interview done before in various products, and it appears to look more affective than just having a standard broadside interview filmed out in the open, where you can tell it has just been set up and shot, rather than thought being put in to create an interview which has in effect on the person watch and feels like the person being interviewed is talking directly to them. Another skill I can use during this product, is my editing experience and knowledge. This is something I have worked hard on improving, especially since my last product, as since then I have been able to gain a job as a video editor for a marketing company, where I have seen my skills as an editor improve greatly. This has especially seen improvements when it comes to colour grading my products and focusing more on the aesthetic side of a product as this is mainly what keeps a viewer within the first portion of the documentary.

Personally, I feel that this product idea is challenging to my skills and abilities, as I am going into production with little prior knowledge or reference of how a mental health-based motorsport documentary has been done ands the boundaries available for me to test. As previously stated, it will also test my skills behind the camera in a bid to make it look aesthetically pleasing, whilst also delivering the strong message of awareness surrounding the topic. However, away from the technical side of the product, a factor that makes the idea challenging must be the fact that events to film at only happen on weekends which limits my schedule as I must delegate specific days to specific things and potentially waste the first week of production just waiting for the weekend when I can start filming. This is the same when it comes to getting interviews for the product, as those involved within the paddock are taken up by various press related topics throughout the week and time is limited on race weekends, so gaining interviews are only available if I happen to drop on the person during a weekend of filming. My inspiration for the style of product stems from two main already existing products, these being the BTCC’s own docuseries ‘On The Limit’ which is a behind the scenes style series which showcases the main stories from the previous season. My main inspirations from this are mainly the interview style and B-roll shots which are very similar to the shots I am used to and will use to make my product. Another product I aim to use is the formula 1 version of the behind-the-scenes docuseries, ‘Drive To survive’ as although the concept is the same, the series has a much higher budget so is shot differently which ends up eventually looking more professional as it is filmed by Netflix themselves instead of a smaller production team. That product in particular is one I look up to as it is what inspires most smaller production series such as the ‘On The Limit’ series.

In terms of marketability, there is various strategies I can use to attract attention and gain answers from my audience. One way I could do this is by creating google forms and sharing them onto related social groups and comment sections for the series. These forms would help me to gain a wider understanding of how much the fan base already understand. This could be potentially a way to gain interviews from the fan point of view or even find its way into the actual paddock and help me gain some inside information from people who work closely with teams. This helps me to connect more with my target audience who are mainly the fans as they are the ones who aren’t aware of the pressures faced in the paddock, so I intend to educate them and enlighten myself as a fan through the creation of the product. If I can make this product as intended and it be as effective as hoped, it could help me find my way into the broadcasting side of motorsport as I plan to in the future. This will mainly be achieved through fan engagement and the positive impact it has in educating my target audience, as by doing so it will in turn help my build my personal brand. This is important, as with the current climate of the modern-day workplace, a personal brand is extremely important to find yourself a place within your chosen industry, which in some cases can be more important the qualifications you have, so for me trying to push myself out into the fan bases is how I will find my ticket in. Therefore, I feel this documentary could potentially be my ticket in, if I can do it effectively and to a top-quality standard. For me, tracking progress is also a main factor for success, as it constantly allows you to perform and do better than before, and for me this is the main target and purpose of returning to do another motorsport product, as I feel and know I can now do better than I did last time out. This is why I would constantly refer to past products throughout making the product, due to it being based around the same industry, and it having similar filming techniques within. The best way for me to get the product output into the industry, is to try get on board with various teams and drivers, to try and include as many personalities from the field as possible. Hopefully, it will be a successful product sand be recognised by the ITV broadcasting team who cover the event, or the Kwik Fit media team who make the ‘On The Limit’ series.

Idea 3

My third and final idea for this project was to create a motorsport-based documentary, similar to past projects I have created. However, instead of just creating a series of TV-like packages and throwing them together between studio links like Top Gear, I aim to create a flowing documentary with interviews that flow well within the product. The main idea for this product is to create a motorsport-based documentary alongside my podcast co-host, Lewis, where the aim is to cover the increasing costs of motorsport. This topic is an important one for me as it is something I have experienced myself in the past. The initial idea for this product was to show the struggles when reaching the top levels of British motorsport; however, I feel it could be more effective if it is targeted at the lower ends where it starts in the ranks, such as karting, as not only is it more relatable for younger audiences, but can also be spoken from personal experience, as I have been hit by the financial struggles of motorsport myself in the past which have prevented me from progressing further up the ranks. Therefore, this topic has become personal to me and is something I want to focus on and push out into the British motorsport scene. From this product, I hope to get on board with teams in the limelight who are passionate about the topic and have run programs themselves in a bid to make motorsport more accessible for those who potentially can’t afford it. This, in particular, is relevant within today’s climate as with the current state of the country and its cost of living crisis, it has become a big issue with many potential great talents being restricted by their small budgets. Despite it being a well-known issue, it doesn’t get near enough coverage in the media in my eyes to try and close the financial gap within motorsport.

Another main focus of this product would be to better my skills from past projects I have worked on. This will be done through various factors, with the main one of these being the editing side. This is something I feel has improved greatly from my line of work as a production assistant in a digital marketing company. However, despite that, I feel I still have a lot to learn and improve on, especially when it comes to things such as colour grading and simple effects. These things can make the difference between the product looking especially good or looking cheap, tacky, and rushed. Another area I feel I need to improve on from past products is my ability to attract and approach interviews. This is something that needs major work, as in my last product, I didn’t have any interviews planned out prior to filming; therefore, I ended up trying to get anyone who would be willing to do one. Luckily, I landed on some great interviews. However, this cannot be the same for every product. the main reason this happened was due to my confidence, or should I say lack of it, as I would waste around 15-20 minutes standing around trying to build the courage to speak to potential interviewees instead of just going for it. These two skills combined could help to create a great overall product.

This product will be ambitious for various reasons, as whilst it is a topic myself and Lewis are very knowledgeable on, many factors make this more challenging than others. One of these is just how big the issue is, as not only does it affect a lot of young people in the UK, but it also needs to be worded and used in a way that won’t cause upset within the community of people who can afford to race. It needs to create empathy and the desire to help, support, and include, which is the only way I feel we will be able to make a difference from this product. Sourcing interviews is something that makes this product challenging to do, as it relies entirely on people responding to messages and emails etc. This is something I have faced issues with before as a large amount of motorsport personalities tend to be poor with responding to message requests over social media. This is why, when it comes to contacting people regarding interviews, it is better to email their management or teams directly.

This product is something I would find fairly simple to promote, especially through our podcast ,Lewis and Harvey: talk speed and sport, where we already have quiet a few connections within British Motorsport, and I feel that we can use our platform to gain views from other fan bases and push the matter further into communities where organisations may already be working to close the gap. A good organisation to get on board with this would be Kwik Fit who are the official sponsors of the BTCC and already have their own series called, On The Limit, which is a series we have taken great inspiration from for the structural ideas for our own product. As we aim to use similar things such as B-Roll shots and interview angles as they capture the beauty within the sport as well as a more generic side to the drivers, showing their real personalities instead of sides that the media may portray. Personally, I feel that the grades of this product are gained mainly through the editing, as it needs to flow well and keep viewers engaged from start to finish. This is especially important in the first 30-40 seconds of a product as this is where the highest viewer retention rate is lost, so has to be the most captivating. This means not having a long intro graphic as well as a punchy start with a strong opener that is going to keep viewers wanting to watch more as it may leave them questioning their own situation or past experiences. The great thing about this product, is that I can manage and gage my own progress through prior products, especially through the editing side as this was my main focus to work on from my last products. Another thing I aim to use from that product is the structure, as I want to completely avoid using the same structure from my last product with the Tv packages joined by Studio links, as I feel if not done correctly feels chunky and poor quality. These along with various other factors which I have discusses are how I feel this product can be made extremely effect and potentially make it big through our socials, as the aim with this product is to try make an impact and a difference on the young people as due to the cost of living currently, it means that potential great talents are forced to stray way from their passions which is something I want to try help with.

Proposal 

Pitch