FMP Proposal Pitch

Tag Line The key question that I am asking for my project is ‘How do students at Canterbury College respond to issues faced by their age group? (mental health, domestic conflict, social media influence)’ My project will the show the perspective young people have on these topics and how they deal with them. The main argument/conflict is if these are the main things which result in suicide. I want the audience to understand the impact and possible negative outcome that can come from pressure on young people.

Target Audience The target audience for my project is young people (both male and female) of the ages 16 – 20. This demographic would be interested in my project because it’s about them therefore they will easily be able to relate to at least one of the multiple issues I will tackle. It is also the age group which are most likely to watch documentaries on BBC Three rather than BBC One because of the young presenters, therefore that is the channel I would hypothetically put my documentary on.

Synopsis I will create a documentary tackling issues such as mental health and problems within social media faced by the youth of today, primarily the students at Canterbury College. I will observe, interview and interact with students in order to come to a conclusion as to whether suicide of young adults is a result of the immense pressure upon them.

Treatment Questions The key question I am asking is what do students think the main issues they face in their age group are and are these the things that result in suicide? The people who will be in my documentary are the students at college. I will film around the majority of the college. I will put my documentary together using editing software such as adobe premiere pro.

What is the key question? The issues I want my viewers to think about include mental health among young people, domestic conflict such as problems at home (which could result in homelessness) and the negative impact social media can have (cyberbullying, for example). More than 1 in 3 young people have experienced cyber threats online and over 160,000 people under the age of 25 will kill themselves this year. The question I would like my viewers to be asking themselves by the time they have watched my documentary is ‘What can I do differently?’.

Primary and secondary research For my primary research I will conduct surveys using surveymonkey and interview students as well as possibly a mental health specialist. I will record any interviewing I do to put in my documentary. For my secondary research I will look at existing studies on the issues I have mentioned such as cyberbullying.

Who will be in my project? Students of Canterbury College will be the main people in my documentary and I will also feature as the narrator/documentarian. I may also involve a mental health specialist to gain a professional opinion.

Where will it be set? My documentary will be shot around the college in the locations I think are significant to students, e.g the smoking area and student union hang out. These locations are impactful because they are a big part of student life in college.

How will I put the documentary together? After gathering all my footage I will edit it all down into a 10 – 15 minute video using the software adobe premiere pro. My influence for deciding to do a documentary is mainly Louis Theroux because he interviews people with ease and mixes facts with entertainment. I have also gained inspiration from Cherry Healey because she is a younger presenter which means she’s able to relate to the young adults she interviews. The style of my documentary will be quite serious however I’d like to capture some light hearted moments to make the overall feel be not as negative.

Evaluation For my evaluation I will identify and analyse my final documentary in a blog post and compare it to the original ideas I had in this pitch. I will do this in a blog post, linking my previous weekly blog posts to support my evaluation.