Social

Action
Research
booklet
Contents
Task 1: Brainstorm on social issues
Task 2: Research on other action videos
Task 3: Research on own video
Task 4: contact details and angle for own production

Task 1:
(This should have been done in the idea process you now need to write it down
for example you looked into an issue and did not like it, or you are realized it
was too difficult these ideas need to be noted now)

Your brainstorms should cover:

The issue
The effect the issue has on community
How easy it would be to cover the social issue
What has been done to cover this issue before
Rough idea on who you can interview

Idea 1:
Homeless people in Reading
Homeless people in Reading are growing and pestering the community.
Charity Launchpad have been and are currently trying to help the homeless with
ongoing programs to help the homeless out. It would be easy to cover the
homeless in reading, as they want to spread awareness to would be willing to give
me an interview. I could interview them by getting in contact with them and
asking for a sit down interview where I would ask them all the questions I need.

Idea 2:
Rescue animals
There are thousands of animals in Berkshire that need homes and are being
abandoned. It should be easy to cover this issue as the is a rescue center very
nearby me (DBARC) so I could get an interview there. The DBARC center I have in
my local area take in abandoned and in danger animals and try to find them a
home through various techniques. One way in which they do this is through their
website in which they show a story.

Idea 3:
Scullers caf
This is a caf trying to help people with disabilities to get jobs by providing them
with a job in the caf. The caf is very willing to give me an interview, as they also
want to spread awareness to help the caf. The caf offers valuable training to the
dis
The caf help these people have a platform to start working and start their
working career. They would again be willing

Task 2:
Compare 2 social action video similar to yours
(Look at LO2 Brief on website for guidance on what should be covered)

Social Action Video 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZsn5sf0_oI
In this social action video, they are going around and looking at the
different stories of animals who have been abused or abandoned.
Throughout the video, they have various different interviews going on with
different people who have various opinions and ideas on the social action
could be fixed, as well as telling straight facts about the brutal truth, such
as the dogs having to be euthanatized, as they have nowhere to go. In my
video, I hope to have one long interview to be going on. I will have this
interview cut in and out of the video over my narration and other found
footage & B roll.
The documentary makes good use of cut-a-ways by often cutting to
random footage of dogs, which is obviously something that the audience
will like or further, enforce sympathy for the dogs. In my documentary, I
will also be using a lot of footage of animal as fill in over my narration. I
will use footage, which I will capture from the rescue center (DBARK) as
well as found footage. This video aims from the beginning to provide the
audience with a lot of information about the rescue dogs, while doing this
it also at the same time pulls at the heartstring of the audience with all the
sad facts about the dogs as well as showing the dogs in the rescue home.
This does also create a shock a factor that would resonate with the
audience. In my video, I will be aiming to use many of the same
techniques as well as throwing in some of my own ideas such as telling my
dogs personal story and other techniques, which would evoke the
audience.
Social action video 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQr0W3_wXpw
The second social action video I looked at was again
looking at rescue animals and animals cruelty. Something
which I took notes of when I studied this social action
video was the amount of information they gave out
throughout the video on a variety of topics related to the
issue they were raising. In the documentary they followed
an ongoing story a lot of time, where they would then
narrate over the video and explain what is happening. Also
during these stories they would interview people involved
who could give their own professional opinions and other
factual information which can give the audience more of
an understanding of what is going on. Throughout the
video they make very good use of camera shots, not only
do they use a large variety of shots to show off their
technical qualities, but they also manage to fit the type of
shots used into the mood of what is actually happening in
the shot, for example they use some close up shots of
some on some of the suffering animals, they then combine
this with slow motion which is applied in the editing
process, as well as some emotional music played over the
top to tug at the heartstrings of the audience.
This documentary has a lot of similarities to the first
documentary as they both have a similar aim ( to help
animals) The second documentary however takes a bit
more of a direct approach towards the audience. It does
this by taking the audience to see how these dogs are
actually found and rescued. This is a much more brutal
route to get the audience's attention but it is certainly
makes an impact on the audience and perhaps is even
more likely to make the audience want to make a change.
As the documentary's sole purpose is to raise awareness
and make money , it doesnt matter how you get the
message across as long as it's effective. Music in this
video is a very big feature and tool in getting the audience
to feel the way that they are supposed to feel, this being
sympathy and sad for the dogs.
Task 3:
Your research should focus on:

Background on the Social issue itself:

Animal rescue and homing is a desperately under looked issue in all areas of the
world. The issue I will be looking into specifically is the animals in need of homes
and animal abuse, which is ongoing. There is an issue with breading in specific of
dogs, in which dogs are being bread for profitable reasons, when there are dogs
that still need a home being held at rescue centers waiting for someone to give
them a home. Many of the animals I will be looking at often have been injured and
have other sad stories, which I hope to look into and include in my video.

Is there already a social action group to try to prevent the issue? Yes / No

If there is: Who is involved with the group? What effects has the group had on
the community? How has it helped certain individuals? Does it already have an
action video to help its cause? (Up load these if there are)
DBARK is a local rescue centre in which I will be conducting y interview as well as
well as getting a lot of the footage of the rescue animals.
In addition, other bigger organizations such as PETA are always working against
the issues.

Are there any famous people involved in trying to prevent the situation?
The issue of animal rescue and animal abuse is a worldwide issue and has been
funded and promoted by various famous people and celebrities: here are as few
famous animal right activist and funders of charities involved in helping rescue
animals:
Ellen
Bill Maher
Ryan Gosling
These 3 and many more all stand up for animals right and are activist in raising
awareness to help animals abandonment and cruelty. Ellen often uses her talk
show as a platform to talk about the issue and raise awareness and money for the
cause.
Is there government backing to prevent the situation? Should there be? What
could they do?
The government should be back more money into promoting the animals that are
in need of homes, as well as providing stricter laws to people that mistreat
animals or abandon. There could also be a scheme put into place to ensure that
the rescue animals are getting homes before mass breeding for money is being
done.

How does the issue effect the community / nation / world?

This issue effects the community firstly as there will be dogs that need homes
being left in a rescue centre while there may be other dogs breeding for the
profits of the owners. People all over the world have the desire to help innocent
animals who are being abused, if people were exposed to what really goes on
there would be more outrage.

Look at statistics on the social issue

Approximately 7.6 million companion animals enter animal
shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.9 million
are dogs and 3.4 million are cats. Each year, approximately 2.7
million animals are euthanized (1.2 million dogs and 1.4 million
cats).

What can be done to prevent the issue from happening?

As providing stricter laws to people that mistreat animals or abandon. There could
also be a scheme put into place to ensure that the rescue animals are getting
homes before mass breeding for money is being done. The more people made
aware of the issue the more likely that it will help the issue.

Task 4
Contact details and angle

Informative, educational or change of attitude?

Discuss why and how you will achieve this.
I will firstly be aiming to inform people as much as I can into the issues of
abandoned animals and all the issues surrounding this. Once I have shown
enough educational information, I will move onto trying to change the attitudes of
the audience.
The angle of my social action video will be to try to expose the issues of animals
abandonment and the way lot of animals are treated. I will do my best to show the
audience as much as I can what is really happening in the local area and
worldwide. The main message I will be trying to get across to my audience is the
idea of adopt, dont shop Which is to try and get all people to consider the
amount of animals who need homes who are left in rescue homes, instead of
buying from a breeder. The most effective way of changing peoples minds is to
show them the brutal truths, footage, and facts, which may upset them. I will do
this by firstly getting footage of the animals, then getting the relevant facts and
information that people need to be aware of. I will edit all this together in a way,
which will affect the audience heavily, for example using music to make it more
emotional.

List of found footage you can use and reference where it has come from

1. Wokingham area https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JUOXPq3L3U&t=53s

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3WL6Cz4oKA Rescue dogs in rescue
center
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_xfTIr77eE
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND0dAMKE7T0 More rescue animals
5.
6.
7.

What ethical issues will you have to overcome or be careful documenting?

I will have to ensure that I have full permission from the rescue to not only film
the site but also permission to film, visit, and record the animals. I will also have
to make sure any found footage use is not copyrighted and I have permission to
use the footage in my production.
I will ensure to ask the workers at the rescue center that I have permission to
record. Any found footage I will ask the uploader for permission to use in my
video.

List of social action groups you could interview. Can you follow a volunteer or
member of the project?
DBARK rescue center are committed to helping animals find a home and giving
abandoned animals a temporary home.

Research on the subject: Research around the subject? Information that you
need to know BEFORE you interview people
The DIANA BRIMBLECOMBE ANIMAL RESCUE CENTRE formerly the
Animal Rescue Group, Wokingham, was founded over 50 years
ago. For a large part of that, time animals rescued by the Charity
were kept at the home of Mrs. Brimblecombe, who was awarded
the MBE in 2001 for services to Animal Rescue.
Whilst the staff and supporters of the Charity have done a
magnificent job over the years, helping thousands of unwanted,
stray and neglected animals, the operational aspect of the rescue
has been continually expanding throughout this time, and it
became clear that it could no longer function in the cramped and
difficult conditions of Mrs. Brimblecombe's back garden!
It is almost impossible to raise the funds necessary to keep the
Rescue even ticking over, but some incredibly generous legacies
enabled the charity to seek a permanent, independent site for a
properly equipped Rescue Centre where our animals could receive
the best of care, and in May 2003 DBARC relocated to Hurst,
where our animals are accommodated in specially adapted and
purpose-built accommodation on a 14 acre site. DBARK update
their website every week with new animals coming in and out of
the center, giving people the opportunity to look at the animals
before they come down to the center.
What shots / cut a ways / footage will you need to film in order for the social
action video to have impact?
In my social action video, I will have various cut a ways to shots of animals in
rescue homes, being abandoned, and in homes. These cut a ways will fit in with
the narration, which I will put over the clips. These cut a ways will have a huge
impact on the audience in the sense that it will show the audience a visual idea
of what is going on, which will tug at the heartstrings of the audience and thus
make them want to make more of a change and help out more. I will use
various different camera shots, cut-aways and different types of footage. The
main way which I am aiming to make an impacts is to tug at the heartstrings
of my audience, so I am hoping that all these features plus some emotional
music will achieve this.

Interviews
Contact details

Name: Julie Moore

Position: DBARK Manager/leader

Involvement in action: Runs the center, sorts out finances, helper.

What can they discuss in the video?

All the issues about the rescue animals and tell me all about what goes on in the
rescue homes
Where can they be interviewed?
DBARK rescue center in her office.

Phone number:

Email address: jscottdbarc@aol.com