Documentary Proposal Form.

Student Name: Josh Thomas

Working Title:
Synopsis of the Im going to make a documentary about cannabis being legalised in the UK. Im
documentary: going to ask people that would be for the legalisation of cannabis (like people
that use it) and people that might be against it (like the police and politicians). I
want the audience to decide for themselves whether or not it should be
legalised. My documentary is going to be pro legalisation so it may seem biased.
I want to add the pluses and minuses of cannabis so the audience can decide if
it should be legal. I'm going to present some facts on cannabis that I have
found on the internet. I will only use them if there is strong evidence that
it is true.

Genre How would you categorise your documentary (i.e. on current issues,
celebrities, nature, health/science, human interest, experimental, etc.)
I would consider my documentary to be Health/Science and Political. Cannabis
is a drug that has an affect on our health. Politicians have to decide if cannabis
should be legalised.

Your beliefs My personal belief about the subject is that:

and bias on I believe that cannabis should be legalised as it causes less problems than some
the topic: legal drugs like alcohol. A lot of money can be made from the tax of cannabis
which would result in more money for the government to spent on other things.
My film will show the following point of view:
That weed is less of a problem than alcohol and should be legalised. Cannabis
isnt as big as a problem as people think it is. How cannabis affects us and how it
would affect us if legalised.

The main conflict is between the following points of view (if there is one):
The police and politicians would disagree as it is still a drug that affects the
health of humans.

Ultimately I want the audience to feel and understand:

That alcohol is more damaging than weed and should be legalised. If it was
legalised it would do more good than harm. Cannabis isnt as bad as people
think it is.
 What background information does the audience need to understand the
topic of your film?
That alcohol is more damaging than cannabis and alcohol causes more crimes
than cannabis. A lot of money can be made from the tax of cannabis and can be
spent else where.

My personal belief about the subject is that:

I believe that cannabis should be legalised as a lot of money can be made from
the taxes on cannabis that could be spent on something important. Alcohol is
more damaging than cannabis and is legal so cannabis should be legal.

Characters Who are the characters in our documentary and what is their role or purpose?
Is there a particular point of view they are meant to get across?
Someone that uses cannabis. I want to see what people think of him using it and
his experiences with the drug. I want to interview a health expert to find out
more about the drug and its effects. I want to interview a politician to find their
opinion on the subject and what steps would be taken to legalise it. I want to
interview the police and see their opinion on the matter. I also want to find out
how many people are arrested because of alcohol compared to cannabis. I also
want to interview a drug dealer to see how he will be affected by legalisation. I
will only do this interview if I can find a drug dealer.
How do you intend to represent these characters?
The cannabis user is going to be presented as not being as bad as people think.
The health expert is going to be smart and reliable. The politician is going to
represent all politicians and the police are going to represent all of the police.

Will there be any conflict between characters with opposing points of view? If
so, how will you show this in your film?
There isnt going to be direct conflict between characters. The points and
opinions may conflict with other peoples views but that is all.

Bias of The audience of your documentary might have preconceptions or fixed beliefs
Audience about your topic that you would like to change. What might these be?
Theyve known cannabis to be this bad drug that is against the law and is
extremely harmful to humans. Even if I prove that legalisation is good they will
not change their opinion.

What evidence will you show to get the audience to see things differently?
I will have a health expert stating that cannabis isnt as damaging as we thought.
If politicians and doctors say that legalisation is the right way to go.

Codes & What codes and conventions of documentary filmmaking will you include and
why?
Conventions I will include cutaways to make the interviews more dynamic and interesting
rather than just having someone talking. I also plan to narrate over my footage
to provide a description of what is going on. I will include multiple viewpoints to
provide different information.

In what ways will your documentary be realistic or unrealistic? Certain

parts may contain aspects of verisimilitude, whereas others may possess
aspects of actuality.
My documentary will include facts from reliably sources. I will not make up any
information to support my argument. I will include the positives and negatives
of the subject and try to be unbiased.

Production Identify any key imagery or metaphors you would like to include:
Style I would like to include cannabis and the smoking of cannabis as it is the focus of
the documentary.

Do you intend to use a particular shooting, editing or narrative style to help

get your message across?
In my interviews I want to include cutaways of people smoking or doing their
job while they are narrating over the top. With the weed smoker I want him to
tell me about his experiences while we see him smoking.

How do you intend to handle the passage of time in the film?

I would use a fade to show time passing. My narrations will also tell the viewer
where they are going next and who theyre going to talk to. .

Structure & To dramatise human issues a documentary might follow a narrative structure
Resolution starting with the introduction of characters, the building of tension and
suspense between opposing forces, a confrontation, a climax and then a
resolution. Can this be applied to the structure of your film and if so, how?
Im not going to dramatize my documentary. There is nothing to dramatize
about the documentary. I want to use real footage and facts with no
dramatizing.

Write a brief paragraph about how you intend to end your film. This is
important because it will determine what you leave the audience thinking
about and remembering. You dont want to finish on a dead note or in a dull
way. You might think back to your beginning and make a full circle by coming
back to that point somehow.
I will tell the audience my opinion on cannabis and ask if they believe cannabis
should be legalised. The audience would be thinking if they believe cannabis
should be legalised or not. They can look at the different points of view and
weigh them against each other.

Scheduling Do you have a target audience and how can they be defined? Be as specific as
 you can.
I think my target audience is adults. Most teens are already smoking cannabis so
there is no point convincing them to support legalisation. The adults and
politicians are the ones that have the power to change the laws. So that is why
Im going to appeal to them.
What suggestions do you have for the scheduling of your documentary? Is
there any particular time in the year, day of the week or time of day/night
when it should be shown?
My interviews dont need to be done at night, so I would prefer to do it in the
day time. It all depends when people are available to be interviewed.

Look into the scheduling of documentaries on ITV. When would an

appropriate time be for the showing of your documentary on ITV? (You must
attach search to support this)
I would air this after the prime time slot. If I do this people could see my
documentary on afterwards and decide to leave it on. I will have to get the
audience hooked with the beginning of my documentary. I would put it on at
8pm after Coronation Street as lots of adults watch the programme.

Shot Plan of Describe the first 10 shots of the opening sequence of your documentary.
Opening Opens with a lighter with a black background. The flame appears and
1
Sequence then disappears.
Smoke then appears on the screen revealing the title of the
2
documentary.
I will have a montage of people smoking cannabis while music and my
3
monologue speaks over it.
Shots of people on the street and in college voicing their opinion on
4
cannabis.
I will then have footage of someone smoking weed while I talk over it
5
with facts about cannabis.
There will be an interview with a user of the drug. The questions will go
6
into more detail then the vox pops. Cutaways included.
Cutaway to Turning Point. And talk a little bit about addiction and
7
Turning Point.
8 Interview with an employee of Turning Point. Cutaways included.
Start talking about the criminal sentences you could have with weed.
9
Cutaways of prison, police cars and police officers.
10 Interview with police officer about cannabis. Cutaways included.
Rationale Why Should your Documentary be selected for production?
It offers an insight into the world of cannabis. It informs the viewer what might
happen if cannabis is legalised and what people think about cannabis. It includes
multiple viewpoints and offers a nonbiased view on cannabis.
Compliance What actions will you take to address the following issues in your
documentary?
Ensuring the accuracy of the information presented:
I will search for facts on the internet and check multiple sources to see if it is
true. Also I will ensure that I get information from a reliable source. Luckily
some of the information from interviews are based on peoples own
experiences.

Ensuring balance in any arguments presented:

I will give both sides a chance to talk and get their point across. I will include
people that are for and against the legalisation.

Respecting the privacy of contributors:

If they want their identity concealed to above people finding out who they are.
If they dont want the interview conducted on their private property, I will
conduct the interview in public. I will only include people that give me their
permission to record them.