Proposal

The world of Performing Arts

Rosie Blake

Contents:
- Channel it will be aired on
- Subject idea
- Intended aim
- Audience
- Format
- Genre
- Style
- Budget

Channel it will be aired on

My documentary will be officially aired on Channel 4. This is because

Channel 4 have a lot of interactive real life documentaries, programmes
which also could be seen as controversy and biased. Although the channel
does cater for a huge comedic audience, it also has a wide arrange of
factual and current affair style documentaries so it somewhere that I think
my documentary could fit a gap quite comfortably.
Channel 4 has a built up a good and strong reputation for producing
history programmes and real life documentaries for example One born
every minute which is still being aired and The secret millionaire which
was a very fascinating documentary I used to watch and it is also still
present on TV. In the past, many documentary series have been banned
shortly after airing due to negative controversial comments from press,
however the channel can get away with showing a lot more profound and
bizarre content as times have passed.
As my documentary is to try and prove a point to the haters and the
government who slam Performing Arts down as a softer subject and
threaten to take it off the school curriculum, its something I want showing
on Channel 4.
I will air my documentary at 7 o clock, this is a very prime time in the
evening in which people normally watch TV after/during dinner. My target
audience of 16-30 year olds which is relatively wide would mostly likely be
watching TV by then anyway.

Subject Area
I chose to base my documentary on performing arts as I love the theatre, I
love being on stage and I have grew up in a very musical based life. Its a
topic that will always make me happy, I was in a performing arts school
for 6 years and we put on several shows including famous musicals such
as Footloose Summer Holiday and Copacabana. It was called Sands
Theatre Arts School in Wheatley and I after I left I had a further two years
worth of singing lessons. I was very fortunate to get taught by a wonderful
lady who was in the West End in London herself back when she was a lot
younger. We used to practise musical show tunes together which
furthered my love for musical theatre even more and I look forward to
every chance I get to visit the theatre and watch a show.
The idea behind my particular topic stemmed from the lack of drama
based activities in schools across the UK. This is lead to people from the
government speaking out and calling drama and performing arts a waste
of time because they are softer subjects and wont get you far in life.
This has led me to develop a slight hate towards the idea that people
could rightfully say that considering nobody realises how many talented
people come and go through schools who have a passion for performing
arts.
I am currently at college and thats the stage in your life that you need to
start getting ready for adult life, so finding a job, looking at UNIs and
writing personal statements. According to my research, it is something
performing arts people struggle with because they find it hard expressing
their talent on a CV even though they are perfectly academic. A lot of
people have such strict views on what they perceive are the best subjects
for people to be studying, but a lot of people arent going to become a
doctor or scientist, some people are just born with a different gift.

Intended Aim
My intended aim is to prove a point and get people talking and asking
questions. I want people to realise that the issue created by the
government is still happening, not just for students here at Henley but
nationally across the UK where some schools are even stricter. The
content shown in my documentary will show real life students, teachers
and friends, people who have/want to peruse a career in the performing
arts field talking about the misunderstood industry and answering my
questions. This will the show the audience watching at home what it
actually means to be working in the industry and what people have to say
about the stereotyped opinion that it is a dossing easy subject.
By proving my point, supporting it with facts figures and real footage I can
hopefully change the opinion of others around me. This in turn could make
the government see that what they are saying and the decisions they are
making are in fact a waste of time. Instead more money should be spend
on things like stages and facilities in the drama studio instead on blowing
everything on the core subjects for example English and maths.
The main thing I hope to happen is people starting to talk more positively
about this ongoing issue, how can students feel good about themselves
and the work they produce if people turn around and call it a waste of
time? A lot of aspiring actors and actresses are choosing not to study this
at school for numerous reasons to do with bullying, not being good
enough but they it is also down to this dark cloud over performing arts
being shameful when it isnt and people need to learn to except and
embrace that.

Audience
The target audience of my documentary is both 10-18 year olds and 18-30
year olds as I think its something that personally affects people in school
but also people looking into UNIs. The documentary is something Im glad
would attract 18-30 year olds as that is the age group of people who have
the most opinion on my subject matter.
According to my Survey Monkey results, the gender that my documentary
will most appeal to are female, however I know that the concept and what
it stands for will also appeal to males too.
Generally people who are already interested in performing arts and have
that as a hobby would want to watch it more than just the general public.
However, as I said its a message to anyone, but due to the title there will
be more people watching because they saw the word performing arts
than just casually clicking on the documentary.

Format
The format of my documentary is Reflective as I am reflecting on my idea
on Performing Arts and calling attention to the idea of it being a wasted
soft subject. This is so it can increase the awareness of the topic and get
people talking and asking questions about it.
The other format of my documentary is Interactive as the people being
interviewed have direct contact with the film maker (me). This means that
we are both sharing the same space so it clearly shows how we interact
with each other, and the opinions given may be contrary to the other.

Genre
I would say the genre that best fits my documentary is educational. This is
because the audience is being shown what it is like to be in the performing arts
industry whether thats a teacher or student. The way itss informative is
because as well as interviewing people and finding out first-hand what they feel,
I will give detailed well explained voice over which is full of facts and statistics.

Style
The style of my documentary is mostly linear narrative as there will be a
story flowing throughout. This makes it easier for the audience to
understand and follow, helping me to prove my point. I would also say its
dramatization as the questions Im asking are quite controversial and very
open.

Budget
Camera for one week - 850
Lights - 350
Food and drink 10
Transport 10
Total: 1220