Lessons

Learned
Project Proposal

Contact Details
Name: Megan E. Telford
Address: 66 Springfields, Wigton, Cumbria, CA7 9JS
Mobile: 07577 038335
Email: meganetelfordmedia@gmail.com

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/megan-telfordb96163107
My 3 Initial Ideas:
I originally came up with three ideas for my unit 8 project. I will list
them below:
Idea Breakdown:
1) Murder Mystery: My first initial idea for unit 8 was to adapt
the screenplay I wrote during unit 4, which was inspired by
Rashomon (1950) into a short film. I considered adapting it
into an interactive film. However, I dont think I would have
the appropriate resources and time to do so.
2) Contemporary Adaptation: My second idea was to adapt a
short contemporary novella which I wrote back in 2014. My
novella follows five teenagers, all graduating from college, all
of them have different talents and all are heading in different
directions. The reason I decided not to use this idea is partly
because I knew that I wouldnt have the resources to do so at
present. I also dont think that the storyline is gripping enough
and it is still kind of unfinished.
3) Lessons Learned: My third idea is to make a short
film/documentary based on a story (which took place during
the miners strike between 1985-86) I was told by my Dad.
The story follows my Dad, my Grandfather, my Grandfathers
friend and some miners and their children. It takes place in a
miners village called Langley Moor in Durham. I decided to
choose this idea to pursue for my unit 8 in the end because it
is the idea I had which I believed to be the most achievable
out of the three I have listed and I should be able to complete
it within the amount of time I have and with the resources I
possess.

Idea Breakdown:
What is it? A short film/documentary, including re-enactments and
interviews and some archive footage.
Why does it exist? There are two main reasons as to why I want to
create this project:
1) To tell a family story and create something for my family to
look back on.
2) To highlight the politics of the time of the strike and todays
politics when it comes to working class people and how these
two eras relate. I also want to discuss a bit about the
treatment of the miners back during the strike and highlight
the unfairness of it all and create awareness.
What areas are you exploring (subject/issue)? In this short film
I am exploring the following issues: politics, family, death/loss &
honor. These topics are all included in some way to my project, more
so in the story of the film.
Concept? The concept behind this project is a family story that has
been passed down from my Dad to me. The story goes as follows:
my Dad, Grandfather and my Grandfathers friend went to a miners
village called Langley Moor in Durham during the miners strike to
deliver aid packages to help the miners survive. One of the miners
suggested that my Dad played football with the miners children
while they unloaded the aid packages. So, my Dad played football
with the miners children and when the aid packages had all been
unloaded, my Dad, my Grandfather and my Grandfathers friend
were saying goodbye to the miners and their sons. During this time,
my Grandfather noticed one of the miners sons shoes. They had
countless holes and were all worn and kind of unusable. My
Grandfather then went to talk to my Dad. He said He could do with
a new pair of trainers. He needs them more than you.. After this my
Dad took off his own shoes and approaches the boy and says Do
you wanna swap shoes?. The boys Dad gives his son the indication
to accept my Dads offer and my Dad and this boy swapped shoes.
After that my Dad, my Grandfather and my Grandfathers friend get
into their van and as the miners and their kids are waving goodbye
my Dad rolls down his window and says to the kids Could you do
with a new football? the boys smiled at my Dad, my dad threw his
football to one of the boys and one of the boys caught it. After that
everyone left. After this incident my Dad was rather confused and a
little bit fed up as he had saved up for his trainers by himself and his
football was his only Christmas present and hed just given away
everything. However, my Dad tells me now that he looks back on it
as an adult (bearing in mind that my Dad was around fifteen at the

time of this occurrence) he understands why his Dad had

encouraged him to give that miners boy his shoes. Back then my
dad says he and his family didnt have much but they managed but
these miners and their families literally had nothing. Therefore, my
Dad says that my Grandfather felt like it was kind of his duty to help
the miners in any way and my Grandfather was encouraging my
Dad to do the same.

What techniques are you exploring? Within my documentary I

plan to use several different techniques. Firstly, I plan to use a
variety of camera shots within both the interviews and my b-roll
footage. I will list some of the shots Im planning to do below:
-

Following shot
Bust shots
Landscape shots
Low angled shots
Medium long shots

In addition to these camera shots, I also plan to use some archive

footage (i.e. some actual footage of the miners strike, rallies,
protests, etc.). I will be researching more into archive footage soon.
Finally, I also plan to create some re-enactments to help tell the
story that follows my Dad and Grandfather in Langley Moor.
However, if I dont manage to shoot the re-enactments I will just use
the b-roll footage I get and the archive footage I get.
What do you hope to learn? Overall, I hope to learn more about
the pre-production and post-production process as I have already
had experience of the production process. I also would like to learn
more about how documentaries are put together. I plan to do this by
researching into documentary film makers and by watching some
documentaries as well as looking into some films made about the
miners strike. Overall, if I can expand my knowledge on at least
most of these topics I think it will really benefit my future projects.
What research are you planning to engage in/are engaged
in? I plan to research into several things (some of which I have
already mentioned. However I will repeat them here. I plan to
research the following things:
-

The miners strike (basic information)

Politics of the time/context
Archive footage
The Imposter (a documentary Ive been recommended to
research)

Interview techniques
Distribution standards
Louis Theroux (and his documentaries)
The Hillsborough documentary
Billy Elliot (the film)
Pride (a film released in 2014 following the LGSM)
Camera shots
Editing techniques (i.e. cutaways, b-roll, etc.)
Copyrighted material (i.e. if its possible for me to use it in my
project).

I also plan to engage in more research in addition to the above

topics. However, I am unsure as of yet what else I will be
researching.
Overall, the above topics are the most important things for me to
research in regards to my project and therefore, I think I will end up
with sufficient research.

What is your schedule? I will insert my schedule below:

Unit 8 Project
Schedule
Monda
y
30/5/1
6

Tuesda
y
31/5/1
6
- Finish
project
propos
al.
Create
unit 8
schedu
le.

Wednesda
y
1/6/16

Thursday
2/6/16

Friday
3/6/16

Saturday
4/6/16

Sunday
5/6/16

- Finish
pitch
PowerPoint
.
- Research
the
miners
strike
(basic
informatio
n).

- Research
the politics
of the
time/conte
xt.

- Research
into archive
footage.
- Watch The
Imposter &
analyse/resea
rch it.

- Finish
interview
techniqu
es
research.
Research
distributi
on
standard
s.

- Research
Louis
Theroux &
some of his
documentari
es.

Monday

Tuesday

6/6/16

7/6/16

- Watch the
Hillsborough
documentary
&
analyse/resear
ch it.

- Watch
&
analyse
the Billy
Elliot
film.

Wednesda
y

Thursda
y

8/6/16

9/6/16

- Watch &
analyse
Pride.

Researc
h into
some
camera
shots &
techniqu
e.

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

10/6/16

11/6/16

12/6/16
-

Resear
ch into
some
editing
techni
ques.

Monday

Tuesday

13/6/16

14/6/16

Wednesda
y

Thursda
y

15/6/16

16/6/16

-Shoot
basic
indoor
interview
setting.

Monday

Tuesday

20/6/16

21/6/16

Log all
footage
and
back all
raw
footage
up.
Begin
editing.

- Edit.

Wednesda
y

Thursda
y

22/6/16

23/6/16
- Edit.

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

17/6/16

18/6/16

19/6/16

-Shoot
b-roll
footage
outside
in
garden
/around
house.

- Shoot
some
cutaway
footage
in
Silloth.

Friday

Saturd
ay

24/6/16

-Shoot
the reenact
ment
in
Silloth.

Sunday
26/6/16

25/6/16
Evaluate
final
project.
Evaluate
full unit.

What is your budget? I am hoping to make this film for free as I

already own a camera and a tripod and I am planning to borrow any
equipment I need from college. I am also planning to hire in a crew
from within my class. Also, if the reenactment aspect of the film
goes ahead, I am hoping to get some actors in of free but if needs
be, I may end up paying them. But if I have a budget in the end, I
dont plan on it being a big one.
List of crew/collaborations? As I previously stated, I plan on
hiring in a crew from within my college class. I also plan on getting
in some actors from within the class or within my own family and
possibly may advertise. I am unsure as of yet who I will be working
with.
Equipment? I plan on using a collection of my own equipment and
equipment which I plan on borrowing from college. I will make an
equipment list of all the equipment I will need throughout my
project below:
- Canon EOS 1200D camera (which I own)
Or
- Canon EOS 600D camera (borrowed from college)
- A tripod (which I own)
Or
- A tripod (borrowed from college)
- A lapel mic kit (borrowed from college)

- A computer (for post-production & pre-production)

- The internet
- A schedule
So far, I think this is all the equipment/resources I will need.