DocumentaryProposalForm.

Student Name:
Harry Burbidge
Working Title:
Synopsis of the documentary:
The documentary revolves around how people with Cerebral Palsy/other disabilities cope
with difficulties facing them in everyday life.
Is Society set up to allow for people of any disability to take an adequate life style? (may
change end part).
Genre
How would you categorise your documentary (i.e. on current
issues, celebrities, nature, health/science, human interest,
experimental, etc.)
Human interest, as audiences will be intrigued into finding out how people
with disabilities cope with everyday issues in life.
Your beliefs and bias on the topic:
My personal belief about the subject is that:
That society has been able to reasonably accommodate for disabled peoples needs
My film will show the following point of view:
Whether or not society does enough to make disabled peoples lives easier, in terms of
transport, working environments and money.
The main conflict is between the following points of view (if there
is one):
Whether or not society has enabled disabled people to live equal and adequate lifestyles.
Ultimately, I want the audience to feel and understand:
I would like audiences to gain awareness for the difficulties disabled people face in society.
What background information does the audience need to
understand the topic of your film?
I will need to look into the history of the Medical model, where society left people with
disabilities to look after themselves.

Then I will need to look into the Society Model, where society has now applied
conveniences for disabled people to get on in life.
I will look into the history of how the Society Model has changed over the years (e.g.,
When wheel chair ramps being applied to trains did, become a regulation?).
I will need to have interviews with disabled people, asking what difficulties they face every
day, so audiences can understand how challenging their everyday lives maybe.

My personal belief about the subject is that:

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?
Mathew Burbidge: Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy
Will hopefully show audiences that despite there being conveniences for disabled people,
there are still a great number of difficulties facing his everyday life.
Emily White A female college student in a wheel chair.
Will give audiences a familiar and more common disability people are more familiar with.
Aside from being in a wheel chair, she lacks any other visible disabilities.
The differences in disabilities will give a wide view on how society compensates for different
disabilities.
How do you intend to represent these characters?
For Mathews character, I would like to represent him positively, due to his sense of humour
and rather constant moaning. Audiences may hopefully appeal to him, in finding him funny
and despite his appearance; he acts like a regular person.
Will there be any conflict between characters with opposing
points of view? If so, how will you show this in your film?
There will be conflicting opinions, with disabled people regarding
Bias of Audience
The audience of your documentary might have preconceptions or
fixed beliefs about your topic that you would like to change.
What might these be?
Audiences may not be entirely aware of the difficulties; disabled people face in everyday life.

I hope that this documentary may expand their awareness of the reality of what disabled
people deal with every day.
What evidence will you show to get the audience to see things
differently?
Give interviews, asking what disabled people face. Reconstruct scenes of what difficulties
they may face, allowing audiences to gain a clear understanding of the problems, they have to
deal with.
Codes & Conventions
What codes and conventions of documentary filmmaking will you
include and why?
I will include interviews with disabled people and those associated with caring for disabled
people, as well as those who are concerned with supplying convenient access for disabled
people (e.g. Mathews employer how do they feel they deal with potential difficulties facing
disabled employees in the working environment).
I will try to include actuality footage, showing disabled people doing different things, from
going to work/college.
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 contain interviews with people, whom are actually concerned with the
subject matter (I.e. disabled people who do actually face problems in day-to-day life no
actors).
The documentary may use actuality footage of the characters doing their day-to-day things.
However, to visually display anecdotes of problems disabled people may face, I will try to
reconstruct the scenes and may apply a slightly bleak colour tone, to emphasise it as a
negative factor disabled people come across.
While being un realistic, it still exhibits actuality aspects, as it is re conveying true events,
which happened to the characters.
ProductionStyle
Identify any key imagery or metaphors you would like to include:

Reconstruction scenes showing disabled people confronted with challenges (e.g. shot of
disabled person complaining about lift).
To enable audiences to understand the problems disabled people face. Additionally, voice
over anecdotes of the difficulties they face, can be applied to enhance audiences
understanding of exactly what problems each character faces.

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

style to help get your message across?
Editing
How do you intend to handle the passage of time in the film?
Structure&Resolution
To dramatize human issues a documentary might follow a
narrative structure 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?
Narrative style: Establish the history of the medical model, stating how a long time ago,
disabled people were disregarded.
Then state since then how times have changed thanks to the Social model, explaining it
briefly.
Then ask whether things have changed enough.
Disruption of equilibrium Interview with Emily White and Mathew Burbidge, asking what
they do every day and problems they may face.
Interview with College staff concerned with disabled people (I.e Emily) in relation to
problems.
Climax Justifications for why disabled peoples needs cannot always be fulfilled.
Resolution Emily and Mathew stating what they feel needs to be improved about the social
model.
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 would like to end the documentary; with the people, giving their opinions on what they feel
can be improved to make their lives easier.
Additionally, I would like them to say what is being done and what they are able to do.
I hope that this will enable people to get a varied mix in seeing that Disabled peoples needs
are being met for, but that things still need to be improved.

Scheduling
Do you have a target audience and how can they be defined? Be
as specific as you can.
Both characters I intend to interview are of different ages. One being in his 40s and the other
a youth.
Therefore, the documentary can appeal to a wide range of audiences, from youths and
young/middle aged adults.
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?
N.A as the concept is non seasonal. However, it would be good to possibly broadcast it on a
day associated with mental health awareness or something similar (I.e. a charity event),
enabling audiences to feel more understanding and aware of people with the condition,
hopefully intriguing them into wanting to learn more about people with the/a similar
condition.

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)

ShotPlanofOpeningSequence
Describe the first 10 shots of the opening sequence of your
documentary.
1:Pictures/shotsofdisabledpeoplefeelingsadbystaircase.Briefnarrationvoice
statingAlongtimeago,disabledpeoplewereunableto
2:Picturesandshotthenquicklyflashawaytothepresentday,possiblyshowcasing
disabledpeoplegettingalonginsociety.
3:RhetoricallyasksButarewedoingenough?

4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Rationale
WhyShouldyourDocumentarybeselectedforproduction?
It could potentially intrigue audiences, as they may be intrigued to find out what the everyday
life for a disabled person is like.
Compliance
Whatactionswillyoutaketoaddressthefollowingissuesinyourdocumentary?
I will tell my characters about the concept of my documentary and for them to talk about their
daily lives. If they address any problems, I will ask them what those problems are.
I will ask them how they feel these problems can be improved.
I will ask permission to film them around the work places, events they go to (I.e. college,
work), to convince audiences that what they say they do, is actually true.
Alternatively I will reconstruct the scenes.
I may also give a brief history on the medical model and social model, stating how societies
regard for disabled people has changed over time.
I will reference specific acts and regulations which came into practise.
I will interview staff from Wiltshire College and Wiltshire Local Offer (council
department concerned with disabled and elder care) concerned with providing disabled

peoples with an equal lifestyle in the college, why they might not always be able to apply
certain needs. This enables for them to justify why they cannot always benefit disabled
people.

Ensuringtheaccuracyoftheinformationpresented:
For particular difficulties, disabled people face in their working environment, or at an event, I
may try to visually show it.
For example, if Mathew stated about, heavy doors, he could not open (due to hand
impairments), maybe try to show him opening the doors at work and for further comments on
how difficult it is for him.
If, however I cannot apply actuality footage, then I will reconstruct the scenes.

Ensuringbalanceinanyargumentspresented:
I will ask people of opposing opinions the same questions to set a truthful and fair response.
I may ask disabled people what they can and cannot do in everyday life, establishing what
problems have and have not been covered for disabled people.
I may also ask employers (e.g. Mathews work place/college staff), why they are not able to
fulfil the problems facing disabled employees.
It will enable them to gain an understanding of why society cannot always fulfil disabled
peoples needs too.

Respectingtheprivacyofcontributors
Imayblurtheinterviewedpeopleoutoffocus,sotheirfacescannotbeseen,orjustcutof
theirheadsoutofframe.
Willneedtogivecontributorsatalentreleaseformandwillneedtoremembertonotgive
theirnameinthecreditsiftheytickthattheywishtoremainanymous(I.e.nonamegiven).
Theirsignatureconfirmstheiragreementtobeingfilmedandallowingthedocumentarytobe
uploadedtoYouTube.