Documentary evaluation

• Topic - why I chose it

I made  a documentary to show what freestyle football is and to give a sense of the sorts of things we (football freestylers) do. This is a special interest (sports) documentary. I wanted to try to 'shed light' on this relatively new kind of sport and to create public interest to this sport.

• Documentary style

 Documentary style - I suppose that my documentary  is expository. It speaks directly to the viewer. I used a voice-over in the film. The documentary includes an interview.

• Use of camera

The production of the documentary took place in the Archbishop's Park in London. I used a tripod for the camera in a majority of my documentary so I could film without any shake. In the film I used a variety of  medium shots and long shots. A long establishing shot in the beginning of the film establishes the mis-en-scene. It plays an important part in the film. In this way, the viewer can see where the action takes place. Here I could have used a camera movement technique called panning.
The action then develops through a mix of medium and long shots. If I had to film the documentary again, I would use more variable shots - wide shots, close ups, shots from different angles.

• Use of sound

Throughout my 3 Minute Wonder documentary I used  a voice over with the use of soundtrack. I don't think it was the best choice of music for the documentary but it was the only more appropriate available soundtrack at that moment. I could also put more effort into assuring that all sound transitions are done smoothly.

• Use of editing

Editing was a very significant part of my production.I cut a lot of footage to structure the documentary.

• Use of Mise-en-scene 

A long establishing shot in the beginning of the film establishes the mis-en-scene. It plays an important part in the film. In this way, the viewer can see where the action takes place.

• How happy are you with the finished project?

It was my first solo production. I can not say that I am extremely happy with the result. I had problems with my documentary as the interview with Andrew Henderson, a world freestyle football champion, which I wanted to use in my documentary was not recorded properly,  it was of poor quality.  However, I am glad that  my documentary shed the light on this sport which is not well known, as a majority of the people who completed my survey for primary research did not know what this sport was.