Hospital Filming

Today I had a phone call from the hospital agreeing to allow us film someone speaking about MS. I have arranged Monday 26th April after the clinic ends and the filming will start at 15.30.

ms metting map

hospital letter

This is a copy of the main body of text which I sent to the hospital along with a covering letter from the college.


Dear ......,

I am writing on behalf of myself and two other students at Sussex Downs College. We are currently producing a documentary about MS and would like to speak to a member of your staff about it.

We are making the documentary as part of our Media Production course and need to make it as to near professional standards as possible. We decided on the subject as............

We have decided on representing the affects of MS on someone’s lifestyle and have arranged to go to the local MS group to speak to the members and staff.

We would also like someone from the medical profession to speak to us about what MS is and the affects of MS. This would be done as a short interview and it would not take very long. We thought it would take no longer than ten minutes with the person.

I fully understand if this is not possible and we would not film anywhere else accept with the person speaking. The final film will only be shown on college grounds and you could preview an edit if needed and of course you would receive copies.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and look forward to hearing from you. My contact details are.........
Yours Sincerely

Questions for the Chairman of the ms group

What is the Ms Group?
How did the group start?
Who is it funded by?

What is you Role?
How do you Help people?
How much time and effort do you put in?
What do you get from it?

question for vox pops

We decided to ask two vox pop questions to the suffers of ms at the ms group.

The questions are.

How has MS Affected you life style?

How has the MS group helped you?

We also thought about the shot for this and we thought a good shot might be a slow pan of the ms group with the sound of the responses being played.

lesson update

Today we discussed what interviews we wanted to get for the documentary which are Bernard (ms group chairman), a suffer and a career.

We also decided that it would be good to get someone from the medial profession to speak about MS and the affects. So we went over to the hospital to speak to someone and get some contact details to whom to send a letter to.

Documentary Release Form

Documentary Release Form

Media production, Sussex Downs College, Eastbourne

Name and address of Contributor:

Date:

The Society (working title)

I agree to the inclusion of my contribution in this documentary, the nature of which has been explained to me. I understand that my contribution will be edited and there is no guarantee that my contribution will appear in the final film. I agree that my contribution may be used to publicise the documentary. I understand that the film will only be shown in college grounds.

My contribution has, to the best of my knowledge, been truthful and honest. I have not deliberately sought to conceal any relevant facts from the makers of this film.

Signed ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Notes on the Documentary Release Form

Notes on the Documentary Release Form

You need a Release Form for anyone who either gives you an interview or who speaks on camera. You do not need a Release Form for people on the street as long as your camera is not concealed.

You will need Release Forms for people who are identifiable in sensitive places even if they are not speaking e.g. hospital waiting rooms, gay clubs, law court corridors.

You should warn your interviewee that you will need a Release Form signed after the interview and get it signed straight away. Try not to leave it until the next day or the next week by which time they may have changed their mind.

Anyone under the age of 16 needs to have their Release Form signed by one of their parents.

It is crucial that the Release Form is not signed under any misapprehension or false pretences. Whilst you do not need to share all your plans or thoughts for the film with the contributors, what you do say must not be misleading. It is best to communicate with your interviewees in writing before the interview so that you have proof that you were clear about the nature of the film.

Most documentary interviews are given for no fee (if that is the case simply remove the clause which refers to the fee). However, many people do now ask for a fee – particularly if the whole film revolves around their contribution. There are no guidelines as to how much this amount should be although it is common for expert commentators such as historians or scientists to receive between £100-200.

In recent years, documentary hoaxing has become more common – you are advised to double check your contributor’s story. You should ask to see a passport to check they are giving you their real name and request appropriate evidence of their qualifications, if you are in any doubt.

Many release forms also contain a clause warning interviewees that they are liable for any libel case might result from their contribution to the documentary.

That clause has not been included here for two reasons. Firstly, it will not protect the documentary filmmaker (and the TV channel that broadcasts it) from being sued if the interviewee has libelled someone. Secondly this clause can frighten off interviewees from taking part to begin with. Remember that the responsibility for good journalism lies with you not with the contributor and see the Legalities of Documentary Filmmaking FAQ for more information about libel.

Main Stream Mag

i got hold of a copy of Main Stream. a MS magazine for eastbourne's MS society. it contains the dates for all up coming events and letters sent in to the magazine. it also includes any MS related news and things happening in the comunity. there is also contact details and names of all the volunters and any specialist's. this may come in use for reasearch and if we need to call anyone.

Eastbourne MS Society

Today I phoned the Eastbourne MS Society and spoke to Bernard Cutis about the project and arranged to meet at the group meeting on Wednesday 31st March. I am also going to send more details to him on email. - http://www.mssesw.org.uk/index.aspx

MS documentary final idea

after a discussion, we decided on the MS documentary. we chose this subject over the others because it is a subject that has a more personal interest and is happening now. were as the cuckmere idea wont happen for another 5 or so years or so. we also think that the topic of MS would be more entertaining to an audience.

Idea The River Cuckmere

The first idea is the River Cuckmere. In the future the river is going to naturally flood and the idea is to comment on how the landscape will change into a marsh and how the area will be affected. We could interview people who live and work in the area, a person from the council and some like a geography teacher who could comment on the change. Vox pops could be carried out with people who walk in the area.

MS documentary

for the MS documentary we will be visiting people who have MS, people who volunteer at MS charities. we will also be talking about how it effects peoples life's and we will touch on the medical side of the illness.