We took inspiration from Channel 4’s factual series ‘Dispatches’, which looks at contemporary social issues such as poverty and political affairs. We wanted to make the film as a pastiche to ‘Dispatches’ and create a ‘serious’ tone, even though it’s meant to be funny. I viewed many mockumentaries in preparation for making this film. I have a huge love for spoof documentaries such as This Is Spinal Tap (1984) (Dir, Rob Reiner) and The Office (2001-03). I have always been fond of these films and TV shows and wanted to make a short film that pays homage to directors such as Tyker Watiti and Rob Reiner.
Everything from Story to Characterisation to Cinematography and sound contribute to the stylised approach in the context of these cult films. Our ambition was to approach the production of the film, in a way where the aesthetic and essence of a mockumentary and a Channel 4 ‘Dispatches’ documentary were honoured by the regionality of our place as practitioners in the North of the UK was also present. We also took inspiration from ‘investigative journalist’ (or participatory) films from filmmakers such as Louis Theroux and Michael Moore in terms of obtaining interaction between the filmmaker and the subject of the film.
Ahead of writing the screenplay, we critically examined some ‘mockumentaries’ to garner a more considered approach to writing dead pan and surreal moments, techniques that we found evident within works such as The Office (2001-03) and What We Do in the Shadows (2014, 2019-). We maintained the style of a ‘Dispatches’ documentary during post-production as this was more of a visual aesthetic, however, we did implement some cues that feature in a typical ‘Dispatches’ film.
I also researched into documentary theory in preparation for making this film, specifically in terms of participatory. ‘Participatory’, as a key mechanic in this form of documentary, has the physical presence and observation of the filmmaker, for e.g. Michael Moore or Louis Theroux. The filmmaker observes and questions the people who are involved in the subject or issue that is being investigated by the filmmaker (Aldredge, 2022). We also took inspiration from this form of documentary in terms of obtaining interaction between the filmmaker (presenter) and the subject of the film.
Bibliography
Aldredge, J. (2022) The 6 types of documentary films, The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat. Available at: https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/6-types-of-documentary-film/ (Accessed: 30 March 2024).