IMMJMA

Story / Project PRODUCTION BRIEF: Guidance notes

Introductory Notes

You will produce two multimedia journalism feature stories or projects for your T2 modules. View your IMJ7003 module assignment brief & guidelines carefully. You have 7 weeks to complete assignment A and 5 weeks to complete assignment B. Each project includes: 2/3 research and pre-production weeks and 3/4 production and post-production weeks.

The PRODUCTION BREIF, (PB) is designed to help you develop and clarify all stages of intended project work from pre-production to production to post-production. The PB also mirrors and prepares students for professional practice; Journalists need to pitch their ideas to editors to gain commissions for assignments; Documentary filmmakers need to provide detailed ‘treatments’ to commissioners or funders; And those working in the commercial sector need to provide production or creative briefs to their clients. You will be apply the use the model of the PB in your later career.

For each of the pre-production weeks you need to fill out specified sections of the PB. However writing your PB is an iterative process. That means even once it’s written, you will continue to modify and update sections as your research, ideas and practical work progresses. In each of the pre-production weeks you will receive some feedback/guidance to help ensure that your ideas are on track and to help direct and develop them further. You will make modifications based on your own learning, as well as feedback from tutors and peers.

The forms comprise a critical part of student learning and assessment, it demonstrates your increasing independence, responsibility for your learning, and your progression through the programme. All sections of the form must be fully complete by the end of the three pre-production weeks for tutors to review and approve before you start fieldwork. You will then continue to refine your PB, as necessary during your production & post-production weeks before you submit it with your assignments.

Once completed and approved you must comply with the conduct and methodology outlined. Should things change substantially in the field (especially in terms of risk or ethical sections), you will need to speak with and seek approval from your tutor before proceeding. Please refer to the IMMJ-ma handbook section 3.2 for more information about the ‘Learning Agreement’.

PBs comprise 20% of your final module grade, that is very substantial - so final submitted versions should be complete and well crafted.

The form also acts like a contract, in academia we call this a ‘learning agreement’ between student and teacher. So, the PB also acts to define your independent and negotiated project

work and ensure a common understanding between you and your tutors about the work you will undertake.

The PB must be developed in negotiation with your tutor through a process of tutorials and presentations where your proposal will be clarified, and may be modified, before it receives approval of the tutors.

Pre-Production Plan Sections

The next part of the document outlines guidance for specific sections of the PB.

Story / Project Pitch

• For assignment A, you need to complete this by T2 Week 1

• Write your story or project pitch in 300 words or less. Your tutor will read it in week 1. Tutors will then feedback whether your idea is acceptable or not, or if more research or pre-reporting is needed. If the idea needs more research or pre-reporting to check if it’s viable, this is a problem as it means you are already behind. Do not pitch your story without plenty of research. Be sure to communicate news value, timeliness and access and include:

• Story summary, what is your story about? - (WWWW&H - 3 sentences maximum)

• Fact based evidence, information and data to support your idea (stick to one to three key sources that supports your main focus / angle)

• What is the news value of your story? Why is it interesting/important? and why do it now?

• Potential key interviews / sources and subject(s):

• Where will you publish and who is your audience?

• Format - What type of story will you produce? (Explainer, feature). Which section does it fit (Business, society, sports). What will your main medium(s) be? How might you tell the story visually and digitally? What kind of platform do you have in mind?

More Guidance: A pitch is not: simply an idea for a story (You need to research and ensure or establish access will be possible. A successful pitch should: (A) Succinctly, summarise the story you will explore (the who, what, when and where of your story). (B) Explain why your story is important / interesting. You should have some idea of the major mediums you will use and have some ideas on the style you will employ. Finally, you need to make sure your story is accessible, there’s no point on embarking on a story you can’t access. You don’t need to have established access but you do need to identify ways that you will.

Links: How to pitch story ideas: tips from journalists / How to Write a Killer Magazine Article Pitch /

Story / Project Outline

• For assignment A, you need to complete this by T2 Week 2. Then, continue to refine during pre-production and production.

• This section is essentially a more refined version of your story/project pitch. It should be 350 words or less. Give a clear, concise, fact based and well-crafted description of your project, be sure to include a clear story focus. You should also by now have a specific international or English language publication in mind for your story/project. Do not write your outline without plenty of research and possibly some pre-reporting. Be sure to communicate news value, timeliness and access. You’ll need one or two compelling facts to evidence the newsworthiness of your story.

TIME MANAGEMENT PLAN

• For assignment A, you need to complete this by T2 Week 3. Then, continue to refine during pre-production and production.

• Outline what will you achieve in the 4 production / post-production weeks: Make a general time management plan and refresh as you go along each week. Stick to it.

How will you potentially progress the project in Term 3

• For assignment A, you need to complete this by T2 Week 1. Continue to refine during pre-production and production.

• In this section you should outline how you might continue the project in T3. You should continue either assignment A or B in T3. Your T3 work could be an extension or more of an offspring of your T2 assignment. If you really do not want to continue either T2 project you will not be forced to do so and you may switch project. However that’s not ideal and you should certainly not embark on a T2 story or project if you see no potential with continuing it in T3. An idea of how you might extend or continue your project in Term 3. If you struggle with this speak with your tutors.

Production Plan (shooting, recording, editing etc)

• For assignment A, you need to complete this by T2 Week 2. Continue to refine during pre-production and production.

1 List key dates (together with locations) for photographing / filming / interviews etc

2 List shoot locations and your travel itinerary including mode of travel

3 List the main equipment you will use

4 List any other materials you will need for the shoot where applicable

5 List 3 to 5 key subjects that you will interview / film / photograph. (subjects & experts). Include a) those impacted by the issue or events you are reporting and b) those knowledgeable about it. (Experts). For each subject list one or two key questions you want to explore. (Do not give full question lists here - if you’d like help with specific interviews & questions email to your lead tutor).

6 List the key visuals (shots, sequences, scenes and ‘live action scenes’ aka real candid scenes). Which scenes and sequences will be important to SHOW your story. Anticipate any opportunities to do something special / creative with the visuals e.g. attaching a POV camera, doing a time lapse, a series of video portraits etc.

7 List you planned budget (including income if there is any)

Production Methodology: Style & Approach: Style & Approach Inspirations

• For assignment A, you need to complete this by T2 Week 1. Continue to refine during pre-production and production.

• Deliver your Production Style & Methodology How might you tell your story? Which mediums will you use? How will you use each one? Include examples of other stories, projects and practitioners, which serve as inspirations for style / methodology / platforms choices and approach. Style & Approach refers to the look, feel and structure of your work. Production Methodology refers to the way you will achieve your chosen style and approach.

• For example, let’s say that I want to make a profile about a female boxer. I decide I want to do an immersive horizontal story with a little text and lot’s of full screen video and images to show her daily life and training. I decide that I want the look and feel to be very cinematic to make the audience feel how intense the sport and training is. It’s a nice idea but how do I take my ideas to reality? First, I need to explore platforms that actually allow me to make this kind of structure. Then I need to think about my shooting methodology. If I want to bring the audience into the intensity, i’ll want to hear the breathing and see the sweat! So, maybe I’ll shoot lots of close ups to get plenty of expression and emotion while training. So I may select and practice with a specific lens - my methodology might include using a macro lens and/or using a gimbal to get close moving shots. Sound will also be really important too, so I’ll need to find a method to pick up great audio while on the move. Will I do this on a boom or on a wireless lav or another method? Will I work alone or do I need to ask a peer to support me sometimes? I’ll also need to have an idea of how I will edit to give the piece a dynamic feel, so i’d better look at the work of others to find a style I like and then do a little testing myself. Before you get to the field you’ll need to make thorough tests of your methodology to make sure you can really achieve the things you want. Test the platform and equipment in exact setups you will use.

• The first stage is to research and identify style and approach inspirations, this will help you to determine your aesthetic style and approach. The second stage is to do plenty of practical testing to make sure you can actually achieve your chosen style and approach. Please note, we do not want inspirations for your subject matter. This section is NOT about issue based research or stories that have the same subject as yours, it’s about visual aesthetic, style and approach.

What will your key mediums be? Photography / text / video / text / graphics. Or will you have a very even mix? Consider how you intend to use the key mediums.

For each of your individual key mediums, find and link to examples of work that serve as inspirations or that you want to emulate. Examples should indicate your intended style & aesthetic. DO NOT GIVE TOPIC BASED EXAMPLES THAT ARE RELATED TO THE TOPIC THAT YOU ARE REPORTING ON. (Those go in your theory module form). Here, we are looking for aesthetic and style based examples NOT TOPIC based examples. List and link to three to five key style samples here, briefly outline what it is you like about the examples and how you might emulate them in your own work. Curate others on your digital research page.

According to the classifications in ‘The Principles of Multimedia Journalism’ how would you like to try and approach your story? Continuous, Comprehensive, Immersive or at an intersection?

For your entire story/project and platform. Which bodies of work - stories / projects have influenced your choices? This should indicate your intended style, structure and approach for the overall project / story and platform. List three to five key links of digital multimedia stories / projects here. Curate others on your online digital research page.

Which softwares and which digital platform you will use to create your story/project?

How do you intend to work - please outline a working methodology. What will your workflow be? Will you do background interviews in the pre-production weeks, while reporting or both? Will you do pre interviews? Will you edit while shooting or at the end? Will you shoot pictures and video together or separately?

Production Methodology (Style & Approach Tests)

• For assignment A, you need to complete this by T2 Week 2. Continue to refine during pre-production and production.

• BY WEEK 2 YOU WILL NEED TO UPLOAD AND SHOW US YOUR OWN STYLES TESTS AND EXPERIMENTS. You should do your practice based tests based on your style and approach inspirations.

• For example, perhaps you have decided to shoot in an observational style - you’ll need to go test how to film and gather audio to enable you to really achieve that in the field. In this case audio will be really important how will you capture candid audio with your personal equipment set-up. Another example is that you decide to work with 360 video, in this case you’d need to do plenty of tests shooting and editing 360 video. Another example is that you want to produce interactive video, in this case you’d need to test a platform or two to see which is more usable and learn what the parameters are to help you plan your shoot. Another example is that you want to shoot a series of portraits in strong directional light, you’ll need to do plenty of testing with friends / peers.

• This is a really essential part of the pre-production process. Please be aware, we do not simply want to see the work of others in Week 2 - we need to see that you have gone out and conducted your own thorough tests. If you fail to do your own tests, you be given 48 hours to resubmit. We will record anyone who fails to meet the deadline and your grade will be penalised.

• For each of your individual key mediums, make thorough tests and experiments (on your friends or family) based on the examples and links above that you aim to emulate. Provide links to uploaded tests and experiments here. (For example, if you want to film candid scenes and dialogue you’ll need to test your filming and audio set up. If you want to shoot and ‘show and tell’ interview, you’ll need to test and perfect your technique. If you want to shoot a series of environmental portraits make a series similar to the look you want to achieve). Be sure to include examples of all your chosen key mediums they should indicate your intended aesthetic for the project. Provide links to uploaded tests and experiments in this section.

Ethical Assessment

• For assignment A, you need to complete this by T2 Week 3.

• Please refer to the IMMJ-MA CODE OF ETHICS. You also need to print and sign the code of ethics and hand it to your tutor in T2 week 3. Please also refer to the IMMJ best practice guidelines resource.

1 Who will appear & participate in your project and how will you recruit them?

2 Are there any conflicts of interest?

3 Will any of your subjects be under 16 years of age? Do you require any special clearances to work with subject under 16 years of age?

4 Will anyone over 16 years of age be in a vulnerable position? Some subjects may have vulnerabilities or special needs to take into consideration, for example children, older people, those with mental illness, learning disabilities or other cognitive impairment (such as sickness or other physical or emotional conditions that render the individual unable to think clearly, either temporarily or permanently). If so, how will you manage their vulnerability? Which best practices will you refer to and employ?

5 Will there be cultural, religious, gender or other differences between yourself and your subjects? If so, how will you handle those differences?

6 How will your reporting and publishing content of your subjects impact on them? How will you assess whether the benefits of this imaging and recording outweigh any risks to your subjects’ well-being?

7 How will you brief your subjects with information about your project, including what and why they are being asked to contribute to your content and where it will appear? Will you require informed consent from the subjects? If so, how will their consent be secured?

*Remember, we should aim to obtain consent in a form that is provable. For example, by a message, email or contributor consent form, or recorded on film or audio, demonstrating the information given to the subject and their agreement to participate. However, subjects will often demonstrate their consent simply by taking part in our content. This applies to people interviewed at short notice, including people in the news and those who take part in 'vox pops’.

8 What information about your subjects do you intend to include in your story?

9 Will you offer your subjects any degree of anonymity? If so, why?

10 Will your project require the covert gathering of information at any stage? If so, how do you justify this?

11 Will you offer your subjects access to the completed project? Will they be able to contribute to its final form? What will you do if your subjects object to their portrayal?

12 Will you project affirm or contest any stereotypical representations in the portrayal of your subjects? How will you assess whether you have affirmed or contested any such stereotypes?

13 Is an external body funding your project? If so, do they have any stipulations about the production and publication of the project?

14 Will you be employing and/or paying anyone to assist in the production and publication of your project?

Risk Assessment

• For assignment A, you need to complete this by T2 Week 3.

1 Who is your travel insurance with? (International students must attach a copy or a policy number or the contact details of person who has this details)

2 List extent of coverage for medical, loss of equipment, money

3 What will you do if you loose your wallet/documents/tickets?

4 List emergency numbers for the regions you will be working

5 What is your back up plan if you can’t get the media you want – camera stolen/ bad weather; political problems cut the region off etc?

6 How do you intend to minimise the impact of losing data?

7 Name and give contact details for the fixers / translators you will be working with plus the dates you will be with them.

9 Are there any subjects in the region you will be travelling that are illegal to photograph/film?

10 What will you do if you are detained by police/military for taking pictures / interviews, please list contact names and numbers of people you will contact?

11 Outline a self assessment of the main risks in undertaking your project

12 What precautions will you take to minimise this risk?

13 Will you be using model/property release forms, if so please attach copies. (Generally, if you are a photojournalist / video journalist shooting for editorial purposes you don’t need a release to take people’s pictures at newsworthy events. However, if you are shooting on private property, or in a location where the individual in question would have a reasonable right to privacy, you should get an release signed. If shooting a documentary for public broadcast it’s good practice to have a release form signed if: • you are shooting for commercial purposes • If you are shooting a private event, even if it’s in a public place • If you are shooting on private property • If you are shooting minors • If it’s tricky to sign a release form you should obtain written consent by email or film the

consent. For example if filming children you could ask the tutor or guardian on tape. Do I have permission to film and interview the children in your presence? They answer yes and you have your consent.

• Please note that every project is different and laws vary from country to country and country to country. If you are uncertain about what the requirements may be and whether you need a release, check with a local lawyer who is familiar with the media regulations in your area. In China there are few official regulations however we err on the side of caution.

14 Outline the privacy laws of the places you will be working and your own code of conduct in relation to protecting the subjects privacy. This needs to be checked for 2018-19 and will be outlined by Rongfei in the third and final week.

Engagement Plan (publication, dissemination, audiences, formats etc)

• For assignment A, you need to complete this by T2 Week 3.

1 Where will your reporting be distributed/published/exhibited (please give evidence of communication with the agency/publication/gallery/web site etc if it has taken place and if not evidence of research about the intended, publication, gallery or web site you are hoping to interest in the project)

2 Describe the social and cultural makeup of the audience

3 Describe how you envisage the people/place/issue you report will be perceived by that audience

4 In relation to the subjects and communities where your stories are based outline potential positive impacts of the distribution/publication/exhibition of your project

5 In relation to the subjects and communities where your stories are based outline potential negative impacts of the distribution/publication/exhibition of your images

6 Do the positives outweigh the negatives and why?

7 Which social media channels will you use to share the project? And how?

8 Will you make tailored social media elements? If so for which platforms, how and why?

Diary

This is not a reflective diary (that is in your Theory section). This is a simple log of your project and fieldwork days. We expect to see around 200 hours of work in each project. In the 2/3 x class based weeks, you have around 30 hours to spend on research, planning, and testing. In the reporting/editing weeks, you are expected to put in 3/4 x 40-hour weeks. That’s roughly 200 hours or 25 days per project. Typically you should aim to spend a minimum of 5-8 x 8-hour days in the field 'on the ground' shooting and interviewing’. Other days are for research, setting up interviews, practice, editing, working on your platform etc. Please highlight your 5 on the ground' shooting and interviewing days in this diary by highlighting the text in RED.

Extra Notes Finding Focus

• Your project or story should have a strong FOCUS. A theme or topic is not enough, an effective story establishes a single focus and sustains that focus throughout the work.

• What is it that you want to explore and communicate about your chosen topic? What are the central questions you want to answer? You might not know this immediately, finding focus is typically an iterative process. However you should consider your story focus from the very beginning your research and again at every phase of your planning and reporting process. Focus, involves knowing what your story is about and why you are reporting it. By establishing a clear focus before you start to report, you’ll be able to craft multimedia elements into a coherent, unified story.

• Without a clear focus, stories easily degenerate into loosely related events or facts with no central idea to hold them together or give meaning. Readers don’t want to a mishmash of unrelated ideas; they engage with journalism to learn something new, to gain a new insights or to view an issue from a new perspective or angle. At eh end of the story they should feel satisfied.

• If you're struggling with a broad topic, look for a story within the story can provide a tighter focus to illustrate the bigger picture. If you have a small story that seems unimportant, find a story behind the story can reflect a larger trend or theme.

• Finding focus will also help you to determine what choices to make about the platform and media you choose, how to research, report, structure and edit your story.

• Critical to establishing a focus is knowing your audience. Who will view your story, and why? What will readers know or expect when they sit down to view?

• Finally don’t panic if your focus shifts or changes in the pre-production or production weeks. This happens on a regular basis. Sometimes via research or fieldwork you find a better story or angle - or you realise your first angle wasn’t accurate. If this happens simply talk to your tutor and redefine your focus.

6 questions that can help journalists find a focus, tell better stories by Tom Huang

These tips are more designed for the production and post-production phase - they can help you really lock down and define the final version of your focus.

How would you tell this story to a friend? this question encourages the reporter to think about the most interesting and relevant nuggets of the story. We’re good at considering the news value of a story, but we’re not always as good pondering the “Why should the reader care?” part. Having the writer imagine telling the story to a friend can help him or her think about why we should care. This approach can also help the writer move away from any jargon and bring a conversational tone to the piece.

What would an early headline be for this story, knowing that the headline is not set in stone? This is a variation on the question, “What is this story really about?” Boiling the premise down to five or six words can help the writer sharpen the story’s focus. Encouraging writers and editors to get at the heart of the story earlier in the process.

What surprised you? As much as I hate to admit it, many, if not most, of the stories that journalists produce are written in a predictable way. Asking about “surprise” can help the writer shed his or her journalistic mantle, at least for a moment, and just react to the story’s events as a human being. Who were the quirky personalities you met? What was a jarring quote you heard? What did you not see coming? What interesting details and anecdotes do you have in your notebook that you left out of the story, and how do we get one or two of them back in?

What are the unanswered questions? As journalists, we’re not always good at spelling out what we don’t know in a story, especially if it’s a breaking story. Oftentimes, we try to write around the holes. Better to be clear and ’fess up in the story about what remains to be explained and clarified. This question also prompts the writer and editor to compile a list of questions for any follow-up stories.

How do we bring something new to this story? Both in information and presentation

What’s the glimpse of wisdom we can offer? The best stories are often those that not only tell readers something they don’t know, but also resonate with readers because they touch upon a universal theme. They offer readers a “glimpse of wisdom”

What kind of multimedia project / story will you produce Some ideas…

A profile / character driven narrative - find the people behind a story, the characters driving the issue. You can profile not just a person, but a place, an event, even a building.

A news feature - a feature article that focuses on a topic of interest in the news. News features often cover the same subjects as deadline hard-news stories, but do so in greater depth and detail. News features tend to focus on individuals more than daily hard news stories, which often focus more on numbers and statistics - For example, let's say you're writing about the increase in heart disease. A dead- line story on the topic might focus on statistics showing how heart disease is on the rise, and include quotes from experts on the topic. A news feature, on the other hand, might likely begin by telling the story of one person suffering from heart dis- ease. By describing the struggles of an individual, news feature can tackle big, newsy topics while still telling very human stories.

Explanatory piece - Show readers why something happened or is is happening or how something functions.

Issues and trend feature stories - what’s the bigger picture to explore. Trends are not exclusively related to culture or lifestyle; think crime or economy.

Investigative - Look into some kind of misconduct, make use of primary sources and available documents. (Serious investigative reporting is only recommended for experienced journalists - however all journalism involves some level of investigation).