Mapping the Development of my Idea

Stefan Mekki

How did my Idea Start?The idea of breaking a world record has been there since buying my first Guinness Book of World Records back in 2010. Seeing my picture in a Guinness World Record book has been been a dream of mine for a while, and I think my hunger to do it is at its peak in this moment in time.

What Factor Changed my Idea(Secondary Research)

At first I had the idea of just focusing of what it took to break a world record. However after conducting secondary research and finding out an Arsenal fan (the team I support) broke the world record for the longest time playing FIFA (over 48 hours), it gave me the belief that I could break a world record.

Furthermore looking at the world record page and seeing how many potential world records I could possibly break, gave me not only the confidence of finding out what it takes to be a world record holder, but gave me the inspiration of potentially breaking more records in the future.

Since researching several articles as part of the content research task, I feel even more determined to break a world record. One of the articles I researched was about elderly people in Hong Kong looking to break a world of the laughing Yoga Class. This record struck me due to the fact that they were elderly people, who had the determination and belief to enter the record books. This has changed my idea because since reading this article, I may attempt more than 1 world record.

Furthermore, since finding out the history of my subject, it as got me even more intrigued on how something so small became something so big.

How was my Idea Developed?- In terms of development, my research enabled to be

ambitious and interview the man who holds the most world records (Ashrita Furman).

- Furthermore the fact that someone broke a world record whilst playing a game, gave me the supplement of actually believing that breaking a record is possible.

- Lastly, planning to interview Ashrita Furman has given me the idea of how this documentary will be planned and what type of content it will feature.

- The determination I have after my secondary research is at an all time high. To think elderly people can put the time and effort to break a world record, make me think that I can break more than one.

What Factor Changed my Idea

(Primary Research)In terms of my Primary research my focus group stated that a world record to do with food would make my task of breaking a world record easier, due to the fact that I am a food enthusiast.

Furthermore, in terms of conventions and interviews interviewing a world record holder would be easy, however Ashrita Farman’s name was brought into the equation and my ambition to interview him after watching a documentary about him increased severely.

With one of my idea being based on YouTube, I tried to think of a way to bring the two together. This lead me to think of the idea of ‘vlogging’ my world record attempt along with the preparation for it. All 5 people within my focus agreed with the suggestion and thought that no matter what I should pursue this idea.

Since conducting several pieces of primary research, there have been several factors that have altered my idea. For example, the people who answered my questionnaire decided that they would rather hear popular music instrumentals as a background track, rather than unknown instrumentals or artists. This is put me in a tough spot due to the fact that obtaining the legal rights for these instrumentals is not only costly, but can be very expensive.

Furthermore, from the feedback I received via my focus group I’ve had to make a huge change to my documentary. The first question I asked my focus group was whether they preferred vox pops or interviews. 4 out of the 5 decided to choose vox pops. This has put me in a small predicament as my documentary contains an interview. However after taking this feedback into consideration, i have decided to include vox pops with the public in order to find out what they/society think in terms of what characteristics world record holders need in order to break a world record.

How was my Idea Developed?Now that I am pursuing this idea, I feel that an eating

world record would be the most suitable due to the feedback I received from my focus group.

The fact that 3/5 members of my focus group knew who Ashrita Furman was, shows that interviewing him would be a major success as he is a well known worldwide ‘superstar’.

Adding the vlogging segment to this documentary would make it more of a modern documentary, and would also appeal to my target audience seeing as many 14-17 year olds would either understand the concept of vlogging or they may even watch vloggers on YouTube themselves.

How did my Pitch change my Idea

In terms of my feedback, the audience stated that the best world record to break would be an eating world record. I felt this was great idea as I do love food, along with the fact that I have the capability of eating food quickly. Since I received my feedback, I decided to do some research in eating world records. Some of the records that I can potentially break include, Most Doughnuts eaten in 3 minutes without licking your lips, Most Olives eaten in a minute, or the most M&M’s eaten blindfolded in a minute using chopsticks.

Final IdeaAfter the feedback and research I conducted, I’ve come to the decision that my final idea will be called ‘The Record Breaker’.

Draft of the Documentary: - Start of with Cutaway footage/archived footage- Interview with Ashrita- Vlog footage of my preparation of the world record attempt- World record attempt

Since receiving feedback from my focus group and questionnaires, along with the addition secondary research I conducted, I’ve decided to change the structure of my documentary.

Draft of the Documentary:- Cutaway footage of me doing things I have a passion for (Football,

Film-making & Media)- A voiceover will take place of me discussing why I wanted to do this

documentary - Interview with Ashrita Furman via Skype- Vlog style footage of my training for my world record attempt - World record attempt