Idea

Documentary Proposal

In life I believe that basketball isn't promoted as much as it should be in the UK. My film is going to show this in action by exploring the NBA and requirements to become a player in the Highest leagues. The main conflict is between the dream and reality of growing as a player to be successful as a world class player. There will be no immediate showing of opposition between characters but will show a conflict in the characters mindset. The confrontation will be shown through realising that not being able to pursue the dream of becoming a NBA player and earning a place in the hall of fame doesn't mean that you shouldn't play the sport. The documentary will take a glimpse into street basketball players that have created a social media following and how they used media to push their career to be able to be apart of the official NBA game through just practising and evolving their skill. Overall, my outcome for the audience would be for them to comprehend basketball life and how even having that dream of making it to the NBA is possible but for some can never be reached.

The Documentary Subject is basketball. The sub topics of basketball that I am going to be looking into is; the history, modern day, lifestyle of current players, aspirations vs. reality. The background information that the audience need is some basketball rules and examples of shots, dribbling methods etc. This will allow them to relate to the subject even when they are completely unaware of the sport, I will create a connection between the audience and the sport. 

The character I am going to be using are college basketball players and people who play the sport for the sake of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The people will enforce my point of basketball being a very important sport for both mental and physical health. The characters will also play a role in showing basketball during play. They will be interviews so I can gain more knowledge on how they feel about the sport and whether they believe they have the necessary aspiration to further their career in basketball.  

My idea for my documentary for it to be based off of the struggle of getting into the top basketball leagues and the struggles when you finally reach it. My documentary will succeed in showing this as I will delve into the requirements for becoming pro. I will be going in depth into the history of basketball and how it has evolved over time. My main focus will be how the media affects current players and how the struggle to get into the league is a minor disadvantage compared to the attention from the press in the NBA. The conflict is between the reality of succeeding in the NBA and the dream of growing as a basketball player. My outcome is for the audience to comprehend basketball life in and off the court and proving that the NBA dreams can be followed but even If not accomplishable they should still be pursued from another angle.

In my documentary I am going to include a few interviews. The purpose of the interview is to convey the message of why basketball should be played and watched along with the discussion about how basketball dreams can be impossible to accomplish.

Interview script:
1. Could you state your name and role please?

2. Who's your favourite player? Why do you like him/her so much?

3. When you think Michael Jordan what comes into your mind?

4. How long have you been playing basketball?

5. What originally got you into it?

6. Do you believe enough people play it?

7. Why do you think people should play it?

8. Do you believe you could ever get into the NBA? Why?

9. Do you believe that the UK should have a basketball league? Why?

10. Why do you think it doesn't have a league as big as the NBA?


Mode of documentary

I am going to conduct my micro-documentary in the expository mode of documentation as I believe using voice-over to show and enforce my point through the use of images and stock footage. My point will be enforced throughout as it is shown through factual information for example NBA players struggle against the media off the court. As I am a player of basketball who isn't pro I will not be able to see directly into the life of me such as a performative mode of documentary. So my point will be over moving image of basketball players and images.

From looking into several documentaries and seeing the way that they have used interviews, cinematography as well as archival or actuality footage I have been able to form ideas on how my documentary will run.

Idea 1:

Documentary begins outlining the history of basketball (how it was made, historical moments of the game, evolution of basket). Also during this I will be explaining the rules . The documentary will then transition into interviews and voice over using images to show how the reality of getting into the NBA or the G league. It will be showing the conflict of dream and reality. I will be focusing on certain players over time and how they helped evolve the game in terms of play styles as well as clothing (shoes).

Idea 2:

For my second idea I would've given the brief history like in idea 1 but the documentary would transition into street ball which involves informal basketball on the streets. I would include how pop culture shows the scenes of street ball such as films like 'White men can't jump'. The information conveyed will be about how we usually see violence linked with street ball but how in modern times it is respected. The purpose of this idea is to show the conflict between how players perceive the game and how people that only know the pop culture side perceive the game.

Idea 3:

For my third idea the basis of the documentary will be manly focussing on individual basketball players and how they controlled the game. It will jump between era's of basketball such as when Michael Jordan retired. The interviews will focus on how the public have a view on the players seeing their daily  life (The offseason) which will outline the conflict of waiting for the season to begin and how they fight the boredom of 1/3 of the year.