Final Major Project - Why make a documentary for my final project?

Before I joined the course, I had a great desire to make documentaries. I was inspired by my media studies lecturer who was passionate about the genre and educated me in the films of Nick Broomfield and Michael Moore. With films like Aileen- life of a serial killer, and Bowling for Collombine, it really showed me the documentaries are all about story telling, pulling the viewer in and more often than not are extremely powerful and interesting because they are true!

When I joined broadcast Media, I thought this was the path that I would stay on. Then I found a new love for script writing during the meeting, which I hadn't done for a few years. I took the path of director/writer, and was pleased with my choice. However, it has been long said that to become a director, stop watching films and start watching people. Become familiar with the world around you, with art and polictics. Find subjects that your are passionate about, civilizations and stories that capture your imagination. Go traveling, read magazines and newspapers from all over the world, search under every rock to find gripping stories. That's when  realised, that finding true stories, human stories, is what I wanted to do. Documentary is this at it's heart.

I love a good investigation, and as Lauren will tell you, I get quite obsessed with stories in the news. When the bombings happened in Boston early this year, I was listening to CNN 24/7, even going to sleep with it on. I learnt the case inside out, made notes, researched the political background and the families/friends. This may sound weird, but I wanted to know every detail, to make an informaed opinion and to file it as a potential story to write about in the future.

I believe a good documentary maker is fundamentally a detective and journalist, which I love. You start with one piece of the puzzle and someone you need to find all the pieces to make the film.

I'm hoping I will stay with documentary making for now at least, if not I believe it's a great opportunity as a writer and director to learn their craft and find those human stories.