360MC CW2 Script: My name is Vinuri Perera and in this presentation I will be talking you through the idea

and proposal for my FMP. The Elephants of Pinnawala is a nature, wildlife documentary that will be filmed in Sri Lanka showing the lives of orphaned and abandoned elephants. It will be a 12-15 minute documentary giving an insight into the lives of some of the elephants at the orphanage and telling their stories and what they have experienced. The target audience I am aiming for are viewers aged 12 or above. Ideally I feel this would appeal to people who have an interest in wildlife documentaries. Many nature and wildlife documentaries that are shown and broadcast on TV currently tend to focus on Africa, which in its right is one of the most popular places to view wild animals. However very few look at Asia, or specifically Sri Lanka in terms of wildlife, and I feel this provides me an opportunity to explore this through my work. [55 seconds] In my documentary, although I will be looking at the orphanage as whole, I will focus my work specifically on only a select few of the elephants in order to allow my audience to engage with them and have characters for my work to follow. I feel that by doing this, it will create a narrative in my documentary whilst providing the audience with characters whom they can find themselves bonding with and see the developing stories throughout allowing them to building a connection with them. Within TV at the moment, I feel that nature documentaries hold a strong position within the current media world and have played a massive part in inspiring me and being a great influence on my work. Examples such as Frozen Planet are influential and offer an insight into the lives of animals that everyday people dont get to see. The informative structure of documentaries such as these is something that I hope will come through in my own. I have also taken into account the filming styles and techniques that are associated with wildlife documentaries as a source of inspiration. Some of these can be seen from an example of BBC Ones Hidden Kingdom. To create a documentary to the standards of the BBC is not something that is feasible for me to create so Ive found that throughout the planning of this project, I have had to be quite harsh and critical with what it is Im setting out to achieve in order to be realistic with the outcome. Looking and researching into previous works, which focus specifically on elephants, has also helped with the overall planning of my project. The Secret Life of Elephants is a show, which looks at the lives of wild herds in Africa. As I am focusing on the life of elephants in an orphanage as opposed to the wild, I feel it is going to differ greatly in terms of the animal behaviours due to their respective environments. Interviews with the animal experts add an extra element to the show, which I too am keen to incorporate into my work in order to understand the animals actions in greater depth. I have made the decision not to have a presenter for my documentary but to stick to a voiceover narrating the show instead; I want the focus to be solely on the elephants and their lives and not be distracted by the presence of a presenter.

In an attempt to appeal to a wider audience, I have looked at a number of possible film festivals, which would be suited to my documentary and hopefully lead to it being recognised. Wildscreen International Wildlife and Environmental Film Festival, London International Documentary Festival and International Filmmaker Festival are all possibilities, which I have considered entering into. As well as this, I have decided to produce twitter and facebook pages and a website too in a bid to create an online presence, which I feel too will help promote my work and give my audience a way to keep interacted. By setting up an Indiegogo campaign, I hope to create a fan base that would be willing to invest in my project. [approx. 3 minutes 52 seconds] The budget for my project is as follows if I were to carry this out as a professional project in the real world, my budget would fall just short of 7000, at 6929. Return flight to Sri Lanka - 460 Planning and observation days (19th-20th) Transport - 56 Entrance fees - 32 Accommodation 40 per night (x 7) = 280 Transport 23 per day (x7) = 161 Entrance fees - 16 per day (x7) = 112 Canon 5D MK II inc 24-105mm f4 - 75 per day (x7) = 525 Boom Pole - 4 per day (x7) = 28 Rifle Mic - 15 per day (x7) = 105 DV Pro Location Mixer - 20 per day (x7) = 140 XLR Cable - 2 per day (x7) = 14 Manfrotto 501HDV Tripod - 15 per day (x7) = 105 Jib - 90 per day (x7) = 630 Track - 40 per day (x7) = 280 Track Tripod - 25 per day (x7) = 175 Canon 50mm f1.8 - 15 per day (x7) = 105 Canon 70 200mm F2.8 - 35 per day (x7) = 245 Camera Operator - 468 per day (x7) = 3276 Misc 200 However, as this is a student project and created on a much smaller scale, this is how my actual budget for the shoot pans out: Return flight to Sri Lanka - 460 (tax included) Transport to and from Pinnawala - 0 [sponsored by family members] Accommodation 0 [sponsored by family members] Entrance fees - 1 per day (x7) = 7 [local fee for Sri Lankans] Assistant cameraman - 50 per day (x7) = 350 Misc - 200

Bringing the total of my actual budget to 1017. I have already managed to raise the majority of the funds for my trip. By choosing to film my FMP abroad in Sri Lanka, I have had to do a lot of the planning and organizing myself - this has meant taking on multiple roles such as having to look into possible locations, sorting out the budgeting and the booking the equipment hire for abroad too. I wasnt at a total disadvantage however, as my dad works for the Sri Lankan Tourist Board in the UK. I was able to utilize his contacts to make sure I get the most out of this trip and have it all planned down to a tee. Being given the opportunity to get in touch with wildlife expert, Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, who wrote the book wild Sri Lanka, enabled me to speak to him regarding where to go and what would be best to film when. Working as an assistant producer at the BBC in London is something that I feel I can take advantage of when planning this project. My role at the BBC involves me having to be organised, and independent with my planning a lot of the time. Adjusting to different situations outside my comfort zone and working with people I dont work with on a day to day basis, has allowed me to become an adaptable worker which I feel will work in my benefit on this project. Although I will be taking my Canon 60D out with me, I have enlisted the help of a cameraman whilst Im out there to help cover the shoot and bring along any equipment that I dont have access to. Planning the project on my own will be a challenge for me but feel this will help me develop independently and gain skills so I become competent and confident enough to carry out large tasks like this on my own. [approx. 5 minutes 25 seconds] I am currently ahead of schedule and in the final stages of pre-production. Having planned to start filming in February has meant making sure everything was organised and in place. The schedule for my production is as follows: I fly out to Sri Lanka on the 17th of Feb and land there on the 18th. 19th of February I will travel to Pinnawala to meet those in charge at the orphanage and simply observe. The first couple of days will be spent with the cameraman, not to film, but to get to know the animals and to assess what kind of characters we have to work with. I want to use this as an opportunity to see how I could have a story develop between them. I will also use this time to discuss camera angles and what kind of atmosphere can be created. I will return to Pinnawala to film the following week [week commencing...] The remainder of my time here will be spent observing and filming the elephants. I have given myself extra days in Sri Lanka as contingency time incase some of the footage isnt usable or I have to go back and reshoot. I felt this was key, as I wanted to make sure I got all the footage I needed whilst on my time out there. I will attempt to start the post-production stages whilst Im out there if the shoot goes successfully, however, realistically it will mostly be carried out upon my arrival back in England. I hope to have a rough cut of my documentary finalized and ready by the end of March, which gives me enough time to get feedback on it

and re-edit before the deadline. The following weeks after that will focus on the marketing of my documentary and creating the necessary materials. Next up is a recorded phone conversation that I had with wildlife expert Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne justifying why Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, was a good place for me to film my documentary. Overall I believe that this film is viable as wildlife is something that is a great passion of mine and has been for a very long time so to be given this opportunity, I will be sure to put my all into it to make sure it is something that I am proud of. All the support that I have been given, will and has helped massively so far in getting it all together and without this, I wouldnt be at the stage I am today. The guidance that I have been given and the help that I will receive from the cameraman whilst out there, will better the documentary overall and help raise my work to a higher standard. I feel this would be an opportunity for me to also gain new skills in the process. Finally I know that this sounds like an ambitious task for a final project but I feel like it is well within my capabilities and that I have put enough detail into the pre-production as is possible. Although filming wild elephants and observing them would be a dream come true, I know this physically isnt possible for me with the shorter time limit and the lack of equipment available to me. However I feel like I have chosen a place where the elephants are easily accessible allowing me the freedom to construct this documentary the way I want to. I am very excited about taking on this project and hope it all goes to plan!