JMUK Studios 5 Best Ideas

Top 5 Ideas

1. Superheroes

Following the lives of Britain's own Superheroes.

Going out to interview real life superheroes out on patrol on the streets. Interviewing them and finding out who they are and what they do, why they chose the lifestyle they follow. To get around the ethics and law issue with filming vigilantism we we could create a reenactment of the superheroes fighting crime with paid actors. Then we could delve into interesting editing techniques to create the generic "POW/BOOM/KAPOW/BOFF" sound effects and visuals typically found in the Batman Adam West series. I am still in the process of finding UK based heroes.

- John Bird

2. Cults and Religions

Weird and wonderful cults and religions people do not know about i.e. Jedi-ism, Church of all Worlds, Universe People, Pastafarianism. I have done alot of research into this idea and it would be explaining each persons beliefs to the world. We could travel to their colonies and spend a few days with each cult/religion getting to grips with their beliefs and views and interviewing the founders and leaders of each one. As the Church of all Worlds have their own school in Grey Wizadry and spells, it would be such an interesting insight to a world of religion that hardly anyone knows about. Here are supported links that show each religion/cults beliefs and contact details:

- John Bird

3. Squatting

The documentary about squatting was to follow a man called Alex Haigh who was one of the first people to be arrested since the new squatting law in September was passed. Using a combination of Fly on the Wall (Cinema Verite) and Participatory modes, we endeavour to experience first hand what his squatting life was really like. If the filming went ahead with this documentary, we'd be aiming to squat for roughly a week. During this time, we'd experience the espiaonage and subterfuge of hiding away and being as discreet as possible, taking on the highs and lows of the squatter life. We'd also delve into the life of Alex and why/how he got to that stage in his life. Which wrong decisions did he make? How many other people squat on a regular basis? An entire squatting community to be discovered and delivered to the audience in the form of an engaging and immersive documentary.

- Toby Shepherd

4. UFOS

The plan was to make a participatory documentary on people who have claimed to have seen UFO’s and have found UFO related objects. The idea is to have a is to have a presenter interact with the interviewees, get a insight in their lives and get them to speak of their stories with UFO’s. At the same time the presenter will be speaking to the audience letting them know where he/she is heading to and what he/she is about to do. The documentary will have a spooky element to it, to match the theme of UFO’s. I was thinking of having spooky music being played throughout the documentary. In the end I want to find out whether the presenter believes in UFO’s after the journey of following people who have believed to have see them.

- Kuda Mutinta

5. LARPING

My preliminary idea for a documentary is one following the little covered topic of LARPing (Live Action Role Playing). This is the sport/community that creates real life MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) style scenarios and live PvP (Player vs Player) competitions. The doc would be a participatory mode, as we intend to create our own character and follow his journey through the LARPing world. The plan is to have two primaries: A newcomer to LARPing and a veteran LARPer. Our expert would be the rule maker or council of whichever LARPing community we can get a hold of. This will make an interesting documentary due to the door that it opens to a new world that viewers may not have necessarily seen before. Furthermore, people who LARP are considered generally considered by many to be strange and outsiders. This will help in finding an interesting primary, as most LARPers take LARPing very seriously and get lost in the world much like the people who get lost in the worlds of MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft and Guild Wars.

- Matthew Fryer