Genre Research/Visual Influences

Mockumentaries, unlike documentaries, are self aware and are 'mocking' the documentary genre. Things are exaggerated like camera mistakes, acting... Some of them have narrators or interviewers to further exaggerate this. 

I have made a list of different mockumentaries to look at, but I will explore three in detail that I think fit the film best. They are all TV series' as I couldn't find any suitable films (there are a lot but don't quite fit the theme or feel of My Name is John and to get inspiration from). 

The co-director also suggested to look at Trailer Park Boys and how they accidentally get the boom in shot, the camera falls, etc. It is a good idea and we have one scene where the camera drops to the floor as the interviewer has a bowling ball dropped on their toe. 

People Like Us (1999-2001)

Originally a radio series, turned into a two series TV programme. The below clip is from the episode "The Actor". There's interviews and behind the scenes footage, and is one of the main inspirations when I pitched My Name is John. There is a narration, but I chose to go with an interviewer instead as it seemed more typical for the script and I could include more questions to hint at him being a magician. 

It's also all handheld which is kind of what I was after, but to have the interviews on a tripod so they looked more professional and 'set up'. They use cutaways particularly well too, using them but also making it seem like there's still only one camera. We are going to try to do this in the edit. Not perfect zooms in are also used to make it seem like the action is improvised. 
 



Parks and Recreation (2009-2015)

The things I'm taking as inspiration from Parks and Rec is mostly the camerawork. It's exactly how I pictured the interviews (on a tripod) and also the whip pans and crash zooms of the action. However, I only want one camera, and Parks and Rec clearly uses two, if not more. 

Life's Too Short (2011-2013)

Warwick's character is very similar to John with his asides to camera, it also has the tripod for interviews. The pans are less dramatic compared to Parks and Rec but I kind of want a bit of chaotic whip pans as it's all so improv and there's a lot going on. There isn't a lot of handheld shots, with the interviews and cutaways being on tripods (which we will be doing) and the handheld is done very well (not too shaky, always in focus). However, ours will dip in and out of focus and zoom quite a bit to add to the busy improv side of the film.