Plan

I have been thinking about which of Bill Nichols' six documentary modes to follow. It may be that each section of my work is approached in a different way to complement the nature of the subject matter. I do not necessarily want most of my content to fall under the observational documentary category - I would like to give an insight into life under lockdown for a range of people, and that may include me. I don't intend to talk about my own experiences unless anything noteworthy happens, but I do not feel that involving myself would compromise the integrity of the project in any way as I am also living through the same situation.

I don't intend to focus on the science behind the pandemic, or the political discourse surrounding it, but instead I aim to convey the experiences and emotions of regular people. I want to illustrate both the hardships and the joys we as a people are going through due to the virus and the lockdown. This means a performative documentary approach may be useful for the majority of the project.

Possible ways of presenting content:

• Short videos - compiling other sources

• Online interviews

• Photo galleries

• Commentary on a series of images, videos, etc.

• Text - stories

• Presentation - useful for the symptom diary I have been sent

Ways I can gather information:

• Post on Facebook - friends and family

• Post on Reddit - strangers (more scope for nationwide/international experiences)

• Go out to shoot photos and video

• Online interviews - perhaps organised as a result of the social media posts

• Watch the news

• Other online sources such as news websites, YouTube, etc.

How to categorise content:

• C - conversation - collection of people's experiences

• O - observation - what I have seen when out exercising/shopping, perhaps symptom diary here?

• V - veneration - honouring the NHS, perhaps clapping, inspired by my research

• I - inspiration - a collection of inspirational people who are serving their communities

• D - dedication - a memorial for people who have died due to the virus

These categories may change depending on the content I am able to create and collate, but I feel that these five groups explore the wide range of experiences we are going through - loss and hope, isolation and community. Including both positive and negative elements will help round out the project and give more a balanced insight into people's experiences.