Logline

The Process. Four musicians have 48 hours to create an album of new and original pieces. A
documentation of the songwriting process from beginning to end.
Synopsis
The process of the creation of music is something that is different for every band and
every individual. Some take time, a specific environment, creative inspiration, or more. Others
can just sit down with an instrument and come up with something brilliant. The songwriting
process can display how people work, think, and feel both together and individually. This
documentary will show one band’s attempt at this as they spend two days together with the goal
of creating an album.
The rules for what determines an “album” to be eligible for a Grammy Award is that it is
composed of at least five separate tracks, and totals to an overall playing time of at least fifteen
minutes. The goal is for the band to create a full album over the course of this documentary, and
display this process to the audience in its near entirety, from beginning to end, starting with little
or nothing and coming out with (at least) five new original songs.
This group consists of four members: Guitarist – Dallas Cox, Bassist – Logan Bockover,
Drummer – Isaiah Yamamura, and pianist – myself, Bo McDowell. Most if not all of these
players are multi-talented, able to please multiple of these instruments if a piece calls for it, or if
the group just prefers to switch it up. Each with their own beliefs, preferences, and creative
interpretation of ideas, they will work together to make an original creation and tribute to their
hard work and collaboration.
To achieve this goal of creating an album, the group will participate in a two day
marathon of brainstorming, writing, practicing, recording, mixing, and other steps involved in the
production of a music album. Similar to something like a 48-hour film festival, the band will
spend one weekend together in a house brainstorming musical ideas and bringing them to
fruition in a testament to the power of teamwork, creativity, and dedication against the stress
and fear of failure against the clock.
The documentary begins with an introduction to the idea, explaining to the audience the
“event” that they are about to witness, and the requirements and stipulations for the group to be
successful in this endeavor. Additionally, a soft schedule will be set, to keep the group on track
and allow time to share opinions and ideas without the intent of playing to distract them, giving
the audience less repetitive, mundane footage.
Before the event we will introduce the “characters,” or the main members of the band.
This segment will tell of their history with music, their preferences to styles of playing, what they
listen to the most and are inspired by, what instruments they can play and how well, as well as
other aspects that make up their musical and creative minds. This will consist of interviews of
the main cast, and how they show this information and these traits throughout the course of the
event.
The meat of the documentary will consist of the event itself. Footage of the rehearsal
and direction of the group creating new songs. How the group works together, agrees,
disagrees, compromises, and plays as a whole to achieve a common goal. It will show what it
takes realistically for people to come together, get introduced to new ideas, and try to work on or
improve them, each individual with different thoughts or visions for how it will turn out, but all
working together to create the final product.
Depending on the speed of the group, songs may be written to perform, but not
necessarily properly recorded, mixed, or edited for distribution yet. This part of the process
would be something included after the event, as it is still part of the production procedure and
should be part of the documentary. The actual event itself, however, is more about the
workshopping and writing of the songs themself, and how the group works together.
Over the course of the documentary, we will see how the band thinks, acts, and works
as a group with a common goal in mind. It will show the members’ interactions with each other
and the challenges faced throughout the event. The audience will view the creation of a
collaborative effort, and each member’s impact on the outcome.
The documentary will end with one of two results. Either the band succeeds in creating
the album, or they do not. Success will show their talent and the ability to make something
you’re proud of when it comes down to the effort and passion you put into it, and it will
encourage them and the audience to pursue something like this, something they are passionate
about and dedicated to, in the future. Failure will show that they might not be as ready as they
thought they were. It could teach them what they can learn or improve on, and how they can be
better performers and collaborators. It can inspire them to do better. In either result they, as well
as the audience, will have learned things about music, writing, working in a group, and about
each other that they did not know before, even in the result of failure.

Subject/Crew Bios
Many production roles happening during the actual recording of the event will be covered both
by myself and various group members. We all play a part in the recording process musically,
and will all have the ability to individually record any angle or part we find important or useful.

Dallas Cox - Camera Operator, Guitarist.

Dallas is a 20-year-old musician from Frontenac, Kansas. Music is a large part of his life
and one of his primary hobbies and passions when he is not working full time. Dallas primarily
plays bass and electric guitar. He met the group through music, during his time at high school in
choir and theater programs. Dallas is important to the production of the documentary as one of
the key musicians of the group, knowing more about his instrument and the writing and
performing of music than most other members.

Logan Bockover - Camera Operator, Bassist.

Logan is a 21-year-old musician from Pittsburg, Kansas. He finds time for music
between his two jobs, being a full time student, and the many other aspects of life that make it
busy. He primarily plays guitar and bass, with some experience on keyboard instruments as
well. Logan is important to the production of the documentary as part of the ensemble, as well
as one of the more knowledgeable of the group about the technical aspects of equipment and
recording programs.
Isaiah Yamamura - Camera Operator, Drummer.
Isaiah is a 21-year-old musician from Pittsburg, Kansas. This group is one of multiple
musical performances he is a part of, being a skilled and knowledgeable drummer. Isaiah and I
met as drummers a decade ago, doing percussion in middle school band. He is important to the
production of the documentary as a member of the band, knowing about how speed and rhythm
affect the feel and genre of a song, as well as having the most experience performing live in
similar groups.

Bo McDowell - Director, Editor, Camera Operator, Keyboard

I, myself, will be running this documentary. While the band itself runs as more of an
oligarchy, I will be in charge of pre and post production work on the documentary itself, and the
filming/recording of the event.
Bo McDowell is a 21-year-old musician born and raised in Pittsburg, Kansas. He plays a
variety of different instruments, though primarily focuses on drums and piano. Being interested
in music his entire life, Bo has assembled this group of friends into a band as a pastime
revolving around his passion, and a creative outlet. He is a senior at Pittsburg State University
studying media production, and has planned this event to document in his documentary
production class. Bo is important to the production of the documentary as the creator of it, as
well as a member of the band.

Background Research
Most of the background research for this project has to deal with the technical aspects of
recording music. Unlike a traditional documentary, where research is on the subject and its
history or background information, the information needed to be learned beforehand is on the
practical use of the technology necessary to create the music made in the production. This
includes proper miking of each instrument, how to plug them all into a mixer or if they should be
recorded separately, what makes them easier to mix in post, and what would be the best option
for on-camera sound. This could be done either before the “event” itself, or after the event if we
re-record pieces for better audio quality overall, which is likely what will happen.
Knowledge on songwriting and music theory as a whole – the more “artistic” side of
music production – will also need to be further researched. Music theory is a near infinite field of
knowledge, and while myself and other performers have been learning about music for years,
there is still much to learn. Before the event specifically, research on song structure must be
done, to learn how to smoothly order and transition between verses, choruses, bridges, solos,
and other parts of songs. Additionally, any pre-planning or writing of pieces of songs from each
individual, to make a smoother songwriting and brainstorming process as a group. Any snippets
of songs or stanzas of lyrics, or short chord progressions that are intended to be expanded upon
during the actual event.
Other “research” is more akin to pre production planning. Any pre-interviews of crew
members, what instruments they are most comfortable on, what genre they would be most
comfortable working in, any other things to make the actual event go over smoother and more
efficiently, as this is important for how short of an amount of time we have to actually create the
album. Other research to help this includes ideas and strategies to better work together in a
small group, especially when confined together for an extended amount of time, with a project
on the line.
Before post-production begins, I will have to learn how to navigate and utilize a Digital
Audio Workspace, such as FLStudio or Ableton, to properly mix the recordings in a musical
sense, and provide the best quality final outcome. This includes how to record or input each
instrument into the program, when to use MIDI or artificial sound over analog recording of
instruments, and how to mix instruments together to blend well.

Artist Statement
1. Look of Documentary
A lot of the footage comes from the event itself and should be a “fly on the wall”
perspective on the songwriting process. Montage segments of playing or writing the
music could be incorporated too to add some more artistic elements, as well as help
show the passage of time, as the 48 hours of sessions would be condensed into a 15
minute documentary. “Reenactments,” or other shots with more artistic cinematography
could be shown during voice over from another shot - not necessarily happening in the
moment, but not staged. These shots would be more close-up and focused on either
something a band member is doing or on their faces and reactions to something.
2. Documentary Genre
This documentary will be a mix of participatory and personal. While I, the creator
and director of the production, will be on camera and a member of the group on display,
the documentary should be centered around the band as a whole and the members.
Technical codes should work to make everything caught on camera that can be.
The scene should be well lit, the camera(s) should have a wide field of view, and/or
should have multiple angles to catch everything, the microphones should be able to pick
up what anyone says, etc. Written codes should amplify the musicality and artisticness
of the project, but keep a professional appeal, similar to something like a concert poster.
3. Structure/Story
The documentary will begin with an introduction to the band and the idea of the
two day songwriting marathon that they are going to subject themselves to. The main
story being told is of the band and the songwriting process. It will display how the band
interacts and collaborates to work toward a common goal, that being succeeding in
producing the album, showing the struggles they have with creative blocks, individual
interpretation, and working with each other.
The documentary should end in either the success or failure of the group to
reach this goal and create something, but it should be clear that the group will continue
onwards in the event of a success or a failure, and that there is still much that they can
do.“This chapter may be over, but our story is still being told.”
4. Interviewing Style
This documentary will utilize multiple “interview” styles. A more traditional type of
interview will be done at different phases of the event. Beforehand, of course, there
would be more formal interviews of each member to introduce them to the audience and
show their history and knowledge. Additionally, at certain points throughout the event
there would be points where the group is interviewed again on how they think the band
 is progressing, what are their strengths and drawbacks, good and bad ideas, etc. This
would be a less formal tone but still a question and response type of interview with a
specific protocol.
Over the course of the event as a whole, there would be other moments are
conversations that could be considered an interview that would naturally occur over the
songwriting process. These times would fit a more conversational tone, and could be
from a protocol or something that is thought of and expanded upon in the moment
depending on the situation.
5. Themes
The primary idea or theme being carried across through this documentary is the
ability of people to be able to put their mind to something and create something that they
are proud of if they really get down to it. They can work through the roadblocks that are a
lack of knowledge or training, differences in ideas and methods, and of course the clock
ticking down, to achieve a common goal.
6. Editing
The editing style for this documentary will primarily be done in a way that tells the
story in chronological format. Beginning with the beginning, before going into the event,
and then concluding. To break from this entirely chronological format, segments from
interviews will be spliced into moments that could relate to them during the sessions.
Example: If a band member is talking about a type of song they want to do, it could cut
back to when they said they enjoy that type of music in the interviews beforehand. More
cinematic, or “historical” shots (footage from the past), would be input throughout to
break up camera shots, but not interrupting certain scenes or conversations, and not in a
way that would interrupt the chronologicality.

Budget

Pre Production Phase

● Director Wages - $750
● Office Supplies - $100

Production Phase
Musical Equipment
● Microphones (x2) - $300
● Electric guitar (x2) - $800
● Bass Guitar - $400
● Acoustic Guitar - $300
● Keyboard Piano - $600
● Amps/Speaker (x5) - $1000
● Drums - $800
● Laptop - $400
● Ableton Live - $350
● Finale - $100
● Studio Usage - $1000
 AV Equipment
● Camera (x2) - $4000
● Tripod (x2) - $300
● Microphones (x2) - $300

Labor
● Director Wages - $300

Post Production Phase

● Laptop - $400
● Adobe Suite - $55
● Director Wages - $750

Pre-Contingency Total: $13,005

10% Contingency: $1,300.50

TOTAL: $14,300.50

Financial Plan
Director Contribution - 5,355.50 / 37.5%
` Aside from any monetary financial support, I will be responsible for multiple of the
expenses of the project: Location costs are covered as our recording studio is my house. Editing
programs are something I already possess, and any editing work would be included in my post
production duties. Labor fees are on me as I am doing this on my own time, as well as
contingency. Archival footage usage will be little to none.

In Kind Services - $8,945 / 62.5%

The majority of the documentary will be in kind services. The audio/video equipment will
primarily be equipment from the broadcast lab, including microphones, cameras, tripods, and
perhaps more, aside from my personal camera. Music equipment will be provided by individual
performers – guitarist brings guitar and amp, drummer brings drums, etc. “Labor” from talent is
included in this.

Total - $14,300.50 / 100%

Target Market/Marketing Plan

Primary
The primary audience for this documentary is musicians – or, aspiring musicians. While
this could be anyone, the most common descriptions are as such: young (16-30), white, middle
or upper class, males, with an interest or history in music. These individuals should have their
own band, or aspire to. The goal of the documentary should be to inspire or encourage them to
do something similar, or warn them of the difficulties of it. The research involved with this
audience is both having lived it for years, as well as interacting with other local musicians that
fall into the same or a similar category.
Secondary
The secondary audience of this documentary is people that have been in similar
situations before – musicians or former musicians that have or have had a band of their own, or
had wanted to and never got the opportunity. Much of these descriptors are the same, although
the age will almost definitely skew older, likely 30-60. Rather these people wanting to do
something similar, they should be remembering something similar or the missed opportunity to
do such. Their sense of reminiscing will help them be involved and relate with this documentary
and the group shown. Research for this audience involves interactions with older musicians and
former musicians in the area.
Tertiary
The tertiary audience falls on anybody with any interest in music. This includes all
subcategories; various genres, live performance, music production and editing, playing
instruments, even singing in the shower. This could be someone of “all ages” (likely 12-80), of
any description, simply people that would want to watch music being made and people working
in a team. This audience should be reached by simply being interested in the subject of music
or bands in general, and researched as the average individual, as almost everyone falls into the
category of “music listener”.

Realistically, the most likely way to market this production is through social media. For
the primary audience, and other possible audiences of the younger generation, social media
applications and services such as TikTok or Instagram have the widest spread and overall
reach, as well as the opportunity of becoming viral and reaching even more people. For the
older skewing audience, other platforms such as Facebook offer a larger and older-skewing
user base.
Additionally the classic word of mouth method is a good start to displaying the
documentary. This gives us the ability to specifically reach our intended audience by showing it
directly to them – other musicians. Along with this, showing friends, coworkers, classmates,
family members, and more are likely to watch despite not necessarily falling into one of the
three audiences.

Sample of Work
https://youtu.be/oofiWvc_Yjw