Dear Ms Chan,
Thank you for asking me to take part in the making of a 30-minute programme about a local Hong Kong sporting event. I have some brief ideas about the show. I will outline the flow of the documentary and suggest how to make it interesting to fellow schoolmates. In the programme, I would like to film the joint school Jug of War Competition, as I am also the school’s Tug of War Team captain.
Let me talk about what the show is about first. As it is sweat and toil for our Tug of War Team to prepare for a competition, I suggest filming not only the course of the rope pulling competition, but also the preparation for the event and reflections after the event.
In the first ten minutes of the show, the training before the competition will be filmed. I think the sport itself is rather a mystery to schoolmates. They do not really understand the reality of the rope war – a game of brawn, strategy and critical thinking. We have to break the facade of fellow students by introducing them the rules and skills of playing tug of war, so that they will know why the school is putting such effort in training our team. The weekly usual training sessions can be filmed to show them that we also do exercise to strengthen our muscles and do practical moves such as leaning, crouching and attacking. I think the core and help among our teammates and the coach can be emphasized so as to make the audience more involved.
In the following fifteen minutes of the programme, I suggest filming the competition course. The efforts of our team in the battlefield should be filmed. Fortunately our school can participate the semi-final, meet and greet our opponents, Kowloon Secondary School and Hong Kong Secondary School. I think the scenes of the two schools in the event should also be captured, as this gives rise to the programme’s tension. The nervousness and the emotions of the team members can be highlighted so as to deliver a sense of suspense to the watchers. Often, comments from the coach and teammates can be interspersed in the fifteen-minute duration. This makes the show more lively and more vivid, thus keeping fellow schoolmates viewing. Apart from the emotions of the players, the esprit de corps, or team spirit, should also be accentuated. It is the theme throughout the whole sport and the whole documentary. Before our team take part in the finals, it should be stated in the show that contestants can be able to tug the rope well only if their hearts beat as one. The statement should serve as an interlude to relieve the stress of the watchers momentarily before the climax – bearing the question, “Will our school’s team win the competition?”
These should be about five more minutes remaining in the programme right after the finals. This is dedicated to our team members expressing comments after the event. We should be reflective whether we can do better. Of course, there is always room for improvement. The audience can feel that our teammates are directly talking to them, and hence will be more involved too. Before the end of the show, our preparation for the next championship should be filmed to give watchers a sense of ending.
I really hope the whole show can be made successfully and that we can be the champion of the event this year. I would be most grateful if you could offer me some advice on the programme. I look forward to the filming.
Yours sincerely,
Chris Wong