Stranger Danger - Online Video Series Proposal

brief synopsis.

I travel with a camera operator around a planned route of cities across the UK. We will do this only by relying on the kindness of strangers; both hitchhiking and using social media to find places to stay free for the night. With a focus on the relationship between myself and the cameraman, and our relationship with those we meet, we will attempt to debunk the stereotypes of ‘stranger danger’ and the associated fear mongering that takes place in the media.

the pitch. I remember once as a child talking to a man over the wall of my primary school. A paranoid supply teacher ran over and asked the man to leave before giving me a royal bollocking. This kickstarted a general distrust of all people which continued well into my teens.

For some reason I was taught to be particularly vigilant against strangers in cars - the logic being I suppose that they could easily kidnap you or something. My association with strangers in cars was always that they were either murderers, paedophiles or a hellish mix of the two. 'Stranger danger, STRANGER DANGER!' cried the post Ian Huntley generation. Then the internet came about. Strangers had direct access to our innocent children without the use of cars and murder rose by 1000% (not really). My point is that we are taught to hold very pessimistic views of strangers. I want to investigate whether these prejudices are true.

By using the power of strangers in cars and strangers online - the two types of people I have always been taught to avoid - I would travel the length and breadth of the UK with a camera person, paying zero money on transportation and zero money on accommodation. Can it be done? There’s only one way we could find out.

tone/style. I’ve long been a fan of documentaries and documentarians, but one of the issues I have with the genre is that the camera operators and/or crew are never addressed, turning them into some weird omniscient ethereal beings. It is obviously not always relevant to address them, but in series such as Vice's Thumbs Up (2012), it seemed weird and distancing that the person behind the camera was never contributing in anyway. In Stranger Danger, the person behind the camera would have a role as important as mine in front of it.

One of my favourite documentarians is Nick Broomfield. The thing I like most about his documentaries is that he isn’t afraid to address the fact he is making a film. Driving Me Crazy (1988) is a favourite of Broomfield's because of the way it consumes itself; documenting the hilarious story about the making of the story. With Stranger Danger, I’d never want to hide away from any issues we encounter with making the film, and given the circumstances, there might be a few.

As aforementioned, the main focus will still be on the relationships between the strangers we meet, as well as the relationship between myself and whoever is behind the camera. Although I have friends who are into filming, I think the idea of being provided with a camera person I’ve never met could really add to the narrative. Whether we really get on or rub each other up the wrong way, it will make for quite entertaining viewing.

Get in touch if you are in a position to fund this project.

Thanks,

UGS.