production

1. Evaluation GRACE GILBERT

2. What was the theme of your project and what attracted you to it?
• The theme of my project is based on the
concept of decision making, I chose to
do this topic because when I started the
idea generation, I couldn't think of any
ideas that attracted me to them and
then when I had a few ideas I couldn't
decide which ones to do. I wanted to
look at decision making because it is
something that interests me, and I
thought it would be interesting to
investigate the subject
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3. The first part of my research included looking at the
different styles of documentaries and genres, I then
narrowed them down to the ones that I wanted to
use, and I wrote about what they were, this allowed
me to gain a better understanding of what
components were included in the different genres
and styles. I then went onto look at examples of
these styles, I looked at quite a few and this was
important in terms of helping me get a clearer idea
of what sort of things documentaries include. I
looked at the certain camera shots and what things I
could include in my project, I then looked at the
contents of my project and what I could include and
for this I produced a few things to mention and the
definitions of certain words. I also looked at a
psychologist Daniel Kahneman who is a key
influence in the ideas that surround decision making,
all this research helped my project because it
allowed me to get all these different ideas and put
them into an order to which I could develop
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What research did
you undertake and
how did it help
develop your
project?

5. How did you develop and improve your ideas
throughout the project?
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• Throughout my project I did have some ideas that I had changed, for example my original
idea was to have people sat down and taking part in an interview however due to the
coronavirus the people who agreed had to isolate so therefore I had to find some other
people who only agreed to do an interview as long as they weren't on camera. This
stunted my production a little bit because I had to improvise as I hadn't planned for the
situation however I managed to make it work by going out and filming 'filler shots' and
using different graphics. I wrote a script and did a storyboard to go alongside it however
after realising the people didn't want to be on camera I had to change it so I created
another script and another storyboard which is the one I used for the final idea because I
preferred the contents in it and overall it allowed there to be enough information but it
wasn't too long. When it came to post-production I realised I didn't have enough footage
so I had to improvise with some graphics which I think work well however I did have to
repeat them so in future projects having a shot list would help in terms of making sure I
have enough footage

6. What was the outcome of
the project/task?
I managed to create a short factual
piece that is informative in the
topic however it is also interesting
to watch due to the different
graphics which is important
because my target audience was
16-24 so it was crucial to make it
interesting otherwise the audience
would loose interest.
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7. How did you feel about the project before you
started?
• I was excited to do this project because I hadn't had the chance to work with a factual
brief so it was interesting comparing the styles as they were different to what I had
previously researched in different projects, and I thought that doing a factual piece would
also introduce new skills to me which is something that would be beneficial in future
projects. I was slightly stressed to begin with because I didn't have any ideas however
once I got into the research I understood what I was going to do a bit more which helped
me get an idea of where I wanted to take this project

8. What do you think about your project
development and how did it help you to refine
your idea?
• I think the project development was really
important in terms of refining my idea because all
the ideas and thoughts that I had come up with
needed some sort of order so being able to create
a script and a storyboard was helpful for getting the
plan of the final idea. Then during production when
I had to improvise I think having a second 'plan' for
the project would have helped because it would
have allowed me to have a backup plan that went
by the same script but just had different footage
and I think if I had done this my project could have
been improved by having more of a concise idea
and look about it.
How did you feel when the project was
completed and why?
• I was relieved that I had finished the project
because it was stressful having to think on the
spot for new ides, however this project has
taught me a lot of new skills which are going to
be beneficial in future projects, and I also have
learnt key skills in terms of planning as for my
final major project I now know to have some sort
of back up plan in case something doesn't go to
plan

9. What were the good points about the
project/task and what did you learn from
them?
• Overall I have learnt quite a few new techniques whilst doing this project because I
wanted to do a few things that I hadn’t done before for example having the moving image
come onto the screen and then slide off etc. Also using the parallax effect to create a
moving image and having the words and the bubbles move around to match up with what
was being said by the narrator. I also used some transitions that I haven’t had chance to
use before which was interesting and has allowed me to have a better understanding of
the software I use. Overall I have learnt quite a few new techniques whilst doing this
project because I wanted to do a few things that I hadn’t done before for example having
the moving image come onto the screen and then slide off etc. Also using the parallax
effect to create a moving image and having the words and the bubbles move around to
match up with what was being said by the narrator. I also used some transitions that I
haven’t had chance to use before which was interesting and has allowed me to have a
better understanding of the software I use.

10. What challenges did you face and how did
you respond to them?
• One of the challenges I faced was not having enough footage due to not being able to
interview people face to face, so I had to come up with another idea and I managed to
think of some different graphics that I could include which in the end worked quite well
with what I wanted to communicate. Another challenge I faced was executing the graphics
because I hadn't had chance to work on it before so being able to get around the different
software such as Adobe After Effects was a little challenging however after learning the
basics this was enough to get the graphics I was after

11. What were the bad points about the
experience, and what could you have done to
improve them?
• Compared to other projects I had done, I think this one lacked in continuity and the
content wasn’t to the same standard and I think I could have improved the footage to
make it flow better however I have learnt key skills and techniques when filming and in
post production which I otherwise wouldn’t have used and therefore they will be key in
future projects such as my FMP. I think to improve this I could have come up with an
easier idea as the content for my chosen topic was too wide so I think narrowing it down a
bit would have allowed me to explore more precisely to the chosen topic rather than
having a large area to cover

13. In what ways was the overall project a
success?
• Starting with the research some of the strengths of my research include the information on the different documentary genres which
allowed me to explore many different options for the style of documentary I wanted to make. Looking at the genres I narrowed them
down to the ones that I was most interested in making and which ones would fit the style I like working in. I then went into further
details for each of the genres which allowed me to get a greater understanding of the individual styles which was helpful in terms of
deciding which direction I planned on taking. I then wrote about my documentary and my idea and what I was going to include etc. I
then included what genre/style I was interested in which allowed me to get a clear picture of what I wanted to include in the
documentary. I then went onto look at examples from the styles I was interested in and went onto YouTube to find these styles of
documentaries I then analysed certain screenshots in detail and what I liked and how I could incorporate that idea into my project, I
labelled some of the shots that were frequently used and this way it allowed me to get some ideas for what shots I should include. I
then went onto content research where I would include a few facts and definitions that would help me in my project, which became
useful when writing the script because it gave me a starting point. I think the planning and idea development was beneficial in terms
of me figuring out how I wanted the documentary to look like and how to get my ideas into some sort of order. I started by
summarising the content of my video and how I wanted to research and talk about certain things, this was helpful because it made my
idea make sense. I put together a mood board with loads of different images from some of the documentaries I had previously looked
at, I analysed the images which helped me understand how some documentaries can convey certain feelings and how they frame the
shots to attract the audience’s attention. I also analysed the colour schemes because this is something I wanted to focus on was
looking at the sort of colours they used for certain moods etc as colour was something I never focused on before as I had worked in
black and white previously so this helped me understand a little more about colour. I then focused on the storyboards because I
wanted to put my ideas onto paper in a chronological order with images and notes. This helps me visualise what I want to make and
allows it to make sense, however I later added another storyboard after changing the script. I included some sources that I planned
on incorporating into my documentary which allowed me to come back to them when needing to write the script. I did two versions of
the script the first one allowed me to get a brief idea of what I wanted to be said however I thought I could make it better so I did a
second version which is the one I stuck with and then made another storyboard to support this.

14. What elements did not go well and why?
• Some of the weaknesses of my research are that I could have looked at more content
research because this would’ve helped quite a bit as I struggled when it came to writing
the script as I didn’t have enough to go off to make it fit the time limit. I also think looking
at the audio and the background music would have been helpful because I wasn’t sure
what direction to take the music in whether it should be calm or inspiring etc. I think my
planning could have been improved by having some other ideas if my original idea didn’t
work because I was faced with this challenge when I couldn’t include the interviews
visually only through audio so having a backup plan would have allowed me to save on
time. In terms of audio I used quite a few sound effects that I got online, I used a variation
of them that were relevant to what footage was being shown. I also had background
music amongst the sound effects which was played from the beginning through to the end
because I felt like overall the documentary had sections where some of it didn't add up so
having something that was continuous would tie the whole thing together and I think it did.

15. How did your skills develop during the portfolio?
• Overall I have learnt quite a few new techniques whilst doing this project because I wanted to do a few things
that I hadn’t done before for example having the moving image come onto the screen and then slide off etc. Also
using the parallax effect to create a moving image and having the words and the bubbles move around to match
up with what was being said by the narrator. I also used some transitions that I haven’t had chance to use
before which was interesting and has allowed me to have a better understanding of the software I use.
Compared to other projects mine lacked in continuity and the content wasn’t to the same standard and I think I
could have improved the footage to make it flow better however I have learnt key skills and techniques when
filming and in post production which I otherwise wouldn’t have used and therefore they will be key in future
projects such as my FMP. Overall I think my project is pretty creative because I have footage in there that I have
films as well as moving images and a few different transitions in the video and the audio. I like how I managed to
create a moving image using the skulls where they moved in sync to the audio and matched with what was
being said, I liked this because it allowed the video to have some variety rather than just constant footage that
didn’t relate to the audio at all. I also like the moving pictures coming onto the screen because I think that
appeals more to my target audience because it stops it getting too boring and it allows for younger people to
keep their engagement with the video and what is being said.

18. 9/3/20XX Presentation Title 18