Evaluation GRACE GILBERT

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.

• 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.
What research did you
undertake and how did it
help develop your
project?

I did some mood boards that looked at
certain parts f the documentaries I
studied, I wrote little notes about them
and how they were relevant to my
project
I then wrote a short
paragraph analyzing the
mood board, which was
helpful in terms of
collecting all the ideas
together and connecting
them to my project
I looked at a few different
documentaries that were
under the genres I was
looking at and was
interested in doing, I
watched them and took
screenshots of certain
shots that I thought were
going to be useful for my
project.
I summarized my plans for this
project which allowed me to
know what direction I wanted
to go in, however I could have
been more detailed in terms of
what I wanted to achieve. This
also links to the content
research because I didn't do
enough for my idea so I think
in future projects going into
more detail will be important

How did you develop and improve your ideas throughout the project?
• 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

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
• 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.
What was the outcome of the
project/task?

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

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.

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
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

How would you rate your overall piece
and why?
Overall I think I would rate this project ‘Good’ because
I am happy with how it turned out considering I had to
improvise when filming and in pre-production. The part
I like the most is when the narrator is talking about two
sections of the brain and I made it so the images
moved to which was relevant. I think this was
successful because it allows there to be a break from
random footage that was in there and it engages the
audience because there’s movement within an image
and I think this adds a different dimension and view
from the audience.
How well would your design appeal to
the target audience?
My target audience was 16-24 so I started looking
back at the audience research PowerPoint where I
analyzed the results to a survey I did, I think for the
majority of it I have taken into account what some of
the responses said, as an example the majority of
people voted ‘yes’ regarding background music so
therefore I included this in my project. However I did
change some of the components for example the
majority of answers said to keep the editing simple,
however I added a few graphics that I think made it
more entertaining to watch

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.

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.

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.

What would you do differently in the
future and why?
• In future projects I would make sure to have a ‘back
up’ plan that explores the same idea but has a
different structure so as an example my original
idea for this project was to interview people
however because this didn’t go to plan it delayed
production slightly so if I had another idea where I
did the same topic and used the same script but
had a different storyboard this would allow me to go
to another ide if the first one didn’t work rather than
having to improvise. I would also do some more
research on the topic, because I this project the
topic was too broad I didn’t know where to start with
the research so when it comes to picking a topic in
future projects I would start with a broad topic but
do some research an start to narrow it down and
then do further research into the narrowed down
version because this way I can target my project to
that topic in detail.
How would you develop your skills for
future projects?
• For future projects I would watch some tutorials on
YouTube that show how to do some effects that
might be good to incorporate into some projects. I
would also watch the tutorials for different platforms
like video editing as well as Photoshop because
this way I will have a range of skills that I can apply
to different projects