Evaluation and Reflection

Final Major Project Evaluation​

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Over the course of the Final Major Project process, I feel that I have been able to learn and develop new skills, understand the importance of regularly having your work reviewed, and think critically about how the context of a Documentary can relate and have an effect on the viewer. When beginning this project, I was lacking in knowledge of the skills and techniques needed to become a successful Documentary Maker, and whilst I am still learning, I now feel that I have a much greater understanding of Documentary Making and am more aware of the attributes that are required when creating and structuring an Observational Documentary.

 

The Context section of my project was the beginning step of formulating my Final Major Product and was a part of my portfolio which allowed me to be creative in formulating ideas and gaining first-hand feedback from others. It gave me an opportunity to reflect on the course as a whole, and think about which elements I had most enjoyed, and which elements I thought I could develop further in. Some of the key skills and techniques that I have particularly enjoyed learning about over the past year included Documentary Making, The Nature of Screen Motion, and Sound Design, to name a few. Each medium of filmmaking interested me in different ways, and it gave me an opportunity to think about how I could continue to work on and develop each skill. After carefully considering which skill I enjoyed learning about the most, and which I feel I would gain the most out of revisiting, I settled on the idea of forming a Documentary for my Final Major Product. Once I had established the medium in which I wanted to produce my FMP, I then needed to begin formulating at least three initial ideas which would detail the context behind my project. Through completing several tasks, such as creating Mind Maps and conducting a ‘Who Am I?’ task, I was able to gather a clearer vision of the topics which interested me as a person, and how I could develop a Documentary from those ideas. Three of the standout topics which I had detailed within my personal Mind Map included Music, Family Backgrounds, and Nature. I felt that each of these subjects had the potential to be developed into a Documentary, and so needed to identify a message which I could convey to the viewer for each idea. In order to do this, I thought about each subject in further depth and asked myself what it was that drew me to each of them. For music, I am particularly interested in music from past generations, specifically the 1960s, 70s, and 80s eras of music; for Family Background, I am often intrigued to learn more about my own Family History and feel informed about my ancestors, and for Nature, I often find that being outdoors allows for a feeling of calmness and sanctuary during times of hardship. With this in mind, I was able to formulate three initial Documentary ideas titled, ‘The Evolution of Music’, ‘How much of an impact does our family background have on who we are?’, and ‘How can Nature have an effect on our physical and mental health?’. In order to help me decide which idea I would like to move forward with, I detailed a short synopsis of what each Documentary could entail and conducted a SWOT Analysis on each idea, giving me a clearer vision on the strengths and weaknesses that I could encounter. I also spoke with my peers and lecturers which allowed me to gather a varied amount of opinions on each idea, prompting me to consider the viability of each. After having revisited the skills and techniques that I have learnt across the course, I decided to move forward with ‘The Evolution of Music’ idea as I felt that I would be able to showcase the skills that I have learnt, as well as learning new skills throughout the process. When concluding the Context section of my Project Portfolio, I detailed the overall idea, and the Research tasks that I intended to carry out as the project progressed. 

 

Whilst I had already established ‘The Evolution of Music’ as the title of my Documentary, I now needed to formulate a key Research Question that I could continuously refer back to, to ensure that I remained on track to uncovering the relevant information. Some of the key Research Questions which I structured at the beginning of the Research Section included, ‘How did Music Production evolve throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s?’, ‘How was 60s, 70s, and 80s music produced to reflect the lifestyles of these eras?’, and ‘How relevant is 60s, 70s, and 80s music in the modern era?’. All of these questions were key points that I felt it necessary to discuss and find out more about in order to ensure that my Documentary could be seen as an informative film for my viewer. Before delving into the Research Activities, I already had a subconscious idea that music from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s were notably different in terms of the genres that were used and the way that music of each era was produced, however, to help me identify this in further depth, I would begin my Research by analysing three existing media products in the form of Music Videos from each decade. This initial Research task would give me a clear idea of how I would conduct my Research moving forward, and the information that I wanted to gain from doing so. I feel that I was able to critically analyse each video and gather a broader understanding of how music had technically advanced throughout the years. Continuing to think about the suitable areas that I wanted to cover within my Research, I created a Research Plan which consisted of Research Questions, Methods, Reasoning and Relevance. By producing this Research Plan, it would allow me to constantly refer back to the points that I wanted to learn more about, and the purpose that it would contribute to the overall creation of the project. Throughout the Research process, each area would be broken down into subsections composed of Subject Research, Target Audience Research, Production Research, and Skills and Techniques Research. 

 

Having already touched on the Subject Research section when analysing three existing media products, which included music videos from artists such as The Monkees, Queen, and A-Ha, I already had a brief vision of the types of Research activities that I needed to carry out for this part of the process. Also, before starting my Research, I was able to revisit and remind myself of the common Research Methods, including Primary, Secondary, Qualitative and Quantitative Research. For this section, I knew that I would be predominantly focussing on Secondary and Qualitative methods as I needed to gather unbiased and truthful, factual information. In many circumstances, Primary Research is used when gathering personal views and opinions, and so that is a tool that I will use further in the process when conducting my Target Audience Research. However, as detailed in my Research Plan, one of the key elements of my Subject Research that I wanted to carry out was to uncover ‘how 60s, 70s, and 80s music was produced to reflect lifestyles of these eras’. When beginning this piece of research, I was naively unaware of the impact that the facts that I would discover would have on my final product. Instead of solely focussing my Documentary on one particular era, I knew that I wanted to cover a range of decades so that I was able to visually demonstrate the changes that I was discussing. Therefore, with this in mind, I dedicated an individual section for each decade so that I could delve into each era in greater depth. I thoroughly enjoyed this piece of my research and found that, as I completed one area of research, I was opened up to another, which introduced me to various factors, including social and political events, fashion, and cultural movements, all of which had major contributions to the way that music was produced during that era, and vice versa. Overall, from conducting this task, I was able to accumulate a vast amount of information as to how music was constructed to reflect lifestyles, fuelling my own intrigue and encouraging me to research further, as well as providing me with interesting and educational facts that I could ultimately portray within my Documentary. Continuing with my Subject Research, I also wanted to discover how artists from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, have remained relevant for so many years, and are still producing new music in the modern day. Selecting an artist(s) for each decade, I chose The Rolling Stones for the 1960s, Elton John for the 1970s, and Madonna for the 1980s. I explicitly chose these artists as I felt that they each inhabited different qualities, whether that be producing music of opposing genres, or the ways in which they connected with their audience. I thought that it was important to discover the different routes and ways that these artists have taken in order to remain at the top of their game. It was particularly interesting to learn more about each individual and refamiliarise myself with the music that they have produced throughout the years. When concluding my findings for this task, there were several reasons as to why these artists have remained relevant, ranging from the connection that band members have with each other, the mutual respect that the artist and audience shares, and their strong passion to perform and use music as a tool to entertain and inform their listeners. This piece of Subject Research was especially helpful as it allowed me to understand more about the performers, and how their music was produced accordingly during each decade. All of the information that I gathered through my Subject Research would ultimately have a substantial contribution on the context that would be conveyed within my final Documentary. 

 

Continuing with the Research aspect of my Final Major Project, I now needed to gain a greater understanding of my Target Audience so that I was accurately producing a piece of work that would entertain my viewer. As previously mentioned, I often find that conducting Primary research tasks prove to be helpful when wanting to gather first-hand information, particularly from your Target Audience, and so I decided to construct several Questionnaires which would be sent out to people of all ages and backgrounds, allowing me to determine the market of people that I would aim my documentary at. Whilst my initial piece of Target Audience research was combined and influenced by ‘how relevant 60s, 70s, and 80s music is in the modern era’, I was able to understand and gain information on the types of music that my target audience enjoy listening to, and how familiar they were with music from my chosen decades. Having already identified which genres of music were the most popular during each era, I wanted to know which genres of music are popular today, and whether my audience would feel a connection with the genres that I am discussing in my Documentary. After having conducted various Primary Research Questionnaires before, I understand the importance of gaining feedback from your potential viewer as this can have a large impact on whether your end result is successful. It is extremely important that your viewer finds enjoyment from watching your documentary, and so I was conscious of including my audience as part of my research. Continuing with my Target Audience research, I created an additional Questionnaire which focussed on how music can have an influence on society. This time, I wanted to draw away from 60s, 70s, and 80s music, and focus on music as a whole in order to understand the overall effect it can have on our everyday lives. By conducting this piece of research, it would help me to identify the tone of which I would set my Documentary – for example, if my audience mostly listens to music to relax, how would I convey that within my end product? This piece of research allowed me to think about music as a whole, and how my audience felt when listening to music. I decided to conduct this research so that it would give me an idea on the mood that I would like to be felt throughout my documentary, and whether it would change when discussing varying genres and eras. Having completed these Target Audience tasks, I felt that I had a greater understanding of my audiences attitudes towards music, and felt reassured that I would be able to produce a documentary which would pique their interests. 

Furthermore, two additional parts of my research included the Skills and Techniques and the Production Research sections, which would allow me to revisit some of the skills that I had previously learnt, as well as delving into the requirements of each job role which I would need to inhabit for my project. Over the period of the course, I have been able to learn and practise a variety of skills, both theoretical and practical, and now have the chance to decide which skills and techniques I will use when producing my Documentary. Having completed a unit which was specifically dedicated to Documentary Making, I had already learnt about how interviews can prove to be a useful tool when offering a personal view or opinion to your viewer. I knew that this was an aspect that I wanted to convey within my documentary as I felt it important to have others sharing their own views on how music has evolved throughout their lifetime, and thought that it would engage the viewer, helping them to feel included and giving them a medium to relate to. With this in mind, I was able to revisit some of the work that I had previously completed and remind myself of the key factors that need to be considered when conducting an interview. As well as this, I also watched several tutorials which I found to be extremely beneficial and encouraged me to think in further depth about how I would set up and conduct my interviews during the Production stage of the project. In addition to this, I also wanted to complete some further research on the Green Screen technique - a method that we had previously learnt about when completing our Documentary unit. I once again began my Secondary research by revisiting and refreshing my memory on the skills that I had already learnt, with some of which being, the importance of light and the framing of the camera. This task was extremely beneficial and informative as it refreshed my memory whilst also allowing me to uncover some further information about these specific skills and techniques. For the final aspect of my Research, I was able to explore the variety of roles that I would need to take on throughout the Production element of my project, and carefully analyse the different mindsets that I would need to inhabit for each. Some of the roles that I researched included a Director, Cinematographer, Audio Recordist, Editor, and Archivist. I was able to gain a detailed understanding of each role, giving me greater confidence in the attributes that are needed when moving forward. Having completed a varied amount of research, across a broad range of areas, I feel that I was able to learn more about the contextual background of my project, and begin thinking about the content which I would portray within my final documentary.

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Leading on from the Research aspect of my project, I would now begin to look at the Problem Solving and Planning and Production stages of the process. The Problem Solving section would conjointly link to the Skills and Techniques element of my research, which allowed me to think carefully about the methods that I had learnt across the two year course. Having already identified these skills earlier in the process and researching more into them, this part of the project would encourage me to practise and improve those skills before producing my final product. As previously mentioned, I was particularly keen to incorporate several interviews within my final documentary, especially when using the Green Screen method. With this in mind, I took all of the knowledge and information that I had gathered and applied that when conducting a ‘mock interview’. I ensured to seat my interviewee in the correct position and at a suitable distance from the camera, light both my subject and the backdrop to prevent any shadows, as well as using an external microphone, allowing for greater sound quality. Personally, I found this experimental task to be extremely beneficial as I was able to think about the skills I had learnt and actively showcase them in a final piece of work. I feel that this task ultimately contributed to the way in which I conducted my other interviews during the production stage and gave me a chance to think methodically about the steps that I was taking to produce a successful interview. Also during the Problem Solving stage of my project, I needed to create a Contingency Plan which would help me devise a plan for any possible issues that could arise throughout the project, as well as preparing me for the Planning stage of formulating my Pre-Production Documents. Some of the potential problems that I could have encountered included Interviewees being unavailable, faulty equipment, weather conditions, and video file loss. For each issue, it was essential that I detailed the actions that I would undertake to overcome each problem, and how that would have an overall effect on my project. Continuing on from this, I then felt able to progress into the Planning and Production stage of my project which would allow me to experience the administrative side of a production when creating my pre-production documents. Some of these documents included a project proposal, budget, schedule, call sheet, visual outline, health and safety assessment, and a location recce. I was able to think about each document in depth and feel that it has given me a clearer idea on how a production is prepared and the amount of planning that must happen before the production of a film can take place. 

 

Having completed the Context, Research, Problem Solving, and Planning and Production stages of the project, I would then be ready to progress into the Practical Skills and Production stage which would allow me to demonstrate how my final documentary was constructed. Throughout these stages, I was able to display the steps that I took to reach my final product, with some of which including the formation of my script, the recording of my voice overs, and the filming of my interviews. Furthermore, as my documentary was heavily reliant on archived sources which would be used to support the context of my voice overs, I also listed the references to each source that was used in this section of the portfolio. Having documented each stage of my project, particularly during the production and post production phases, and continuously reviewed and made any necessary changes to my work, I then felt ready to upload my final documentary to my WIX Website. 

 

When drawing to a close on the project, and reflecting on the progress that I have made, I feel that I have been able to achieve my original goal through the creation of my final documentary, titled, ‘The Evolution of Music’. Throughout the process, I have been able to develop my skills and techniques, learn more about the Documentary Making and Music industries, and build my confidence in a variety of areas. At the beginning of the project, I chose the Documentary medium not only because it was the one in which I found the most enjoyable, but because I also wanted to challenge myself. I was keen to further my knowledge and learn new skills and felt that this topic would allow me to do so. The initial aim of my project which I set out in my Project Proposal was to highlight the evolving changes within Music, specifically during the decades of the 1960s, 70s and 80s, and to identify how relevant music of those eras is in the modern day. When thinking about the success of my project, I believe that there are several strengths and weaknesses that could be identified throughout the course. Firstly, some of the areas that I think were successful include the topic research activities that were carried out in order to better inform me of my topic, the Problem Solving activity which allowed me to experiment with and improve on my skills, and the recording of my voice overs using new audio equipment. I feel that, throughout the course of the project, I have encountered various opportunities where I have been able to polish the skills and techniques that I have learnt over the past two years, ultimately contributing to an end project that I am proud of. However, with this being said, there are a few aspects in which I feel I could have executed better in order to enhance the quality of my project. For example, I think that I could have benefitted from carrying out an additional piece of Target Audience research which would have helped me to identify my audience in further depth. Whilst I feel that I have been able to cater to my audience's interests within my documentary, I feel that, if I were to complete the project again, I would conduct some further research and gain some more information. Another potential weakness of my project could be the length of my final documentary. I had initially been focussed on creating a short documentary, as I did not want my film to begin to bore the viewer, however, the documentary resulted in a longer length than I had anticipated. Whilst this may be viewed as a negative from my point of view, I am also glad that I have been able to convey all of the information that I wanted to and have created a film that my audience will hopefully find enjoyable. 

 

Throughout the project, I have continuously reviewed and reflected on my work through the use of Reflective Logs. After completing all of my tasks each week, I used this opportunity to talk about what I had done, what went well and what needed to be improved, as well as what I anticipated to do in the following week. Personally, I found the Reflective Logs to be a great help as it allowed me to regularly think about my work and ensure that I remained on track to achieving my end goal. As well as referring back to my weekly logs, I also used my Project Proposal to make sure that I was fulfilling the brief that I had set out for myself. Without these reflective options, I may have become lost or unaware of the stage that I was working on, and so they ultimately encouraged me to stay on track with my work. After having shared my final documentary with my lecturers and peers, I am pleased with the positive feedback that I received and feel that I was able to achieve the points that I set out within my proposal. Overall, I am very pleased with the work in which I have completed throughout the project, leaving me with an informative, educational, and entertaining documentary that I am proud of and that demonstrates the skills and techniques that I have learnt over the past two years. 

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