Evaluation

EVALUATION

Overall I am very pleased with how this project went. The finished product is not what I had in mind when I first began planning and prepping for it but it never is. I could be disappointed by that because in hindsight it’s not what I wanted but I have to take everything into consideration and not be negative but instead be proud for what I have made.

Initially I had 3 major ideas that I wanted to do, one about woman in the music industry, another about the john burger killing and the final about drugs. I feel as if I definitely chose the right topic, this is because the other ones weren't as feasible as the drugs one. I do not know anyone in the music industry so it would have therefore been hard for me to get a major interview, and the John Bulger documentary would have been mainly archived footage - not really making it my own project but instead someone else's. The fact that I could easily get an interview with a Police Officer also made my idea easier to bring to life.

When it comes down to research I feel as if I should have done lots more earlier. I researched lots of different modes of documentaries so that came easy to me as I already knew my favourite. However I put off watching documentaries related to my topic for a while as I knew it would consume a lot of my time and I just wanted to get on and do it - this was a rookie error on my part. I feel if I would have watched and taken notes on those right at the beginning of this course then I would have had a better understanding on what information I needed to use in mine and the overall layout of those style documentaries. However, a strength of mine in research was my interview. I feel as if I prepared myself well and set myself up for a good interview - I sent the interviewee the questions I would be asking over a week beforehand so they could get an understanding of the topic and the style of questions I would be asking. This was helpful for the both of us and when it came down to the interview it made it much snappier as there was no confusion. Once I finished recording I felt as if I could have asked a few more questions along the line of effects of drugs but I later understood that the information I got from Mark was exactly what I wanted.

I planned my interview a while in advance which was a major positive in this project - this meant it wasn't rushed and came out exactly how I liked it. I stuck to my planning documents such as questions and recce forms. Although I didn't fill out many production forms I feel as if I didn't need to due to only filming in one small space. Nevertheless a key thing that I have highlighted and noticed throughout this project is that my time management is still not up to scratch. I dwelled on certain things that I shouldn't have and took too much time on the smaller things rather than the larger - like filming. I left all of my cutaway filming until the very last minute and consequently wasn't happy with it and wished I had more. I feel that if I had chance to re-do this project time management would definitely be on the top of my list of things to keep in mind.

Carrying on with the time management theme - there are many things I didn't have chance to do as thoroughly as I wanted to. The analysing of the two documentaries were not as good as I wanted them to be - I feel as if I rushed them and the writing was nowhere near my capability. I also left a few things unfinished and therefore has to rush them at the last moment - for example my proposal wasn't in detail I wanted it to be and couldn't follow it well due to it being very vague. Nevertheless, the proposal I did produce was followed and is nearly the exact same as the now finished documentary. I kept with the interview with Mark Askham, Meghan was the person I filmed in a few of the cutaways, and all of the camera angles and shots were followed well. The only thing that is different from my proposal to my finished product is that I did not include any case studies, this is because (very bluntly) I ran out of time. I planned to include a case study of Daniel Ferguson who overdosed on a lot of drugs at the age of 16 – with my time management being rubbish there is no way I could have fit this into my schedule.  

Aside from the negative things in this project – camera setting up and technical aspects all went my way. When setting up for the interview at the Police Station I felt confident and set everything up with ease, making sure everything in SWEFF was perfect. If I would have had to set up a camera in a strange room on my own a few months ago it would never have happened, so I am really proud of myself in terms of that. The editing was also a strong point, by making the whole interview into around 20 sub clips it made the process a lot easier. Again, I was not that strong on editing a few months ago so being able to confidently edit a whole documentary together is a big achievement.

From this project I have learnt many things that I will take on board when it comes onto doing my Final Major Project, time management being the biggest thing – I will plan better and go into more depth in my research without leaving it until the last minute. But I will also take the positives on board and motivate myself to do the best project I have done so far.