Reflective logs

Induction:

In this reflective log, I will explain what I have done on my first week of year 2 and analyse any practical work for its limitations and benefits. I will show the strengths and weaknesses of my practical exercise, if there was one, and at the end of the log, summarise what I have learned and what I need to improve to ensure accuracy in my shots.

This first week was induction week meaning it’s all about getting used to college and the workload again. This week was all about going over the course and starting our Unit 11 Progression work. The first bit of work we completed was a mind map which allows us to discuss and visualise what we want to do after college ends next year. I personally discussed four paths that I could go down which are listed in the following: university, apprenticeship, freelance and a gap year. I discussed the positives of each and yet also the negatives. For example, for university, I discussed that I wanted to be close to home as I didn’t want to spend so much money but it’s also because all my family are close-by and it I believe it would be a waste to move away from that yet, the negative of living close by or at home is that I might not learn independence like other people do and I might be missing out on potential opportunities for myself.

The second task we completed this week was a personality test. This was to discover our personality type and traits which may allow us to understand ourselves a bit better. I discovered that my personality type was INTP meaning I was a logician. It also meant that my personality means I am someone with the introverted, intuitive, thinking and prospecting personality traits. We had to discuss what the data suggested, whether it was accurate or not, if we learned something that surprised us, what words describe us accurately, the strengths and weaknesses and what we would like to improve. I believe that my results were semi-accurate as they pretty much hit the nail on the head by saying I was imaginative, driven by curiosity and a perfectionist yet I think I rely sometimes more on feelings than thoughts depending on my mood and the situation that I am in. Which probably explains why the result was so close at 48% feelings and 52% thoughts.

For the last task this week, we had to sign up to UCAS and start looking into potential universities. I have already decided that if I am going to university, it has o be close to home. Knowing this, I decided on 4 universities close to where I live and 1 university that is near where my dad lives. I also know that I would want a film production course as I can struggle with engaging in analysis and prefer producing the films than analysing others, so I made sure my universities of choice had production elements in their course.

Overall, this week was a good start to the year, and I figured out many things about myself and what I want to do in the future. This will help me decide what projects I want to continue in college and what I want to experiment with which I believe will improve my work rate.

Week 1:

In this reflective log, I will explain what I discovered about documentaries and analyse any practical work for its limitations and benefits. I will show the strengths and weaknesses of my practical exercise, if there was one, and at the end of the log, summarise what I have learned and what I need to improve to ensure accuracy in my shots.

The first task we completed was to do with scriptwriting. Within the session we discussed and understood what makes a story and what components of a story is more important. My group discussed that every story needs an introduction, problem and resolution. However, personally I think the build-up to the catalyst is the most important otherwise the main issue within the story wouldn’t make sense and it would lose its intriguing value. We also discussed the same topic but with characters instead. For a good character, they need a want and a necessity, a conflict and a fulfilment. We then were asked a load of quickfire questions to help us think of a character quickly. I ended up creating a 32-year-old man called Ryan who is the CEO of a family business. He lost his younger sister when he was younger which traumatised him, making him a cold-hearted, workaholic.

The second task was discussing documentary conventions. The first question was “How do documentaries differ from normal films?”, which I am going to list in the following: non-fiction, about real life events, asks and answers a question, un staged, based on observation. We then had to analyse three documentary trailers and state what it was called, what it was about, and if it had the common documentary conventions. I analysed Capitalism: A Love Story (2009), The Interrupters (2011), and Blackfish (2013). I found that all three of these documentaries had the main features of a documentary however I found that Blackfish, from the trailer, diverted a bit from the typical documentary as it had limited voiceover narrating and a mix of hand-held camerawork and high-quality camerawork.

The third task was analysing at least 30 minutes of two documentaries and discuss what they have in common, how they differ, what documentaries are similar to the ones I chose and what their main message is. I chose Touching the Void, directed by Kevin Macdonald, and Biggie & Pac, directed by Nick Broomfield. I discussed their similarities, differences after watching both and taking thorough notes. I also said that the way both documentaries formally approach their subject of choice is very similar to the documentary Woodstock '99; a documentary based on the disastrous attempt to recreate the iconic Woodstock '69. I also described their main messages. Touching the Void's one being the confliction between the value of a person’s life and your own. I think on a lighter level, it educates people on the thrills yet dangers of climbing to allow people to not put themselves in the position they were in as they were extremely lucky to both come out alive and Biggie & Pac's one being to inform people on the internal corruption of police forces and how you can’t trust the people in power. I also think it’s to teach people the rough lives of the iconic musicians and the rivalry that ultimately lead to their murders.

Overall, this week helped me understand the different documentary conventions and how documentaries can majorly differentiate from each other. This will help me excel in future projects to do with documentaries and allow me to generate new skills.

Week 2:

In this reflective log, I will explain what documentary modes there are and their characteristics and analyse any practical work for its limitations and benefits. I will show the strengths and weaknesses of my practical exercise, if there was one, and at the end of the log, summarise what I have learned and what I need to improve to ensure accuracy in my shots.

The first task was to identify the 6 modes of documentary which are listed in the following: poetic (a documentary type that doesn’t fit a typical narrative structure), expository (a heavily researched documentary which is created to help setup a viewpoint for change), observational (a documentary that can be described by a viewer as being a “fly on the wall”), participating (a documentary which uses investigative filmmaking where a questions is asked or a controversial topic is explored), reflexive (a documentary which can be described as being behind the scenes and typically about the process of making a documentary), and performative (a documentary mode where the filmmaker and the crew involve themselves within the subject and make comments on the process).

The final task was to analyse documentary examples that were given to us and discuss with evidence what documentary mode we think it falls under. We then had to find our own documentary that falls under the same category and compare them. For example, for “Dust Bowl” by Ken Burns, I worked out it was expository as there is a use of graphics and the documentary was created to influence the viewer into promoting sustainable farming, which are expository traits. I then compared it to “Nanook of the North” by Robert J. Flaherty which is a documentary about the indigenous Inuit people of Quebec. They both are expository modes of documentary which follow the conventions of the mode. While having their original quirks, like the silent documentary “Nanook of the North”, they are very similar in the way they explain their story with the “Voice of God” leading the narrative for both documentaries. After doing that for all the documentaries given to us, I made sure to state my references that I used.

Overall, this week helped me understand the different documentary modes and how their originalities that set them apart. This will help me excel in future projects to do with documentaries and allow me to generate new skills.

Week 3:

In this reflective log, I will explain what Vox Pop interviews are and their purpose and analyse any practical work for its limitations and benefits. I will show the strengths and weaknesses of my practical exercise, if there was one, and at the end of the log, summarise what I have learned and what I need to improve to ensure accuracy in my shots.

This week we had to focus on experimenting and creating Vox Pop Interviews. They are short videos which show interviews discussing questions typically with the public. The purpose of Vox Pops interviews is to give a voice to the public and discover how different people from different backgrounds would answer normal questions.

For the practical work, we had to work in groups to discuss what we are going to ask, what locations we are going to use, what equipment we need, and how we are going to capture the interviews. We decided on questions related to film, which lead to us asking what their favourite film was, when they watched it, why they like it, and what is their least favourite film. Due to a short time frame, we had to go down a practical route for the locations and we used different spots around our college. For equipment, we used a camera, microphone, and headphones to monitor the audio captured on the microphone and to capture the interviews, we asked people if they would be comfortable answering a few questions, and continued with our interview, making sure no one else was in the background.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t take part with the filming as I was absent however, I will explain my editing process. To edit, we had to use Avid and as part of the task, we had to learn how to sync audio and footage together. I created a quick draft edit before I synced up the audio with the footage. I then decided my structure and started doing the basic video. I then added background music and graphic titles which explain what we asked the public. I then decided I needed to inform the viewer in later sections what films were being spoken about, so they don’t have to rewind the video or become uninterested, so I added text at the bottom corner of the films they were talking about as a subtle reminder.

I then had to complete an evaluation. I asked my peers what they thought, and they said the use of background music adds ambience to the interview, making it more interesting and entertaining to watch. Furthermore, there are nice camera shots, and they like that the subject is in the corner to inform the viewer on what is being spoken about. They also appreciated some of the backgrounds that we used. However, they think that some backgrounds are noisy both visually, too much is going on, and audibly, too much background noise.

Overall, this week helped me understand Vox Pop interviews and their purpose and improved my editing skills – like how to sync footage with audio without using the timeline. This will help me excel in future projects and allow me to generate new skills.

Week 4 & 5:

In this reflective log, I will show my planning for my documentary review video and analyse any practical work for its limitations and benefits. I will show the strengths and weaknesses of my practical exercise, if there was one, and at the end of the log, summarise what I have learned and what I need to improve to ensure accuracy in my shots.

This week’s task was a 2-minute presenter led exercise. We had to create a video that was no longer than 2 minutes talking about a documentary we like, what it’s about, why we like it and the techniques it uses. I decided to use a documentary that I have watched recently which is Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99. I began by writing short notes on why I like the documentary and the techniques they use. For example, they structure the episodes in a way that it feels like the viewer is experiencing it. This is because it is set over 3 episodes, each episode for each day. Therefore, the documentary feels like it gradually declines negatively as more and more things go wrong. I then took my notes and drafted up a script, which I would then use for my audio-visual script and my actual video. Before filming my video, I created an audio-visual script which allows me to plan what I want my final edit to look like. For example, I created a table which stated what was going to be heard while something was on screen. For instance, when the interviewee says “Trainwreck: Woodstock ‘99” at the beginning on the video, I have planned to have an image or a video of the Woodstock ’99 logo.

When it came to the filming process, we had to decide on a location that would look good as a background but won’t be too distracting. We decided to use the sound recording studio as they have soundboards at the back which could make a cool background but due to them being a dark colour, it won’t take the spotlight. We used a camera, shotgun microphone, and three lights to make the video.

In the editing process, this is where I noticed some issues. One problem I faced was in the editing process; I realised when I inputted my footage onto the timeline, the lighting was quite bright. To fix that, I colour corrected all the footage that I used that had me in it and toned down the gamma (brightness) of the footage to make it seem more natural. Another problem I faced was that I spoke a lot and quickly which could make it hard for the viewer to understand. I couldn’t fix this problem completely however to help it not be so outstanding, I split up my talking with clips of the documentary or other films which related to what I was talking about to give the viewer a rest of information. However other than that, the task went well.

Overall, these 2 weeks have helped me improve my presentation in front of a camera and helped me improve my editing skills. This will help me excel in future projects and allow me to generate new skills.

Week 6:

In this reflective log, I will show my research about different types of interviews and how they compare and analyse any practical work for its limitations and benefits. I will show the strengths and weaknesses of my practical exercise, if there was one, and at the end of the log, summarise what I have learned and what I need to improve to ensure accuracy in my shots.

For this task, we had to choose two interviews that differentiate from each other and compare them. I have chosen a primetime TV interview and a late night or podcast interview. I will be assessing the setting, camerawork, sound, editing, questions, language, tone, and target audience of each interview to conclude on how different interviews can be made according to their topic and the time of day the interview. For the first interview, I chose a Good Morning America interview with Tom Holland, Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch promoting their new movie “Avengers: Infinity War”. It is a primetime interview that was filmed live. For the second interview, I chose a YouTube/podcast interview with 991 Emergency Operators. This was filmed and then heavily edited for YouTube’s audience.

I then compared them and both interviews were very similar yet different in their own aspects. They are both filmed in studios and used open ended questions. Furthermore, both interviewers were sure to keep their interviewee’s happy and comfortable during the interview, which is clear during the videos due to their body language. Both the interviews are careful to match their content to their target audience as well as not go off topic to what they are trying to promote. However, they also have differences such as the first interview was on primetime television, so it was live, so the post-production editing and effects were minimal except for a couple pre-made transitions however, the second interview was a podcast/YouTube interview which was majorly edited in the post-production stage to make it more entertaining and structured with the use of sound effects, quick fun transitions, background music and images/videos on screen.

Overall, this week helped me improve my knowledge on interviews and I can take both interviews as inspiration as how I should act on camera with an interviewee, how the questions should be asked, and what style I can go with to give me the result that I want. This task will help me excel in future projects and allow me to generate new skills.

Week 7:

In this reflective log, I will continue showing my understanding on how interviews are filmed and analyse any practical work for its limitations and benefits. I will show the strengths and weaknesses of my practical exercise, if there was one, and at the end of the log, summarise what I have learned and what I need to improve to ensure accuracy in my shots.

For this task, we are continuing from the week before where we analysed interviews however, this week we are creating them. We worked in groups to plan and film and then we individually edited our own versions of the interview. For a successful interview, we need to consider all the technical elements that we discussed in our analysis in the last week and to keep our questions open – yet within the subject matter. We decided to base our interview on who our interviewee’s favourite director is, what films they enjoy from them, what techniques that the director uses that they enjoy, what they can criticise them on, and what they can take inspiration from. As we had to have a room that doesn’t echo (for high-quality sound) and that had a nice background where we wouldn’t be interrupted, we decided to film in the sound recording studio. I decided to take care of the camera and help with the audio. We made sure to use a clapper board so it’s easier to link up the sound with the footage and I also made sure to keep a note on what takes were successful to make our editing more efficient.

Overall, this task went well. The camera quality was good and focused and within the eyeline of the people on the camera. There is a constant use of media to break up the interview and provide context to the video and a use of “Noddies” from the interviewer which brings more variety to the video. However, the audio sounds echoey and airy which brings down the quality of the video. Furthermore, the people are sat too centralised to the camera and too far apart which creates a lot of noise room, and it makes it seem very awkward between the two people on the screen. You can see the use of lighting due to the harshness of it and due to last minute changes, the interviewee mumbles and stutters a lot which makes it hard to understand at certain points.

In conclusion, this week helped me improve my knowledge on interviews and I have now learnt what skills and layouts I need to do next time to make a high-quality interview with one camera. This task will help me excel in future projects and allow me to generate new skills.

Week 8:

In this reflective log, I will show my understanding of the codes of news and analyse any practical work for its limitations and benefits. I will show the strengths and weaknesses of my practical exercise, if there was one, and at the end of the log, summarise what I have learned and what I need to improve to ensure accuracy in my shots.

This week, we had two tasks. One was to analyse 3 news sources and the other task was to create our own news segment using green screens. For the analysis task, we had to choose 3 sources of news and answer with examples how the content is structured - for example, what is the mode of address, field reporters and experts - and if we trust the source or not depending on how it was shown. We then had to answer how all 3 news sources differ from one another. All the news sources have similarities yet differences with one another. The similarities are that all the reporters, studio news readers, and guests are dressed in a formal manner, and all have some sort of extra information coming from an outside resource other than their studio news readers. This can be from interviews, graphics with statistics, experts and field reporters. They are also all trustworthy sources who use multiple news conventions to back up their story with context and information. Yet they differ because Good Morning Britain is less formal to their audience than BBC and ITV

The practical task was to plan a news story with a studio news reader and a field reporter while following the codes on conventions we studied previously in the analysis. We had to consider headlines, structure, how the story should be delivered and what images should be used behind the green screen when it came to filming. I think overall it went well and working in a group helped a lot. I think I edited it well for the first time editing green screen within Avid however next time I will make sure that the room isn't a echoey so the audio isn't affected.

In conclusion, this week helped me improve my knowledge on the codes of conventions of news sources and I also learnt how to edit green screens within Avid. This task will help me excel in future projects and allow me to generate new skills.

Week 9:

In this reflective log, I will explain my three ideas for my documentary project and why I decided to go for the one I did and analyse any practical work for its limitations and benefits. I will show the strengths and weaknesses of my practical exercise, if there was one, and at the end of the log, summarise what I have learned and what I need to improve to ensure accuracy in my shots.

This weeks task was to come up with ideas for our documentary project. I first completed a mind map which helped me generate ideas under different topics I wanted to explore. I then chose three ideas out of them quick ideas to expand. My first idea was a documentary on the cost of living crisis and how it's affecting people in the UK. I was going to ask my family for help explaining their experiences with the crisis and make a informative documentary on that. My second idea was to make a documentary on the rise of eastern media. This would be a documentary about me trying to find out why media such as anime, kpop, has exploded in the western world in recent years. My final idea would be a documentary about my friend and her experiences having her life changed her around when her mum suddenly passed away and she was left homeless with her two younger siblings.

After discussing with my tutors and college classmates, I decided to go with idea 1. Idea 3 is a very personal idea and it would be hard to get the representation without it seeming shallow and I would have to travel a far distance. Idea 2 is a great idea, however the scale is huge and it would be hard to explore it in depth with my time limit of research and also the documentary. Therefore, I am going to choose idea 1 because it allows me to explore a current issue while also being passionate about it as it not only affects me, but my family too. It’s also cost effective as I know people who are being affected and wouldn’t have to travel too much.

In conclusion, this week helped me decide an idea quickly and effectively and has definitely improved my idea generating skills. This task will help me excel in future projects and allow me to generate new skills.

Week 10:

In this reflective log, I will explain how I created my research plan for my cost of living documentary project and analyse any practical work for its limitations and benefits. I will show the strengths and weaknesses of my practical exercise, if there was one, and at the end of the log, summarise what I have learned and what I need to improve to ensure accuracy in my shots.

This weeks task was to create a research plan for our documentary projects. These plans will help us break up our research into sections, overall making it easier to understand and involve within our documentary. Within our table, we had to state our research topic, what questions we need to research, whether their primary or secondary, methods that would be used when carrying out this research (qualitative or quantitative) and the relevance to researching this specific question or area.

My research topic for my documentary is "How is the cost-of-living crisis affecting people?". I decided to break it down into 7 sections which are in the following: What is the cost-of-living crisis?, examples of similar documentaries or styles, how did the cost-of-living crisis begin?, who can I interview?, How can I colour-grade it to give it a dark, murky effect?, target audience and statistics. I then stated whether they're primary, secondary or both and why they are what I stated them as to help me answer the next section which is what methods are to be taken. I stated for each section whether its qualitative, quantitative or both and what I'd have to do for the research which is in the following: write notes, analyse media, take surveys, interviews, do questionnaires. I then stated the relevance of the research to my project, for example, for the section "What is the cost-of-living crisis?" I said "It will help to develop my knowledge into this topic further so the documentary is based on truth and that I can also let the viewer know what the crisis is.".

We also had to create our documentary pitch, which is a presentation explaining our ideas and how we plan to execute them. In the presentation we had to include the following: tagline, target audience, modes, synopsis, treatment, the key question, who, here, how and our research plan. We had to present this in front of the class, and award winning documentary filmmaker.

In conclusion, this week helped me plan my research and prepare myself in a way where i won't take me a significant amount of time to complete the research as I have limited time to film and edit too. This task will help me excel in future projects and allow me to generate new skills.

Slide1

Describe your image

Slide2

Describe your image

Slide10

Slide1

Describe your image

1/10

Week 11:

In this reflective log, I will explain how I conducted my research for my cost of living documentary project and analyse any practical work for its limitations and benefits. I will show the strengths and weaknesses of my practical exercise, if there was one, and at the end of the log, summarise what I have learned and what I need to improve to ensure accuracy in my shots.

This weeks task was to conduct our research. For my research, I decided to break it into 7 questions or areas that I want to explore. I made sure that I am conducting both primary and secondary research as well as different methods – such as quantitative and qualitative. By creating a research plan not only will my research be detailed and full of informative information I can take advantage of in my documentary, but it will allow me to have more time producing my documentary rather than planning it. I went into detail answering every question, and referencing my sources which I gathered my answers from. I even practiced colour grading on Avid using a tutorial online.

The benefits from conducting my research is that I understand my chosen topic and lot more deeply now, and it will help me when it comes to my production stage as I will be able to take inspiration from documentaries I have analysed but also allow me to put in proven statistics which I researched to back up my points in my documentary.

In conclusion, this week helped me understand my project more and prepare myself for my pre-production and production stage as I have limited time to film and edit too. This task will help me excel in future projects and allow me to generate new skills.

Week 12:

In this reflective log, I will explain how I created all my pre-production documents and their importance for my cost of living documentary project and analyse any practical work for its limitations and benefits. I will show the strengths and weaknesses of my practical exercise, if there was one, and at the end of the log, summarise what I have learned and what I need to improve to ensure accuracy in my shots.

This weeks task was to create all the pre-production documents required for the production phase of the project. I began with writing my synopsis, a brief summary of the documentary I am creating (typically no more than 5 sentences), and treatment, a document which presents the story idea of my documentary, and then creating a project timetable. My project timetable shows which dates I have planned for my tasks, the task I am completing, and what I need for it. This is helpful because it helps me plan what I am doing for my project on what days. I then created my key personnel table. This shows who is involved within my project and their tasks. I then completed my location recce table. This is a document which states the location, what the issues are and what I need to do to overcome the problem. I made sure to write whether I needed permission, if there are power outlets, the access and sound issues and how I can avoid these problems when it comes to filming. I also completed a health and safety table where I stated where the activity is, the hazard, what can happen, who is at risk, how to avoid it and the level of risk. This is important because it is important that everyone stays safe when filming. I then created a contingence plan, which is a document which helps me plan what I can do if something goes wrong, for example, if the camera battery dies, I said we could wait for it to recharge and if it doesn't in time, we can refilm another day. Finally, I created a shooting script. This helps me plan all the shots I plan to take, and what audio is going to be on top. Not only does this help for the production stage but it also helps me when it comes to the post-production stage as I know how to edit my documentary.

In conclusion, this week helped me understand my project more and prepare myself for the production stage as I have limited time to film and edit too. This task will help me excel in future projects and allow me to generate new skills.

Week 13:

In this reflective log, I will explain how I created produced my documentary and edited it to create my final documentary for my project and analyse any practical work for its limitations and benefits. I will show the strengths and weaknesses of my practical exercise, if there was one, and at the end of the log, summarise what I have learned and what I need to improve to ensure accuracy in my shots.

This week I filmed, edited, and finalised all my documentary project. This consisted of filming at the different locations and editing all of the footage together and inputting any extra effects that are needed. For filming, I used my own personal camera and tripod, and borrowed a lapel microphone from the college to pick up the audio. When it came to the filming I made sure to plan everything I wanted to capture beforehand to gather all of my shots quickly so I didn’t have to waste mine or my guests time. This included interview footage, b-roll and any extra audio needed.

I edited my documentary at home on DaVinci Resolve as the unexpected train strikes stopped me from getting into college efficiently. When it came to the editing, I used my shooting script I made in my pre-production stage to help structure how I wanted my documentary to look. I also used my research analysis work to help take inspiration of the style of editing for my documentary. It helped a lot as when I first sat down to begin editing, I was completely lost. For the voiceover/narration, I used my own personal microphone at home, recorded it on audacity and edited it by using the noise reduction feature.

In conclusion, this week helped me understand how to produce a documentary and how to edit in a new style. This task will help me excel in future projects and allow me to generate new skills.

Week 14:

In this reflective log, I will explain how I wrote up my evaluation for my documentary project and analyse any practical work for its limitations and benefits. I will show the strengths and weaknesses of my practical exercise, if there was one, and at the end of the log, summarise what I have learned and what I need to improve to ensure accuracy in my shots.

This week I wrote up my evaluation for my documentary to finalise my project. The questions included how my final video matches my original idea, what methods and techniques did I use to create my final piece and to comment on the use of typical documentary elements such as voice overs, interviews, use of stills, archive footage and to provide evidence with screenshots from the documentary, how my documentary matches a professional standard work (for this I used an example that I analysed for my research), what technical skills I have developed in the process of this project, what I could improve further on this assignment, and to gather feedback from lecturers and the target audience.

In conclusion, this week helped me understand how to produce a documentary and how to edit in a new style. This task will help me excel in future projects and allow me to generate new skills.