# L3 CMPT Final Major Project Reflective Entries
WEEKLY REFLECTIONS
This is where you think about your FMP learning journey and development.
Dont simply describe what you did - consider what you have learnt and how this has benefitted your project.
Week 1 / 2 This week you worked on your initial ideas and started your FMP
concept
How has writing a concept / proposal Writing a concept / proposal has helped me with finalising my idea
helped you with finalising your idea? because it gives me a stronger idea on what I will be doing for my actual
documentary and also helps me when I get stuck and not know what to
do, I can just look at my concept. It also gave me a structure on what I
want to do and also what I need to include in order to do a good job.
The feedback helped me adapt my idea because they gave me advice on
what else I could add to it and what I am missing from it such as they type
How did the feedback help you adapt
of people Im going to be interview and having a wide range of people to
your idea what did you change
talk to. I changed my initial idea of just interviewing people to also adding
after feedback?
footage of their clothing, live clips of artists that have influenced them and
surroundings of places, which they like.
This week you worked on your initial ideas and started your FMP
Research
The research for my target audience helped me understand my
How has the research for your target production more fully because it given me a stronger idea on what I
audience helped you understand your should do in my production. For example, people said that they would
production more fully? most likely want a narrator in a documentary, which I think would be a
good idea for it, as it will make my production more interesting.
My primary research has helped me because I chose the questions;
therefore, the answers I get will all be valid, specific and useful. It also
How did your primary research help
gives me confidence for when I start making my production because I
you?
know that this research is from me, so I wont have to worry about relying
on other research.
Researching conventions of my chosen genre has helped me understand
How has researching the conventions
what is required from me because the conventions are basically the
of your chosen genre helped you
essentials for most documentaries and if I do not meet those, it could look
understand what is required from you
unprofessional. It also covers all the main things I need to include such as
in order to meet a distinction grade?
the type of lighting, and also what to make interesting.
How has including a variety of Its given me a wide variety of information to conclude what I will want/
sources (primary and secondary) need in my documentary because the primary research has help me find
helped with your understanding of out what I want and the secondary research has filled in the gaps in my
your medium / genre? research.
High Grade Tips
Research
Thorough research - include plenty of sources and detailed analysis of this information
relevant & coherent make sure your research sources are not just the same as the Media product you
hope to make - and talk about how they inform your planning
sustained continue your research throughout the eleven-week project and dont just limit it to the first
two weeks
accomplished & considered all of the above referred to in your daily/weekly reflections
This week you will start your planning
Week 2 / 3
What did you learn from your I learnt from my research that there are 5 different types of
research? documentaries, each with different styles. Including expository,
Observational, Participatory, Reflexive and performative.
How will this be useful to your This will be useful in my planning because I will be able to adapt the
planning? certain style in my documentary. In this case, Im doing an expository
documentary which aims to inform and/or persuade.
Sources that I also looked at included background information on certain
What sources of information did
artists that people that I interviewed such as Jimi Hendrix, punk bands
you look at that were different from
such as the sex pistols and Joy division. I did this so that I could add more
your proposed project
depth to my documentary and make it more interesting for the viewer.
I learnt that from my planning there can also be things which could go
What did you learn from your planning wrong in my production, for example camera battery shortages and actors
this week not being able to turn up in time. I learnt that there are many ways to
resolve problems which could happen by thinking ahead.
Some issues that I encountered was finding secondary research about
What issues did you encounter and
the general target audience for documentaries. I overcame this by
how did you overcome them?
searching for specific documentary movie target audiences.
High Grade Tips
Planning & Production
effective planning, organisation your FMP Workbook will explain what you need to do in the next few
weeks to make sure all of your planning is completed, and also how this will help you
efficient production against timescales your FMP Proposal will clearly identify how you intend to
create your project before the deadline in May
commitment & subject engagement all of the above referred to in your daily/weekly reflections
Week 3 This week was the start of your production process
Practical work which I did this week was filming for my production. I
What practical work have you done filmed on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. My planning helped me in
this week - and how helpful was your filming because I had storyboards, and a script with questions and
earlier planning narrative so that I was confident in what I was doing and wasnt
struggling in what to film next.
How will this be useful to you as your This will be useful to me as my production process continues because I
production process continues will be needing a script throughout my whole production to keep me on
track and not fall behind on things which I have missing.
Upload and pictures you have taken
Issues that I encountered were when I ran out of B-roll to film over the
top of when I was interviewing people. I overcame this problem by
including live videos of their favourite bands playing so that it was
relating to the interviewee and also showing the viewer what their style of
music is.
What issues did you encounter and
Another issue I encountered was the background noise being too loud in
how did you over come them?
my recordings of narrative. I overcame this issue by making the
background music slightly louder and also adding the Adaptive noise
reduction effect onto it (-17Bd, 10Bd). This made my recording more
smooth and also got rid of the background noise so that It sounded
better.
High Grade Tips
Practical Skills & Presentation
Considered and capable demonstration of processes very detailed documentation of your
production process - such as still images, and annotated Screenshots of your specific production and
editing process including what and why, not just how
skills and knowledge used to develop alternative ideas evidence of different ideas developed for
more than one version of your Media product
Week 4 This week was the second week of your practical production
What did you learn in your sessions I started editing my production during this week. I learnt that its best to
this week start editing as soon as possible so that I have enough time to start
planning my pitch and evaluation.
Have you tried anything new this It was the first time I had made a documentary, so editing it on premiere
week - if so, was it a success pro was quite new to me so I had to gain inspiration from other short
documentaries such as ID which is a YouTube channel that has a wide
range of documentaries with the same type of style I was going for. I feel
like editing was a success because I feel it all flowed nicely without
having anything which didnt relate to my subject.
What feedback did you find most Feedback that I found most useful was from James on the Unit 8 work.
useful verbal or written This is because he said what I was missing and the things which I should
write in more detail.
How will this be useful to you as your This will be useful to me as my production process come to a conclusion
production process comes to a because it helps fill in the gaps that I have forgotten in my research and
conclusion also helps me in adding more detail and meeting the high grade
standards.
Issues that I encountered was also planning and setting up my pitch
because I was unsure on what to include, and was worried that I wouldnt
What issues did you encounter and have enough information and analysis to produce a good pitch. I
how did you overcome them? overcame this by looking at the email that Adam had sent me of what
time my pitch is, and also what to include in it. This helped me make a
good basis for my pitch which I was weary about.
High Grade Tips
Practical Skills & Presentation
Considered and capable demonstration of processes very detailed, annotated Screenshots of your
specific production and editing process including what and why, not just how
skills and knowledge used to develop alternative ideas evidence of different ideas developed, and
more than one version of your Media product
Week 5 This week was your finishing off week - for both your edits an
written work
What feedback did you find most I felt that both verbal and written feedback was useful because they
useful verbal or written both had good points including my filming being a little rushed which I
easily corrected by making some clips slower and making the
recordings of me speaking a bit slower.
What did you learn in your sessions I was editing and also doing my pitch this week. I learnt how important
this week the pitches are and also keeping everything in time on my editing such
as having the right volume so that you can hear peoples voices.
How has this helped you meet your The feedback as helped me prepare for future productions and also for
targets - see FMP Workbook the production Im doing now because I can correct the things which
people thought I was lacking and also take that on board for when I
next do a production.
How helpful did you find the pitch I thought that the pitch was helpful because I was able to gather
what feedback did you get? positives about my production, for example, one person said that they
wouldnt even think about making a documentary about clothes so it
was very interesting. In addition, I was also able to gather constructive
feedback about my production which helped me a lot because I can
then improve on the weaker parts of my production such as the
research.
How did your peer feedback help My peer feedback helped me in understanding where I got things
wrong. For example, I thought I had made it clear what my subject was
for my documentary but some people were a little uncertain what it was
about. This helped me because I was able to add more narrative and
structure to my production so that people knew exactly what they were
watching.
One issue that I encountered was whether I was going to be able to
finish my LO3 work before the final deadline as I was missing a couple
What issues did you encounter and
documents which I didnt know about. However I was able to overcome
how did you overcome them?
this by using my time wisely and coming into classes during breaks and
free periods.
High Grade Tips
Evaluation & Reflection
reasoned decisions and inform the development of ideas both your evaluation and the weekly
reflections above will clearly show both how and why your ideas developed throughout the project
demonstrating clarity in thinking all of the above plus very clear links between your research,
planning, idea development and the production of your poster and film trailer
