Reflective
Log

Week commencing 09/09/19:

This week we recapped some basics. We covered how to navigate around a camera. We covered the different settings on the camera so instead of using the automated settings, we know how to manually change the settings to what we want. We also covered the features of a documentary. we discussed what makes a documentary and the different features which differentiate a documentary from a fictional motion picture.  We also recapped the basic rules of typography and identities and their importance in media campaigns. I feel like this week so far has been really productive, as we have recapped and refreshed out memories on the basics to ensure we know what we are writing about for the rest of the assignment.


We also experimented with Adobe Illustrator and made a poster inspired by the company Experimental Jetset. They have a very specific style so it was interesting making a poster to match that. I had also never used Illustrator before but with it being an Adobe software it was very similar to others like Photoshop so it was quite easy to navigate. There are still a lot of features I have yet to discover but overall I feel quite confident that I can use Illustrator to my advantage for this assignment. 


I was also set my first Unit 10 client brief. I have been asked to make a  Bollywood movie trailer style video for a wedding. The brief was set by the best man. The basic outline for the video is a Bollywood themed video which will include pre-recorded videos sent from the best man alongside edited clips from existing films. They want a face replacement on movie clips from week known Bollywood films, where the characters faces are replaced with pictures of the bride and groom. They want the video to include classic and well known Bollywood music and sound effects. The rough duration of the video is aiming to be around 4-5 minutes long. The client has created a film style poster and wants that to be included in the video and to link to the rest of the video. The general aim is to entertain and for the video to be funny, but not tacky. The deadline for the video is 10th October and the wedding is on 19th October. By the end of this week, I am hoping to have a clear plan and have already made contact with the client to start fully understanding his vision. I have less than a month so I want to start production ASAP. This will be a challenge as I am not too confident with video editing and it will definitely a new skillset I will have to learn. However, I am very eager to get started and like all my work, I will do it to the best of my ability and I will try my best to match the client's needs as much as I can. 


I have made contact with the client and have had several interactions with them. I have managed to get a good understanding of the client's vision and have started to gauge a rough direction for the video. I am going to call the client on Monday to discuss a narrative and hopefully, I will be able to start production on Monday. 


Week commencing 16/09/19:


This week I started making my video for Unit 10. I made further contact with the client and we reached a mutual decision on the narrative for the trailer. the client also highlighted which songs and video clips must be included in the trailer and then the rest is up to me. I have made a start on production and so far it is starting to take shape. I am hoping to have the start of the video finished by the end of this week.


I also started researching a possible chosen topic for this assignment. I am thinking of focusing my assignment towards the fashion industry, I am not too sure what about the fashion industry but I have started research.  I also watched the Manolo documentary on Netlfix as research. 


We also researched the art of constructivism and how it was extremely effective in Russia. We then made our own posters inspired by the art of constructivism. It wasn't my best work but it did follow the themes of the constructivism. 


Overall, I feel like I am on track so far. I still have to write my analysis of the documentary I watched and continue with my video for unit 10, but I feel like it is going well. 



Week commencing 23/09/19:

This week we researched Surrealism. We researched what it is and how it is used in advertising. We then made posters about our chosen topic inspired by the art of surrealism. I haven't finished my poster yet but my chosen topic is about the controversy in the fashion industry, mainly regarding body image. So I have a few different ideas but the main two is either a Barbie doll, but parts of her body are replaced with things out of the norm to suggest that recommended beauty standards are unrealistic. The other idea was to have silhouettes of a baby, then a young girl, then a teenager and then when the women are grown up she is a doll to suggest that as you grow up you become more impressionable, and feel forced to conform more to beauty standards suggested by society.  I think I am going to make both and see which one turns out better. It might a case of once I start, one idea seems more feasible than the other and I will have one idea left. 


So far, I feel like I am in a good position. I am keeping on top of my work and have my unit 10 work under control as well. The only thing I feel is lacking is more research on my chosen topic and websites in my bibliography so I am going to research my topic this week and add it to my research section. 


Week commencing 30/09/19:


This week we learnt about Abobe Bridge. Abobe Bridge is file management software that makes it easier to find your images and filter through them, categorised by specific data. I think Bridge will be really useful in helping me later on down the line when I have a lot of images so I can ensure I use the best ones for my project. 


We also researched some designers and different artistic movements and their impact and effectiveness. The two things we researched that I found the most useful were Tibor Kalman's work and Adbusters. The reason being is most both are of a very personal and controversial nature. I want my final product to be quite controversial and though-provoking and I can definitely see my self getting inspiration from their work when it comes to production.  



We also researched the demographics and psychographics of our audience. The demographics were essentially just establishing our primary target audience and who is most likely to watch our documentary. Psychographics explores why they would watch it.

I have also made good progress with the client for Unit 10. We had another phone call and I sent him a rough cut of the video so far and got some feedback on how he feels so far. It's taking shape nicely, but still has a long way to go! 


Week commencing 07/10/19:



This week we researched potential universities choices. I want to stay in London when I go to University so I researched courses in London, but I will look at potential choices outside of London to give me more leeway.


We also went into the studio and experimented with lighting, I found this really useful in seeing the different lighting options I can use when it comes to making my own documentary. I will definitely be using high key lighting for some of my interviews, alongside short lighting as I think its extremely effective in setting the tone for the interview.  I will also, bear in mind the silhouette lighting in case someone I interview wishes to remain anonymous.

Week Commencing 14/10/19:


This week I updated my bibliography to make sure that all my links were properly Harvard Referenced. It took quite a long time to correct all of it, but now when I add in new links, I can correctly reference them, knowing how to do so. 


I have also nearly come to the end of my unit 10 project. The client's event is on the 19th, so at the end of this week so I am hoping to get my video completely finished by the end of Monday, send it to the client and hopefully no changes need to be made but if there are any changes it allows me a couple of days to edit and resend it to the client. We also watched some adverts about social issues as research. It was really useful as it gave us an idea of how different social issues can be tackled and gave me some inspiration as to how I can tackle my social issue when making my documentary. 

I am feeling relatively OK with how things are going at the moment. I am on top of my Unit 9 work and by the end of this week, my unit 10 video should be finished. After I have finished Unit 10, I need to focus slightly more on Unit 11. 


Week commencing 28/10/19:


This week I wrote up my campaign pitch and presented it to the class. In my pitch, I outlined what my campaign was about and how I will tackle the issue at hand. I think the campaign pitch was useful as it helped me plan out what I am going to do and finalise a plan to execute my final productI also found it really useful for listening to other peoples pitches. It helped me figure out what my campaign is missing and to see which areas I could improve to get the most effective outcome. I feel like I am in a good position with my campaign so far but I still need to come up with an effective and imaginative title/name for my campaign. 


I also filmed all my interviews for my documentary. It wasn't a typical structured interview. It was a lot more free form and informal, I asked my interviewees one thing before I rolled the camera and then just allowed them to talk freely on the camera. I simply asked them how they felt about their bodies. The reason I allowed them to freely talk is that I feel like ones body image is something very personal and something people don't like to talk about so I didn't want to force answers out of them or influence their answers in any way. I think this was really effective as each answer was personal and different from one another, it also helped add an empathetic level to my documentary, which my plan was lacking. 


Week commencing 04/11/19:

This week we filmed more interviews with our documentaries and started editing. So far I have just synced the audio to the footage. There are some clips that I don't think I will use in my final documentary but it was good to have them there to fall back on to.


We also researched some campaigns and charities like Barnardos. It was interesting to see the more graphic and hard-hitting approach that Barnardos took in their advertising, it was an approach we haven't seen much of yet and was one to consider for final production. We did some research on grids, as I want to do some form of print media for my campaign, grids were definitely something I needed to know about. We also researched the use of stats and numerical information in campaigns, this was useful to bear in mind.


I have also started production on my documentary. I don't want to rush making the documentary and then end up not being happy with the final result. I did originally make a plan for my documentary as I had a clear vision for how I wanted the documentary to look. However, after filming my interviews, gathering B-Roll footage and looking at existing documentaries, I realised my plan would not work. I decided to just start editing what I had and see if it starts to take shape on its own. So far, I have made an intro which I am really happy with and I can start to see the documentary take shape. 


At this point, I feel as if I am on track and are meeting deadlines as and when I need to. I'm happy with how things are looking at the moment. 


Week commencing 11/11/19:


This week we continued editing our documentaries. Since starting production, I have realised that how I originally wanted to tackle the issue is not going to work. I was going to tackle my social issue in a light-hearted manner, but after gathering useful B-Roll and using the interviews I have filmed, I am going to have to approach the issue more seriously. As the topic itself is quite sensitive, I think it is much more suitable. 


We also continued researching our chosen issue. I had already done some secondary research but I hadn't researched thoroughly. So I enhanced the research I already had. Additionally, we sketched some possible logo designs. I am much closer to finalising a design for my logo. Drawing up some ideas really helped me visualise the logo and helped create an identity for the campaign, which was still to be determined.


I continued editing my documentary and liked I mentioned before, I am going to have to have more of a serious tone to my documentary. As much as I wanted to tackle it in a light-hearted manner to meet the needs of my young target audience, the b-roll and interview footage I have gathered hasn't got that same tone. The main reason why I think it is important to tackle it more seriously as well is that the existing campaigns and interviews surrounding this issue have all been successful due to their serious yet sensitive approach. I think this will be a lot more successful and in the long run, will turn out to be a smart decision. 


Week commencing 18/11/19:


This week I continued editing my documentary. I am coming to an end but I am still struggling on coming up with a strong ending for the documentary. I need the ending to be a bit more light-hearted than the rest of the documentary so far as I am still trying to meet the needs of my young target audience as best I can and a light-hearted end could be the way to do so. However, I need to be careful that I distract from the serious nature of the matter at hand and the documentary is still effective. 

I have also started creating an identity for my campaign. I am really happy with how things are starting to come together. I have finalised the name and slogan for my campaign, which is really helpful in producing a logo and branding for the campaign.


Week commencing 25/11/19:


This week I continued editing my documentary. At the end of last week, I thought I was nearly finished but after showing some of my peers and a rough cut to my teacher, I realised there are a few small things I could change to perfect the documentary and make them really professional. The main thing I wanted to change was some of the footage I took from existing videos. I had used a video of some animated text and it was effective but I could make it myself. So I tried making it myself and it turned out quite nice. It's not exactly the same and could probably do with a bit more editing but for the most part, it works well. 


I also continued to develop my identity. I finalised a logo and slogan and started to make my posters and social media content. I have a plan for how I want everything to look I just need to execute it well. I did take some photos in the studio to use in my posters and social media but they didn't turn out how I wanted, mainly because of the black backdrop. I want to use a white background to add a more lighthearted and positive aspect to the campaign promotion. So I am going to book the studio again and take some other photos. I want to try a few different ideas and see which one will turn out best. I have to make some text slides longer on my documentary so it's easier to read. I don't want the viewer to not be able to read the whole thing. 


Overall, I am on track to finish everything on time, but I need to retake those photos and further edit my documentary and hopefully have a rough cut ready to show my peers and teachers to get constructive criticism and see if there are any minor changes I could make to perfect the documentary. 


Week commencing 02/12/19:


This week I showed a rough cut of my documentary to my class. I am proud of how it was so far but I was already aware before this initial screening that there were a few technical errors that needed to be corrected in order to perfect my documentary. The feedback I received was helpful and I am going to make those changes over this coming week and hopefully finalise my documentary by the end of this week so I can focus on the other elements of my social campaigns. 


I also finished producing two posters and a billboard design for my campaign. I retook my photos for my campaign as I didn't like the way the first set of photos came out and I also feel like they didn't convey the right message. I am really happy with how the new photos came out and think they are very effective. 


I think I am in a good position at the moment. I am on track with all of my work and have made the changes from my rough cut. I am on track to meet the deadline. 


Week commencing 09/12/19:


This week I finished my documentary and I am in a position where I can export it and upload it to my YouTube/ Blog. I am really with happy with the final documentary. I think it is really effective and is the best I could have possibly produced. I also finished writing up about my final products.


I think I am in a really good position and am definitely on track to finish the assignment by, if not before, the deadline. All I have left to do is plan out and write up my evaluation. As the deadline is not until mid-January, I am going to take my time with the evaluation, so it is an accurate representation of hard work throughout the assignment and does my final products justice. 

Week commencing 06/01/20:


This week I was finalising my assignment as a whole. My first draft of my evaluation got deleted so I was set back a bit as I had to start again. However, I have nearly finished my evaluation. We also went on a trip to the V&A Museum to see the Tim Walker 'Wonderful Things' exhibition. I found this probably one of the best trips we have been on. Not just for the exhibition but for the museum as a whole. I especially liked the Theatre and Performance area. 


I need to just go through all the pages in my blog and proofread everything to make sure it all makes sense and make sure I have put all my work on the blog before the deadline on 14/01/20. 


Week commencing 13/01/20:


This week I finalised all elements of this unit.  I finally managed to finish my evaluation and my write-ups for all of my final products. I just need to proofread my evaluation and make sure I have put all of my work on to my blog. Overall, I am proud of how all my final products turned out and I am happy with the unit as a whole. 

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