Here is a report of my weekly progress for my documentary project, it also includes a rough planning of the timeline for the project. This blogpost is written by me (Audrey).
| Week | Start Date | | Task | | Blogpost Title | Content | Deadline |
W1 | 22 July | | | | | | |
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W2 | 29 July | Pre Production | Research | 1 | Brief | Description of the brief, embed powerpoint | W2 |
| 2 | Plan & Weekly Progress | Plan for the whole project, Weekly diary | W2 |
| 3 | Team | Your team + Links ot their blogs | W2 |
| 4 | Research | Research into documentary openings of the same genre | W4 |
W3 | 5 August | Plan | 5 | Statement of Intent | Plan for the product | W4 |
| 6 | Storyboard | Scene by scene storyboard | W5 |
| 7 | Location Scout & Risk Assessment | Possible shooting locations, risk assessment table | W5 |
W4 | 12 August | | | | |
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W5 | 19 August | Production | Produce | 8 | Behind the Scenes | Images of the shoot | W8 |
| 9 | Social Media (Research & Development) | Research into similar social media pages. Development of own ideas. | W9 |
| 10 | Thumbnail (Research & Development) | Research into similar thumbnails. Development of own ideas. | W9 |
W6 | 26 August | | | | |
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W7 | 2 September | Post Production | Edit/Reflection | 10 | Editing Process | How did you edit? Challenges, solutions | W9 |
| 11 | Self Reflection | Self Reflection Essay | W9 |
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W8 | 9 September | Edit | | | | |
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W9 | 16 September | Submission | 12 | Final | Final doc, social media page, thumbnail | W9 |
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Week 1
During the first week, my Media Studies teacher, Mr. Nick, had introduced us to what we are going to learn for A levels, specifically for the first term. He had also briefly informed us regarding the project that we're going to be creating as he showed us a timeframe for our lesson for the first term to ensure our understanding of it.
I'm pretty excited to continue to learn A level Media Studies as I was deeply interested in the topics discussed in the subject. I was also eager to start creating the mini project that my teacher will assign soon.
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Week 2
This week, we started conducting our research for our crime documentary project. We explored the typical conventions that can be found on various documentaries that falls under the genre of crimes, including the sub-genres (example: sports-crime, or horror-crime). We answered some questions given by our Media Studies teacher, Mr. Nick, who teaches and guided us throughout the entire process.
I was really interested as we are instructed to do a research on at-least 5 crime documentaries which has been a motivation for me to complete my research before due date in my free time. I really enjoyed doing this research and spent at-least 10 minutes (or more) each day to conduct this research. I think that I'm going to explore more than 5 documentaries to really deepen my knowledge on crime documentaries in order for my project to be perfectly done. This was really beneficial for me as I wasn't really a fan of documentaries (I have never watched a documentary before), and I (most especially) wasn't fond of murders or any other terrifying stories that happened in real life so I had to bear with it.
We were also assigned to pick our team for our documentary project; a group consisting of 4. I, personally, had chosen whom I want to be with, and I think my friends had agreed to. I planned and agreed to do my documentary project with the three friends that I usually sit with during Media Studies class. I think we all have the same purpose; to get good grades (possibly the top ones). So our ambitions was a leading factor to how I'm so confident to choose them as my teammate.
I immediately created a document for the four of us to write down and plan our ideas so we can discuss them further to how we want our documentary to look so it wouldn't be a hassle for the next lesson.
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Week 3
This week, we had been instructed to write down our planning for the documentary project in the statement of intent. We need to decide the final idea of the project as a group. I continued my research on crime documentary opening which I planned to be finished before this week so it wouldn't burden me much as I am so busy with other activities. Next week, me and my group have to start planning the location for filming as we need to start our production soon. Before doing so, I have to finish the statement of intent as a group for our documentary project. I am so happy and stoked to get started on this project and I can't wait to start producing it.
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Week 4
We were instructed to start our projects so we decided to allocate and share our tasks in regards to the creation of our documentary project to not burden us individually. Chelsea and I will be working on the storyboard as Kalista and Rara assessed the location scouting, this leaves the script to be on the hands of the four of us as we had decided to be fair on the story writing of this project. We also had discussed on our potential cast which we had struggled to find a perfect actress/actors suited for the roles of our characters.
I really enjoyed the process of creating the storyline and plot of the documentary which acts as a motivation for me to keep continuing my efforts and works for this project. We, as a group, need to assess and find an actor and actresses that fits to our character with strong connection and chemistry to show the bond shown on our character.
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Week 5
We had continued our script, location scout, and risk assessment as we tried to finalize our ideas. Me and Chelsea tried to start our storyboard but it was hard as we do not have a visual idea and a set scene-planning and duration for the chronology of the events in our project. We have a finalized idea although the timeline/storyline isn't organised yet so it's hard to arrange the storyboard. By the end of the week, we are able to follow out schedule and shoot a scene (ending) after school). (P) Rara wasn't able to join us but the production runs well and the results of the recording had satisfied us (S).
We watched a crime documentary called "Ice Cold: Murder, Coffee and Jessica Wongso" which inspired our group the most as we analysed its representation of groups/nations (in this case, Indonesian).
Problem: Storyboard was not done before shooting. Member could not attend most class.
Solution: Discussed online. Kept going with the schedule.
To-dos:
- Need to finish blogposts
- Need to shoot more scenes
I really enjoyed this week as we started our production progress. I can't wait for another shooting/filming time.
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Week 6
Here is a list of what we discussed and did during this week:
- Introduced to CR
- Shooting scenes at the beach
The teacher introduced us briefly to the critical reflection for this project. I was not excited for this as the critical reflection needs so many time and effort as it is presented in a 600 words essay. I do not like writing.
I was, unfortunately, sick at the end of the week which prevented me to join the filming at the beach as it was early in the morning and I did not want to spread my illness to my friends which may slow down our production progress. I was really bummed that I could not join and help out my friends on shooting scene which contributes a major part for our project. I aim to catch up with all the works done so I could help my teammates for better result to not be burden for my group.
Problem: Tight individual schedule and we can't make time for media project as a whole group outside school hours.
Solution: To discuss further regarding to our project online (via Whatsapp). We had created a group previously to enable easier communication.
To-dos: I must complete my other blogposts.
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Week 7
We had started to edit our crime documentary as the submission date is getting closer. We utilise digital platforms (Capcut, the application) to edit our documentary. Chelsea had created a Google Drive file to compile our recordings which makes it easier for us to find and organise each scene.
I'm really concerned on the completion of my project because we weren't done shooting from the clashing of our schedule. We need to be able to find a time and date where we all can work on this project together as a team.
To-dos:
- Need to finish filming ASAP
- Need to finish and complete blogposts
- Set a fixed title for our documentary
- Complete research for thumbnail and documentary openings
- Start designing thumbnail (on process)
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Week 8
During our final week for the project, we had to finish every blogposts and production progress for it to be graded. We focused solely on the completion of our project, critical reflection, and other blogposts as we prioritised Media the most throughout this week. We aim to finish everything to obtain good grades. We are falling behind as we are nowhere near completion. We hope that we can spare many time to complete our works.
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𝑺𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝑹𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏:
Creating this weekly progress is beneficial for me as it tracks down my group's progress on our Media project. It allows us to recall what we did throughout the 8 weeks. It also organises what we need to do and sets up a clear planning in order for us to to be productive as it helps us to stay focus to achieve our set targets. I did not like writing this progress/planning even if it doesn't take too much of my time. I still need to be able to explain clearly on my targets, reflection, and what I have done which really stresses me out. At the end, I had to check to my peers regarding to what we did throughout the 2 months of this Media project as I could not recall them completely. This is why I need to be constant and diligent to track my progress at the end of every week and not leaving it behind to do. In the future, I must sort these things better.
