Evaluation

Idea
What?
      The first thing I did was look into 3 different ideas of which where all relating to LGBT. This was after several discussions about what to do. The ideas of themes for the LGBT Documentary were difficulties relating to LGBT, views and misconceptions relating to LGBT, and acceptance within LGBT.
      The next set of ideas I have on my blog include described pictures of a couple spider diagrams. They're both were made before the first section, and thus the second one shaped the ideas and themes that presented themselves in those three ideas. The first included a list of different ideas that I was thinking of using.

So What?
      The first section of Ideas I didn't complete due to focusing on other sections more. This lead to a more unfocused end product and would have been much better if I had actually finished it. I feel it would have been useful if I had made better use of it.
      The spider diagrams and subsequent reflection on them were very helpful in shaping and even coming up with a solid idea for my documentary, and also the fact they were completed helped a lot.

Now What?
      If I were to do this again I would definitely describe 3 ideas and then pick one of them. I might in fact do more than 3 depending on the amount of ideas I have, although no matter what I will attempt to do at least 3 different fully explained ideas.
      I am certainly doing spider diagrams again as they did really well for my idea development. The only thing extra I would do is more diagrams, possibly one for each of my initial ideas.

Research
What?
      So the first thing I looked into here was an analysis of two different documentaries and what they did different, similar, and well. The two documentaries I did were both on LGBT and both on YouTube made by smaller creators. The two documentaries I looked at were "Just Love (A LGBT Documentary)" By Kat Fitzgerald and "Love Bravely: A Mini LGBT Documentary" By Livia Zuleta.
      Another thing I did was define what Codes and Conventions are and then describe some Documentary conventions. This consisted of both hand written notes and typed definitions.
      The next major thing I included was a full gallery of all of my lesson notes described with links to what they mean and how they helped. They included notes on how to do interviews, how to use the Harvard referencing system, and how representation in the media is used and portrayed.
      The final thing I put up was the required 1000 word essay research task in which we answer the question 'How do creative choices effect our perception?'. I initially wrote a 3000 word essay, but had to shorten it down to better fit, and only managed to shorten it to a little under 1500 words.

So What?
      While I didn't finish the written comparisons I took a lot of ideas to mind and used them later. It certainly helped the direction of my documentary, although its still not exactly great due to how little is actually written. Some things I pulled from it was an adapted version of the blank screen confessions of Love Bravely and the thematics of the title of Just Love along with the theme of coming out and being accepted both showed.
      The definitions on Codes and Conventions, while well executed, I feel didn't help in the long run aside from when defining the Documentary conventions. They are handy to know, but seems more like one-off knowledge that would be pointless to bring up every single time, and only had a very specific function in the context of this assignment. As for the Documentary conventions, I barely started them, yet alone finished them. If I had put more time into them I feel the would have been much more helpful and made my documentary far more interesting from the standpoint of easily incorporating more techniques. This is something I would definitely do again in other projects and would do to far better effect, such as more conventions and possibly even codes fully described.
      The notes research I feel is my crowning research. While some of the explanations of them are a little sparse, they all at least have explanations, some of which are rather expansive. They all contributed in some way to the final product or attached products such as the 1000 word essay, even if they weren't all too big contributions. The only problems I have with them are ones with the legibility of my handwriting.
      The research essay I personally think did barely anything to improve my work or project. It took a full week to write, was far too expansive of a question to answer properly in the allotted amount of words, was then restricting when we were then told how to interpret the question, and then I feel the points I made were damaged by halving the word count. While I did admittedly enjoy writing it in the beginning, It seemed unnecessary and irrelevant to the rest of the assignment.

Now What?
      Now if I were to do the comparisons again, which I would be inclined to do, I would first of all finish said comparisons. I could also implement more comparisons, but I personally feel more comfortable with just the 2 due to my already negotiable ability to manage multiple things at once.
      As for the Codes and Conventions research, I likely wouldn't include it a second time, or if I did I'd include a severely abridged version of it due to the lack of help it provides aside from slight context. The Documentary Codes and Conventions on the other hand would be included in tenfold, this time finished and properly described as while it didn't help me this time, I feel not completing it and putting time into it severely injured my final production, almost making it bland and rather undefined.
      With my notes I feel that the only thing I could do better is include more and expand on the descriptions better, possibly giving more links to how they would be used in the final product. Aside from that it'd actually be rather difficult to 'do more' as it's entirely dependant on the amount of in-class notes, but it is now a certainty that I shall transfer all of said notes to blogger.
      Unless it was mandatory I wouldn't do the Research essay again, or if I did I'd prefer it to be of relevance to the assignment. If I had to do it again, I'd likely restructure the way I did it as a lot of the points I made weren't nearly as effective after shortening it.

Planning
What?
      The first major thing I did in Planning was making the questions for use in interviews. The first set of questions I did was directed towards those who are apart of the LGBT community while the second where directed towards those outside of the community.
      Another couple parts of planning I did was my own planning for how I wanted to structure the 1000 word essay and then taking extensive notes on the advice Justin gave on how to tackle the essay. Both are done through written notes scanned in and then described.
      The final thing I did was make a set of audio/visual scripts for the Documentary, planing out a rough idea of what I want in it. There are two versions of the first section, with the second being the one I preferred, and then just one version of the second section. All of it was written on Audio/Sound sheets and scanned in and then described.

So What?
      The Interview questions where all individually used within their corresponding interviews, but also the second set ended up being asked of the people who where in the community. Unfortunately there weren't many people outside of the community I could ask, and the one I ended up asking didn't get used, and nor did any of the second set of questions. Although I do feel the questions I asked did help in giving perspective and understanding about the viewpoints relating to the community.
      The planning for the essay helped a lot with the writing of the essay despite my previously voiced opinions on the usefulness of said essay. The written plan gave me a better idea on the kind of direction i wanted to take it, even if I changed plans in the end due to Justin's advice, which on that point, was one of my main references while writing it.
      The Audio/Sound scripts where immensely helpful and ended up being what pulled me though the making of it. I constantly referred to it in the end. The only thing I'd say is its a little vague and short.

Now What?
      If I were to do the Interview questions again I might add more, although I feel that a total of 20 is likely plenty. Although I would be careful to make sure they are all useful or relevant, as many of the questions didn't get used in the end.
      While I'm unlikely to write another essay for an assignment, I would definitely take similar notes and make similar plans as before, if not then more. The only difference is that I would likely attempt to get a tutors advice before I begin my planning and drafts.
      The only thing I would do to improve the Audio/Sound planning would be to possibly extend them and go into more detail, with something more akin to a handful of pages than simply 3. Aside from that I would definitely do them again next time considering how much they ended up helping.

Production
What?
      The first part of production was the recording of the interviews, displayed through various videos on the page. Danielle's interview had to be split across 5 different videos due to the restraints on the capturing software I used.
      The next part of production was the various backing clips I had planned to use such as feet walking, me sitting, shots of nature, and long shots of the town.
      The final thing in the Production section was the final production itself.

So What?
      The interviews where the main part of the documentary, and while their quality varied, I'm pleased with them. A lot of the information I found out helped in shaping the direction of the final product, and I ended up using almost all of them in some way in the final product. Unfortunately mum's interview never got used due to a change in direction and general timing, but nonetheless her insights did help. I would have preferred explaining all of them as I didn't get around to doing so with the last one, but I'm happy that at least some of them where described.
      The backing shots, while shot well with only minor technical issues when it came to the town, didn't get used at all in the final product. This is through no fault of their own, but through my own fault. I had every intent to use them but ended up running out of time and had to pick between them and music. The one technical issue was solved by recording it on my friend's high quality phone, which meant that I still got good footage in the end which I'm happy about. I'm happy with a lot of it and I feel at least 60-70% of the footage was possibly usable in the final cut. I simply regret not using it.
      Things I liked about the final production was the title screen, the choice in music, and the pacing of the whole thing. I feel they combined really well and made it fairly interesting. What I don't like about it is the complete lack of transitions, the repeating music that was clearly cut, the lack of backing images, and the lack of intended narration. It barely feels like a documentary, just a set of interviews put together.

Now What?
      If I where to do the Interviews again the first thing I would do is use better software to record more then 10 minuets at a time as this cost me almost 2 hours of recording when I first found out. Also I would see about interviewing a more diverse range of people as I only ended up having 1 person that wasn't part of the community to interview, which wasn't my intention at all. Also I would make sure to explain all of them that time around.
      If I did the backing shots again I would attempt to do the town shots in a better light after fixing the issues we had with them. I would also see about getting more diversity in my shots as there wasn't a lot of it. Also all of them lacked explanations and descriptions, which I would definitely add next time.
      If i did the production itself again I would add better transitions, add a longer piece of music that didn't have to loop, add the backing I recorded, add more sections of the interview, record and add narration, improve audio quality, and add a description to blogger explaining how I did everything.

Additional/Overview
What?
      Overall I did a lot of research, some amount of idea generation, a fair bit of planning, and completed the final production along with the research essay task.

So What?
      The Essay was done in its respective time limit, and the Documentary itself while not being finished on the exact date asked, was finished before it assessment week was over. While this does seem good, if you took a look around the blog itself you would see quite clearly that its only half finished to the minimum it needed. Its a work in progress and quite clearly didn't get to the point I wanted it to, and that's due to my time management skills. I procrastinated and despite it being set back in January I only started putting my full attention towards it about a month ago as of writing this, around 3 weeks before it was due to be done. The only thing I did in any reasonable amount of time was the essay, and even that almost was late.

Now What?
      Obviously I need to work on my time management and my ability to apply myself. Luckily I've been finding ways and learning to this past month, but it doesn't change how this happened far too late. When I do another assessment I need to apply theses new ways to help myself from the start, such as making plans from the start and taking smaller but regular breaks. Aside from that I could also manage my ambition a bit as I often go for more over-the-top ideas.