WEEKLY JOURNALS

This is where you think about your FMP learning journey and development.
Don’t simply describe what you did - consider what you have learnt and how this has benefitted
your project. What do you need to improve?

THIS IS JUST GUIDANCE THAT YOU NEED TO ADAPT TO YOUR OWN PROJECT. YOU HAVE CREATED YOUR
OWN PRODUCTION SCHEDULES AND YOUR WEEKLY BLOGS SHOULD REFELCT THAT.

THESE QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED IN THE WEEKS YOU COMPLETED THEM. DO NOT JUST SUBMIT THIS
FORM FILLED IN FOR YOUR WEEKLY BLOGS. THERE SHOULD BE 11 WEEKLY BLOG ENTRIES (INCLUDING
EASTER).

Week Two - Research

RESEARCH

What did you learn from your I learnt a lot from my research. One bit of research I did was
research? about the medium itself. I’m doing a documentary so I was
researching documentaries and what they actually are and
what makes a good documentary. I sent out a survey about
documentaries asking what I could add in my documentary to
keep the audience interested and excited. I then came across a
video describing documentaries and the 7 fundamental things to
create a documentaries. I found out a lot about interview
structure and what to ask when I film my interview. I also saw a lot
of different b-roll angles I could use in my documentary for e.g.
through an object shot to make the documentary more
interesting. When researching content I came across I really
informative chart that showed the reasons EU citizens and Non-
EU citizens move to the UK. All of this research will help me with
creating my production and also gives me a lot of options about
what I want to talk about in my documentary.

How has the research for your
medium helped you improve your
ideas?
My medium research did help me improve my idea. By doing my
medium research like the survey I sent out I found out a lot of
things I will want to include to make my documentary interesting
and to keep the viewers engaged and make them keep
watching. The questions I asked on the survey were to try and get
answers on what to include in my documentary. I analysed the
whole survey and the answers I got on my LO2 page but I got a
lot of interesting answers. For example my 1st question was “How
would you explain what a documentary is?” The answers I got
from this question will help me structure my documentary and
make it an actual documentary

How has the research for your genre Research of my genre helped me a lot to think about how I
helped you improve your ideas? could improve my idea. Genre research helped me think about

How has researching the conventions
of your chosen genre helped you
understand what is required from you
in order to meet a distinction grade?
How has including a variety of sources
(primary and secondary) helped with
your understanding of your medium /
genre?
What sources of information did you
look at that were different from your
proposed project?
How will this be useful to your
planning?
How has the research for your
content/topic helped you improve
your ideas?
How has the research into
artists/producers helped you improve
your ideas?
What work do you need to complete
outside of lessons to stay on track?
High Grade Tips
what I could include in my documentary to make it fit that genre
and medium.
From researching the conventions of my genre, it has helped me
to understand what I need to include in my documentary to not
only make it the documentary I want it to be but also to get a
distinction. It has also helped me to look at some professional
work and helped me pick out specific elements in their work, so I
could understand how I could include them in my own work.
Doing primary and secondary research has helped me
understand my medium in different ways which is helpful. Primary
research has helped me understand different views of my target
audience, so I could improve or change my documentary
according to my target audiences’ opinions. Secondary
information has helped me look at other participatory
documentaries and professionals’ documentaries, so I can pick
out what I want to include in mine.
I looked at a lot of professional’s work. I did this, so I could get a
really good understanding of what I want to include in my
documentary to make it the best I can and high standard. For
example, I looked at louis Theroux’s work and documentaries
because he has a few good participatory documentaries that I
could take some inspiration from. I also looked at a few YouTube
videos to build my knowledge on things like setting up an
interview or lighting on location.
When I come to plan all my research will help me to feel
prepared, so I can stick to the genre and focus more on my
production and how I execute every bit. It will also help me ask
appropriate question in my interviews to get as much information
out of the interviewee as possible and have a more professional
production.
The research into my contents has helped me improve my idea
because although I know a lot about the topic already it’s given
me a deeper insight into why people move to different countries.
It also helped me understand why my parents decided to move
to England and the story behind it. It has also helped me improve
my ideas because I will want to include some of the things I
might have found out while talking and discussing this journey
with my parents and I’ll want to include them in my
documentary.
Researching into artists and producers has helped me
understand what a documentary actually is and what I want my
one to look like. It also let me discover what the professionals add
and make their documentary look like so I can take inspiration for
my documentary and make it look as professional as I can
Outside of lesson I need to complete weekly blogs to stay on
track and check my progress. I also need to complete primary
research for my contents section
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 don’t just limit it to
the first two weeks
● ‘accomplished & considered’ – all of the above referred to in your daily/weekly reflections