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 research?
From my research this week I have learnt a lot. I
started off by watching documentaries for example
planet earth and I analysed it and picked out what
works well and how could use parts in my
documentary. By analysing a very successful
documentary I managed to get a grip of what made
the Attenborough documentaries so successful. This
was part of my research for the genre section. This
knowledge will help me when making my own
documentary, because I can use some of the
characteristics that Attenborough uses to make mine
more appealing to my audience.

How has the research for your medium helped
you improve your ideas?
From the research I did on medium and learnt about
the codes and conventions of the making of a
documentary. When watching other documentaries I
was able to find out the guidelines to follow in order
to make a professional looking documentary.

How has the research for your genre helped you The research from genre has helped me develop my
improve your ideas? idea as I know understand the basics of
documentary making and what I need to do in order
to make a professional looking documentary.

How has researching the conventions of your
chosen genre helped you understand what is
required from you in order to meet a distinction
grade?
Researching the conventions of my genre has
helped me gain a better understanding of not just
how to make my piece qualify as a sports expository
documentary but also how to use certain
conventions to make my piece a lot better. It has
given me a better understanding of what to look out
for when I am researching professional work so that I
can gain a better understanding of what makes the
 professional documentaries so good.

How has including a variety of sources (primary Having a variety of sources primary and secondary
and secondary) helped with your understanding helps massively with the understanding of my
of your medium / genre? medium i.e. focus groups and surveys I was able to
gain a lot of opinions and different interpretations

What sources of information did you look at that
were different from your proposed project?
I mainly looked at professional work so that I gained
the best information on how a documentary should
be produced in a final cut. I also looked at how to
set up interviews, how to cut to the beat and other
tutorials on YouTube to teach myself what I need to
do behind the scenes to produce a final
documentary that is of a high standard.

How will this be useful to your planning?
When I come to planning, I will feel well prepared in
how I can make every element of my piece stick to
the correct genre, medium and codes and
conventions. This means I can focus more on the
actual production of the piece. I also believe that
during interviews I can have an appropriate set up
that matches the mood and tone on screen.

How has the research for your content/topic From my research in the past week I haven’t a large
helped you improve your ideas? amount about the current news and I have started
to understand the current status that head injuries
are currently being dealt with.

How has the research into artists/producers

helped you improve your ideas?

What work do you need to complete outside of I am up to date with all my work.
lessons to stay on track?

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 don’t just limit it to
the first two weeks
● ‘accomplished & considered’ – all of the above referred to in your daily/weekly reflections