LO3 - Evaluation

Weekly blog updates are required, as with every unit. Please remember to take
photos/screenshots as you film/edit. You might find it easier if you note down a record of
what you did each day in a diary form.

Please use the following guidance to help you with each week.
THESE MUST BE COMPLETED IN DETAIL. INCLUDE IMAGES AND BE
SPECIFIC!

Week 1 This week was spent on idea generation

What have you been asked to do?
Over the course of the next 10 weeks I have been asked to
produce two productions for my chosen target audience,
submitting a brief, research booklet, codes and conventions for
my mediums, two planning and production booklets, recorded
viewing and pitch, and an evaluation as well as the final
productions.

This week I have been asked to choose my two forms of

production and my target audience that applies for both. Along
with the genre, basic plot, recorded focus group, character
development, developed plot and survey feedback for each. After
receiving focus group and survey answers I need to analyse each
to review the information I have received and how that makes a
difference to my productions. Finally, concluding with writing a
proposal including information on my rationale, project concept,
and evaluation. This week is for the context of my project.

Why have you chosen this target
audience?
I was given the choice of either 5-12 year olds or 40-60 year olds
for my target audience and chose 40-60 year olds. Throughout
the 12 units I have completed so far the highest age I have aimed
a production at has been 24. Since I have not yet aimed toward
an age range far from my own I should find this difficult, I would
like this unit to push my abilities even more than I have before.
In terms of practicality, 40-60 year olds are easier to work with
than 5-12 year olds as on average they have a higher attention
span and better grammar which will be needed when answering
surveys, focus groups.

What two productions have you decided
to make? How do they allow you to
improve your skills?
I have decided to make a music video as I have only made one of
these whilst studying Creative Media Production so far and so
practice is definitely needed. Editing a music video is arguably
harder than the other two production options I got given; I will be
cutting to the beat and including a lot more after effects eg
transitions. Improving my editing skills will be very valuable,

How did the focus groups help you to
select your idea?
Are you on track for the week?
What work needs to be completed for
you to catch up?
Week 2
What did you find out about your target
audience through your secondary
research?
How will this help you in adapting your
idea to meet the chosen audience?
whilst enjoyable for me.
The second production I have decided to make is a short film
because this is my favourite form of production to create. I will
be more passionate about this project than if I was to have chosen
to create a stop motion, also it is going to be of a higher standard.
Also, typically, 40-60 year olds don’t watch stop-motions and so
I would have alienated a lot of my target audience if I had chosen
this option.
Getting used to utilising shot types is a weakness of mine and so
both creating a short film and music video will allow me to
practice changing from one shot type to another fairly frequently.
In my focus group interview I asked for my interviewees
opinions on the two ideas I had generated for each production
type. I then also asked for their favourite ideas for each
production style. The information they had provided me on their
thoughts on each idea backed up which idea I then chose. If I had
not asked for opinions on each and just which they preferred I
would not have much justification for the final ideas that I have
decided.
I will be after the weekend.
I need to write my proposal on the weekend.
This week was spent researching target audiences
I found the hierarchy of genres amongst my target audience, this
will be useful for me when finalising my genres.
80% of my target audience have a form of social media.
4/5 people aged 40-60 are still physically active.
On average they watch 3 hours of TV per day.
Their biggest personality traits are anxiety and independence.
40-60 year olds have the lowest levels of life satisfaction and
highest levels of anxiety than any other age category.
I can use the hierarchy to make sure I am making the right
decision with the overall genres of my two productions.
As such a large amount of my target audience use social media, I
can include references to it in my production/s without worrying
that they won’t understand the reference. In my short film I could
have one of the tasks being posting something scandalous on

How useful was interviewing people
from your chosen target audience?
Was it difficult to get a large response to
your survey? How could you improve
the amount of respondents for your
FMP?
What have you found to be the key
things that you should be targeting your
audience with? What makes this
audience different to the one you never
chose?
social media, for example.
I can only meet with one person to film my productions, bar
when filming with people living inside my household. That’s
why Chris will be the only actor in my short film – ‘anonymous’
will not be shown as an actual person at any time. Due to this,
Chris will be going through all of the tasks and the trauma on his
own. This links in nicely with how independent my target
audience is. They will be able to relate to not the short film itself,
but going through stressful times alone.
My target audiences’ low life satisfaction levels make my music
video idea very relatable for them. Due to this, I will include an
exaggerated amount of bad situations occurring in the couples’
day.
Interviewing my target audience gave me a good basis to work
off of for both my short film and music video. I can use the ideas
given to me and work my productions around them, knowing that
they will definitely interest 40-60 year olds.
For the music video, I received plenty of good ideas of
inconveniences to include throughout the day for the husband
and wife. This includes getting stuck in traffic, IT glitches and
outfit malfunctions.
For the short film, I received tasks that my interviewees would
enjoy watching Chris have to carry out. Some examples I got
given: having to climb over a fence into someone’s garden,
embarrassing tasks and having a rip in his trousers.
I found it difficult to get a large response from my survey. Due to
my target audience being 40-60 year olds, I didn’t have many
people I could ask to answer it. Instead, I got my parents to ask
their friends to answer my survey. Neither of my parents are big
Facebook users, so they had to text people individually to get a
response. If they were able to use Facebook instead, I believe I
would have got a lot more responses as they would have reached
people that they weren’t close enough to message separately
about it but would be more than happy to have answered my
survey after coming across it. Facebook is a good means of
building up mutual connections and your contacts.
In order to improve my amount of respondents for my FMP I
have made the decision to become more active on Facebook
myself, depending on my target audience I will be able to use my
own contacts on there. I can make better use of the contacts I
have via sending out the survey earlier. This would give people
more time to respond. Everyone has their own things to be
getting on with and most can’t drop everything to do the survey
but it could be added to their to do list for a day or two later.
Relatability will draw my audience in, in the interviews it was
said once or twice about how they personally know how some of
the inconveniences they put forward feel to have occur to them
This audience would enjoy watching much more mature content
rather than immature, unlike the other option of 5-12 year olds.
In my short film especially, I would have to censor what I am
 putting in my production a lot more for a younger audience.
From my own knowledge, it is clear that the 5-12 year olds
audience aren’t independent, and have a lot higher levels of life
satisfaction than 40-60 year olds.

Are you on track for the week? Yes

What work needs to be completed in I filmed the interviews in my own time.

your own time?

Week 3 This week was spent researching codes and conventions

What genres have you chosen and I have chosen Crime Drama and Romance. The genre Drama has
why? the highest audience amongst my target audience, and the genre
Romance has the second highest. Thus, I am maximising the
amount of my target audience that will enjoy at least one of my
productions. Backing this up, last week both of my production
ideas got very positive feedback on my survey I sent out and the
genres I have chosen are the ones that fit best with my production
ideas.
 Here are two screenshots from my survey.

As you can see, I didn’t get any negative views on the ideas, and
therefore genres, for my productions.

Therefore, it was very clear to me what genres to choose.

What have you learnt from your I learnt what Todorov’s theory was. Todorov believes every
secondary research this week? storyline has these five events:

- Equilibrium – when life is normal.

- Disruption – a sudden disruption breaking the equilibrium.
- Recognition – the main character is aware their situation is
at the worst point.
- Repair – they begin fixing their problem/s.
- New equilibrium – their situation is solved and a new
equilibrium has been created.

The events do not have to occur in this order. For example, in some
narratives we start in the middle of the action and then rewind back
to the start. Also, another common example is when the narrative
starts right at the end of the action and goes in non-chronological
order with everything slowly making sense to the audience.

Todorov’s theory is a good structure, be it obvious within the story

or not it gives a good frame to the production.

Propp’s character types for both of my production genres and an

example of them from well-known productions.

Crime Drama stock characters:

- Person in distress
- The Villain
- The hero/heroine
- Tragic hero/heroin
- The quirky/ rookie detective
- Good cop
- Bad cop
- Buddy partners
- Forensic scientist

Romance stock characters:


How will this influence what you
include in your productions?
What are the key conventions for your
chosen genres? What MUST you
include for it to be that genre?
Are you on track for the week?
What work needs to be completed in
your own time?
Week 4
What have you learnt from you primary
research this week?
- Two main protagonists
- An antagonist
- Best friend/s
Both of my productions naturally include Todorov’s theory.
Reading about the theory has made me aware of what each event is
in each storyline of mine. As I have now recognised this setup, I
will pay attention to it more whilst writing my scripts – making
sure I make a big deal out of each of the five stages. Creating a
better flow to my pieces. Due to neither of my productions
including dialogue, I will need to use camera angles, lighting,
setting, and costume to make every situation as clear as possible for
my audience.
COVID-19 restrictions make it hard to know for certain if I will be
able to meet up with multiple people outside of my household when
I am due to film so it is a good idea to keep numbers down. Due to
this, I cannot include all of the Propp’s characters of my genres
however I am still able to include the main, important ones just not
the extras. Therefore, I still fit in with the genres fine. The main
characters have naturally been implemented in my production
ideas.
The correct, stereotypical:
- Lighting
- Setting
- Foley sounds
- Costume
- Stock characters.
Yes
I need to document which characters in my productions fit with
which stock characters.
This week was spent researching codes and conventions
How music is used to transform a scene. I watched four scenes
and analysed what we learn from the music; For example, the
tone, foreshadowing action heightening or lowering, instruments
used and how they correlate to genre. One of the scenes I looked
at was from ‘The Shining’, in short the music in this scene was
very scratchy and hard to listen to with no nice flow to it and bad
pairing of instruments. This is designed to make the audience
uncomfortable and stressed, alike The Shining’s genre - horror.
The un-comfortability implies that the man’s thoughts and
intentions are bad, what we are about to be shown on screen will
also be uncomfortable for us. Also, the bad pairing of
instruments creating the zero flow is imagery for the lack of
flow, and control to what is going on in the scene.

What developments do you need to make
to your production for it to meet these
codes and conventions requirements?
The importance of location. There are typical locations for each
genre – for example, for thrillers graveyards and haunted houses
are common. You wouldn’t expect to see a pretty village. I
focussed on the location when watching two productions and
wrote down everything they told me. For example, the
relationship between characters, the happenings of that scene, the
tone, and genre.
The use of camera work – how different shot types and camera
angles change the way the audience takes in what is on screen.
The ones I deem most important for the productions I am making
this unit are high and low camera angles. Filming the character
from a low camera angle makes them look big presenting the
idea of power, they are in control of the situation. Oppositely,
filming the character from a high camera angle makes them look
small, presenting the idea that they are weak and in need of help.
As neither of my productions contain dialogue the codes and
conventions are extremely important.
I need to carefully choose background music that increases
tension, the sense of time running out in my short film to help tell
the story.
The locations for my music video are already obvious so no
developments are needed. When choosing my specific locations
in my short film next week I will be sure to choose places that
are likely to not be busy as most crimes take place when people
are sneaking around behind closed doors. Also, places that come
across as ominous to add a sketchy feel to the tasks my character
is completing.
In my Crime Drama:
- A lot of high camera angles when filming Chris to show
him struggling to get through the tasks thrown at him,
him losing energy as time goes on, and new
developments in the storyline that go against his favour.
- Close-ups to capture important details of the narrative,
letting my audience know what they need to take a
mental note of. Crime Drama storylines are often
packed with small details to bring everything together; it
is key to not miss anything.
- Hand-held camera shots during build-ups in Crime
Drama storylines are used effectively to enhance the
tension and stress the audience are feeling through the
screen. Perhaps having Chris run to a location being
filmed by a hand-held camera will be a good way to
represent his lack of stability within the situation at
hand.
In my Romance:
- The use of switching back and forth between scenes,
having two different stories merged together. I can
complete this easily as I need to show both Gerald and
Grace’s days when they are apart from each other and it

How did processing the results of your
research help you to understand it
thoroughly?
Are you on track for the week?
What work needs to be completed in
your own time?
Week 5
What did you learn from your planning?
How will this be useful as your
production process continues?
What issues did you encounter whilst
planning and how did you overcome
them?
would make most sense to switch back and forth rather
than show a whole one then the other.
- Due to my Romance having a sad undertone during a lot
of it, high camera angles are also useful in this genre.
The high camera angles in this genre will form the idea
that the characters are hopeless, giving up – they will be
used for sadness rather than fear.
Looking back through the research I have done this week in
order to write this allowed me to see all of the repetition between
each of the productions I analysed, reasoning’s for music,
location, and camera angles.
Yes
I have analysed a short film example in my own time.
This week was spent planning your productions
In both productions;
- The location information
- Props needed
- The exact order of events in the productions
- Exact shot types used
Having everything completely planned to the last detail makes
my filming stages as slick as possible, I won’t have to think
ahead with what I am doing because I have everything already
written down.
Having every prop noted ensures that I don’t forget anything
before going out to film, forgetting something and having to go
back home to get the prop would be a massive waste of time.
Having a good guideline of how each shot will be set-up is a
huge time saver when it comes down to filming. Also, not only
would deciding shot types whilst filming take up a great amount
of time but I would likely come up with bad shots. It would be
hard to think every possibility through being put on the spot like
that. I can still slightly differ away from a few shots on my
storyboard if I believe on the day something different will look
better.
I found coming up with tasks that my actor could actually
complete as Chris was hard. Creating immoral and embarrassing
tasks that can be staged rather than actually completing takes a
lot of thought. Also, not only were they hard to stage but also
great consideration had to go into making sure the tasks were
appropriate. As much as my audience’s age range wasn’t
restricting, there is still boundaries with what should be shown.
In order to overcome this struggle I just had to use up a lot of
time on this planning stage.
How much work did you complete
outside of the lessons?
Are you ready to film next week and if
not, what do you need to complete to be
ready?
Are your storyboards up to standard?
Week 6
How did you find the filming process?
Did you encounter any problems during
filming? How did you overcome them?
After reviewing footage, what do you
feel you need to reshoot?
What new techniques from your previous
units have you tried to use?
Are the locations you filmed at suitable
to your production?
Are you keeping up with your
production schedule?
What footage still needs capturing?
During my free time sat at home, or commuting somewhere, etc,
I brainstormed task ideas for Chris.
I need to finish storyboarding my short film.
My music video storyboarding is to a great standard; I have taken
a lot of time to go in lots of depth. The beginning of my short
film storyboarding is going well however is not completed.
This week was spent filming
I had my storyboarding and shooting script very detailed and so
this made my life much easier whilst filming.
The only part that I had not thought about during the planning
stages was the filming of my actors on their way to work. I didn’t
consider how I could not film them at the same time. How I
overcame this was I decided a hallway point for my parents to
park up and for me to swap cars and continue the footage.
I found that as the sun sets a lot earlier, I struggled with having
enough daylight hours when filming. As I was filming with my
parents they were happy to film with me whenever they were
free so this wasn’t too much of a problem but rather an
inconvenience. Also, when filming Grace’s day at work I found
it difficult to set up my tripod in the places I had originally
planned to. I managed it eventually however it took a bit of
moving stuff on the floor and having my tripod legs in awkward
positions where I had to support them. I believe the outcome was
worth it.
None. To ensure this was the case, I checked over my footage
straight after filming whilst still at said location. This meant that
if there was a clip I didn’t like I could re-film it there and then
rather than having to go back again another day. I feel this was
very time efficient, having to travel to a location for just one or
two short clips would be a waste of time due to the travel time to
get there that I wouldn’t have been getting on with anything.
I planned to use dolly zooms on various occasions throughout my
short film – for example, when Chris figures out the riddle and
therefore cracks the code to the suitcase.
The locations I chose are suitable. All of the locations I filmed at
where what I wanted to make them out to be, thus, no changes
had to be made to ‘stage’ my music video, the locations were
authentic.
Yes.
Gerald’s day at work. This does not include him driving to work,

Week 7
How did you find the filming process?
Did you encounter any problems during
filming? How did you overcome them?
After reviewing footage, are you happy
with what you have captured?
Have the techniques you planned on
using turned out well?
Week 8
How are you finding the editing process
this week?
Have you encountered any problems
whilst editing? How did you overcome
them?
Are there any new techniques you are
trying to use during this editing process?
I filmed that this week.
This week was spent filming
I found the filming process much more efficient than last week. I
found that I didn’t need to alter my storyboarding and so setting
up my camera and taking the shots was very simple. Due to
filming outside, I was lucky with the weather being fine when I
planned to film.
I found it challenging to hide that the driveway Gerald was
working in was the same as the driveway him and Grace left to
go to work in. I did not attempt to hide it in Gerald’s working
shots but rather when he was driving out of the driveway. This is
because there was less time that it needed to be hidden for and
therefore it was more doable.
What I stated in this box in week 6 applies here.
I believe the mirrored mid-shot was an effective contrast to
filming normal mid-shot footage. Also, it made the footage more
realistic as you could see my actors looking in the mirror at
themselves as most people do when brushing their teeth in the
morning.
Having both of them visibly turn up their radios in a close-up
shot added depth to their connection – they’re linked even when
they’re not together.
This week was spent editing
I found the editing process simple this week as I just imported
the clips into premiere pro and cut them in time to the music
according to how I wrote my shooting script.
Not as of yet.
I have filmed both Gerald and Grace turning their radios up on
the same channel whilst on their way to work. I plan to edit it so
that the song gets louder at the same time as they turn the radios
up.
When the couples are completing their work and we see the
visual progress I would like to transition between the short clips.
I believe this would look good by having the end of one clip and
the start of another overlapped and the clip on top (the end clip)

Are you on track with all of your work?
What work needs to be completed
outside of lessons?
Week 9
How did you finding the editing process?
Have you encountered any problems
whilst editing? How did you overcome
them?
Are you happy with the outcome of your
productions? Why?
fading out to reveal the other.
Throughout the research stages of this project I came across a lot
of really successful use of colour grading in order to set the scene
and provoke emotion in various music videos and short films. I
decided for my music video that I would use colour grading as a
means to show the difference between the environment with and
without the couple being together. I plan to do this using lumetri
colour curves.
Yes.
None.
This week was spent editing
Most of the new effects that I trialled were very successful and I
am very pleased.
In order to create the effect of both characters turning up ‘Sit
Down’ on their radios I used audio gain. I split up the clips where
Gerald and Grace were turning the radios up into short sections
and then edited the audio gain gradually. This ensured that the
transition was smooth, making it look genuine rather than edited.
Using lumetri colour curves I gave the scenes with Gerald in the
kitchen making dinner blue colour grading. This makes the scene
look cold, he is lacking the person that brings him warmth and
joy. Also using lumetri colour curves, I changed the kitchen
scene when Grace entered to having a pink/ red colour grading.
Thus now symbolising the warmth coming back into his life,
love, and happiness. In order to transition these smoothly, I used
a cross dissolve effect which I have not used before. I really like
the way all of these effects work together to emphasise the
change in tone.
When attempting to transition the clips when the couple are
making good progress in their work I used the fading out of
opacity. The actual transition itself looked good and smooth –
more so than if I was to have used a pre-made cross dissolve
effect. The downside was that this effect ruined the quality of the
footage. I decided it wasn’t worth having the scenes so blurry
just to have this effect. I believe it still looks perfectly good
without.
Due to how I wrote the shooting script really well in my
planning, the amount of time each scene took up in relation to the
music looks really professional. I had enough footage and
storyline to fill all of the time throughout the song with clips that
added to the music video rather than clips that were just there –
everything pulled the story together. Also, I believe my editing
was professional, alike the purposeful clips, each effect I added,
added something to the music video rather than being for the

How did your productions meet your
target audience?
What aspects of your productions could
have been better targeted to your
audience?
How do you feel your work compares to
existing professional productions?
Are there any areas where your
production falls short? How would you
improve it next time?
What have you learnt about yourself to
take into the Final Major Project? What
do you personally need to improve on?
sake of it.
I have produced the music video in a way that the productions
deeper meaning shines through well, reminding others to
appreciate the people in their lives who make things bearable.
Overall, I am very pleased with my production.
The storyline to my music video was very relatable for my target
audience. This therefore made it engaging from the get-go. To
attract my target audience, with editing less is more – including
too many effects makes them lose their effect. Also, over-editing
would be overwhelming and therefore easy to distract away from
the storyline. I believe I edited the right amount to intrigue and
keep things exciting for my audience whilst not bombarding
them.
In order to really impact my target audience more I could have
included more emotion from my characters. Not only when they
were going through something but also just at work in general. I
was cautious to not go overboard with the emotions at work as I
felt this could make the music video lose its seriousness; I
believe I could have gone a bit further now though. The more of
a struggle to get through the day, the more when they get home
and are happy again is pleasing to the audience.
In comparison to the productions that I analysed in my research I
believe I achieved some of the inspiration I received from them
but upon reflection there are a few things I could have added. For
example, in the music video ‘Cocoon’ by Catfish and the
Bottlemen they included going back and forth between two
different scenes in slow motion. I went back and forth between
Gerald and Grace however I didn’t include it in slow motion.
Driving scenes could have looked good in slow motion in my
production.
I believe the locations for my production could have been better
for my music video. I am shielding my Nan due to COVID-19
and so the only accessible indoor areas in which to film were my
house and my Nan’s. The locations worked perfectly fine
however I know that there are better out there. Filming in a larger
office building would’ve made Grace’s job come across as duller
because the audience would have been able to see rows upon
rows of desks where they would have presumed the workers
were doing the exact same tasks. This makes the job come across
as a lot more repetitive. Also, due to the overlap in location use,
when Gerald is pulling out of the driveway on his way to work it
is visible that it is the same driveway he is working in later on in
the music video. It is subtle but still if avoided, it would’ve added
just that extra bit of professionalism to my production.
I have learnt that my editing skills with more and more practice
are improving dramatically. I shall be practicing more in my free
time leading up to the final major project in order to find more
new effect ideas like I found during this project. Editing is one of
my greatest skills.
I need to improve on making sure I exhaust camera angles and
shot types. I believe using more variety, even if it is just using a
 shot type once or twice, my skills are showcased as much as
possible.

Are you on track with all of your work? Yes

What work needs to be completed None.

outside of lessons?