Max Canning
Unit 1 FMP
Evaluation -
AO1 - Use research to inform a specialist investigation in a visual arts area, considering purpose and audience:
> I chose to base my documentary on the evolution of football through time as it is something that is not only in my interest, but also a frequently asked question by football fans all over the world. I have used documentary conventions, such as interview style B-roll and a mix of a poetic and expository style documentary that is both informative and emotional. The purpose of this documentary was to show my target audience, of every football fan around the world, any age, some personal and engaging accounts of playing grass roots football from 20 years ago, 50 years ago, and the present day. Some of the skills I aspired to develop during the filming and editing process, were transitions on premier pro with text, videos and audios whilst also learning how to film a professional looking raw documentary interview.
AO2 - Explore and use materials and media in the generation of ideas and outcomes:
> Many previously researched documentaries, tutorials and ideas have influenced the way I filmed and produced my doc. I would say the main piece that I followed was a BBC Sports documentary on Deese Kasinga's story, a production about a young footballer who had a promising future in professional football, but was set back significantly by injuries and ended a decorated academy with no senior team. Another piece that helped me generate new ideas for my doc, was the 'toast' documentary produced by Paul E.T. where he shows how to maintain entertainment and quality when documenting even just a piece of toast. What made the BBC Sports documentary so appealing to me was its relation to football, but also its quick editing when cutting from B-roll to animation and interviews. This quick style of editing keeps the whole piece of film exciting and unpredictable which I noticed held my attention for longer periods of time.
AO3 - Select and use techniques and processes to resolve creative problems and generate outcomes:
> My Action research went really well and I tested every piece of equipment I had hoped to in order to narrow down which ones I should use for my doc. The most effective piece of action research I did turned out to be the lighting. Not only testing it in the dark, adjusting the warmth, brightness and angles, but also testing it with any natural or overhead light that would affect the main set one. This proved to be my most useful research, especially after the Damien Cooper video on 3 point lighting where he explained the 3 step rule which I implemented into my site when filming. This research helped to increase the quality of the final interview and make it look more professional, mainly due to the lighting being complimentary of the subject's complexion and creating a triangle just under their left eye. The process of testing and researching new techniques and ideas has significantly fast tracked my development of documentary filming as it has given me concrete plans of how to set up or prepare before executing a new technique. Without this preparation, many of these techniques would have failed or proved to be useless for my final cut as I would struggle to know when and where to implement this idea/technique in order to grasp the best from it.
AO4 - Generate and communicate ideas and concepts supported by findings from research:
> Research has played a large part in my ability to generate numerous different ideas that expand on the versatility of my documentary. For example, my research into previous successful football documentaries helped me to come up with new ways to introduce new subjects throughout my project, they helped me to come up with the idea of adding a snippet of audio from one's interview before they're introduced to gradually convey to the audience that a new account is next. I was working alone and so didn't have any team/group discussions throughout the planning and filming process, however I did receive some feedback from both my teacher and peers that helped to refine my ideas and cut things that made my piece too cramped or over-edited.
AO5 - Using ongoing evaluation to inform and progress on own work:
> Reflecting and evaluating each piece of work, not just within my FMP but also throughout other projects has had a huge impact on my ability to improve. To be specific, when I make a mistake, or miss out a crucial step in any process of filming, the identification of this through evaluation allows me to ensure I won't repeat it. For instance, with my mock documentary, 'Making the Perfect...', I only prepared for the shoot with 2 pieces of pre-production which lead to much less interview recordings than I needed, meaning I had to improvise when editing and add a lot more B-roll than I wanted. However, after reflection and evaluation of this, I haven't made the same mistake since and prepared for my FMP with 5 pieces of pre-production, ultimately leading to plenty of interview footage allowing me to be much more flexible with my editing and use of B-roll.
AO6 - Refine, select, and present ideas and concepts, considering purpose and audience:
> The reason I chose to football as the concept/subject of my project was solely because of my love and knowledge of it. I knew from the beginning that I would have the opportunity to interview a wide range of people and be in positions to film large amounts of B-roll, all of these components led to my decision of an evolution based football documentary. The purpose is to answer a question that vast amounts of my audience (football/sports fans) have wanted the answer to... How has football changed over time? My aims and objectives consisted of creating a personal yet informative documentation of footballing experiences with a large amount of representative and entertaining B-roll to drop in-and-out throughout, whilst also meeting specific aims of setting up and shooting a professional, high-budget-looking interview. In regards to my progress against these targets, I believe I have been highly effective in reflecting on my developing work due to the outcome of the entire production.
