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Week Two
In the second week of my Final Major Project, I started to write a Process Report explaining the stages of a Final Major Project when specialising in my chosen areas, Cinematography and Colour Grading. I spoke about ways to achieve the best possible results in your Final Major Project, whilst making it complex for myself.
Action Plan Follow-Up
At the end of Week 1, I stated that I needed to improve on the consistency of my upcoming weeks, especially within the Reports. So, at the start of this week when we were set the task of the Process Report I made a document stating all the sections I would like to talk about and what day I was completing each one. Having a dedicated plan with set times could ensure I stay on track, and this is exactly what it did. I was really successful with the consistency of the Research Report, I didn’t skip ahead of any sections as I knew what days I had to complete each and I was super happy with the consistent progress I made.
Feelings
At the beginning of this week, I became stressed very quickly. I had lost WiFi connection in my house which led to me panicking about how I was going to complete the work or at least not fall behind, as one of my targets from last week was to stay consistent. However, I resolved this quite quickly with the use of Problem Solving and found my grandmas house had a stable internet connection to complete the work. After all the WiFi issues, I was really proud with how the Process Report was coming a long as I had stayed much more consistent throughout.
Evaluation
The first area of my Process Report which I believe went well was what I learnt from my Primary Research. My Process Report last year featured absolutely no Primary Research whatsoever which made it hard to achieve the highest possible grade with the variety of research. I found out so much more information from the people who had experienced the questions I’m asking them first-hand, compared to second-hand sources.
Another element of the Process Report that I found to have been really successful, and evidently helpful to me, was learning about Shotdeck. As someone who specialises in Cinematography, Shotdeck is the most effective way I found to find inspiration as a suggestion from my tutor, Bill Saunders. I always found the hardest part of starting a film project was finding that initial inspiration, the foundation that puts you in the right direction and as someone who specifically cares mostly about the ‘Look’ of a film, Shotdeck has already opened up many potential possibilities for the Cinematic Style I am going for.
Throughout the Process Report, I did a great job at linking the different stages together. I stated that in the Planning ‘Pre-production planning is going to be essential when it comes to Production days, as you will have a sustainable plan of what you want to film and how to execute it successfully.’ I knew if I didn’t successfully plan, the production period would only go wrong and therefore, waste much unnecessary time.
An element of the Process Research Report that I feel could have had improvements on this week, were the variety of topics that I had acquired Primary Research for so far. The only stage of a Final Major Project that I had Primary Research for was Production. I knew Production was key as I am an individual who specialises in Cinematography however, my FMP still consists of every other stage, so I need to gather consistent Primary Research for every stage of a Final Major Project.
The second element of my Process Research Report that could do with improving is finding a wider range of sources throughout. The UAL Grading Criteria Matrix states that to achieve a distinction you need to be using an ‘investigation of a range of relevant sources’. So to ensure I can achieve the highest grade possible, I’m going to look into Journals and Books to include a wider range of sources.
Conclusion and Targets
To conclude the second week of my FMP, I was really proud with the progress I have made to the Process Research Report. I am happy that I was able to follow the target I set myself from last week, as it made a clear positive difference to the work I’m producing.
Some targets I would like to set myself to complete next week are firstly, to do with the Primary Research in my Process Report. By the end of next week, I would like to have found much more Research Report but most importantly about all the different stages of a Final Major Project instead of just Production alone.
Lastly, by the end of next week I am going to set myself the target of finding a wider range of secondary research going back on the work I have completed already, and for the remainder that I have yet to complete, to ensure I can achieve the highest grade possible.
Problem Solving
As I began my Similar Narrative stage, the WiFi dropped out in my house. This became an issue as I also had run out of my monthly quota on data so I was unable to access the internet. Because of this, I couldn’t watch any films or media to analyse for the Similar Narratives stage. I didn't want to fall behind as this project practically determines my future when it comes to University, I need a merit so falling behind would not be ideal.
To resolve this issue and not fall behind, I drove to my grandma's house to complete the work as she had a stable internet connection. My grandma was perfectly happy with this as she enjoyed my company and I hadn't seen her in a while. Additionally, it was a chill and calm environment to work in which was useful for me, as I normally find it hard to work in college. So I managed to get a lot of work done. To ensure this problem does not occur again, I will make sure I have a backup source of WiFi such as a temporary box or data on my iPhone, if not I should always have a backup house with WiFi to go to, to complete necessary work.
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