DESCRIPTION

This is what the whole year has been leading up to. Our Final Major Project! This is what all of my class has been working towards since the beginning of our level 3 course.

On the 9th of March 2021 our class was given our first insight into our FMP. The task that was given to us was the challenge of creating our own 10-15 minute documentary on a topic of our very own choice!

First off I would like to say that this project was very engaging for me as being able to create my very own documentary allows me the creative freedom I desire. Being able to form my own style of education, information and entertainment I felt this project was perfect for me to showcase the skills I had picked up from our level 3 course as well as the previous level 2 course!

From the off, I knew what type documentary I wanted to make. It only took me a few days to figure out what style I was going for and that's when I decided on creating a "Mental Health" documentary in the style of a participatory type documentaries such as "Super Size Me" and some of the Louis Theroux short documentaries I had seen. 

The Idea of a mental health documentary really connected with me on a personal and emotional level as the previous year was filled with strange and sad events in not just my life but many many lives around the world... I felt obligated to make this documentary to not just help others but to also help myself.

Overall, This documentary is extremely important to me not just because it is my FMP for my course but also because it allows me to express myself in a way that I feel comfortable, After filming my footage and editing it together that's when I knew I didn't want to make one short documentary! I wanted to make 2... So that's when I came up with the idea of creating the short 20 minute documentary to hand in as my FMP but to also create a "Directors cut" type documentary where it includes all the footage that was too long to include in the original one. The second one will be roughly 45-50 minutes! 

FIRST STEP

The very first step of this project was coming up with a primary and secondary idea for our documentaries...

I had spent a good few days thinking of what I want to give to the audience and it then hit me, I needed a topic that is original, personal to me and that would connect with the audience. Thats when I decided to make my documentary on mental health. After the hectic year of 2020 with all of the "Covid-19" pandemic and the UK lockdowns, I felt this topic was very relevant not just to me but the whole of the UK. There was no other documentary I wanted to make.

But obviously things can go wrong if not prepared properly therefore I had to make a secondary idea just incase anything went wrong with creating the mental health documentary so my secondary idea was a Chelsea football club documentary but I'll be honest... All my attention was on my primary idea. 

I have created a "MindMup" and Mood board for both ideas! Check them out on the HOME PAGE.

SECOND STEP

The lengthy step two was all about doing research on documentaries, the conventions and techniques of documentaries and all the lovely writing that comes with it.

Both our teachers; Sam and Paul did an absolutely amazing job of teaching us both from home and in class. They taught us the technicalities and conventions of great documentary filmmaking and showed us different examples of documentaries. They also gave us some recap lessons on topics like camera lenses as well as giving us brand new lessons to do with archive footage and other documentary filmmaking techniques like the speciality of interviews.

This leads us into our main chunk of research which was doing our own documentary analysis. As a class we was asked to analysis 2 documentaries each however I enjoyed this part of the FMP so much that I decided to do 2 documentaries of my own choice and I did an extra 3rd one that my teacher Sam recommended to us which was the entertaining yet quite disgusting 'Super Size Me"! Check out my 3 documentary analysis on the HOME PAGE!

ALSO check out the WHOLE research page to view tasks such as focus groups and to see other research I done.

STEP 2.5/3

Within the span of about 2-3 weeks our class was bombarded with multiple tasks to complete that relate to helping us widen our knowledge of documentaries! Check out the "CLASS TASKS" page to view a range of different tasks that I completed during this FMP.

On the Class tasks page you will see Archive footage tasks, Camera lens knowledge and a huge range of tasks relevant to our FMP. 

STEP 3

Now comes the time for the very important "PITCH". In basic terms a Pitch is a way of getting your ideas across to your teachers and peers. I had about 2 weeks to create a impactful and informative pitch on my topic! I feel this stage went incredibly well but that doesn't mean there was no room for improvement.

My Pitch presentation video is Linked below on this page!

STEP 4

Now we move onto the very familiar "PRE-PRODUCTION", This includes doing paperwork such as a location recce and other essential paperwork to ensure filming goes ahead smoothly without any setbacks.

STEP 5

Filming all the footage I need to create my documentary. This step was quite tedious due to some slight problems that rose while filming, Check out the "PRODUCTION PROCESS" page to view some videos I made explaining this!

STEP 6

POST-PRODUCTION! This calls for using all the editing skills I have acquired from all of my previous projects to make the most entertaining watch I can possibly make.

PITCH PRESENTATION- 19/04/21

GOLD LINK- 

The Gold Link is my final edit of my powerpoint and the one that you can see and read in the video located above! I used this version instead because the points are a-lot more straight forward and easy to understand when compared to the other presentation!

BLACK LINK- 

The Black Link will take you too my first draft of my powerpoint presentation that I decided not to use in the end as I felt it did not match the needs that a good pitch has to have to be successful 

What Went Well About My Pitch?

To begin I feel my Pitch was great at getting my ideas across and the use of the presentation just helped me as little pointers to point me in the direction of what I wanted to talk about.

My pitch slideshow was a massive help not only by helping me with some points I wanted to talk about but also by giving off the general vibe and tone of my idea. 

Another thing that went well was my idea actually getting green-lighted for the go-ahead and not resulting in having to use my second idea... In the video and presentation you see I'm not overly keen on doing my second idea (Chelsea Documentary) and overall Im just so proud, happy and relived that my idea has been recognised as a good one.

Paul (My media Lecturer) was pleased with my pitch and gave it the go ahead.

What Can I Improve On?

If I could go back and redo my pitch I would 100% spend more time in creating a script instead of going off the top of my head.

I feel in the video I kind of stumble on my words and hesitate while speaking so If I had to improve on my pitch presentation I would write a script instead of going off by heart.

FEELINGS

When our FMP was first announced to the class, its like I was washed over by a wave of emotions as I almost instantaneously knew what I wanted to make and I knew the emotions that in doing so would bring. 

I started the FMP kind of nervous but exited and eager at the same time but as time went on and I started working through all the stages I really began to enjoy it much much more than I thought I would...  Now I'm writing up my reflection and evaluation, I feel really elevated and proud of myself for creating this documentary that I hope can help loads of people who had was in the same boat as me last year!

This project unlike the "Film Festival" was a lot more interactive with the class as at this point in 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic began to slow down and I was more on campus this time round and this really made me happy and gave me a huge motivation boost because personally I work well when I'm face to face with my teachers and peers. Whereas in the last project I wrote in my reflection how the COVID-19 pandemic really put a huge block in the way of me achieving the best grade I could, but this project is different... I like to say this project I'm back to my best motivation wise, work ethic wise and just in a generally better mood and had a boost in confidence in my own ability.

Working through all of the stages before the production stage was really fun and had me enjoying the work we was doing such as analysing documentaries and doing class work like learning about censorship and how stock and archive footage is used! this all had me very very exited to start filming.

However.

There was one scene that was stood in my way that I was extremely nervous and worried for... My interview. Like I mentioned previously, I was aiming to create a PARTICIPATORY style documentary and this means myself as the filmmaker was going to feature within my own documentary! I originally thought this was a great and innovative idea which it was and still is but the thought of my interview terrified me. If you know me personally then you know I'm a very confident person in and around the camera but I knew this scene would mess me up emotionally.

And that's exactly what happened.

Having to openly talk about my life struggles and my mental health just really hit me like a train and as you can see from my interview, I burst into tears while talking about my family and my grandad so this project has quite literally been an emotional roller-coaster.

This project has been riddled with huge emotional highlights for example; the rush of motivation when realising what I wanted to create, one of the most emotionally charged speeches I have done when filming and then the elevation and pride when finally completing it! This project tested me as a character and I'm thankful for the opportunity to talk about what others may shy away from.

The man you see above is my grandad, he is the reason for me creating this documentary and he was the one who gave me the courage and motivation to finish it. 

I miss him more and more each day but I know he is watching and he would of been proud to see what I'm doing to honour him best I can.

This one image sums up my whole feelings towards the project, It gives me motivation and happiness to see him but it breaks me in half to remember he isn't here with me anymore. I love you grandad, you influenced my whole documentary and I cant thankyou enough for it.

EVALUATION

What Went Well?

I feel that this project was quite easy in the sense of not giving me loads and loads of set backs and instead treated me to helping me gain knowledge and experience so there are quite a few things I want to mention in this section!

1) The documentary analysis + Class tasks

This was part of the research stage which kind of fades in and out of the class tasks section, Doing these multiple analysis really helped me when it comes to ideas and gaining knowledge that I knew would be extremely useful when coming to making my own documentary as well as being really fun to do! The class tasks section includes many little tasks that our class was set such as doing focus groups to get research and information; doing short tutorials on Adobe software to help us gain confidence working on our editing and other useful interactive tasks that overall really helped form the shape of my own documentary.

2) Mentality + final outcome

Doing this documentary really helped me out mentally and really improved my work ethic. I consider this to be something that went well as this will help me in future for future projects as well as helping me complete this one to the best of my ability! I know myself this has helped me mentally as I decided to go up and above the in the level of work that I did compared to previous projects by instead of doing 2 documentary analysis I actually did 3 and instead of doing one 20 min documentary I decided to do 2 documentaries, one that's 20 mins and one that's roughly 45-50 mins... I do not expect to get any extra marks or a higher grade for this, I'm purely doing it on my own accord because this topic and this FMP really connected with me.

What Didn't Go So Well?

For me there is 1 clear winner of this section with a close runners up but fortunately like I said previously apart from a few minor problems everything went smoothly.

Runners up- Pitch presentation

As you can read above on this page, my pitch went alright and was greenlit by my teachers but I still feel even after the project that my pitch wasn't amazing and could of used some more tweaks, obviously I'm grateful that my first idea went along as planned but it wouldn't of hurt to make my pitch better by making a better script and to get my ideas across better.

Drum roll... the clear winner of the things that didn't go well was actually the filming process.

 Yes I managed to get loads and loads of great quality footage but what happened while filming cannot be ignored. The camera that I was using the record my own interview kept cutting out and being overloaded with footage so the SD card became full I believe a whopping 3 times! This was quite a big deal as I had to interrupt my interview 3 times just to extract the footage from the SD card, swipe the card and then start filming so in this situation it didn't go as smoothly and as efficiently as I had hoped but we got there in the end and I'm pleased with the amount of footage I recorded.

GOOD & BAD Experiences

GOOD-

I really want to say that the whole entire FMP process was a good experience for me, It tested my endurance, confidence and knowledge. It helped me further my conventions and technicalities and allowed me to apply them into my own documentary. And generally the whole time we was focused on this project was fun, interesting and really engaging for me personally. 

I also have to mention the greatness and relief of actually being back in college to do my project, It was extremely motivating being able to speak 1 to 1 with my teachers and show them how I was getting on!

BAD-

I would say my interview was more an emotionally charged experience that led me to cry more than being a "bad" experience. But if I had to say a bad experience I had while the FMP was going on I would probably narrow it down to 1 thing and that would actually be the planning that I did when it came to filming... I will admit openly that I did not plan the day of recording the best I could of and this obviously led to some problems when filming such as not having enough room on the SD card and this just meant quite a messy and rough filming day.

A Difficult Situation And How I Resolved It.

One of the difficult situations I experienced was trying to arrange an "Expert" interview to include within my documentary.

Within every great documentary; there is at least one interview with an expert in the field of the topic that the documentary is on, For example in the Super Size Me documentary, they included interviews with health specialist who consults the filmmaker on his journey and it is a great and insightful way to inform the audience so I knew I wanted to do the same with my documentary...

So I was thinking of who would be a good "Expert" to interview in the mental health side of things and who could bring great info and footage to enhance the audiences experience so that's when I decided on Kelly!

Kelly is a student support worker at Bracknell & Wokingham College and I knew she would be perfect for this interview as she spends her time working with students and helping students going through tough times so it was a no brainer! I wanted her in my documentary!

I ran into her one day and asked her if she would be happy to star in my documentary and she said yes! she just needed some time to sort out her timetable to allow her to allocate time to film with me, I gave her some questions that I would be asking her too.

fast forward a week and I still hadn't heard back from here so there was this little panic session behind the scenes where I was scrambling to find her email and ask her what was going on but we eventually decided on the filming time would be Friday the 21st of May 2021 at 1:25pm.

So the key points to take from this section is that even when you worry and panic about time constraints which like I was doing, just keep a cool head and keep an eye on your emails and eventually everything will fall into place.

ANALYSIS

Why Did Things go Right For Me?

Personally I fully believe that the completion of my documentary was all down to me as a person and a worker! Without my hard work, dedication and passion for the topic, I don't think I would be in the situation I am in now. 

Throughout the whole duration of the project I stayed engaged and eager to obtain new skills and to be able to utilise the skills in my own way, so this project was great for me by allowing my creative freedom while also educating me about documentaries and filmmaking techniques. 

Everything about the FMP was exiting to me, I was filled with pure passion when it came to making my documentary and that's why I feel the documentary came out as good as it did.

Why Did Some Things Go Wrong? 

I feel that the reason a few smaller things went wrong was due to me not being efficient enough with my planning and kind of "Winging" how smoothly filming will go.

This did lead to a few problems when it came to my production schedule but I managed to keep on top of my work and get everything done just in time. 

Could Any Of My Teachers Do Anything To Help?

To put it simply, My teachers did help... A lot!

If it wasn't for my teachers constantly checking up on me and giving me motivation and the drive to finish my project I don't think it would of come out as great as it did. 

I also have to mention their great lesson deliveries that helped me further my knowledge of not just conventions used in documentaries but also conventions and techniques used in all of media.

Comparing My Knowledge Before & After This Project

Before this project had begun, I knew very little about how documentary filmmaking was done but compared to know, my knowledge really has grew and I'm thankful and proud that now I can apply my new found knowledge into my own work!

CONCLUSION

What Can I Now Do Better?

This FMP has really benefited me in a multitude of ways. After finishing my editing and post production stage I then realised that this project played a ginormous role in giving me experience on working mainly by myself... This project gave me confidence and the  independence that I can very proudly say I will take into every single project that will be coming up in my last year of media studies!

I feel that overall I can now work better on my own, I have gained more confidence when working with editing and all phases of post production, and I cant forget the many lessons my teachers had delivered to us that only helped improve my knowledge and confidence.

What Skills Could I Improve On?

I'm 100% sure that I have already mentioned the struggle I had trying to film after my planning didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped.

But to put it simply, this project really tested my time management, structure of filming and overall planning to the absolute limit! So therefore I believe that the main skills I could improve on for my next project or if I was to do this project again would defiantly be my production schedule and planning.

What Have I Learned From This Project?

Every single step to completion in this project had a huge impact on me as a learner. Like I had also mentioned earlier, this documentary filmmaking FMP really helped improve my work ethic, confidence, independence and just overall work in general as the thought of a mental health documentary really drove me forward and gave me the motivation to complete it the best I possibly could.

This project has just taught me how to be an independent and yet confident worker which is what I had hoped to achieve from this project.

ACTION PLAN

Where Can I use My New Experience?/ How Can I Use My New Knowledge & Techniques That I've Picked Up?

After this project, I will never look at any documentary or interview the same way as I did before I started this FMP. I know that I will be able to use my new found knowledge and experience with documentary filmmaking subconsciously while watching any documentary and will be able to point out specific moments and techniques that I had learned about throughout the duration of this project. I will also be able to keep this knowledge locked up and ready for whenever my next project is whatever it may be.  

I doubt I will be using my new found knowledge of documentary filmmaking every day for the rest of my life but I know that 100% this FMP has impacted the way I view documentaries and interviews so I'm thankful for how this project has informed and educated me.

If This Project Was To Happen Again; What Would I do Differently?

To begin, If this project was to be re-done by my class I instantly know the variables I would change!

1- I would change the documentary analysis page and change up the documentaries I watched in order to do research!

2- I would also change the topic of my chosen documentary and most likely change to my second choice of the first time so instead of having mental health first and Chelsea second; I would do the Chelsea documentary instead.

Obviously changing the topic if my chosen documentary would completely flip the tone and overall style of my FMP!

REFLECTION

FINISHING STATEMENT

As our project draws to a close, I have to state the amount of fun and intrigue I experienced while working on this project, I'm extremely proud of my final product and I'm proud of my classmates for joining me on this roller-coaster ride of a year and I'm looking forward to see the reactions of my teachers, peers, family, friends and the general public when they see how much effort and time I've put into this project and hopefully my documentary gets the respect it deserves...

Making a documentary that hits so close to home with me on a personal level made me really invest myself and majority of my time to making this project worth it.

Like I always say... I'm very excited to see what future projects hold in store of me and I'm eager to get the next one started!

Thankyou,

Zachary Chevasco.