2. What was the theme of your project and
what attracted you to it?
The main theme of my project was documenting my mental health and how I cope with it, which is going to
the gym. What attracted me to this theme was previous work that I had done throughout my second year,
which was a factual project I based around my friends going to the gym and how it affects them physically and
mentally. This inspired me to make a piece about myself as I enjoy going to the gym as it Is one of my hobbies
and it helps me to deal and cope with my mental health as it has been very bad recently throughout my last
year at college. I also watched other people’s work that was related to the gym which really helped to inspire
me into doing my project about the gym and how it can improve your physical and mental wellbeing. I also
watched a previous student's piece of work which was based around how they do weightlift and how they
were trying to get their physical appearance ready for when they start doing weightlifting competitions, this
attracted me to doing my project about the gym as I already have some existing knowledge from doing it for
my factual project, this student's piece of work really spoke to me as it was something I related to and
understood, which also gave me a few more ideas of what to do for my own project, like talking one on one
with the audience, and also showing some pieces of footage of me working out at the gym. From doing my
factual piece of work about the gym, I really enjoyed it, and it was my favourite project I had done throughout
the two years at college, and I wanted to expand on the factual piece I had already created while including a
topic that was related to me and what I have been through, which would make it easier for me to talk to my
audience, as I am opening up about my problems to them one on one.
3. What research did you undertake and how
did it help develop your project?
I have researched existing products such as previous students work that has been similar to the idea I had
wanted to create for my final piece. I also watched existing documents that have been shown on apps such as
Netflix, Disney+, etc. And YouTube videos that have the same themes as my project. I researched statistics
based around the themes I was using for my final piece such as statistics based around mental health
(depression, stress, anxiety, side effects, etc.), gym statistics (why people go, what they do, when they go, age
groups, etc.) I also researched my audience, such as the age group, how they would feel about the topic and
how it would be shown to them, and I did this by asking people that where my age, people who may be
interested in learning and knowing about these topics, etc. All this research helped me throughout my project
as it showed me successful pieces of work that I could look closely at and use similar ideas as inspiration
throughout, it also showed me the right topics to include and talk about throughout my piece of my work so
that my audience would understand and enjoy the project at the same time as it being educational and full of
knowledgeable facts.
4. How did you develop and improve your ideas
throughout the project?
I developed and improved my ideas throughout the project by constantly asking for feedback from my peers
and tutors, I also continued to look at previous work that was my own and the feedback I had received so that I
could improve my work by not making as many errors but positives in my work. I also looked at other existing
work of previous students who did projects similar to my own, this helped to give me some more stronger
ideas for my project and helped me to improve some existing ideas that I had thought of. I researched
techniques and skills that I could use while editing my footage for my final piece, this gave me a variety of
different techniques I hadn't used before, including b-roll over audio, filming my interviews with different
people and different locations, and using footage of me working out to develop the topics I was talking about
throughout the piece of work. I also will be creating trailers for the other interviewees speeches to show more
filming and editing techniques.
5. What was the outcome of the project/task?
I believe the outcome of my project was positive, I am happy with how it turned out even though it wasn’t
exact to the brief I had created for myself, it still used parts of my planning and research throughout the final
piece it was very clear what my idea was and what I wanted to create even if it wasn’t exact to the planning.
Overall, it was similar to how I wanted it to turn out. It included some techniques and skills that I had
researched previous to production this may have been ones that I had used in previous projects or some new
experimental skills and techniques that I wanted to incorporate. I feel like the project could have gone better; it
could have stuck more to the plan I had created for the production and could have used more factual pieces
and more footage of myself doing activities either at the gym or in general other than the main piece m=being
a personal interview.
6. How did you feel about the project before
you started?
I was excited about the project before it started as I knew I wanted it to expand on my factual project as that
was one of my most enjoyable projects that I had created. I had an idea of what I wanted my project to be
about before it had officially started, while creating my factual project I knew I wanted to expand on it by
creating one about myself weather that being a college project or just a personal piece of work that I was to
create in my spare time. This felt like I could expand on the feedback I had received off my factual piece of
work and make my FMP better while improving it to make it the best it could possibly be. Yet I was excited to
start the project, I did finds there were obstacles in the way such as what the title would be for my project, the
locations I would film and how I would piece the project together as a whole, but this is what I was to figure
out through each stage of my production. So as a whole I was excited as I already had a plan and knew exactly
what I wanted to create for my FMP, and I was able to expand on my ideas throughout each process.
7. What do you think about your project development and
how did it help you to refine your idea?
I felt like the project development helped me to refine my ideas a lot more and it was very helpful, I had an
initial idea from the start, and I was able to expand on it and make it better with the help of research, planning,
and other stages of the project. It helped to give me a clearer idea of what I wanted to create for my final
piece, and I it also helped to show me what I needed to collect to make my piece of work, such as research
footage locations, etc. the development stages were a starting point to getting my ideas to their full potential
and I believe that that was successful through each development stage in my project. I felt that the project
development really helped me when I was struggling for ideas during my research and planning stages, and it
helped me to come up with some really good Ideas that I incorporated in my final piece of work. I think the
project development really helped me throughout my project and helped me to produce some good ideas to
use throughout the project.
8. How did you feel when the project was
completed and why?
I was glad when the project was completed as I knew I had presented my work at the best potential it could
have been at, I showed a range of skills and techniques, not only for the final piece but also the stages leading
up to it. I felt like I had presented one of my best pieces of work and I showed that through each stage and
through the final product. Overall, I was glad that I was able to complete the project, it was difficult at stages,
but I was able to push past those difficult parts and present my work to a high standard and I am happy with
how it turned out as a whole. With this project I felt like I had shown that I was trying to create a factual
documentary styled piece of work that had been expanded off of my factual project. I feel like this was
successful which is another reason I was glad to have finished this project as I was happy with the outcome and
that it clearly showed that it was based off of my factual project.
9. What were the good points about the project/task and what did you
learn from them? [try and think of at least 3, more if possible]
I feel like a good point from my project was the techniques and skills that I had used for the final piece of work,
I feel like this was good as it used a range of new techniques and skills that I hadn’t used in previous projects
and I was trying something new, I did also use techniques and skills from existing pieces of work as I knew they
were successful when I had previously used them. Another thing that was good about my project was the
research I had gathered to create a stronger idea for my project and topics to include throughout it and also to
talk about to my audience I feel like this was good as it gave me more things to discuss to my audience and it
gave me more ideas of what to include throughout the project. I also feel like my overall idea was a good point
of my project, it was both factual and personal and included a range of shots, locations, fact and personal
points which made it easier to communicate with my audience. It was educational and enjoyable for my
audience and could relate to them in a range of ways.
10. What challenges did you face and how did you
respond to them? Try and think of at least 3...
One challenge I had was trying to develop my idea to make it more understandable and also to make it relate
more to my audience, my first idea was to just base my project around the gym, but that meant it would be
very similar to my factual project so I had to expand the idea to make it more personal but still be relatable,
that’s when I added to the idea making the project about both the gym ad mental health, they are very
relatable topics and they can also depend on each other quite a bit. Another difficulty I had faced was coming
up with a title for my final piece of work, I wanted it to be original, and include the gym and mental health to
show clearly what it is about. I responded to this challenge by making a list of things that relate to both the
gym and mental health and then I put the words together and chose which one would sound the best and
which would clearly show what my document would be about. I also found it challenging to come up with
locations to film at, obviously I was to use the gym as a location as that was one of the main themes of my
project, but it was hard to think of other locations to use when I was talking about mental health, that I why I
used a range of different locations to see which would fit best with the project as a whole.
11. How would you rate the final piece? [think along the lines of
poor, satisfactory, good or excellent...justify your rating]
I would rate my project as satisfactory as it didn’t go exactly to plan and wasn’t exactly how I
wanted to turn out, there were many challenges throughout the project which made it more
difficult to stick to my brief and create a piece of work that was excellent, with the time I had to
create my piece of work, I am happy with it, but I know it could have gone better if I didn’t have as
many difficulties in the way. It could have been worse but with the help I had ad the extra time I was
able to make it at a satisfactory level which I am glad that I was able to do, yet I would have like it to
be better as it was a personal piece of work, and I wanted people to understand it better to a level
where they would gain knowledge from it but enjoy it at the same time.
12. What is your opinion of your final piece? What
elements do you think are successful and why?
I think the overall appearance of my final piece of work was successful as it has some parts of what I
wanted it to look like included in my project. I think my final piece as a whole is good, yet it could be
better If I had extra time to expand more on my written work and final piece. I think the overall idea
of my project was good even though I didn’t fully stick to it, I would have liked to have gone along
the lines of my idea as I believe it would have been a more successful piece of work to what I have
created. I believe that my project could have gone better, but with the time and resources I had I am
happy with how it turned out.
13. How did you design appeal to your target
audience?
My design appeal was targeted towards young adults, and I believe that it was successful as I used
upbeat music, bright colour's, it wasn’t a normal documentary, it spoke more towards the audience
and communicated with them to make them feel more involved and also to make them feel like I
was talking directly at them. It used quick shots throughout the piece of work and a range of b-roll
that was fun and creative. Young adults tend to like bright, upbeat and colourful things as it stands
out more and catches their eye more to any other age group, that is why I believe my design
appealed to my audience very well as it was made just for that age range.
14. In what ways was the overall project a
success?
The project was overall successful as it included pieces from the original idea I had created, it was
finished at a level that was satisfactory and was aimed well towards my target audience. It used the
original topics that I had thought of in my very first idea, and I expanded them topics through my
research and planning documents, this was to make them stronger and more detailed to give me
more options when filming footage for my final piece. It was clear that I was trying to communicate
with my audience with the way that a shot my footage and the way I spoke to the camera, I was
very direct towards the camera talking to it as if the audience was Infront of me, I was happy and
smiley as if I was having a conversation with my audience, trying to create a bond/connection with
them.
15. What elements did not go well and why?
My time management was not used well as I had to get extra time to finish my project, this led to
me having less time to create my final piece, and also to plan it out to be a high standard piece of
work. I was unable to stick to my own idea and brief and it didn’t end up turning out how I wanted it
to which only made it a satisfactory piece of work, as it could have been planned and presented
better. I struggled to plan my project as I was still unsure on how to present my piece of work at a
high standard while it sticking to the brief I had created for myself. I also struggled to hand my work
in on time and also to complete it on time which led to me having more to do towards the end of
the project which meant I had to rush to finish the majority of my work, which is another reason
why my work was only satisfactory.
16. What would you do differently in the future
and why?
In the future I would stick to my idea and brief as it will be easier for myself to create my piece of
work. I would also make my time management better and stick to it as I struggled with it for my
FMP, and it made it a lot more difficult for me in the long run. I would do more research into my
topics so I know exactly what factual pieces I can talk about; I would also film more b-roll and other
footage (gym footage) so that I won't have to keep going back to film more as I didn’t have enough. I
would also do some surveys and gain research from my peers of the general public to see what they
think I should talk about, and it will help me to get a clearer understanding of what my audience
may want so that I can produce a piece of work that may also speak to them more.
