Factual evaluation

1. L3 Creative Media
Production & Technology
Year Two Evaluation Template

2. Evaluation Overview
This evaluation form is designed to assist you in the evaluation of your projects.
When using this form it is good practice to:
• Use appropriate terminology.
• Stay concise and focus on key points.
• Evaluate and analyse your statements.
• Focus on judgements about work rather than telling a story of how it was made.
Please find the grading matrix here to help you assess you are working at the right level.
Level 3 Extended Diploma Grading Matrix - https://bit.ly/2Jnqj3v

3. Project Overview
In this section you will outline the aim of the project/task and give an
overview of the activates you undertook to complete it.

4. What was the theme of your project and
what attracted you to it?
The theme of my project was to highlight the impacts of modern
policing over the years. I wanted to show the changes and
developments in technology and how it has changed for the better and
worse. I was attracted to this project by my dad being a police officer
and detective. After looking at lots of pictures of him developing his
career in the force, I wanted to explore more about what it was like
before all the modern technology.

5. What research did you undertake and how
did it help develop your project?
I undertook lots of research to develop my product. This included
research into existing police documentaries such as police interceptors
and cop squad. These existing products helped me to gather ideas
about how documentaries are made and what conventions are needed
to make a documentary. I also looked at how the interviews were done.
For example, I looked at location, lighting and camera angles that they
used. This helped influence my decisions for these three key features of
an interview. Another piece of research I conducted was looking into
police force now and looking at it 30-40 years prior. This piece of
research allowed me to gain a better understanding of the subject and
subsequently helped me to write my questions and interact with the
interviewee properly.

6. How did you develop and improve your ideas
throughout the project?
I developed and improved my ideas throughout the project by looking
at my recourses and assets to gain more understanding and then
formulate ideas. Another way I developed my ideas was by watching
existing products like my own. This helped as I could take different
conventions and techniques from the product and use them in my own.
I was able to improve my ideas by comparing my product to others and
fine tuning the mistakes or differences.

7. What was the outcome of the project/task?
The outcome of my project was generally positive. I was able to
produce a factual, informative documentary about the impact on
modern policing. I covered lots of different points and subjects in my
documentary that helped to answer lots of questions about the change
in policing and policing in general. Overall, the outcome was a factual,
informative documentary about modern policing.

8. Personal Response
This section will explore your thoughts and feelings about the
experience. This will help gain a understand of how your personal
feelings may have impacted the final outcome.

9. How did you feel about the project before
you started?
Before I started this project, I felt optimistic about it, and I had lots of
different ideas I wanted to try. There where points where I felt out of
my comfort zone and uncertain about what I could produce as I had
never done anything factual before. After researching other
documentaries, and beginning to plan my own, I slowly got more
confident with the project and got a lot more optimistic about the
project.

10. What do you think about your project development and
how did it help you to refine your idea?
My project development went well. I covered lots of different areas of
planning to help develop my project. For example, I researched lots of
similar existing products to collect ideas and conventions. I also did
some practical experiments to test different ideas and to see if they
would work in my documentary. I conducted a three-point lighting
experiment where I used a key light, back light and a fill light on a
subject I was interviewing. This was useful as I was able to see which
lighting worked the best and I was also able to learn more about
lighting in an interview situation. I also tested some different interview
techniques and how to question an interviewee. This helped as I
learned how to lead an interview. Both the experiments and research
helped to refine my ideas and build my documentary to what it was.

11. Did you collaborate on your project or engage
contributors, etc?
I used 1 contributor in my project. The contributor was my interviewee
and led most of the documentary. Collaborating with this person was
arguably the reason my documentary turned out in a good way. This is
because he carried the documentary the whole way through discussing
his time in the police and how it changed for the better or worse. He
also discussed lots of different methods the police use and how it can
lead to potentially solving a crime. Overall, the interviewee was very
informative and engaging to watch and listen to and the documentary
wouldn’t have been possible without his contribution.

12. How did you feel when the project was
completed and why?
When the project was complete, I felt happy with what I had produced
and felt like I had covered lots of points and areas of interest. There
where some things I could have done better but I have learned from
them and will do things differently next time. Overall, I was proud of
what I produced and happy when I completed it.

13. Evaluating the project
In the previous sections, you have been commenting upon the project development. The
evaluation may include some similar information but it will also include critical comment.
An evaluation must include information about the good and bad points of the project and it
is important to be honest. Finally, you should make a judgment about the effectiveness of
the success of the project

14. 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]
• Intercutting the two different camera angles
• This technique helped to break up the interview and keep the viewer entertained.
• It taught me that I need to break up the interview with other shots to keep the
viewer entertained.
• The cutaway shots
• These shots kept the audience entertained.
• The use of cutaways helped to give a visual idea of the point to the audience so that
they could see it as well as listen to it being talked about.
• The location of the interview
• The location had lots of pictures in the background which keeps the documentary
very factual and true to life. They gain a further connection with the interviewee.
• The location also looked very pleasing on the eye and was a good place for an
interview.

15. What challenges did you face and how did you
respond to them? Try and think of at least 3...
I faced a few different challenges whilst working on this project. One of these
challenges was syncing the interviews sound, from the lavier microphones,
to the second camera angle. This was a challenge as I had to match the
sound to the interviewees mouth. After watching the interview back there
where still points where the sound didn’t match up correctly. It took me a
few attempts to match the sound perfectly and when I did it looked very
professional. Another challenge I faced in this project was finding existing
products that where similar to what I wanted to make. This was a challenge
for me as I couldn’t find anything to base my ideas off, get ideas from and get
techniques from. In response to this I broadened my search and found
products with some similar conventions and ideas. I then dissected these
products and was able to find lots of ideas.

16. What were the negative points about the
experience, and what could you have done to
improve them?
• Jump cuts
• When I was cutting out the interviewer's audio there was a jump in the video as expected. To
solve this issue, I used different shots and cutaways to cover the jump. Whilst watching the video
back after I had completed it, I realized that I had missed a cut. To prevent this from happening
next time I will watch the final piece more closely and prevent this from happening again.
• Stock footage
• There where some points in the documentary where I didn’t have the facilities to get some of the
shots that I wanted. This resulted in the use of stock footage. Using stock footage is, in my opinion,
unprofessional and lazy and I would want all the work to be my own. To prevent this next time, I
will plan further ahead and get the things I need in advance.
• Introduction
• I didn’t have a proper introduction in my interview as I could not make one in time. To
compromise I used an image of the interviewees old police squad. I then put a title over the top
and faded it into the interview. It looked professional and nice but next time I will take the time to
create a proper introduction.

17. How would you rate the final piece? [think along the lines of
poor, satisfactory, good or excellent...justify your rating]
I would rate my final piece as good. This is because I feel like I created a
good looking, factual and informative documentary. There where lots
of key points that made the product look more professional. However
there where a few things that brought the professionalism of the
product down and made the rating slightly lower. For example, in the
main interview there where some shadows of the camera crew in the
background that brought my rating down. Overall, I think I created a
solid piece of work that I have enjoyed making.

18. What is your opinion of your final piece? What
elements do you think are successful and why?
My opinion of my final piece is overall positive. I had some successful
elements such as, intercutting two different camera angles. This
technique helped to break up the interview so that the viewer had
more to see and interact with and stay engaged and entertained.
Another successful element was, the location my interview was shot at.
The location had lots of pictures in the background which keeps the
documentary very factual and true to life. The audience also gain a
further connection with the interviewee, and it helps them to keep
engaged. The location was also very pleasing on the eye and was a
good place for an interview.

19. How well did your project apply the characteristics
and conventions of the medium you worked in?
I think my project applied to the characteristics and conventions well.
This was due to my research of similar existing products. I investigated
lots of different types of conventions and characteristics for this
medium and I wrote them down and planned how I could use them in
my project. Due to this planning, I was able to create a piece with the
corrects conventions and characteristics for the genre and medium.

20. How did your design appeal to your target
audience?
My design appealed to my target audience as I used lots of codes and
conventions of the genre. For example, I used lots of real photos,
medals and certificates. This appeals to the audience as it keeps the
documentary true to life and real. My target audience likes to see real
things to keep the documentary as true as possible.

21. Analysis
In this section, you will focus on the details of the project and make
sense of what happened in the project. You should demonstrate how
your decisions informed the project development and the success of the
outcome.

22. In what ways was the overall project a
success?
The overall project was a success in a few ways. One way it was
successful was with the interview I conducted. A lot of the questions
that I asked where very open and led to further development on
answers. For example, the interviewee would generally get taking onto
another point after we discussed the first point. This made the
interview flow a lot better and made it look and sound professional.

23. What elements did not go well and why?
Some elements did not go well. One of these elements was, the stock
footage. There where some points in the documentary where I didn’t
have the facilities to get some of the shots that I wanted. This resulted
in the use of stock footage. Using stock footage is, in my opinion,
unprofessional and lazy and I would want all the work to be my own. To
prevent this next time, I will plan further ahead and get the things I
need in advance.

24. How did your skills develop during the portfolio? [remember,
skills aren't just technical, remember things like organisation,
time management, communication, etc as well]
During this project I developed my skills a lot more. Some of the skills I
developed where my time management skills and my organisational
skills. My time management improved lots as I had to meet lots of
close, strict deadlines that I had to make sure I didn’t miss. I had to do
somethings outside of of college to meet these deadlines but it is all
good practise for the FMP. My organisational skills also improved with
this project. They improved as I had lots of different files and cards to
keep track of. I separated the footage from my two cameras into
separate files and saved them in a file together. I also made another file
with photos and stock footage. Organising my files in this way helped to
keep them all in one place. It made my editing a lot easier as I could
find everything very easily and knew exactly where each bit of footage
was.

25. What meaning and messages did you want to
convey and were you successful?
The main messages I wanted to convey were the changes in policing,
and how they have had a positive or negative impact. I feel that I have
successfully conveyed my message and got a clear answer that policing
has changed for the better. I wouldn’t have got to this conclusion
without the help of my contributor as he provided lots of information
and story's to get to the conclusion.

26. What feedback did you get from your peers
and viewings?
• I liked the location of the interview.
• The cutaway shots worked well.
• I liked how the interview was set up.
• The second camera angle broke up the interview nicely.
The peer feedback I got was mostly positive and I agreed with everything said.

27. What would you do differently in the future
and why?
In the future I would do a few things differently. I would try and plan
my shots a lot more in the future so that I don’t have to use things like
stock footage and I have the time to get all the things I need for the
shot. Another thing I would do differently is check my work myself
more and get someone else to check it before I export it and send it off.
This is so that I do not miss any problems or issues before I send of the
project.

28. Action Plan
This section will identify what you would do differently in the future and
identify ways you could develop.

29. If you were making a similar project in the
future, what would you do differently?
In the future I would do a few things differently in order to make my
project more professional and flawless. One of the things I would do is
plan my shots and cutaway shots more effectively. For example, I had
to use stock footage in places as I did not have the facilities to create
the shot I wanted. In future I will plan this shot more and get the things
I need to be able to create this shot. Another thing I would do
differently is check my work myself more and get someone else to
check it before I export it and send it off. This is because I came across a
jump cut that I should’ve put another shot over the top of to mask it. I
missed this in my check, and it therefore resulted in an issue that made
my documentary look unprofessional. Overall, in the future there are a
few things I need to think about doing more to push my grade and my
project to the best it can be.

30. How could you develop your skills for future projects? Please
identify the appropriate resources and courses. For example,
webpages, tutorials, books, short courses and qualifications.
In the future I will watch more tutorials and and take more online
courses to be more prepared for future work. I can learn lots from
courses and tutorials such as, editing techniques, filming techniques,
genre conventions and audience interaction/ appeal. This would make
my work a lot more professional as I would have lots of skillful and
different techniques in my work. This would also help my time
management as I could get straight on with a task if I have already
researched the things I need.

31. What personal attributes could you develop to
ensure you are working at a professional level?
Some personal attributes that I could develop to help me work at a
professional level include, good communication with clients, hitting
deadlines and planning work a lot more carefully. Communication is a
key asset to have. For example, If I was working with a client, I need to
know their vision and what they want. This would include having
meetings and talks about what they want creating. Hitting deadlines is
imperative to making myself more professional. If I can't hit deadlines,
then I am not trustworthy and I won’t get hired. This is another
important asset to ensure I am more professional. Planning my work is
important as I can get a good shot plan that will help me on set, and I
can plan locations and when I need to shoot in them. These are some
things that would make me more professional and approachable to
future clients.