The document discusses the evaluation of the research and production process for a documentary project. Some key points: - The questionnaire used for research did not reach many people, limiting the variety of responses. - Researching existing documentaries helped with understanding techniques to use. - During production, issues with equipment cutting off and loud background noise occurred in one interview. - More crew members and planning of locations could have improved lighting, sound quality, and ability to get additional shots. - Overall, the research and production methods were effective, but some aspects could be improved for future projects.

1. Evaluation
Georgia Brown

2. Research
I think that my research for my final major project, which is a documentary on why people in the catholic church decided to take
their vocation, had many positive and negative aspects to it but was overall very effective. Firstly, the main issue with my
questionnaire was that it didn’t reach many people at all. The more people it reaches then the wider the variety of people who
will be answering it and it will therefore have less bias answers which are more reflective of the general public’s opinion. This
would help me to cater to their opinions and make my product more likeable however I could only reach a very small amount of
people and therefore the answers were most likely a little biased. This meant that the things people said they did or did not like
about my product or the genre might not necessarily match the opinions of my target market audience. This might mean that my
product wasn’t as good as it could have been however when I did get my questionnaire results I took this into consideration and
so I didn’t do anything drastic and neither did I take too much of the opinions I was given as fact and I also kept my own vision in
the forefront of my mind when creating this product. I also did a lot of research on existing products including some contextual
research on documentary makers like Louis Theroux and David Attenborough and TV shows like Lock-Up. This , and the contextual
research, helped me more than any other type of research I did as it showed me what other people who were making products
like mine did and what techniques they used. Having all of these techniques and ideas in my research and planning helped me to
create a more professional product since I was picking the best techniques out of each documentary and using it in my work. This
then showed me how I should conduct myself and how I should ask questions too however in retrospect I could have probably
have pushed a little more when asking questions however in reality this piece wasn’t meant to interrogate them for their views,
merely just to understand why they do what they do. It also helped me to understand the difference in where something is
streamed/shown and how that differs based on who is watching it. My documentary is very niche since it is about the church and I
don’t have a big reputation like Stacey Dooley for example and so it is hard to find my target audience however doing this
research helped me to see where I could be shown if I were to get it onto a genuine platform for people to watch it. During my
research I also looked into which film festivals I should be entering my final product into if it’s possible. I found a few of which
mine fit the requirements for which were free since I didn’t have the funds to pay for entry . Since many of the films I would be
going up against will have had actual budgets and funding through either private donations or crowd funding pages they have a
much better chance, I believe, at winning and because of the difference in budget and resources I decided to only look and enter
into free film festivals for example, Into Film. Altogether I think that my research was really positive as looking at existing products
and the people who make them and why really helped me to understand how I need to create my own personal sense of style in
my films and how to make mine as professional as possible.

3. Methods and Techniques
When planning my final project I tried to plan for as many different techniques as to give my project diversity and to make it more
interesting for viewers. However despite this and despite me trying to film as much as I could I do think that I missed a few
opportunities to use different methods and it could have made a negative impact on my final product. One thing that I did try to
do was to film the interview with multiple cameras so that I have two different angles to cut and edit between as to show the
viewer close ups and then normal standard shots of the interviewee. When filming with the priest and the teacher I did do this
however I came across a couple of issues. Firstly was that I was filming with DSLR cameras and this me at that after 10-15 minutes
the camera would stop filming and I therefore missed the ends of stories and I had to interrupt the interviewee which felt rude
and unprofessional. Because of this fault I missed some key information which meant that in the priest and the teacher interview I
have to cute scenes or use photographs to give visuals to the audio underneath. Next time I film I will try to use a more
professional camera that is designed specifically for filming video so that it doesn’t cut short. Another issue I realised I had, which
was my fault due to lack of understanding, was the lighting on each shot was totally different since they were facing different ways
and the light reflected differently. This meant that the two shots were so completely different from one another in colour and
tone and even editing couldn’t fix it and so I had to chose between one or the other. The reason I used it in the first place was to
give diversity to my shots which needed up not happening. Looking back I realise I should have possibly had more crew members
and had lights and reflectors as to highlight all parts do of the face and area on screen equally so that I could simply switch
between shot types and angles. I also think that I should have done more insert shots and some shots of the exterior as to set the
scene a little. I think that having these kind of shots that I could pan too would help to tell the story of the people that I was
interviewing and would have broken up the video well. If I had have had more insert shots that I had filmed myself then I wouldn’t
have had to use as many photographs to put in my film as having moving shots make it much more professional and interesting
for the viewer. Next time I create a project like this I will make sure to take short slower videos of items such as flowers,
photograph as, out of windows, around the place I am filming and even close ups of their face when they aren’t talking. One of
the major reasons why I didn’t do this was because I only had one other crew member, apart from with the nun where I had 0,
and so I to appease the interviewee and chat with them and explain everything which was a lot of pressure whilst also having to
set up all of the equipment and make sure everything was ready to film. If I film again I will definitively make sure I have more
crew members. I needed to have someone doing cameras and lights and sound and then have myself directing however that
many people weren’t really available to me in this project and so I had to work with what I had. However apart from all of that I
feel like the techniques I used to put the film together worked very well and that they all work as one and as three separate
stories. I think that although these things would have made an improvement to my film the general state of it wouldn’t have
changed dramatically and the way I interviewed and what I asked worked well and helped to me tell the story that I wanted too
and so overall I think that the methods I used were successful.

4. Production
The majority of my production went well as it was only done in three small parts. Each interview I did took between 30-60
minutes and they were filmed a week or two apart from each other. When I went to my first interview to film with the nun I ran
into a couple of issues. Firstly was that my sound assistant Abbie Nicholls cancelled on me at the last minute and my back up
Sophie Grantham was stuck in traffic and so I had to go and film on my own. This was slightly difficult as I had a lot to carry and I
also had to be professional and greet the nun and the people who worked in the office and building. There was then an issue
when it came to filming as I couldn't interview her with headphones, since it meant I couldn’t speak or hear her properly, which
meant that I had to just trust that the audio was working well without having anyone monitoring it. The biggest issue that arose
when filming here was the noise from the road outside. Since the directional microphone was pointing in the direction of the nun
and she was sat by the window it picked up a lot of car and bus sounds which were really loud, however when filming I didn’t
realise this since I wasn’t wearing the headphones. If I were to film again I would definitely go to the location before hand just for
a short time to scan and scout for the specific location that I was wanting to use and then make sure that it is booked out ready
for me. Doing this would mean that I secure somewhere suitable both in low sound and aesthetically. Having good sound will
make my production much more professional and will make what the interviewees or actors say be taken much more seriously. I
am quite happy with the way I framed my interviews as as you can see on the photographs below, the teacher is centred, the nun
is right and the priest is left. I felt that this gave diversity to each interview and also showed how even though they were all talking
about the same thing they each came from a different angle and point of view. The only different thing I would do if I were to film
again would be to have another camera set up for close ups however I would have to make sure that the lighting was right so that
each shot has the same tone and colouring. This would help me to change up the shots used in the documentary and make it
more professional and less boring. Another thing which I should have done yet didn’t since I didn’t have enough crew members,
was to take insert shots of objects and locations, this would have helped to make it look professional and given it more depth and
imagination. My research definitely helped me to understand what and how I should film since I looked closely into existing
products and documentary filmmakers like Louis Theroux. This helped me to understand how to conduct myself with interviewees
and what kind of questions I should ask and how I should be asking the. Altogether I think that my production went well since I
managed to collect all three interviews and they were all very helpful, interesting and exactly what I was wanting.

5. Post Production
The majority of post production went well despite having a few issues in different areas. The first issue was the sound of the nun’s
interview since it was so close to the road and you could hear it through the windows and it was picked up quite well on the
directional shot gun microphone. After trying our best to fix it with high and low pass filters it seemed much better than it originally
was and additionally when it went on YouTube that compressed it more and so in the end the sound was fine and only noticeable if
you were specifically looking and listening out for it. This though is not what I was wanting to happen as I know how important sound
is especially when watching on the big screen with properly stereo speakers which will be happening at our end of year show and
presentation. I also had to add my music to the sequences which worked really well in each case. In the nun’s interview it worked so
well because it enveloped the car sounds that were left after the filter was put on making it even less noticeable and giving the
interview more feeling and emotion. In the priests interview it helped to make it seem more serious in some places and less so in
others. It also helped the video come to a natural end which feels good for the viewer and sounds right rather than it just suddenly
cutting off it comes to a climax and then ends softly after the credits. One thing I wanted yet didn’t happen was to have photographs
from everyone I interviewed from different parts of their lives yet the priest and teacher didn’t supply me with those no matter how
much I asked and therefore I had to use still and archival images from Google. This wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for however it is
still a valid technique used in real documentaries and I just had to accept that this was what I going to have to do. I way very happy
with the graphics that I used and the fonts too. I think that the font works so well since it looks like handwritten words which relate to
religion and the church since many scriptures are written in that kind of font too. It additionally links since the nun was talking about
hand written letters and so I felt it matched quite well. I think that the graphics I did especially on the nun’s documentary were
beautiful and professional. The way the words appear when she says them is quite professional and I think since what she is saying is
so huge and profound it works really well. If I were do it again I would possibly change up the background however for this production
I feel the blue worked well since it is pure and clean. The only other issue I camera across was the dips to black and white and the
fades between clips. Since I was jumping and cutting between different clips I had to fuse them together and I didn’t watching to do
too many transitions that were different instead I wanted to keep it simple and use the same ones, however this meant that there
were a lot of fades however in the end I think that it goes smoothly and as an audience member you wouldn't notice the fades at all.
Overall I think that despite some frustrations with sound the general editing and post production of this film went very smoothly an di
am very pleased with the final outcome.

6. Product Intentions
I think that my final project came out very well and was nearly exactly what I was expecting it to be. When I was planning and
creating ideas I had two plans which I was aiming for and which depended on how the interview went and how the stories they
told guided my editing and production. I was going to either do the three stories separately which is what I did or do them all
intertwined with all the stories in one piece. When editing I realised that since they had their own exceptional stories I would like
to keep them separate so that the viewer can fully grasp the stories that they were telling. I then added the three pieces together
to create one larger documentary which comes just under 10 minutes in length. There are parts of my documentary which I
dislike slightly for example the length of some of the interview shots is just too long and had to be broken up by still images when
really I should have taken some insert shots. However due to lack of time and crew I was unable to do so meaning that the shots I
took weren't as diverse as I would have liked them to be. On the other hand I love the content of all three of the interviews. Since
the nun has had such an extraordinary life her tales were interesting throughout. I think that the charisma of the teacher shone
through in his interview despite the fact that he was talking about such a serious subject. I had a lot of footage from the nun’s
interview to cut which was difficult but I feel like I have managed to do it well and to keep in the best parts that I possibly could
while not letting it get boring. At first I found it difficult to find the best parts of the priest’s interview however in the end I think
managed to keep it interesting and surprising too for the viewers since he had a different point of view from most of the people
who I imagine will watch it. I also felt that having parts where he laughed made it less serious and more comfortable and
interesting and less preachy. One of the main reasons I found it hard was because his voice began to be a little boring and I felt as
though it wouldn’t be interesting enough for people to watch however in the end I found just the right amount of footage to fill
and make the documentary interesting and hopefully enjoyable. I really wanted this project to be as professional as possible and
to be better than any other projects that I have made before, and I do think I was successful in that respect. I think that the whole
project looks as though it could be professional since it was about a serious subject and I didn’t use any silly techniques or
transitions. I am very happy that I managed get the time under 10 minutes since wanted it to be less daunting for viewers to
watch online. I originally wanted to make either one 10 minute documentary or three 5 minutes ones however I think that having
them as 2-4 minutes each worked better since they are quick and easily accessible for people watch on their phones, tablets or
laptops which is exactly what I was wanting it to be like for the viewers. Overall I am very happy with the way my product tuned
out as it is powerful, has some interesting revelation within it and keeps the viewer intrigued throughout the whole thing.

7. Final Concept
The reason I decided to make this project concept was because I am very interested in religion and learning about how people can
so fully believe in something that technically cannot be proven. Even more so in people who decide to dedicate their whole lives
to god and chose a vocation. It is something that is becoming less and less common and I was interested to find out why they had
personally chosen the path that the did. I wanted to aim it towards people who were younger since religion in the 21st century is
something that they often push away or ignore. Without forcing religion on anyone I think that it is always beneficial for people to
understand others views for us to live in a happy multicultural society. Additionally watching documentaries is becoming more and
more mainstream in younger generations rather than just the older generation like it has always has been. I decided that speaking
to a nun and a priest was important because they are the main figures that you picture and think of when you talking and think
about the Catholic Church. I then thought that speaking to my old Religious Education teacher would be good since he is much
younger and is in the same age bracket as the target audience. He also is very different and more (not much but slightly) liberal
than the priest and nun are since he is from a different generation. I wanted to make something that would make people think
about what a diverse world we live in and for them to at a minimum learn some new information. This project is slightly like my
factual from the first half of this year of this college course since I did a short documentary about nuns however I really wanted to
improve both in storytelling terms and technically and I think I did since this is much better and much more professional and it
shows just how much I have improved since then in only a few months. Doing this project has been very challenging for multiple
reasons. The first yet not most important is that there has been a large amount of work to complete however in reality I expected
that and I have been on top of it for the majority of the project over the past few months. The main issue was that I began to get
fed up with college. Since I have already completed a year at sixth form before I came to college once I got to my second year here
it was actually my third year in a level three course and I was and am just so ready to leave and go to university that it became
draining having to come in all the time when I knew that I could do less work and still pass. However I tried my hardest to keep on
top of everything because I really enjoy the course and the project is actually something which I really enjoy. I feel like this spurred
me on to create a mature and challenging final product that isn’t like everyone else's because I feel as though, even though there
is just a year between us, I’m at a different stage in my life to the majority of people in my class that are on my course. Overall I
am really happy that I chose this as my final concept as it helped me to lean on my main strengths such as organisation, problem
solving and working with people. Leaving the technical factors, whilst still incredibly important, not as important than if it were a
horror for example. I feel like working with my strengths whilst still exploring and growing my weaker qualities, shows how I am
ready to work in a team and focus on different parts of the film making process and not have to do everything all alone since that
is not what happens when you create films or documentaries in the real world.

8. Planning
As always when filming a documentary with people you need to interview, contacting them is always the hardest part since they
often take a long time to get back to you and we only have a small amount of time between generating ideas then contacting,
planning and filming. Thankfully all of the people that I wanted to interview got back to me really quickly and they were all really
happy to film and I managed to fit them in a week apart from each other with between 1-2 hours to film. In the real world when
creating a project you would have so much more time between arranging and contacting people and so this wouldn't be so much
of an issue. The main personnel issue I came across was that my sound assistant could no longer be in the crew of my film due to
personal issues and so I was left without any crew for one of my interviews and I had to find a back up for the other two which was
annoying for a few reasons but mainly because she wasn’t as experienced and so was slightly unprofessional however at the time I
had no other options. Next time I film something I will make sure that I have planned and organised all of the crew that is necessary
and that I have a back up for each so that if one of them isn't available for some reason, that doesn’t affect my production. Getting
a hold of personal photographs was one of the most difficult tasks to complete in this project. I emailed each interviewee asking
multiple times if I could have photos of them from throughout their lives yet either no one could give me any or they didn’t have
any. Thankfully sister Agatha had a lot of personal photos in her book and I was able to use those in her section of the documentary
however with the others I just had to use archival and found photographs that I got from Google. There are positives and negatives
to this technique since in reality it is a valid technique used in professional documentary productions however in the future when I
film I will try my hardest to get actual images from the interviewees themselves. This helps the documentary with context and it
helps to portray a story to the audience and so I think that it would have been better if I had have had them in mine however there
was nothing that I could do. I also planned for health and safety issues made a contingency plan and did a risk assessment so that if
there were any issues or complications I would know exactly what to do so that my production wouldn’t suffer. This also helps to
keep you safe from being sued or being liable for any damages or accidents since I myself do not want to have to pay if something
does go wrong. I also planned my schedule for when I would edit and film. This really helped me to stay on track of everything that
I was doing and it showed me how long everything should take so that I didn’t fall behind and end up missing deadlines. However
in retrospect I should have stuck more closely to the schedule because when I didn’t I would find myself with way too much work
to do. One of the most difficult parts of planning was searching for and deciding on which music I wanted in my film. If I had had
more time to produce and create this documentary I would have found someone to create the music solely for this purpose
however it takes to long for people to get in touch after I have emailed them and in the end I had to use royalty free music that I
found on YouTube. Despite that I think that I worked really well since it helps to give the videos an arc and shows the audience how
they should be feeling over different parts and that is what music should do.

9. Technical Issues
There were a few technical issues that I came across when filming my interviews for this project. Firstly was the camera kept stopping mid-
way through filming. This was because it was a DSLR camera and they are not designed for long stretches of filming since after between 10-15
minutes of being on record they just turn off. However I didn’t know this before I filmed and so mid way through the interviews the camera
just turned off and that meant that I missed a little bit of footage since it took time before I realised and started the cameras back up again.
This may not have been as much of an issue if it hadn't coincidentally happened during very important and interesting parts of the interview.
Even if I had have known I would have had to stop interviewing and interrupt the interviewee so that I could restart the camera again and
that isn't professional at all. To solve this issue in the future I will just have to use a different type of camera that is meant for filming so that It
will not cut out during long interviews. To overcome this when editing I had to replace the parts where there should have been interview
footage and put in photographs and news article headings. Since this was not an issue I was aware would arise I didn’t plan for it but I feel
that I managed to overcome it successfully and I know know what to do in the future to prevent this from happening again. The other
technical issue that I was faced with was the audio of one of the interviews. Since I had already discussed and done experiments about sound
I knew what sound equipment to use so I would get the best quality audio I could because I know due to research and questionnaires that
sound is very important to documentaries. Because of these experiments I used a shot gun microphone to capture the dialogue from the
interviewees. The teacher’s and the priests audio was perfect with a few minor defaults that were as to be expected since the world itself is
loud. However during the interview with the nun I came across a big issue as since the microphone was pointed in the direction of the
window it picked up a lot of outside sound. This was also due to the fact that the windows and walls were very thin because it is a very old
convent building that is listed. This meant that because the outside road was so full and busy the noises from the cars and buses was picked
up onto the microphone. I only realised this however when editing since I didn’t have a sound assistant for that interview and maybe if I had
the issue would have been picked up sooner. When editing I tried my hardest to make the noises that weren't dialogue go away however
since it was on one audio file and our software at college isn't at the level I could only do so much. I ended up putting a high and low pass
filter over the audio to get rid of any sounds that were above or below the normal sounds of someone's voice. The only issue with this was
that the nuns voice now sounded slightly like she was in a submarine, however it was significantly better than before. I then added a music
track over the top and that enveloped a lot of the bad sounds meaning that he issue was basically solved. The reason I wanted the
background noise to be deleted or at least quieter was because it sounds so much more professional and it means that audience will focus
much more on what is being said rather than what's happening in the back round. I understand that in some respect there is nothing I could
have done since the nun arranged the room for us to film in and it was already a loud room however in the future I want to use lapel mic as
well as a shot gun so that I can have the audio even closer to the persons mouth without it being an actual handheld microphone since that
wouldn’t be acceptable for this kind of documentary. The only other issue I came across was the lighting in a couple of the interviews since
not every shot matched the other however I realise that to combat that in the future I need more crew with lights and equipment to make
sure that every angle looks the same and looks professional. Overall I think that technically even though I had a few issues, they were all
easily sorted and I think that my end product turned out rather well and looks professional, acceptable and what I wanted it to look like.

10. Management Issues
Mainly throughout my project there weren’t any management issues that I wasn’t expecting to come up. The main issue was, as always,
contacting people to be involved with my project. At first it was okay since I emailed both the teacher and the priest in a lot of time. We
didn’t start the project until mid January 2019 and I had emailed them both in around October/November 2018 so that I knew they
were on board for the project. I then had to fin d a priest to be involved with my production and thankfully I did get one through the
help of the sisters at the Bar Convent whom I filmed with for my factual project. I got the number of a few priest and contacted them
until I finally found one who was willing to take part and we swapped emails. Up to this point it was relatively easy however it was after
filming that contacting people became an issue. One I had interviewed each of them I emailed them all asking for pictures of them from
throughout their lives. Since sister Agatha was quite well known and has a book I had taken images of her from Google from daily mail
or interview articles that I found. Once she got back to me about the images she told me that she didn’t have any but that they were in
the book however they were the same ones which I had gotten from the internet and so that was all I could get. However I had ore
issues with the priest since after I had arranged to film with him, his wife died. Because of this I was aware that he may pull out of
filming or not be available for sometime and so I was getting ready to contact other priests after looking at the Middleborough
Diocese’s Clergy PDF which states all of the religious members in our area and their contact information. However thankfully he was still
interesting in partaking and I successfully interviewed him and he was in surprisingly high spirits which was positive for my interview
and documentary since if he was unreceptive to our questioning it may have make my film less interesting and more boring. However
since then I emailed to ask for photographs and he replied saying that he had none and because of his wife I didn’t feel it was suitable
for me to push and so I had to leave it there and since there were no photographs of him on Google I had to accept that I didn’t have ay
photographs of Father Thompson. I also asked Mr. Devanney for photos and at first he was delighted however he then never got back
to me no matter how many attempts I made at asking for photographs and so I was stuck without any for him either. I managed to get
around this by using photographs from Google on people or locations they were talking about or by using graphs to represent what
they were saying so that I could break up the interview visuals. After I had finished editing and all of my vides were uploaded to
YouTube I emailed them a link for each individual video and of the full one which includes them all. However again no one one got back
to me even when I messaged for a second time asking for any comments or feedback. Despite this I am very happy with myself for
having managed to arrange and meet up to interview three people who have vocations in the church since at first I though they may
not be receptive to it since the media often portrays catholic members as bad. The other personnel issue that I was subjected too was
when my sound assistant could make the interview and I was left stranded without any crew at all. I did manage to make it work
however it did affect my documentary in terms of the audio and in the future I am definitely going to have secured back up for all of my
crew so that my project does ail if someone pulls out. Finally I think that the only other issue I had was time management. From the
beginning I tried to keep up to date with all of my reflections and weekly work which I did however there were some times when I went
away or was busy with my job that affected my time free to work college work. However in the end I managed to put the time in and I
completed all of the jobs I was meant to at the highest standard I think I could. However in the future I am going to make sure that I do
all of my work in the allotted time as to stop it all piling up on me at once.

11. Emotional Issues
I had many emotional issues throughout this project, firstly was that I was slightly angry when my sound
assistant pulled out of working with me. I was relying on having my sound assistant o help me transport the kit
to and from location and to be my sound assistant, however at the last minute, literally the day before, she
pulled out of the role. This was because she has family issues which is fine and I accept that however it was
very annoying for me since it left me in the lunch. Because of this I enlisted someone else to work with me, she
has previously done so and so I thought she would be a good fit. However on the first day she arrived late and
missed our scheduled filming meaning that I had to go alone and hindering my project which is worth a lot to
me, yet not so much to her. She then worked with me on the next two projects and was slightly inappropriate
by interrupting the interview and wearing clothing not suitable for interviewing someone who is a clergy
member. By doing these things she made the production seem unprofessional and made me look worse too.
Next time I use other people in my production for crew members I will make sure that they are interested in
the product and invested in it like I am since I feel that was an issue with this girl since she had no other
investments in this project. I will also make sure that even if it seems unnecessary, that I explain to them how
to act appropriately when interviewing someone and I will go through the enter filming technique and how it
works so that they can get on straight away and start setting kit up without too much help so that I can
entertain the interviewee. I have also obviously been very stressed from the beginning of this project right u p
until the end. At first I was stresses that people were taking too long to email me back and that it might not
work. Then once it was in motion I was stressed hat it might not work well as an actual piece when editing. I
was then stressed up to this point about getting all the work in in time and up to the best standard it could
possibly be. However I also understand that stress comes as a big part of doing work like this especially when
you want it to go well and be as good as possible and push the limits. In the end I dealt with the stress by being
as organised as possible and trying to manage my time so that I had enough room to make everything as good
as it could be. The only other emotional issue I faced was being worried when interviewing people since I was
scared I may say the wrong thing or seem too young or unprofessional, however to combat this I just had to act
confident and after doing it once or twice I felt as though improved thoroughly as an interviewer and that I
spoke well and interacted properly with the people filmed with.