The document discusses the codes and conventions commonly used in documentaries, including voiceovers, real footage, interviews, titles/text, sound, set ups, and visual coding. It then analyzes the student's own documentary project, noting their use of a voiceover, real footage, sound/music, and credits to conform to documentary conventions. The student reflects on their time management, adherence to the brief, skills developed, and incorporation of feedback throughout the project.

1. Evaluation
Codes and Conventions of a documentary:
Voiceover: Usually a documentary will include a voiceover and they are sort of used as an
authoritative voice for the audience. They are kind of the creator's mouthpiece for sharing
opinions and facts.
Real Footage/Archive Footage/Stills: Documentaries commonly include footage of 'real' life
events or something that has been staged to look real. But even when the footage is staged the
creator will go to great lengths to persuade the audience it is real.
Interviews: Interviews in documentaries are used to show perspective on something or to
possibly authenticate views expressed in the documentary.
Use of titles/texts: Titles are used to pretty much introduce what will be spoken about next in
the documentary and text can be used to express facts, dates, labels and names to the viewer.
Sound: Sound is used in many ways in documentaries such as adding music to the background
of something or possibly sound effects that could be used to accentuate a point.
Set ups (Scenes like classrooms): Set ups are used to kind of just give the documentary a more
realistic feel to it.
Visual Coding: Things such as mise en scene are good to use when putting a scene together
such as if there were a doctor you should put them in a white coat in a hospital looking scene.
How I followed or did not follow Codes and Conventions:
Voiceover: Within my documentary, there is a voiceover that runs from the very beginning to
the very end. As my documentary was made to be an Expository documentary the voiceover
was necessary as it was the best way, in my opinion, to convey the facts in a way that was
interesting and entertaining.
Real Footage: There is both stills and real footage within my documentary as I figured it was a
good way to add variety to my documentary whilst also keeping it as realistic as it possibly
could be.

2. Interviews: My documentary was created to inform and share facts and due to this, I had
ultimately decided not to include an interview in my documentary so that the contents of the
documentary were the main and only focus.
Sound: Sound was used many way in my documentary, both through adding music behind my
documentary and then as well as this, there was the voiceover itself.
Visual Coding: This itself was not all that prominent in my documentary as I made the decision
as a director not to include any interview so that it was solely focused on facts and information
instead of opinions (which would be given during an interview.)
Analysis of my project:
To begin with, my documentary opens with the logo of my client appearing to begin with as a
way of showing clearly that my work is being produced for them, and then following this I
added my own company's logo that I made when for my B1 project as part of my brand
identity. Quiet, upbeat music begins playing as well as a voiceover that begins introducing the
history of Sunderland. These clips are an example of Diegetic Sound being used in the
documentary as the sounds we can hear as we watch the documentary coincide with each
other. As this is happening, some clips of the city begin fading in and out, planning slowly to
give the viewer a good look at the city such as the different landmarks within the city. There is
little variety in the shots that I used within my documentary however I was hesitant to add
variety as the client themselves like to stick to a simple theme. I made the decision to do the
same for the sake of keeping my work similar to the clients. This is also why I had made the
decision to shorten my documentary to closer to 6 minutes instead of the initial 8 I had
planned. The client commonly keeps their short documentaries to around three-four minutes
and although mine is a bit longer than this, It is close enough to the point where it fits with
what they have already created.
I would like to also mention the Katz and Blumler ‘Uses and Gratification’ theory here as I feel it
could be applied to my documentary and images. I believe that because my audience is
supposed to be those from the Northeast, so therefore because my documentary is on the
history of Sunderland itself, then the documentary will be able to relate the viewers to their
personal identity seeing as Sunderland would be their home just like myself. It will spark a
personal love among the residents of Sunderland. Perhaps the viewer could take the main
element of my documentary (that being the history of Sunderland) and be able to see
themselves in it. This could spark an interest in the viewer, make them want to find out more
about their own personal identity and the history of their family. I would also like to apply
Gerber’s Cultivation Theory to this documentary. Sunderland as a city has always had a bad

3. reputation, being misrepresented as a crime ridden, underprivileged city within the media
however, my documentary was made to oppose this. I planned on making Sunderland look
good within my doc in order to try and change the bias people have when they hear about
Sunderland.
My documentary ends with a small credit reel where it shows that this documentary was made
independently in partnership with Sunderland Culture. As well as this though, I made sure to
add a thank you to the end of the documentary as without the support of my lecturers, I
wouldn’t have been able to finish my product.
When it came to my print product, the background of the actual print piece is the image of each
location, and then it includes the client’s logo in the top left corner, followed by some speech in
size ‘50’ and in the font ‘thicker.’ I chose to do this as not only was this font the closest that I
could get to the font the client used in their logo and the size that I chose was the closest to the
size of the text in the client’s logo. I chose to keep the font for my text a dark grey so as to
mirror what the clients looked like seeing as these pieces were being made for them. I felt it
was necessary to do this as it is important to keep a client’s work in mind when creating a
product so that when they would come to use my product, it would fit in with their other pieces
of work. The only exception to this is the image of the graveyard where I had to put the writing
which states where the image is set, having to put it in the bottom right hand corner in white to
ensure it can be seen. I also included my logo in the bottom left hand corner in each of the
images to ensure that it is clear that I were the one who made it.

4. Brief: I feel that my product is suitable for the brief as in the brief it clearly states that we need
to make a documentary that is between five and 10 minutes (My Documentary is about 6
minutes long) as well as it needing to appealing to people within the ages within the ages of
sixteen and twenty-four. Not only do I think my documentary is suitable for this target audience
but as you can see on the left the people who had taken my survey also felt that my idea was
suitable for the target audience we were given. We were told to keep our ideas within the idea
of "Culture in the Digital Age" and personally I feel like my topic of activism or more specifically
activism that had taken place online it more than appropriate for this. The brief specifically said
that they wanted our documentaries to make young people think about the impact that the
digital age had on society and the activism movements spoken about In my documentary all
touch on important issues in modern society and how the movements that have took place
have helped us get closer to rectifying these issues.
Client: I know that my idea would be okay in the eyes of the client as I had done some research
into documentaries/tv shows the BBC have done before and it turns out the BBC aren't
strangers themselves to the topic of activism as they have something available on the BBC
IPlayer which is around young people talking about/taking part in activism movements. Due to
this, I know that my documentary based on clicktivism would be more than suitable for the
client.
Audience: After a survey I had done at the beginning of the project I am confident that my
documentary is suitable for them as a lot of them said that they used the internet for either
entertainment or to keep themselves up to date with news/the world and my documentary
was made with the idea that it would not only entertain the audience but would also educate
them on important activism movements that all aim to touch on important issues in the world
with the hope of fixing them (These issues aren't things such as systemic violence and racism,
internalized toxic masculinity, funding those who aim to spread fake news etc.)
Reflection:
What Helped me to make my documentary? : There are various things that have helped me
during the final year of my course. This project was very important seeing as it is a large part of
my final grade and because of this, there was a large amount of pressure on me knowing this.
What helped me deal with this was my lecturers that were always there to give me the support
and confidence I needed to complete this project to the standard that I have. They were also

5. there to give me any support I needed with software and hardware given I had any issues, so
honestly, I don’t think I could have finished this project without the aid they gave me
unconditionally. As well as this, the feedback I had received various times throughout the year
aided me when it came to creating different pieces of work, helping me create my two final
products to the highest standard I could. I feel like feedback was the most important thing I
needed for this final year seeing as the people I was getting it from were all people that were in
the same situation as I was and they all understood the brief well enough to give me accurate
feedback that would actually be useful for me when looking to improve my work.
-How useful was it to consider existing work, to plan thoroughly and to experiment with
hardware and software? : At the beginning of the project, it was very helpful for me to look at
previous work because it helped me understand the fundamentals of making a documentary
and also helped me come up with my own idea. Having a detailed plan for everything helped
me a lot during the production phase because I knew exactly how I wanted my documentary to
turn out, thanks to my storyboard and write-up of my ideas, which made editing much simpler.
Thanks to the script, I knew exactly what I wanted to say, which made recording my voiceover
much simpler. Although I wouldn't say that the experiments, I tried out on this product helped
me with the production process, they did help me learn more about what I could use to record
footage at some point. To be fair, if there was one thing from the lessons, I learned this time
that I would absolutely change for the next time, it would be that I absolutely need to save my
work in more than one place from the beginning. This way, I won't have to rework any work or
rerecord footage that was lost due to my own carelessness. Planning thoroughly is something I
can say helped me greatly as the script that I wrote was based on the subject research I had
done at the beginning of the project, helping me write a detailed, factual script.
Evaluating my performance:
-How I responded to setbacks: I faced a few setbacks on this project due to the experience I had
gained from the previous projects that I had completed during my time at Sunderland College.
One of the setbacks I did face though was my scheduling conflicts. The original recording
schedule I had come up with at the beginning of this project was made without having a job in
mind seeing as I was out of work at the time. This came to be an issue as I found a job just as I
was supposed to begin recording which meant that I was not able to record on days I had
originally planned on recording on, meaning I was behind on gathering footage and this was
something that came to be a rather big issue as it meant I had to rush to gather footage. This
meant it was not to the standard I wanted it to be and although I gathered spare footage and
the footage, I gathered was acceptable, this does not mean that I am extremely happy with it. I
am a perfectionist at times and so having this issue caused me to be rather stressed in the last

6. few weeks before the deadline. I responded to this setback though by finding some spare time
in my schedule to replace the footage I was not happy with ensuring that my final product was
to the highest standard. I was aiming to get the highest grades I possibly could, another trait of
my perfectionism, and I did not like settling on anything subpar.
-How close is my work to the original brief and my original ideas?: The brief we have given
states that the primary audience for this project should be people between the ages of sixteen
and twenty-five. I kept this in mind when it came to creating the documentary and print pieces I
had chosen to make for my project. I felt that the idea that I had originally chosen when I had
written down my initial ideas and the product I had come out with at the end of this project
were in fact, very similar as I ended up creating a documentary just shorter than I had originally
intended on making and I got to create my series of images as I had wanted to alongside the
documentary. I was passionate about this project as the idea was something I felt passionate
about. Seeing as I am to leave home soon for university, creating a project based around
Sunderland was lovely for me. It is where I grew up and I shall feel very homesick to be away
from it, so this project gives me something to look back on when I am particularly missing
home.
-What have I learned?: Although I do not like to admit it, since I have a high possibility of being
autistic means that I am not all that fantastic with time management, meaning that this was a
large issue for me. This project did help me work on this though, I knew how important this
project was towards my final grade overall. I find myself rather frustrated when I see that I am
struggling with my time management however, with the help of my lecturers and those around
me, I have been able to overcome this and in fact, I would say I have made a great
improvement on it seeing as I was as happy as I was with the overall outcome of my project.
-What would I do differently?: Despite the fact that I had finished the work on time and I had
followed the schedule I had made somewhat well, If I were to have a chance to redo this
project then I would make sure that I included someone else in the actual documentary in an
interview or something similar seeing as this documentary was something I had done
completely on my own. As well as this, when I had originally made my schedule for the
documentary shooting, this was something I’d done before getting my job which takes up more
time than I had originally allowed for meaning that I ended up not being able to film on days I
had originally planned to film on. When I had gotten my job, I should have made a weekly
schedule each time I had gotten my rota to ensure that I could get my recording done seeing as
I had been struggling to find the time to do so due to the times I had to work.

7. -What skills did I develop?: From the beginning of this project up until the end, I have had to
plan my production process carefully, taking in mind weather conditions, my scheduling (such
as work and college) as well as planning out the routes that I would need to take to each of the
filming locations on each recording date. In doing this, I would say that I have improved my
time management skills, especially because I was having to do this for two projects which were
running alongside one another throughout my final year. As well as my time management skills,
I would say this project lead to an improvement with my professional practise seeing as my
planning ensured that I completed B1 and B2 to a high quality as well as for each of their
deadlines. I feel I’ve improved my technical skills over the course of my second year too as my
shots are steadier and more varied in type compared to work, I had completed prior to this. My
photography has also improved during my second year compared to the Journeys project we
had completed in my first year. My images have begun coming out clearer and they have more
depth to them, in my opinion, as they had been planned out in detail when I had drawn out my
flat plans at the beginning of the year.
-How have you taken feedback on board? : Throughout the year, there have been various
points where I have taken in feedback regarding my ideas, the work I have produced, etc. When
I had originally put together a pitch and presented it to a small focus group, I sent out a
questionnaire to get some idea of what I could improve on the pitch. This feedback helped me
improve my work as it gave me ideas for what else to include in the pitch to ensure that it was
to a professional standard. Gathering feedback from those around was useful as when I took it
on board it meant that not only am I getting some ideas from those who are following the same
brief from me, but it also meant I can make changes to improve my work. It gives me a chance
to get an unbiased opinion from those with different standards of work to my own. However,
the most important piece of feedback I had gotten was on the different drafts I had put
together for my documentary. Getting opinions on the different editing styles, music types,
layouts. Etc helped me when I was putting together my final piece as it gave me the confidence
that I had been lacking. I got some more feedback on my final piece to ensure that it was
definitely to the highest standard and when I got back only positive feedback this showed me
that this work was to the highest standard.
AC1: Informing Ideas – I feel like I have improved this since the last project as my research has
proved to be a lot more detailed than they had been in previous projects, and due to the
quality of it, it meant I could use this research and tranlate it over to my script. As well as this I
had put a lot more effort into the research for this product as unlike the last two projects I
actually used my research for my final product.

8. AC2: Problem Solving – I had faced a lot of issues during previous projects such as work being
deleted and me not having a backup however, I made sure that because it had happened once
before that I made backups of each piece of work on both my USB stick that I carried around
with me but as well as this I made sure to put my word one OneDrive to ensure it would not be
lost. The fact that I also carried out forms to get feedback on more than one occasion
throughout this project demonstrates problem solving as I was helping myself eliminate/correct
anything my peers felt was not good enough in my documentary.
AC3: Technical Skill – I feel because of the way I had improved my technical skill in the last
product it meant that this time I didn’t have as much to improve on however my technical skill
improved nonetheless as I ended up using new pieces of hardware as well as new pieces of
software. I also feel like my shooting and frame has improved immensely compared to the last
project. The fact that I confidently was able to edit between two different pieces of software is
also something I feel helps make the point I met this criteria well (Having to work between
Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve.)
AC4: Professional Practice – I feel like my experiences with problem solving link in with this skill.
As well as this though I feel I also acted professionally during the making of my documentary
through the way I was able to act independently to get my work finished in time to meet
deadlines. I responded to setbacks well and did not let it defer me from the schedules I had put
in place.
AC5: Communication – I cleared showed that I am able to communicate well throughout the
duration of this project which I showed on many occasions, such as the way that I presented
myself when approaching people to gather feedback on different stages of my work. As well as
this the way that I presented my pitch shows clear proof that I communicated well during this
project as I feel I clearly communicated how my ideas were to be carried out into my
documentary as well as explaining how my ideas were, in fact, right for the consumer and the
client. The series of drafts also show my communication skill well as it shows many different
versions and stages of my documentary. The way I reflected on my feedback could also help
when it comes to proving I met this criteria well as I clearly communicated how I took the
feedback on board and how it helped me with correcting my work.