B2 Evaluation

1. Evaluation
Initial Research
I started my project by analysing the given brief which was to create a 10–20-minute short film or
documentary, the target audience is between the ages of 16-25 and the goal is to spread awareness
for Northeast talent in the local area. The client is Sunderland culture which is hosting the Bright
Lights: Northern Talent mixed media exhibition. After I interpreted the brief, I began to research
Sunderland Culture including who they are, what their values are, and what’s the goal of the
Northern Lights exhibition. Through my research I learned that Sunderland Culture is a charity
organization that organizes events such as Bright Lights in order to promote and advertise young and
upcoming talent to potential employers.
Planning My Project
After researching my client and brief, I began to think of ideas for a documentary or short film, my
first idea was an idea about different landmarks across the Northeast such as the Angel of the North
or Penshaw Monument, my second idea was a dinosaur documentary about different prehistoric
animals found in the Northeast, and my final idea was a noir crime drama in greyscale. I asked my
audience which idea they liked the most and they said that the dinosaur documentary was the most
unique and interesting. After choosing an idea, I began researching different documentaries and
analysing how they are shot and written, I also began writing my script around this time and
searching for locations to film. I decided that I wanted to film in the Winter Gardens as the
greenhouse area looks visually interesting and it has dinosaur statues, in order to film in that
location, I had to fill out logistical paperwork as well as send emails back and forth between myself
and the museum’s staff on suitable times and dates to film.
Producing My Product
After finishing my logistical paperwork, I filmed in the Winter Gardens early in the morning, before
the museum opened to the public. After I finished filming, I wrote in my production diary about how
I was able to film in the museum, what camera equipment I used and how said equipment was set
up. I began editing my footage in premier pro as well as recording my script, I recorded my script
separately due to my on-location audio being muffled and difficult to hear due to things like bad
weather or other people being heard, recording my audio separately also allows me to more easily
rerecord lines or correct errors at home.
After recording all my lines and editing my footage together on Premier, I realized that my
documentary was significantly shorter than it needed to be, after thinking about solutions, I decided
to add more to my script and try to increase the length of my project by five minutes. I reused my
footage from the Winter Gardens because I didn’t think I had enough time to record more footage,
after recording more audio and adding it to my video, I was planning to finish my documentary
during the easter holiday however I was unable to due to not having access to Premier Pro 2024 on
any computer at home or in college, therefore I couldn’t access or edit my project.
Analysing my Final Product
For my documentary I have used techniques frequently used in other documentaries such as using
art or models as a visual representation of what the presenter is talking about, I got my images from

2. Google images and other websites such as Wikipedia or Pinterest, I tried to find the original sources
for all my images weather it be an artist or 3D modeler and have their name next to the images.
Another common element of documentaries is a presenter, who explains and introduces information
to the viewer as well as acting as an audience surrogate, I am the presenter in this documentary as
well as the narrator. For different filming techniques I have used a lot of wide and establishing shots
as those shot types are frequently used in documentaries in order to showcase a new location or set,
I have also used zoom ins to draw the audience’s attention to a particular part of an image or shot.
Along with the pictures, I have used a white background in certain sections with images, this was in
response to feedback that said that when the images were on screen on top of moving background
footage, it was disorientating to the viewer.
Reflecting on The Stages
I benefited greatly from watching other similar documentaries as I was able to better understand the
codes and conventions of a documentary, I also tried to improve my understanding of how to use
Premier Pro and what different editing techniques I could use. Receiving helpful feedback was also
important to the production of my project primarily do make a dinosaur documentary instead of my
other ideas, changing how I showed images was also important as in using a background, adding
credits to the images, and making each picture the size of the frame or just larger in general.
Overall Performance
In terms of editing, I have improved my transitions primarily with cross dissolves and how to change
the length of a transition, I feel that I have also improved my audio however I understand that there
is room for improvement in terms of the volume of my audio. If I were to improve this project, I
would want to add more variety in terms of transitions and graphics instead of using primarily
dissolves. If I were to restart this project from the beginning I would like to learn more about Premier
Pro and how it works so that I could use a variety of transitions and graphics to improve how my
documentary looks visually, I would also add more detail to each section of my script and fact check
what I wrote as I had previously recorded something for my script that was wrong and I had to
remove that line from my video. Finally, I would make sure that my footage and script would be in
the ten minute or above time frame as realizing that my documentary was only three minutes long
made me very stressed. Overall, I believe that I my project has met the brief of a ten minute or above
documentary for people between the ages of 16-25 that focuses or showcases talent in the
Northeast and Sunderland area.