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

2. 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.

3. What was the theme of your project and what
attracted you to it?
The theme of my project was power stations in the landscape from a artistic
sense and people's views on them. I was attracted to this project theme as I've
always loved photographing power stations for my own personal portfolio as I
think there something iconic and British about them, but I also knew that many
people didn’t see them in the same way as me and thought they were eyesores
in the landscape so I thought that would make an interesting idea for a project
of some kind so I formed it into this documentary which talks about the
peoples opinions on the power stations and discusses them through the use of
interviews.
Another reason I decided to use this idea is because originally outside of
college I had thought of making this into a photo related project but decided it
needed more than just being photos as there a lot to talk about and hear the
opinions of people and I didn’t think a collection of images could do that
justice.

4. What research did you undertake and how did it
help develop your project?
I did a lot of research into other photographers and videographers that were using similar style choices and effects that I
was wanting to use for my project. mitch Epstein was a big influence on my work as his project American power was full of
photos that were similar shot types to what I wanted to use for video shots in my documentary with the big looming towers
over woods and buildings so doing research into his project really helped my plan out specific shots and got me thinking
about what I could use in the local area to match similar styled locations.
Another person I researched is a long-time favorite photographer and videographer George Muncey also goes by negative
feedback as his YouTube name. he's a British photographer who uses video in an interesting way for his work where he uses
lots of stills and lets the clips go on for a long time for the viewer to really enjoy the scene which really helped me with my
documentary as I knew I wanted to use this technique as soon as I heard him talking about it. So, watching his videos and
looking through his portfolio really helped me develop in my planning a set style wanted to go for and what kind of shots I
was going to be going for. The way he uses color also was a big inspiration for my work as he uses subtle warm colors in all
his nature scenes with trees and grass but then whenever he shoots anything industrial and concrete has got this really
nice flat blue tint to it which I really liked the look of, and I tried adapting that into my own work and I think it came out
nicely

5. How did you develop and improve your ideas
throughout the project?
A lot of my process was building up scenes around my interviews so the interviews were the first
things I filmed so I could have a general start to the timeline and fit things in around it I also
ironically mainly worked from the end of the documentary to the start in a backwards way as I knew
on the first week how I wanted it to end so I thought it was best to make it while the ideas were
fresh. This also helped me set the tempo of my documentary so I could make it as long or as short
as I needed as I've got the ending ready when I need. This also meant I could go back to my ending
and fit it in nicely with the rest of my clips and keep it cohesive.
one of the main ways I worked on this project was fitting I all my big clips like the interviews and
then adding in my favorite scenic clips on top of the timeline so the audio was still playing while you
could see the nice landscape videos id picked out, then I would just fill in the gaps with other small
clips of images or videos related to the subject.
There was a few instances where I completely changed my mind on a section like the ending where I
originally wanted there to be a montage of multiple power stations been blown up and have it cut
between clips of them really fast, but I decided that felt out of place for the ending and decided to
stick with one really nice shot with some text over it and I think this gives it more of an impactful
ending. I ended up using the idea of a montage to add into the middle of my documentary though
as a gap filler where I had clips of cooling towers standing nicely then id cut into the clips with
videos of them blowing up which I thought looked really neat.

6. What was the outcome of the project/task?
• The outcome of my project was a short documentary all about power
stations in the uk landscape and why people might want them
removing and why some might be sad to see them go I was also
heavily implying that these were of great significance in an artistic
point of view, so I used lots of imagery to show how much I liked
them especially from a photographic sense and a nostalgic sense.
•

7. 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.

8. How did you feel about the project before
you started?
• I felt a very strong desire to make this project about the subject
matter I chose as its something I enjoy talking about and looking at.
PowerStation's have always been a big part of my personal;
photographic style and I'm constantly walking around the cooling
towers finding ways to show them off with my cameras so I thought
this project would be a great way to show and explain why they're so
iconic and why I like them so much but to also get other peoples
opinions shown as I know that they're not very well liked across the
uk and I knew this would be a good topic for conversation/interview

9. What do you think about your project development and
how did it help you to refine your idea?
• I think the planning and devolving of my idea was extremely
necessary as originally I was going to focus my documentary solely on
power stations closing and interviewing people that worked there and
why their jobs were important but slowly disappearing but with my
developing and talking with my tutor I realized that I was wanting to
make it more about the landscapes from an artistic point of view and
id rather find out what other people thought of them and record
those interactions this was a big step in refining my idea and getting
the groundwork for my project.

10. Did you collaborate on your project or engage
contributors, etc?
• I dint contribute with any other people apart from using my family to
discuss what they thought about the power stations and how they're
viewed in their eyes I think they were great people to interview as
they had different opinions on the subject witch I wanted to try use to
show contrast between their beliefs which I think is a good way to
structure my interview I think I could have found some people that
were more opinionated on the matter but its hard to find some
people like that and I struggled.

11. How did you feel when the project was
completed and why?
• I felt good about my project overall I think I could have done better
with the first half as I worked on the timeline backwards so I ended
up using all my favorite clips and bits of footage in the 2nd half of the
video so I don’t think the first half is as good but overall I think the
style and how it flows is what I was planning I wanted to get it too
look like peoples work I was inspired by and put my own twist on it
and I think I succeeded in getting it to look like how I like

12. 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

13. 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 think the one of the good points about my project was getting two
different opinions for my interviews and trying to get them to contrast
against each other where one is biased on the power stations and the
other you can tell really doesn’t like them.
• I think my style in my project is one of my key parts as I wanted it to look
like it was all shot-on film cameras by using certain colors and lenses on
my digital camera to get the look I was going for which I think worked out
just how I wanted.
• I think how my landscape shots are laid out is one of my strong points as I
tried using my knowledge on photography to get nice b roll to fill in gaps
with nicely shot video which correlate well with my subject matter

14. What challenges did you face and how did you
respond to them? Try and think of at least 3...
• One of my main challenges was finding two people with different views on
the power stations as I had to ask a lot of my friend who didn’t really know
anything about them or what to talk about in an interview, luckily my
family had good knowledge on them and were happy to voice their
opinions for my interviews.
• Another challenge was trying to get good weather for my video shots as on
a lot of the days I set aside to film, the weather was horribly rainy and no
sun at all, so I really had to shift around my filming days and my editing
ones.
• Another problem I faced was when I was recording my interviews in the
location, I chose there was a lot of background car noises so I had to wait
for specific times in the night where there would be less road traffic to get
a nicer sounding interview

15. What were the negative points about the
experience, and what could you have done to
improve them?
• I think the first half of my documentary could have been vastly
improved but in the end, I used all my best footage on the 2nd half so I
was not able to fill up the sections in the beginning as well as I
wanted, if I could go back, I would have filmed more shots and spread
out my best bits of footage more evenly throughout the timeline so
its consistently good.
• A lot of the negative points were mainly fitting in my schedule around
the weather after having to mover my days around as I had it planned
down top what days I knew I wasn’t in college and could film luckily, I
managed to get enough footage I needed and the footage I'm happy
with.

16. How would you rate the final piece? [think along the lines of
poor, satisfactory, good or excellent...justify your rating]
• I think I would probably rate my final piece as a good just because the
first half lets it down comparted to the ending I believe which is
mainly my own fault and ill have to learn not to use all my best bits on
one half of the film I think this is justified as the good parts of my doc
are my style and my use of editing which is what I had planned for in
my research and planning since I knew the style I wanted and I
managed to pull it off with the use of black and white and some nice
color grading.

17. What is your opinion of your final piece? What
elements do you think are successful and why?
• My opinion on my final piece is that its good and it gets the peoples
views across on the power stations in a successful way mainly due to
the interviews. I think my stylistic elements are what pulls my whole
video together though as without the style I've put on it I think it
would be really boring as the talking won't be interesting to everyone
which is why I tried so hard to set a style I knew was different and fit
in well with my theme. I think the reason these elements are
successful is because they go well together because I set a theme of
old-fashioned British power stations and using a vintage themed color
grading works well when filming them especially when using the black
and white because its of that same time period where the power
stations were first built

18. How well did your project apply the characteristics
and conventions of the medium you worked in?
• I think they applied well like I talked about in my last slide as all my
elements pair together well with the subject matter I've chosen as I
knew there was specific characterizations, I needed to add to make it
seem authentic like a real documentary. I took a lot of inspiration
from a videographer in my research who uses video in a certain way
where you have long shots with no movement from the camera to
show off the landscape which was a characteristic I really wanted to
incorporate in my documentary, and I think it really works in mine.

19. How did your design appeal to your target
audience?
• I think my design appealed because it's made for anyone with an
interest in power stations or even people that would just like to know
more about them and I think when the audience think of power
stations, they think old-fashioned which is why I chose the design
method of making at all look vintage like it was shot when power
stations were first around using old vintage film lenses to recreate this
look. I think this style of filming is becoming very popular in recent
years where you make things look vintage or retro which is really
good for drawing in an audience that like that style.

20. 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.

21. In what ways was the overall project a
success?
• Overall, it was successful because I managed to do what I wanted
which was having 2 interviews that were contrasted in their beliefs
and I wanted the whole project to look how id planned which was
vintage and old-fashioned which I believe are my strongest parts of
my documentary and the parts I focused heavily on when planning
and filming. It was also a success because I managed to keep withing
the timer frame set as well because I dint drag it out past 5 minutes
since I knew that people would get bored and loose interest if its just
people talking for a long time so I made it as graphical as I could with
lots of landscape shots and images id taken.

22. What elements did not go well and why?
• I think I could have found interviewees that were more determined to tell
how they feel about power stations as I originally wanted two people with
strong views with one absolutely hating them and the other loving them,
but I soon realized people like that are hard to find and I had to manage
with my family who had their own beliefs and views on them which worked
nicely but still wasn't as strong as I wished those sections could have been.
Another element that didn’t go as well as I planned was how I presented
my themes as I struggled to make it about artistic beliefs, and it tended to
lean more into the environmental damage that they cause which I should
have seen coming as that’s one of the biggest problems with the power
stations.
• But I think leaning into the environment worked well with the
documentary it would have just been better if id planned for it to be more
about that.

23. How did your skills develop during the portfolio? [remember,
skills aren't just technical, remember things like organisation,
time management, communication, etc as well]
• I think my time management developed well during this project as I kind of
had to force myself to adapt to my time frame since a lot of my filming days
had to be changed so this forced me to be resourceful with my time while
editing and filming.
• I also believe my use of premier has greatly improved as I've learnt lots
more about using key framing to make slow zooms and lots of sound
changing while being on this project which will be really useful for the
future and other projects I make.
• I think I also learnt to communicate with my interviewees well as we sat
and discussed lots before filming about how they were best to answer the
questions and what kind of answers I was looking for to fit well with my
video which I wasn’t used to doing before and will greatly help if I ever
have to interview any people I don't know.

24. What meaning and messages did you want to
convey and were you successful?
• Originally the message I wanted to convey was that people shouldn’t
be so hateful of power stations and that they should be able to look
at them from an artistic view and take them for what they look like
and not for the damage they’ve caused but as the project went along
it ended up being more about showing other peoples opinions on
them and also showing the environmental impact the power stations
have which showed why their getting demolished which in the end I
think works nicely but I didn’t really plan for it to turn out like this and
I think it would have really benefitted from more planning around this
way making the documentary. So I wasn’t successful in my original
intent but I think it was successful in other ways of showing the
problems the power stations make.

25. What feedback did you get from your peers
and viewings?
• I showed my family my project and they had very similar thoughts to me
where its starts of slow and a bit unfilled but then in the 2nd half really
shows of the best parts of my project and really comes into its own style
especially with the ending most people I showed seemed to like the little
montage style ending I did which I was happy to hear.
• Most of the feedback I got was it looked really nice but it needed more
information for it to be a documentary.
• Another good point I was told was it didn’t seem to have a clear focus on
what I was trying to tell people which I think is true and mainly because of
what I talked about on previous slides where the points I was trying to get
across changed over my project and ended up being different to what I d
planned

26. What would you do differently in the future
and why?
• I would make sure as I go along, I don’t change what I'm talking about
ad keep my focus clear on one specific outcome otherwise the whole
documentary loses its focus on a subject like mine kind of did.
• I would also make sure I don’t use all my best footage towards the
end of my documentary and make sure to split it evenly throughout
to get a more filled video instead of one-half being way better than
the other.
• I would also plan for bad weather in my panning so I don’t have to
rush to change my days of editing and filming

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

28. If you were making a similar project in the
future, what would you do differently?
• I would stick to one specific them and not complicate it with multiple
ideas on how to get my message across.
• I would also structure my video out more in my planning, so I know
how to spreads my footage evenly and not miss out in areas because
of poor planning.
• I would also not pick a subject like this as I feel you need to know
people to have better interviews and to be able to get more in-depth
knowledge about the subject matter to give it justice.

29. 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.
• I think I could do more research into how to keep my themes
consistent and how to make my documentary obvious about what I'm
trying to get across which is the main thing I've struggled with on this
subject. I think even watching some YouTube videos or guides online
would be helpful for me to make another project like this as there's
lots more I need to plan for when making something like this as I've
realized as the project went along.
• Even asking a tutor or someone who knows more about structuring a
documentary would be useful help to practice.

30. What personal attributes could you develop to
ensure you are working at a professional level?
• I think I need to make sure I take more time to flesh out in my out
time what exactly I want to make this documentary about and make
sure when I start the project to not change It along the way like I've
done subconsciously with this one.
• I also need to manage my time better and be even more ready for
changes in schedule so I can get my work in on time and not have to
worry about fixing things last minute.
• I do work a lot outside of college, but I think I need to do even more if
I want my projects to get better.