Madeleine Ross proposes a poetic documentary exploring issues facing contemporary women. She will examine the artwork "Claire as a Soldier" and how its message may have changed from the 1980s. Research will analyze masculinity in the 1980s, challenges of career and motherhood today, and how the internet both harms and supports women. The documentary will be evaluated through weekly reflections, behind-the-scenes footage, and a final review of each section's success. Production will include interviews, b-roll, editing, feedback, and final presentation.

1. Proposal
1
Centre Name and Number:
York College 48357
Student Name and Unique Learner Number:
Madeleine Ross- 4544327643
Project proposal title and date:
The Contemporary Woman (This title will most likely change)
Main area of activity:
The medium I will be working in is video and audio, specifically doing a poetic documentary, so
there is lots of focus on the audio and the visuals I use.
Rationale:
Over the past 2 years I have enjoyed working in video formats editing videos and in programmes
such as premier pro and I have also enjoyed writing and creating scripts for projects such as my
audio play. I loved the process of collecting sounds from around me and adding them to my audio
recordings, and this interest will help me keep motivated throughout the project, knowing I am
doing something I enjoy. I really love spoken word and literature, so writing pieces such as poems
or short proses is something I enjoy, and I may use this in my project. I am very passionate about
women’s studies and researching and understanding what it means to be a woman today, so this
is something I look forward to embedding into my project. Over the last 2 years, research has
always been the most interesting part for me, and I am excited to reach a new higher level with my
final project. Over the last two years I have become more aquatinted with programmes such as
adobe premier pro, and adobe audition, which I will certainly be using to create my project. I have
also gained knowledge in filming techniques and camera work, however it has not always been up
to the standard I want, so this is something I will keep in mind.
Project Concept:
In my project, I want to highlight the issues that the contemporary woman has in todays world, and
specifically looking at the art piece Claire as a Soldier, look at suggestions of what that piece of art
may look like today in comparison of how it may have looked in the 80s when it was initially
created. For this, I am going to research back into the 80’s and look at just how masculine the
culture was, how hard it would have been for Claire to break the mould and break into more
masculine roles such as industry. I will also research what the real issues are facing women today.
I would like to look at how challenging it can be to navigate a career and be a mother at the same
time with todays expectations for women, look at the internet as this is one of the biggest
evolutions from the 80’s and how women face the stress of revenge porn, media manipulation, and
a whole new place for them to be harassed. But I would also maybe like to touch on the positives,
how the internet can be a source of support, and how even though it can be a terrible place for
women, within that there are little places of safety. I am also going to research filming techniques
and tutorials, as poetic documentaries rely heavily on their stunning and well thought out visuals,
and sometimes in the past I have not quite got to the standard I want with that.
How will the project be evaluated and reviewed?
I will evaluate my project in a few different ways. Throughout the research and pre-production
stages, I will make weekly reflections and write about information I have collected, progress I have
made and what I will move onto in the next stage. I also will record myself talking about my
progress that week/stage and add it to my reflection section. When I start creating more in
practical work and make more progress than if I was just researching, I plan on shooting behind
the scenes footage as well as the weekly/daily reflections and show visually how I am progressing.
Once I have completed the project, I will evaluate my work and go into more details of what I have
done and how successful each section of the project has been, and possibly record a longer more
visual vlog to show each stage.

2. Proposal
2
Bibliography:
1. Film: Billy Elliott (2000) Stephen Daldry
2. Art: Claire as a Soldier (1987) Grayson Perry
3. Poem: A Eulogy to Billy Our Beloved Son (UNKOWN) Jack Taylor
4. Poem: Last Man Out Turn off the Light (1980s) Jack Taylor
5. Book: The Pre-Therapy Years (2020) Grayson Perry, Chris Stephens,Catrin Jones
6. TV Show: Sex Education Season 1 Episode 6 16:55 (Erics Breakdown)
7. Tutorial: Jeremy Siers . (2019). 10 Tips for Shooting Better B-Roll!
8. Tutorial: Studio Binder. (2018). Color Theory in Film
9. Article: Mary Beth Ferrante. (2018). The Pressure Is Real For Working Mothers.
10. News Report: Newsnight . (2015). Revenge porn, honourand shame.
Week Tasks to be Completed: Specific Tasks
1 Pre-production  Proposal and background research
2 Pre-production  Masculinity in the 80’s and in general.
 Eric Storyline
3 Pre-production  Tutorials, lighting, cinematography, colour theory
etc.
 Violence to women online- revenge porn, work
and motherhood, online harassment, everyday
sexisms
4 Pre-production  Experiment with lighting, shooting techniques on
a budget.
 Shot experimentation
5 Pre-production  Experiment with colour grading software, Da
Vinci resolve, practice colour scheming.
6 Pre-production  Visual shots and the representations I want them
to have.
 Colour schemes.
 How do I want it to look? What shots? Lighting
choices?
7 Pre-production  Plan visually! Create mock ups and use
experiments to test things out.
8 Production  Collect interviews either in person or ask
participants to state their views at home and send
them over.
9 Production  Get B-Roll/A-Roll
10 Production  Edit first draft together
11 Production  Draft peer feedback
12 Production  Edit 2nd draft, reshoot if need to
13 Production  Final edit.
14 Evaluation  Evaluation
15 Evaluation  Evaluation
16 Evaluation  Presentation
17 Moderation 
18 Show Preparation  Visit York Art Gallery if possible?
19 Show 