Yasminmuat02's Blog

Reflection 4: Personal Critical Evaluation

The production of this documentary has been a very eventful one and I feel that the group have worked well as a team to progress from a simple idea to a final edited clip. I find it incredible how a 3 minute clip could take 3 months of pure hard work.

Over the two months of the project, we have encountered many problems which began after the first pre-interview. The group were unsure of which route to go down with the documentary as there were many angles of the job that we could have used such as focusing on the body language of customers or even the philosophical side. We soon overcame this problem by going over the handouts and focusing on what would be the ‘heart of the story’ which enabled us to keep our focus onto what we really wanted out of this documentary as well as for our intended audience. Although to begin with the group were unsure of which areas of the interview to cut out, everyone put forward their ideas which helped with the editing to progress rapidly.

The only point that I feel that the group could have improved upon was the research aspect of the project as certain members did not carry out the relevant research therefore resulting to them not inputting their full contribution. This led to added pressure for others to find just as much information. I also think that the attendance of particular group members could have been better as they regularly had other commitments.

I think that the research process has been a continuous one throughout these last couple of months as I had to carry out primary research with Abdul in order to find out more about him which then later progressed into secondary research about his job and the company. I feel as though I have put my full contribution and efforts into this project as I have had to keep in touch with Abdul to keep him informed of the group’s intentions with this project. I have had to send him rough copies of the interview in order for him to mentally prepare himself as he gets nervous very easily due to him being a shy person. I have done excessive research in order to cover every aspect of the production as well as to ensure that we do not leave any vital information out. I have also taken a huge part in arranging the group meetings and keeping everyone informed of them. I have spent a lot of my time in the editing suites until late at night with Sam and Laura in order to complete the clip a week prior to the deadline to give the group time to organize their presentation.

I  have thoroughly enjoyed the highs and lows of making this documentary as it has been a great experience working with different group members as well as using equipment that I hadn’t used before such as the wireless clip microphone. This project has also raised my confidence on the editing suites as I had physical involvement with the editing in comparison to previous projects where other group members took over. I feel as though the group have made a new friend as Abdul contacts me now and then to see how we are getting on.