Year 11: Week 12 (Controlled Hours 19 & 20)

In today's lesson you will answer the following questions;

1. How successful is the rough cut of my documentary?
2. What improvements should I make?
3. When must I submit my completed Documentary & Production Log (including storyboard).

After todays lesson, you will have until we break up for Xmas to complete the following tasks;

1. Make improvements to your documentary based upon audience feedback.
2. Submit the final cut of your completed documentary (upload to School Vimeo account).
3. Complete a storyboard for your final documentary (each person in your group must draw and annotate an individual storyboard; you can't submit a group one! We have storyboard templates for you to use though).
4. Submit your completed Personal Production log (use the checklist and the Individual Progress Grid to make sure that all elements are fully completed).

To support you, here is a countdown to this deadline;

After Xmas, you will have just 3 lessons to complete the Evaluation before the final unit deadline.

_________________________________________________________

Collecting Audience Feedback in Today's Lesson

You have a page in your Production Log called "Audience Feedback". This is the page we are addressing today. Your first task is to identify what areas of your production you would like to receive feedback on. Is it the camerawork? The editing? The narrative structure? The soundtrack? Maybe you will want to ask more general questions such as "What went well?" or "What could we improve?". You decide what you want to ask the audience at this test screening (but don't have too many questions).

You must also decide how you are going to present your audience feedback in your Production Log. If you want to present a written summary with qualitative data, you will need comments to analyse and to use as quotations. If you want to present quantitative data, you will need some scores to turn into charts or graphs. Maybe you want to use a mixture of both methods? You will have 15 minutes to decide what questions you want to ask your audience and how you want them to answer (comments or score). Type them into a Word document so that I can turn them into an computer questionnaire (Socrative Test) that students can complete whilst we exhibit your film on the Interactive Whiteboard.

You will have a maximum of 20 minutes to exhibit your film and collect your feedback. At the end of the lesson, I will send you your feedback as an Excel document (so you can turn the data into charts if you wish) and a pdf document (so that you can easily read everyone's comments and quote them). You can take this feedback away and complete the 'Audience Feedback' page of your Production Log in your own time. (but before the deadline).

As mentioned above, after this lesson you will only have until the end of term to address the issues raised by your test audience, to draw your storyboard, to finish your Individual Production Log and to complete the final cut of your film (see deadline above).

Peer Satisfaction Survey

I am hoping to have time for you to complete the Peer Satisfaction Survey too, identifying the value of the contribution each group member has made. If not today, we will complete this very soon. I will use the results of this survey to allocate final marks for the documentary.

Peer Satisfaction Survey (Mrs Macey's Class)

Peer Satisfaction Survey

Individual Production Log Progress (HOO)

Peer Satisfaction Survey (Mr Hood's Class)

It's time to see how well everyone in your group is contributing. The differences in level of contribution will impact on the final mark allocated to each group member. So, at the start of this week's lesson you'll take the contribution survey...

Click Here

Year 11 : Weeks 10 & 11 (Controlled Hours 15,16,17 & 18)

You now have two weeks (4 hours) to edit your documentary IN LESSON TIME ONLY! You may not edit your film after school or at lunchtimes.

You must exhibit your film to a selection of your identified target audience in Week 13 to gather target audience feedback; that's the week that starts Monday 30th November (organise a test screening event in that week). I will post more information about your test screening event next week, including methods of gathering audience feedback.

To be clear about what you can and can't do out of lesson time for the next two weeks...

What You Can Only Do in Lesson Time Only...

• Open your project in Final Cut Pro X.
• Import footage from your camera.
• Edit your footage.
• Review your footage in FCP X.
• Import sound effects or soundtrack into FCP X.
• Edit sound in FCP X.
• Investigate the impact of effects on the clips in your storyline.
• Continue work on the final draft of your storyboard (the one that will be submitted).
• Continue work on your script (the one that will be submitted).

What Can be Completed At Other Times (for OHL)...

• Any of your research & planning documents (documentary research, existing product research, topic research, etc).
• Plan & consider elements to be included in your storyboard.
• Plan & consider script elements.
• Source & review sound effects & appropriate soundtrack extracts (search Free SFX, etc).
• Shoot additional footage (interviews, B-roll, etc).
• Review the quality of footage on your camera.

So remember, the final film, together with the final drafts of the storyboard & script, can only be worked on during formal lesson time!

Advice on Editing & Post-Production 'Fixes'

• Timing is everything; editing has a rhythm, like beats in a bar in music or the movements of a dancer.
• Editing to a soundtrack is important; cut when the music changes or at the start of bars (certainly, always on the beat at least).
• Don't use approximate clip lengths; be very specific about the point (frame) at which your film cuts.
• Don't have unnecessary gaps of silence at the start or end of interviews, etc (cut tight).
• Don't rely 100% on straight cuts; use some split edits to anticipate dialogue or new environments (cut to the new sound before we see the image on screen).
• Use some camera movement. If it wasn't there in the original footage, try the Ken Burns effect (key-frame zooms, reverse zooms or tracking shots).
• Remember, you can fix a number of framing issues in post-production. For example, if you didn't observe the Rule of Thirds when you shot your footage, zoom in a little (enlarge the image) and then crop, shifting the frame to the left or right. You can also eliminate excessive headroom or wasted space to the right of left that doesn't contribute to the meaning of the shot.
• Too much background noise? FCP can fix that!
• Dialogue a little unclear? FCP can fix that!
• Shots too dark or too light? FCP can fix that!
• Don't forget to 'connect' B-roll clips (don't try to cut them into your primary storyline)
• 'Connect' music & sound effects too (use the 'Q' shortcut, don't drag them in).
• Consider the balance of dialogue, soundtrack and effects carefully; we need to be able to hear what is being said clearly.
• Don't forget that you can use 'Show Animation' function on a clip in you want to fade it in or out (adjust opacity).
• Do you need to apply a visual effect to flashbacks or reconstructions to make them seem a little 'dreamy'?
• Make sure your documentary has a 3-act narrative; an introduction, some development and a conclusion.
• Don't forget your documentary title. Where will you place it? At the start? Between the introduction and development sections? You decide!

What Can Your Teacher Do?

Your teacher can't give you creative ideas such as suggesting a narrative, telling you where to cut, suggesting an effect or identifying elements of your production that require improving (your target audience feedback will achieve this anyway).

However, your teacher can tell you how to achieve the creative ideas you have. For example, you can ask "How do we use the Ken Burns option?" or "Can you show use how to crop the image?".

Your teacher is there to advise you on the application of workflows in FCP (show you how things work), not to suggest ideas that  impact on the creative quality of the outcomes. 

Out of Hours Learning

• Further develop the research elements of your Production Log.
• Source & review sound elements that could be used in your production.
• Complete the Lesson Evaluation document.

Year 11 Week 9 (Controlled Hours 13 & 14) : Post-Shoot Script, Scripting Reconstructions & Storyboard

Now that you have finished filming, you need to think about constructing your documentary. To help you to organise the clips into an effective and coherent product, you should produce a Post-Shoot Script and a Storyboard. The Storyboard is a very important piece of evidence as it is the only planning document specifically identified in the specification, so make a good one!

Post-Shoot Script

The Post-Shoot Script is a highly detailed record of your intentions. It includes;

• Scene Number & Shot Description (e.g. Scene 1, Shot 1, ECU)
• Time (the timecode : where in your film will this shot start, e.g. 0:01:13 = 1 minute & 13 secs)
• Narration (Is there a voiceover? What will the narrator say? In other words...his/her lines!)
• Visual (a description of what we will see on the screen)
• Audio (a description of what we will hear; sound effects, soundtrack, asynchronous sound, etc)

You can see an example of a Post-Shoot Script in construction in the example Production Log here. (Also available on the Production Portfolio Log Blog here.) Make sure you 'turn' to the correct tab in the Production Log!

Scripting Reconstructions

If you have reconstructions in your documentary, these must be scripted in the traditional way. There are very particular conventions that you must use when writing a script and I will go through them in more detail in class. Here is an example of a properly formatted script that follows industry conventions;

A film company will not even look at a script if it is not properly formatted using size 12 Courier font! You can find out more information about scripts here and here.

Storyboard

A storyboard is a highly detailed record of your intentions in terms of framing & editing. It shows;

• Shot Number (as a reference for the Production Team)
• Transitions (how you are going to move from one shot to another)
• Shot Description (EXT or INT, DAY or NIGHT, Shot Type, Camera Movements, etc)
• Image (a drawing of what is on screen)

The drawings on your storyboard don't have to be works of art, but they must accurately represent what is on screen (you can use stick men but they must be at the correct shot distance, angle, etc). The examiner & moderator will compare your storyboard to your finished film and they MUST be the same!

Now, yours is a little bit different to a normal storyboard in that you already have the footage and can't use the storyboard so plan framing (it's too late). However, it terms of planning a strategy for editing, it is still a very useful document.

At AS & A2 level, before they go out and shoot their film, students export each frame of their storyboard into Final Cut and make what's called an animatic (a mock up of their film, complete with soundtrack, etc). It is used to give them an idea of what their film will look like, shot lengths required, etc.

Here is an example of the storyboard template you should use (available in class);

And here is an example of a single page from a completed storyboard. Notice the level of detail;

Generic Production Portfolio Feedback

These are some of the trends I have observed whilst reviewing your progress. Individual feedback is not allowed, but generic advice to keep you 'on track' is acceptable. Here goes...

Production Details : Capital Letters for peoples’ names. Make sure your details are the same as everyone else in your group!

Workflow : This will provide evidence for ‘time management’ success criteria

Documentary Research : Not just a list. Requires an introduction. Better with real media texts identified (real examples)

Existing Product Research : You should have 2 contrasting examples. It is best not to present the questions from the blog; just use them to write a piece of extended writing.

Project Focus Summary : What are you making a documentary about? Why is this subject important?

Target Audience Research : You should research audiences for documentaries (use Pearl & Dean data, IMBD data or questionnaire data). You should also include a TAP (that is called a “Target Audience Profile”).

Topic Research : If you make factual claims, signpost the reader to the evidence. You could also list references (websites your used, authors, books, magazines, journals, TV programmes you’ve watched, etc) at the end of your page.

Location Research : Should include photos of the locations you are evaluating. Evaluations should include what’s good and bad about each location and what are the challenges you must overcome (lighting, access, permission to use, travel & distance). For interviews, justify your choice of background or location.

Interviewee Information : Who are you interviewing? Why is their opinion important? What can they contribute to the debate?

Pre-Shoot Script : Have you got an obvious 3-act narrative? (Introduction, Development & End/Conclusion)

Interview Questions : Have you prepared the questions you are going to ask your interviewees?

Shot List & Shooting Schedule : A record of what shots you need, when you plan to shoot them, etc.

Production Diary : Should summarise the work done; both the group’s and your own.

Production Calendar : Should identify completed tasks and future targets / deadlines.

Mr Hood's Satisfaction Rating & Class Ranking

Who is making the most progress? Who needs to spend more time completing their Production Log? Let's have a look...

Reminder & Information for Mr Hood's Class

Can the following students please update the Lesson Evaluation Document;

• Lauren
• Brad
• Marc
• Dan
• Lewis
• Lydia
• Conor
• Louis
• Ellis

If it is not completed before next lesson, I will provide you with an opportunity to update the document immediately following the lesson (that's after 3.30pm folks!).

Also, I have looked at your Production Logs and this is a copy of the summary of your progress (see "Individual Progress Grid" in the sidebar for full document).

I will now use this data to establish a "Mr Hood's Satisfaction Rank Order" for the class (number of 'greens' minus the number of 'reds') Watch this space...

Professor Green - Suicide and Me

If you missed this recent documentary, I suggest you go to BBC iPlayer and watch it. This is another excellent example for you to analyse. Pay attention to the B-roll footage and the topic of discussion at the same time. There are some good examples of editing techniques included in this documentary that you may wish to use in your own documentaries.

Year 11 : Week 8 (Controlled Hours 11 & 12)

In today's lesson you will answer the following questions;

1. What is the quality of my interview footage?
2. What is the quality of my B-roll footage?
3. Are there elements we need to film again?
4. Why should we transcribe our interviews?
5. Can we now establish a final 3-act narrative?

If you are on schedule and following our recommended timetable, you should now have all your footage. The quality of this footage is really important; poor framing, camera angles & camera movements will impact significantly on your final mark. You need to check every shot you filmed. For each shot, ask yourself the following questions;

• Did we follow the rule of thirds?
• Is there any unnecessary 'dead space' in the shot?
• Have we left appropriate 'head room' and 'talking space'?
• Is our interviewee inappropriately placed in the middle of the shot?
• Is out interviewee looking slightly left/right of the camera, towards an off-camera interviewer on the opposite side of the frame?
• Does the interviewee use the question in their answer? Does their answer make sense when you remove the interviewer's voice/question?
• Have we filmed the interview in an appropriate location? Is there an appropriate background?
• Does our B-roll contribute to issues of representation for our target audience?
• Are all camera movements smooth?
• Have we always used the most appropriate shot distance?
• Is the shot held steady throughout? Did we use a tripod?
• Is every shot in focus?
• Is lighting appropriate? Can we see the facial features of our interviewees?
• Is sound recorded cleanly? Are there any distracting noises in the background?
• Could this shot be improved?

If you answer negatively to any of the above questions for ANY of your shots, it WILL impact on your final mark and, therefore, you should film that shot again!

Transcribing Your Interviews

You have to transcribe your interviews so that you can analyse what was said and decide which bits you are going to use. Transcribing involves typing up a paper copy of the interview; the questions and the interviewee's responses. It is quite time consuming, but it is the normal way in which documentary makers and researchers analyse the responses they have collected. You should include an extract from one of the transcriptions in your Production Portfolio.

Establishing a 3-Act Narrative

Now that you have an accurate record of your footage, you can start to establish the actual narrative for your documentary. Effectively, you are adding more detail to your pre-shoot script, including the theme of the content. Remember, you're documentary should have an Introduction, Development Section & a Conclusion/Summary. Discuss this as a group as, next lesson, you will have to complete a detailed Post-Shoot Script (see example here).

Year 11 : Week 7 (Controlled Hours 9 & 10)

You should be shooting your footage this week and we have included lesson time for this too (although you won't be able to get it all done in the 2 hours of lessons you have this week; at least not good quality footage, so you should be filming at other times too.)

However, I would like to take this opportunity to remind of some basic filming rules that you must observe to achieve a good mark/grade;

• Hold a shot steady by using a tripod at all times.
• When filming interviews, consider the rule of thirds and leave a little 'headroom' and 'talking space'. Don't place your interviewee in the middle of your shot!
• When filming interviews, have the interviewee looking at the interviewer off camera (Placed the interviewee on the right? Have them looking slightly to the left of the camera. Placed the interviewee on the left? Have them looking slightly to the right of the camera). Don't have the interviewee looking directly at the camera during interviews!
• Take notice of what's happening in the background. You should consider the mise-en-scene and not just focus on your subject!
• Collect appropriante B-roll. Consider some camera movement too (smooth pans, etc).
• Don't use the zoom button! If you want to get closer, move the camera!
• Consider lighting. Is the room well lit? Don't film into the sun!
• Use the clapperboard to label your shots; it will save you a load of time afterwards! (You will need a DRY WIPE pen to write on the clapperboards).
• Consider background noise. Don't film interviews in noisy locations!
• Don't break the 180 Degree Rule!
• Get the interviewee to include the question in the answer!

Consider the feedback you received from the mock interview filming task and watch our Lego Documentary example again too.

Out of Hours Learning (including Half Term)

• Collect some more of your documentary footage.
• Maintain your Production Diary, summarising the events of each shooting session.
• Address any weaknesses identified on your class's Progress Grid (improve earlier research documents).
• Complete the 'Research Into Existing Products' page in your Production Log (see below)

Research Into Existing Products (to be completed over half-term)

You have to demonstrate that your own work is modelled on investigations into similar products. I would expect to see a 2-3 page document that reviews other documentaries. The documentaries you review can be professional products or documentaries made by other students.

We have a post on the Production Portfolio blog that gives advice on constructing a review and poses questions that should be answered in your review. You can present your review in any way that you like; an essay, a Q&A format, a table, a structured mind map, etc. Click here to go directly to that post.

You can review any documentary (TV or Film). I would imagine that your need to review 2 or 3 contrasting products (including at least 1 commercial & 1 student product). Here are some links to some existing products but, of course, you are free to use any documentary (you could use YouTube to find a documentary on a subject that really interests you);

Mr Hood's / Mrs Macey's Lego Documentary

Bowling for Columbine (this page has additional information about this documentary too)

Touching The Void (this page has additional information about this documentary too)

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Inside the Post Office (contains additional information)

Planet Earth (this page contains additional information about this documentary too)

'Litter' Documentaries (filmed by last year's Year 12 students)

'Litter' Documentaries (filmed by last year's Year 13 students - contains documentaries & feedback)

BFI's 50 Greatest Documentaries

Professional Documentary Reviews

Monitoring Individual Progress in Unit B324 (HOO)

As you know, we are not allowed to give you specific feedback on your Production Portfolio work. However, we are allowed to monitor your progress and take steps to keep you 'on track'. Therefore, I've added a monitoring document to the sidebar on which I will ROG assess your progress. The aim is to keep you moving forward and on track to finish without telling you specifically what improvement to make or what detail to add. I will take in your flash drives next lesson, examine your progress and complete the monitoring table ASAP. There is a key to identify my judgements. You can then use half term to make improvements to your individual research documents.

Year 11 : Week 6 (Controlled Hours 7 & 8)

In this week's lessons you will answer the following questions;

1. Have we, as a production team, completed all pre-shoot preparations?
2. Have we, as a production team, constructed a shortlist & shooting schedule?
3. Have we, as a production team, booked camera kits and other equipment?
4. Have we prepared talent release forms?

This is the final week of preparations before shooting your footage next week (and over half term). You need to make sure that all of your pre-shoot documents are complete. This includes the documents you should have completed in previous weeks;

• Production Summary
• (Workflow)
• Documentary Research
• Project Focus Summary
• Target Audience Research
• Topic Research
• Location Research
• Interviewee Information
• Pre-Shoot Script
• Interview Questions

This week you must complete two more documents;

• Shotlist & Shooting Schedule
• Talent Release Forms

Shotlist & Shooting Schedule

Complete the Shotlist & Shooting Schedule form included in your Individual Portfolio. This is what you should put in each column;

Shooting Date - The date that your intend to shoot this footage.
Shooting Times - The time that you intend to shoot your footage on each day.
Shot Description - Label the shot distance & camera movements, (e.g. Talking heads shot of interviewee X or Establishing shot of the school or long shot of students on redgra)
Shot No. - Just list them 1 to whatever so that you can identify them later.
Location - The place where you are going to film.
Crew Required - Who is going to be working on location this day.
Cast Required - Who are you going to be filming? Can leave blank if not filming people/animals. Have you let them know when they are required?
Costume - List anything that you need your cast member to wear.
Props - What props do you need for this shot? (think about my lego interview shots with lego in the background).
Equipment Required - Camera? Tripod? Tracking equipment? Location recorders?
Location Risk Assessed - Have you considered the hazards of filming on this location? Have you made arrangements to minimise the risk.
Shot Filmed - Complete this column afterwards. Are you happy with the footage? (ROG)
Production Diary Completed - Again, complete this column afterwards. It's there to remind you to complete you Production Diary.

Talent Release Forms

You need to get everyone who features in your documentary to sign a Talent Release Form. Without this, you don't have permission to use their image or voice in your film. We have a standard form that we use in school; you can access it here. Download it, print it and get your interviewees to sign it. Then scan it and save a copy in your portfolio.

After today's lesson, you can book out your camera (see online link) and start filming. All of your footage must be shot by by your first lesson after half term, so you can use next lesson, any time after school or even half term (you can take the camera home in the holiday). Half term gives you a perfect opportunity to capture some great footage. However, we must first talk about safety & security!

Any students not contributing fully to the filming process over the next two weeks will automatically lose marks for this unit (up to 30 marks; equal to more than 2 GCSE grades for this entire unit), so make sure you don't miss the agreed sessions. Following the shooting process, in the first lesson back, you will complete another Peer Satisfaction Survey, the results of which will be used as evidence when distributing marks to individuals.

Out of Hours Learning

• Update the Lesson Evaluation document (in sidebar)
• Update your Production Diary, summarising the progress you have made this week.
• Update your Production Calendar, identifying any deadlines or production team meetings you set.
• Complete all the Individual Portfolio documents in preparation for filming.

Next Lesson

• Filming your footage
• Analysing an existing product (half-term OHL)

Example Production Calendar

Here is an example of a successful Production Calendar too. You should record;

• Deadlines agreed by the team
• Meetings
• Your Lessons

Example Production Diary

An example of a decent Production Diary has been requested. Here is one from a successful student in 2013. This is the level of detail you should be including. You should record a diary entry every time you make some progress or develop your portfolio.

B321 Feedback (HOO)

I'm going to try to see you individually this week and give some feedback about how you did in unit B321, the Individual Portfolio. Marks are still being moderated between teachers, but I can give you an indication of the grade, strengths and weaknesses. I will also back up your B324 progress (copy your pen drive).

Difficulties with Embedded Word Documents

Some of you are reporting difficulty accessing the embedded Word documents in your Production Log. This is because we are using different versions of Word. However, this doesn't have to be a problem (and isn't a reason to fail to complete OHL). All of the embedded Word documents are blank anyway and they are just there to remind you to do the work. Therefore, use your own version of Word, or alternative word processor, and just save the document to flash drive (make sure you give the document the accurate 'save as' title though). It doesn't matter that the documents aren't embedded into the Production Log as we just print everything off at the end and assemble the pages into a little booklet for the moderator anyway. The single Production Log file was only for printing convenience! We are quite prepared to open & print multiple documents if it makes it easier for you!

Year 11 : Week 5 (Controlled Hours 5 & 6)

In this week's lessons you will answer the following questions;

1. Who should we interview for our documentary?
2. What B-Roll should we shoot?
3. What questions should we ask?
4. What is the intended 3-Act structure that our documentary will have?

Question 1

Who are you going to interview? What is their area of expertise? How can they contribute to your search for truth? How will their opinions illuminate the issue for your target audience?

Identify the names of the individuals you are going to interview. Justify their selection. How did you identify them as a good source of information. A brief summary of their background, experience or area of expertise is needed. What about a photo? A word processed document entitled 'Interviewee Information' should be saved onto your flash drive. (This is likely to be a shared document).

Question 2

What B-roll do you want to film? What types of locations do you intend to use?  What locations did you recce (recon)? Which ones did you dismiss? Why did you dismiss them? Which locations did you choose? Why are these good choices; how do they represent meaning for your target audience?

Answer the questions above in the 'Location Research' document. Don't forget to include some photographs.

Question 3

You've identified your interviewee's but how are you going to structure your interviews? What questions are you going to ask them? Are you going to ask everyone the same questions or will you have specific questions for specific interviewees? Are you going to include warm-up questions, designed to put your interviewee at ease but not really focussing on your issue in depth? 

As a production team, agree the questions you want to ask each interviewee. Record these questions in the 'Interviewee Questions' document. (This is likely to be a shared document).

Question 4

Now you need to construct an overall vision for your documentary. It should have 3 parts or acts;

1. INTRODUCTION : Introduce the topic. Give us some facts to put the issue into context. Pose your killer question.
2. DEVELOPMENT : Investigate your question or issue. Present differing opinions. Address the controversies. Present your reconstructions. Investigate possibilities.
3. CONCLUSION : Present your final thoughts, the truth or a possible solution. Imagine 'Jerry Springer's Final Thought' format.

As a production team, agree a vision for your documentary. Record your intentions on the 'Pre-Shoot Script' document. You should consider the order of individual elements within each act. Perhaps colour the cells of the Excel document to identify each of the three acts. You won't be able to identify all of the content (you don't know what your interviewees are going to say yet) but you can identify generic intentions. See my example here (go to the 3rd tab; Pre-Shoot Script).

AT THE END OF THE LESSON, EACH GROUP WILL PRESENT THEIR INTENTIONS TO THE CLASS.

Out of Hours Learning

• Update the Lesson Evaluation document (in sidebar)
• Update your Production Diary, summarising the progress you have made this week.
• Update your Production Calendar, identifying any deadlines or production team meetings you set.
• Complete  the Interviewee Information document.
• Complete the Location Research document.
• Complete the Pre-Shoot Script.

Documentary Thought Clouds (HOO & MAC)

Your 'Thought Clouds' have been posted on the 'Documentary Ideas' page (see the link in the sidebar in the 'Exhibition of Pupils' Work' section. I will add your clouds to your Production Log on your memory stick.

Year 11 : Week 4 (Controlled Hours 3 & 4)

In this week's lessons you will answer the following questions;

1. What is the agreed focus of our documentary?
2. Will our idea stand up under scrutiny from our teacher?
3. Who would be the target audience for a documentary with this focus?
4. How can I develop and demonstrate an appropriate level of knowledge and understanding of our chosen topic?

You will be working in Production Teams for all of your lesson time this week. In that time, and completed for OHL, you will need to address the objective questions above. You will need to provide evidence that you have addressed the questions in your personal Production Log. Whilst you are completing this lesson's work, I will audit your Production Logs to make sure that you have completed last week's OHL (Production Details & Documentary Research).

Group Communication

When working in a production team, good communication is the key to success. Don't wait until your timetabled lessons to share information. You need to be able to communicate between lessons. You could arrange a physical meeting, but 'virtual meetings' are often more effective as group members can access the meeting at different times. Therefore, why not consider a group Facebook page (you can't access it in school though) or use group text messaging. I'm sure you can find a way of sharing information beyond the limitations of the lesson!

Questions 1 & 2

Once you, as a group, have agreed a topic, you need to persuade your teacher that you can achieve the required outcomes with this topic as a focus for your documentary. Your teacher will require convincing of the following points;

• There is an 'issue' or 'truth' to investigate or seek (your documentary needs a 3-act narrative)
• You can explain why an investigation of this topic is important
• Your documentary is likely to have audience appeal (you need a target audience)
• You have an idea of the type of footage you will want to shoot and that the shooting of this footage is realistic and achievable ("We're going to interview the Prime Minister" or "We're going to film B-Roll of bull-fighting in Spain" would be worrying proposals!)
• You have an idea of the type of people you may wish to interview, including 'experts' who can illuminate the issue for you (but not necessarily their names yet)
• You have an idea of the type of B-roll you may wish to collect.
• There is an opportunity to include the conventions of your documentary type; talking-head interviews & voice-over for expository documentaries, a 'presenter' or filmed researcher for participatory documentaries, use of stills, use of B-roll, etc.

To convince your teacher, complete the Project Focus Summary in your Production Log (embedded Word document) and submit to your teacher. You can present your summary in any way you want, including question and answer format, extended writing or a table. There are other methods too. This is one of the documents that is likely to be 'shared', with all group members having the same summary in their portfolio. However, everyone must contribute, so I suggest that you complete this document in today's lesson time. You must address the points raised above but you can also include any other information you consider relevant that will help your teacher to evaluate your proposal. Identify the intended deadline for the submission of this summary in your Production Calendar.

Question 3

You need to identify a target audience for your product. There are many ways to collect target audience information, including;

• Examine audiences for similar existing products (IMDB, Pearl & Dean, BFI, etc)
• Survey people's interest ("Would you be interested in..." or "Which of these topics...", etc)

Once you have collected evidence to suggest a target audience, you need to construct a Target Audience Profile (TAP). You completed a TAP in Unit B321, so you know how to do this. However, a TAP without firm evidence to support your proposal is worthless, so don't JUST do a TAP! You should research existing audiences individually and, once you've shared your conclusions, agree and construct a group TAP (you should always have a single TAP for the whole production team).

Present your existing audience research & TAP on the Target Audience Research document in your Production Log (embedded Word doc). Identify a deadline for the completion of this work in your Production Calendar. 

Question 4

OK, you've agreed a topic and identified a target audience, now you need to demonstrate some understanding of the topic you've chosen. There are several ways to do this;

• Write a short essay (1 to 2 pages only)
• Construct a 'Key-Facts Sheet', using bullet-points, clip art, charts, etc.
• Construct a mind map, separating information into categories

Other methods exist too! You must be prepared to share this information with your group next lesson and your contribution will be assessed (I can feel another 'token task' coming on!)

Record a deadline for this task (next week's lesson) in your Production Calendar. Present your research in the Topic Research document in your Production Log (embedded Word doc). 

Out of Hours Learning

• Update the Lesson Evaluation document (see sidebar)
• Update your Production Diary to summarise the progress you have/will make this week (in Production Log).
• Complete the Project Focus Summary (in Production Log)
• Complete the Target Audience Research Document (in Production Log)
• Complete the Topic Research Document (in Production Log)

Mock Documentaries

We've added a 'Mock Documentary' page to the 'Exhibition of Pupils' Work' page in the sidebar. Evaluate your own documentary and consider the feedback you received during the lesson. Summarise these thoughts and future targets in your Production Diary (see Production Log on flash drive).

Peer Satisfaction Ratings (Mr Hood's Class)

Here are the peer satisfaction ratings for the mock documentary task. We will survey satisfaction ratings regularly during Unit B324. The results will provide us with evidence to justify the distribution of marks at the end of the unit. You will get a proportion of the total marks for your product (documentary) based upon your individual level of contribution identified in these results.

If you have achieved a lower rating than your peers, then maybe you need to put in a little extra effort to demonstrate your value to the group. The aim is to get equal marks for everyone in your group.

A word of warning; you can't compare one group to another as some people mark more harshly than others. The only valid comparison is between students in the same production team!

Click on the image to magnify.

Reminder for Mrs Macey's Class

I am very disappointed to see that only 3 students in my group have filled in the evaluations from our last 3 lessons, even when I reminded you in Monday's lesson. I expect all of the evaluations to be completed up-to-date by everyone by Monday 28th September 2015!

Year 11 : Week 3 (Controlled Hours 1 & 2)

In this week's lessons, you will answer the following questions;

1. How successful was our test interview film? What worked well? What could be improved? What have I learnt about filming interviews & B-Roll?
2. How will we change our working practices to make sure that the 'real' product is better?
3. How significant was the contribution from each production team member?
4. What is my role within our production team for the controlled hours coursework?
5. What will our documentary be about?
6. How can I provide evidence to demonstrate my knowledge of documentary types & documentary conventions?

Tasks

From now on, tasks relating to an expected entry in your Production Log will be written in red. You can, of course, make additional entries.

Objective 1

Your completed test film will be exhibited to your peers. Upon viewing, everyone will fill in the 'Test Film Review' document, identifying strengths and weaknesses (you do your own film too). I will share my review of each test film and we will distribute feedback forms to the appropriate film makers.  You will have time to review the feedback in the lesson. For OHL, summarise the task you were given and the feedback you received in your Production Diary using today's date (in your Production Log). You can add personal thoughts about the process or the quality of teamwork, etc.

Objective 2

You should review the feedback you received, looking for common threads, and use it to set targets for the construction of your main product (assessed documentary). Add a summary of these targets to your Production Diary entry (see objective 1).

Objective 3

Every production team member will complete a 'Peer Satisfaction Rating' questionnaire, assessing the value of the contribution made by each production team member. You should assess yourself too. These peer-assessment sessions will take place on a regular basis and be used to allocate final marks to each group member at the end of the controlled hours. You must contribute significantly to the process to gain marks!

Objective 4

You will need to complete some of the Production Details Form on the first tab in your Production Log; identifying the name of your production company, the project deadline (22nd Jan 2016) and the role of each production team member. The production company name should represent your team ethos or have a link to the film-making process for example, "United Films" or "B-Roll Productions". Every member of the team must take responsibility for overseeing an element of the construction process (this doesn't mean they have to do all of the work though).

Objective 5

You will spend some time brainstorming initial ideas for your documentary. I will give you a 'Thought Cloud' on a piece of A3 paper and you should make a note of every idea that comes to mind, regardless of how good or bad the idea is. Write the name of the person who suggested the documentary topic in brackets under each idea. Alternatively, each person could use a different coloured pen and you could provide a key, identifying each contributor. Other creative methods of collecting ideas are also available from all good stockists! (lol). I will scan your completed cloud and you can add it to your Production Log next lesson.

Objective 6

For OHL, use the embedded Word document in your personal Production Log to demonstrate your research & understanding of the Six Modes of Documentary. The best pieces of research will include screenshots from named examples (existing products) - identify the mode, define the mode and give an example.

Out of Hours Learning

• Complete the Lesson Evaluation document (see sidebar)
• Complete your 'Test Shoot' entry in your Production Diary (task, feedback & targets)
• Identify the project deadline and the tasks you completed today on your Production Calendar
• Complete 'Types of Documentary Research' (in Production Log)

Next Lesson

• Establishing an agreed focus for your documentary & getting it commissioned.
• Identifying a target audience
• Analysing existing products (documentaries)
• Researching your chosen documentary topic