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1. L3 Creative Media
Production & Technology
Year Two Evaluation
Hannah Wilkinson
Students Over Seas

2. Project Overview

3. What was the theme of your project and
what attracted you to it?
My project was based around the theme of
Aruba. I picked this topic because I was going to
be spending two weeks on the Island for another
project. It made sense to film for this project as
well to make best use of my time away. I also
thought it would be interesting to interview
some of the other students afterwards to see
how this experience has affected them. For many
of the students this trip was their first time away
from home for so long and so far away. I also
thought that it was quite a unique experience for
students. This is why I felt that it would be an
interesting topic to highlight.

4. What research did you undertake and how
did it help develop your project?
The first research task that I carried out was learning about the different types of
documentaries. This helped me decide how I wanted my own project to look which
assisted me with my idea generation. I also looked into the genre conventions of
documentary making. This helped me get more of an idea of how I was going to
make my own project and gave me more ideas.
I also did some interview practice with another student in my class where I asked
questions about their own project in order to get information about it. This
prepared me for my own interviews by helping me understand how to ask strong
questions.
After carrying out general research I decided to look at some existing products. I
find this useful as it goes alongside the previous research to create better
understanding by making sure as you have examples to go with it

5. How did you develop and improve your ideas
throughout the project?
I first developed my idea once I got to Aruba. This is because I got more of an
idea of my project once I was actually there. This is when I started to feel
more confident about my project and how the final project would turn out.
I also found that once I had carried out the interviews I felt more confident
about editing the project and what the final product would entail. This
was because I knew what videos I would use and how I was going to edit the
video.
When I started this project I was unsure about what type of documentary
would suit me best. I had some other ideas before settling on the one I chose
which I think was the better choice for the project.

6. What was the outcome of the project/task?
I interviewed students and got answers about how they enjoyed the trip and what
they did whilst they were there. The video tells the audience about what we did
whilst we were away whilst also talking about their experience on a personal level,
touching on confidence and independence skills. This was the aim of my project as I
wanted to inspire younger people to step out of their comfort zones and do things
that can be scary. I wanted to highlight the positives of an experience like this
Aruba trip by showing how much it has benefitted everyone.

7. Personal Response

8. How did you feel about the project before
you started?
Before the project started, I felt unsure about what the final outcome
would be. This was especially the case because I had to start idea
generation before going on the trip. As I had never been to Aruba
before, I wasn’t sure how to plan for the video and what topic I should
focus on. I also wasn’t sure what type of documentary I was going to
make as I was deciding between expository and observational
documentaries. I did, however, feel interested about being able to
create a factual project as it was something that I had never tried
before. I was looking forward to creating a video that includes
interviews.

9. What do you think about your project development and
how did it help you to refine your idea?
I started my project development by thinking about some initial ideas. This process
was helped by the research that I had previously carried out. I also did some
research into Aruba and the culture to give me an idea of what I could focus my
video on. At first, I thought I could do an expository documentary that focused on
the art culture or nature of Aruba. I would research and film whilst in Aruba and
then film a voiceover to narrate it and interview students who experienced this and
get their opinions. For the idea generation I started by making a mood board to
show my Aruba ideas. This was to give a visual on what the video would look like
including images of the art murals. I then decided that I wanted my video to have
more of a focus on our own personal experience as students abroad. This became
even clearer once I got to Aruba and my final idea fell into place.
Once I had more of an idea, I created a mind map that shows a basic outline of
what the video would focus on. This helped give me a guideline for my final
planning document allowing me to create a shot list and storyboard.

10. Did you collaborate on your project or engage
contributors, etc?
For my project I worked with a couple of the other students that I went
on the Aruba trip with. I needed them to carry out the interviews so I
could ask them about what they did, what they learned and what they
enjoyed during their time in Aruba. This was how I was able to gather
information for what footage to use for my video.

11. How did you feel when the project was
completed and why?
I was happy with the overall result of my video. I thought that it summarized the
experience well and included nice videos to go along with the interviews. I think
that the video conveys the happy tone well especially once I added the music
which made the video feel more finalized. It was important that the video felt light
and happy to the viewer so as to replicate the experience that we had whilst we
were away.
There were some areas of the video that I’m not entirely happy with. This is mainly
with some audio faults from the interviews. I tried to disguise them as much as
possible but it was difficult without re-filming them altogether which I wasn’t able
to do. I also feel like the framing for my interviews could have been better with a
nicer background. I think this would have made it look nicer.

12. Evaluating the project

13. What were the good points about the project/task and what did you
learn from them?
• I asked good interview questions that allowed the interviewees to
give full and detailed answers.
• I collected lots of footage from Aruba so I had plenty to work with to
go along with my interviews.
• I have engaged with the target audience of 16-24 year olds. I included
enticing footage from Aruba that make it look like a place you would
want to go to. This would engage with young people who are
interested in travel.
• I learned interviewing skills. This was something that I had never done
before this project and I am happy that it allowed me to practice this
skill.

14. What challenges did you face and how did
you respond to them?
• I struggled using the microphone for the interviews. When I tried to
use it to film It didn’t record any of the voices and just sounded like
static. I ended up filming with the cameras microphone which didn’t
sound as good but did get the audio that I needed.
• I accidentally moved some footage around in the files which lost my
editing progress. To solve this, I made sure not to save the version
with deleted footage and searched the computer to locate the files.
This restored the lost progress.
• I found it difficult to plan for this project before I was in Aruba
because I wasn’t sure what topic to do my video on. I did research
into the island but thought it was better to do a video about our
general experience so I had freedom on what I could film in Aruba.

15. What were the negative points about the
experience, and what could you have done to
improve them?
• I could have made sure to record better quality audio for the interviews. I
should have given myself more time to film the interviews and I would
have been able to test the microphone before filming.
• I could have made the video longer by adding in longer video clips from the
Aruba footage. I could also have done ongoing interviews that were
conducted throughout the trip to get more sincere answers.
• I could have also interviewed one other student so that there was more of
a variety of answers to include in the video. I could have done this if I had
planned a little more in advance so I was able to have more students who
were available.

16. How would you rate the final piece?
I would rate the final piece as good. This is
because I think that the video has nice footage
and is edited well. The audio is mostly good
however there are some areas that sound off.
This was because I had to edit out bits in some
areas, this sounded really good in parts but in
others it was more difficult. I also think that
the interview footage could have been
improved as the lighting wasn’t good and I
didn’t like the background. I had wanted the
background to look like they were in a
classroom, but it didn’t have the desired effect
and just looked messy.

17. What is your opinion of your final piece? What
elements do you think are successful and why?
I am happy with my final product. I think that it shows our experience
well and explains clearly what we did whilst we were away. I think that
it is a good reflection of what traveling somewhere new was like for
students of our age and captures the excitement and happiness that
everyone felt. I think that the filler footage that I collected in Aruba
looks good and would engage with young people who are interested in
travel.
I also think that I did a good job of asking good and interesting
interview questions that allowed the interviewees to give detailed
answers. This allowed me to get enough footage for my final product.

18. How well did your project apply the characteristics
and conventions of the medium you worked in?
One of the conventions that I followed was interviews. I asked two students three questions about
their time in Aruba and what experience they had whilst they were there. I was aiming for an
Observational style documentary, so these interviews worked as narration over the top of the
footage.
Another convention of observational documentary's that I applied was not including myself in the
documentary. This is a technique referred to as a "fly on the wall" In which the documentary maker
isn't a part of the documentary themselves. The role they play is behind the camera, directing the
interviewees by asking them the right questions to get the desired result.
Another convention of documentary that I applied well was including unstaged events. This is
footage that show an authentic account from the events that happened by using real footage that
hasn’t been acted or constructed in anyway. I included many clips that were taken from different
activities that we did in Aruba in relation to the interviewee's responses.
I also included lots of montage footage which was incorporated well into the video as it included
clips from relevant events. This was a good way to include a larger variety of footage as I had a lot
that I wanted to include. I felt that cutting it down is to small snippets was more effective as I kept
the video upbeat and fast paced. This was important as it meant the video didn’t drag on, making
it more enjoyable to watch.

19. How did you design appeal to your target
audience?
The age group that I was targeting with my video was 16-24 year olds who are interested in travel. I
appealed to the target audience by making the video upbeat and happy. In order to do this, I
included upbeat music and images of the Caribbean palm trees, beaches and scenery. This was to
give a positive impression of travel sparking an interest for young people. It makes the video
enjoyable to watch and would make young people who are interested in travel more excited and
less nervous about this kind of experience.
I also interviewed students who are a part of this age group. This appeals to the target audience as
they would want to hear from people who are young as well. This will give them an idea of what this
experience would be like for them.

20. Analysis

21. In what ways was the
overall project a success?
• I asked questions that allowed the
interviewees to give detailed answers.
This meant that I had lots of footage to
work with and could include lots of my
footage from Aruba.
• I had nice video footage from Aruba that
looked good. This helped the video
engage to the target audience.
• I completed my goal in which I had set
to show how this experience had
affected young students.

22. What elements did not go well and why?
• The audio for the interview was not good quality. This is because I couldn’t get
the microphone to work so I used the camera instead.
• Some of the Aruba footage had quite bad audio because they were filmed
outside. It is very windy in Aruba which meant that it disrupted the audio.
• I thought that the lighting was too yellow for the interviews. I improved this in
post by editing the colour levels and adding more blue tones. This could however,
have been prevented by using better lighting during production.

23. How did your skills develop during the portfolio?
• Firstly, I think that my technical skills have improved during this
project. I spent a lot of time in Aruba trying to get nice footage of the
areas as well as getting footage of us a group.
• I was also able to develop new skills in interviewing as this was
something new for me. I learned about how to position and frame the
shots.
• This project gave me a new challenge that allowed me to develop my
time management and organization skills. This was because I had to
plan a video in a place I had never visited before. I also lost two weeks
of class time whilst in Aruba, so I had to think harder about how to
plan my time wisely.

24. What meaning and messages did you want to
convey and were you successful?
• I wanted to show the good sides of our experience in Aruba by
making sure that video showed a happy theme. This was to represent
how we all enjoyed our time away. I think that this was made
successful with the bright videos of beaches and upbeat music.
• I also wanted to show about how this experience had changed the
students and I think this was shown in the video. Both students talked
about how the experience improved their technical skills as well as
having an effect on their confidence and independence. I wanted to
show that this experience was a good thing for students of our age.

25. What feedback did you get from your peers
and viewings?
Hannah Stockill
I like the way that the video clips flow nicely together and I thought the music went
well with the theme of the video. I also liked how the interviews looked and think
that the answers were good. To improve this video, I would suggest having a more
structured story that has a beginning middle and end.
Harry Statham
I thought the video was sweet, It really brought back the experience for me, and I
imagine it will show a whole new world to anyone who wasn’t on the trip, well
done Hannah!

26. What would you do differently in the future
and why?
• I would make sure to record the audio with a microphone so that the
quality is better.
• I would interview another person to get more of a variety of answers.
• I would record even more footage for the filler pieces so that I have even
more to add to the video. This would make the video more interesting as
there would be more clips from the actual trip. This is more interesting for
the intended target audience as those are the parts that they would want
to see.
• I would add another interview question to try and get some more
information to add to the video. I would think of a question that has more
of a difference to the asked questions so that I have more diverse answers.
This would make the video more informative.

27. What knowledge have you gained that would help you in the
future to improve your project?
I have gained knowledge in interview filming techniques that would be helpful for a
future in documentary making. I learned lots about the way an interview should be
filmed based on framing and lighting. I know about head room which refers to the
space between the subject and the top of the screen. Too much or too little will
make the shot look unproportioned. I also learned about eye room which refers to
the amount of empty space that the subject looks into. You want there to be a
larger amount of space that the interviewee looks into showing their line of sight.
This is why it is important to think about where the interviewer stands so that the
interviewee is looking in the correct place.

28. Action Plan

29. If you were making a similar project in the
future, what would you do differently?
If the future I would collect even more footage for filler and I feel as though I
should have recorded more bits from Aruba. I feel like a lot of the footage from
Aruba is short and looks nice but doesn’t serve much of a purpose as it doesn’t add
any additional information. I would resolve this by conducting ongoing interviews
during our time away. I think interviews taken after specific events would get more
of a genuine and authentic account of what we did. For example, after climbing
Hooiberg and going on the art mural tours.
I would also make sure to film better quality interviews by using a microphone for
the audio. This would have made their voiceovers clearer. I would also change the
background for the interviews as I don’t think I achieved the desired effect.

30. 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.
Firstly, I would get more practice with the microphone so I can get
better quality Audio. I would do this by recording with it whilst doing
the experiments for the planning part of the FMP. I could also carry out
practice interviews by making short practice documentaries to
experiment with different ways of filming.
I could also watch more in depth tutorials to gain more knowledge that
I don’t currently have to expand on my skills even further. I can then
put new things I learn into practice in order to strengthen my skills. This
will help me improve as a whole and I can keep expanding my skill set
this way.

31. What personal attributes could you develop to
ensure you are working at a professional level?
One attribute that I need to focus on in planning out a better schedule.
I think that I should have made sure that I went to Aruba with a bit
more preparation so that I had a stronger idea before filming. This
would have ensured better footage. I also should have put more
planning into filming the interviews. This way I could have been able to
get another student to interview.