Tuesday 18th May 2021
This is the last week of the course. Today we had our 10am meeting, I was a bit confused yesterday when no link was sent but that was because we would be having it today. We went through what the submission on Friday would be like and what we would need to make sure we had. Today is the day that I need to use to finalise work but I also wanted one of my tutors to take a look at my critical review to make sure that I didn't leave any important information out, I did try to answer the questions that were asked but that doesn't mean there wasn't extra information that I should have put in it. When I told my tutor he said it should be fine though. Our tutors are here to help us submit our work in the best state which makes me feel more composed, if they look at my work and find a problem then they would tell me, right?
We were reminded that there is a difference between analysis and description, it's not about amount but about critical analysis, they said. Which is not something that I am confident that I have a lot of, therefore I need to go over all my blogposts and make sure that the amount isn't just complete nonsense and that there is actual substance and analysis. My tutors advice was to use keywords which I am sure that I have not been using. We were also told that evaluation is different from analysis, which is a good think to know.
What I have done so far today is number my OneDrive folders so that they can appear in the same way they do when we are shown how it should be. I also scanned the Memento study so that could put it in my 'Research' folder. I put the music I had sourced from the Youtube Audio Library in the 'Problem Solving' folder and moved the seminar notes to the 'Reflection, Evaluation, Feedback' folder. After I am sure that I have made all the changes I want to, I will have to resend my tutors the link to my OneDrive.
I looked at my PD (professional development?) folder and made sure it was in order and then put the papers I had in my journal inside it.
I have decided to do the cast and crew biographies and add it to my second website which will be what I will be using for my project presentation. To help with that I am going to ask the interviewees to send me a picture of something that relates to their identity as an extra but I am not sure whether to blur faces or not, I will consult with them. Earlier on in the year I talked about how my inspiration for a lot of work is Youtube because that is the type of media I consume the most and I had wanted to make a Youtube-style piece of work, I think that is why I chose to make the website for my presentation it sort of fits the theme of internet documentary. As part of this I am considering using the things I have and making them a Youtube thing, for example putting the posters on the community section, releasing trailers and premiering the films. The reason why I am not fully sure about doing it is because I am not sure whether I want to have a public Youtube channel with things like that. The website is a good in-between though.
One of the interviewees sent me his interview today so I may be able to edit it and make the whole thing a 4-part miniseries but I am not sure, especially as the file is refusing to download. I may have to see when I get home since it may be due to internet connection.
My tutor suggested that I write about the interview process as part of the planning and production section in my critical review. I have talked about how it was difficult to hold the interviews but I didn't talk about the actual interviews themselves. I only personally interviewed two of the interviewees, one in person and the other over the phone. I know all the interviewees personally, we're friends, but it still felt awkward and daunting to interview them and ask the questions. What I like and appreciate is that they all dealt with it well and answered naturally which made interviewing not as hard as it may have been if I was interviewing strangers or people I didn't know as well.
My tutor also suggested that I talk about he different approaches to editing. This gives me the chance to talk about some research that I previously felt that I couldn't talk about. During week 8 my tutor suggested I look at The Listening Project by BBC Radio 4 which is a radio programme in association with the British Library to give me an idea of how to visualise the audio.
There was also Don't Log Off, where "Alan Dein connects with strangers across the world via social media, exploring the things that unite people across cultures and borders." https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018wgzb
They were both interesting things to look at, I took most of my ideas for the actual from my tutor's and my friend's feedback but it was still good to look at and find out what else what out there that may be similar to what I am doing. Today my tutor talked about how the first and second parts to the series are similar in that they could be just interviews listened to on the radio but you can also see them online with visualisation. Although the first part was recorded with video, I decided to make it into an audio interview to make it consistent with the second part but I made the third part differently for some reasons. The first reason was because I had wanted to use the format that I had decided on in my storyboard and I had expected multiple interviews. Although at the time I did not receive more than one interview, I still kept that part with its video because I wanted to stay true to the storyboard and do video (not audio-only) editing.
One thing I was considering adding to the website was transcripts of the interviews. It would take a long time but it would give me something to do if I finish everything by today and give me added experience in transcript writing, which I have a little of already. What I have done so far has been done, the only things that I feel that I could do left are the transcripts, the memento objects video, the potentially fourth part to the film, another trailer, the social media friendly versions of things, the cast and crew bios and I need to remember to make a post of just the final pieces so that it is clear. Other than those, I think I have done everything else that I need and/or want to do. With some of those things I am not sure if I will be doing them but I will address that in the post on Thursday which will probably also be the post gathering all the final pieces.