Week 1:

This week I began thinking of various themes and concepts, For each theme I had to do light research for the concept description. It took longer than expected. I think I’ll start gathering feedback on all themes next week.

Week 2:

This week I added the finishing touches to all the concept descriptions. I also showed one of my tutors all the concepts I had written to get feedback on each theme, this helped me solidify what I wanted as the theme for my final major project. I’ve chosen “Youtube Manipulation” as my theme for my documentary, I feel like it fits well with the analytical and critiquing style of videos I enjoy.

Week 3:

This week I began writing my proposal, lining exactly what I’m going to do. All the steps I’m going to take and how i’ll keep track of my progress. Also, I’ll be gathering research to implement into the contextual essay. This essay is meant to be 1500 – 2000 words long, so I’ll have to find various case studies to discuss to back up what I want to discuss in my documentary.

Week 4:

This week I began my essay after planning the week before. I had to collect more research in the form of articles to back up my arguments. I decided on having 3 case studies to discuss as I’m aiming for 1500 words. I wanted to begin by talking about manipulation on a wider scale which is what lead to me not being able to finish within a week.

Week 5:

This week I finished my essay, I added in a variety of case studies. I did cut some things out so I’d have things to add to my main primary research. I’m now going to try and do some secondary research and if I can begin my experiments. I the secondary research will take the longest time so that’ll be my priority.

Week 6:

I began writing my questionnaire and sent it out, then began some more extensive secondary research.  Whilst also beginning to write my script. The script is what ended up being the most challenging piece of writing, harder than the research. I constantly looked for feedback on my script as it’s such a unique Idea, I really don’t want to miss the mark. I’ve also settled on my stylistic choice in a documentary. As I’m making a video on Youtube Manipulation, I am going to take on the persona of a Youtuber myself.

Week 7:

This week I finished the script and research, now I have a solid idea of the direction I want to take my video in I’ll begin planning out my shots.  I have to find a location to film in and get a crew together. In the past, practical work has always been the hardest part due to not having a big enough crew.

Week 8:

This week I filmed the first quarter of my documentary in the studio, I went for the traditional youtube commentary set up. I had somewhat of a costume to emphasise that I am transparent, unlike the individuals I talk about in the video. However, when I went over the footage I was given feedback that the background didn’t fit the feel I was going for. Taking into consideration that the studio is hardly ever available and the feedback I received.

Week 9:

I decided to reshoot what I had done and film the rest of my vlog style scenes in my apartment and walkie-talkies around my apartment complex. In retrospect, I think I should have filmed there from the beginning as it leads to a lot of entertaining deliveries and unique shots that I couldn’t have done in the studio. I only had to shoot my comedy sketches which were all meant to be filmed in specific locations.

Week 10:

At the beginning of the week I went and filmed my skits, I was confident that I would be able to finish my documentary the day before my deadline. However, at the eleventh hour, the first quarter of my video got deleted and was unretrievable. That ended up being a good thing as this reshoot was much smoother as I knew exactly what I was doing presenting wise. I filmed all of my sketches, cut some out if the final cut to not exceed the 10-minute mark. I ended up editing it all in two days and the reception was surprisingly positive. It came out much better than I expected considering the trouble I had a couple days prior. It was given a lot of praise which is shocking as I did feel some parts were quite tongue and cheek.