Documentary: Critical Evaluation

Critical Evaluation 
From the very beginning of this unit I thought this was going to be the easiest unit so far of the year,and how wrong could I of been? It's honestly been the most genuine an gripping experience so far as I feel i've gained a lot from it in so many different ways.

Pre-production
The pre-production for this unit went okay, we had a lot of weak ideas and as a team we lacked that real spark and motivation. This changed rapidly though as we got further and deeper into the project, and when things really needed to happen and change, they certainly did. The advice we took on board from Helen & Zoe was greatly appreciated and instantly implemented into our work, and I think that was evident too. We planned our shoot days and who would do what work all through Google Doc, which was a really useful tool throughout this whole process. We split up our work accordingly and each had separate tasks to do for the day/week. Management wise, we were organised and prepared for the majority of this unit. 

Production
On all the shoot days I attended, fortunately, it went to plan and nothing collapsed/descended into anarchy. For each shoot, setting up the lights and cameras would run smoothly and we'd be usually ready to film after about 20-30 minutes. It worked well being delegated roles and having organised schedules to keep us motivated and on task. 

Post-production
The largest part of where all of our efforts went into for definite. We worked many hours on it and hopefully it will do us all justice. there were some great things to take out of the edit and also some learning curves to take away from this also.

What worked?
In my opinion we captured some great GVs and actuality and used it to great effect once in the edit. Our sound used throughout the final edit was perfect fitting for the documentary as we didn't want it to be too harsh as it would contrast with the general uplifting themes throughout. I felt also that we were very appropriate and sensible with our locations when filming our interviews, e.g Alex's grandparents interview being in a warm feeling living room, and the insurance broker being in a professional workplace environment.  

What didn't work?
Throughout the process there were issues with a few things, but nothing that we couldn't fix or go over again. Certain things did put us  in relatively bad complicated situations, the fall through of one of our fairly important interviewees, the instructor. We had actually planned out the full documentary sequence including the instructors pivotal role within it, however we had to think around that and use our initiative to patch things up efficiently. Also, maybe we could of been a bit more experimental with the GVs and actuality footage we had, maybe of shot a few more CUs and XLSs, just giving us more of a variety in the editing suite as I felt it would of definitely aided us coming towards the end of our final edit.

As well, it was trying to find that entertaining narrative that I feel we lacked, it wasn't really that edgy or engaging, but I feel we did best with the resources we had. 

What have I learnt?
I can't put into words the amount of experience on all fronts I have gained from this unit, working within a team, contributing ideas, testing your ideas and being there to help with everything. You get out what you put in and I feel everyone put in 100%, at times maybe below the 90 mark, but we got there in the end and I feel proud for that. I feel that I've got the skills now to actually think through piece by piece, of how to put together, competently, a good level documentary. 

What could I develop?
There is always room for improvement in every department, I have never not thought that. So in truth I think I could develop more of my technical competence, being more knowledgeable with the camera and furthering that skill so that I feel more confident and independent with it. Editing would also be another skill that needs more looking over, with working in a group though it was definitely an advantage as one would do the editing for a day, then the next it would be passed on, and we would critique each others work positively, leaving feedback for one another. But as a whole it is the little things that need further growth which will eventually contribute to the wider implications.   

Conclusion
Finally, I believe that as a whole this unit was a success and with the minor hiccups along the way, we pulled through and together created a documentary which is something to be majorly proud of. I don't think I could of done this unit with any other group, the team I was surrounded by had heaps of energy and passion, especially towards the end of the project which made it all the better. The feedback was acted upon, the idea developed and manifested into a simple yet effective narrative, and we got all the footage we needed to edit a great 10 minute documentary. I'm chuffed to pieces and extremely proud of everyone that was involved.