Evaluation of Production Practice and Management Skills

In the first section of evaluating the production practice and management skills.

I will be focusing on the following sections:

Most successful aspect

Time management

Actors and crew

Equipment and booking

Budget

Least successful aspect

Most successful aspect

Pre-production

During pre-production I think the most successful aspect for this stage was I managed to research

and book appointments with specialists which I would like to include in my documentary. This not

only enhanced my confidence but gave me more time to plan. I had a range of contacts which fitted

in perfectly with my topic, which in this case is ‘the increase in university fees’’ were I received

different beneficial responses.

Another successful aspect for the pre-production was choosing the right topic from my three ideas.

The reason why I ended up choosing the increase in university fees and not the riots or Hinduism

was mainly because it recently took place and by the fees tripling will have a huge impact on

students across the UK. Furthermore I did not come across any documentaries based on the topic

whilst researching. Another is by researching on the topic it gave me an idea on what type of people

my documentary should consist of.

Below are my three content research ideas:

http://bhavishathakoreyear13media.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/content-my-project-is-about-uni-fees-

in.html

http://bhavishathakoreyear13media.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/content-what-is-your-project-about-

my.html

http://bhavishathakoreyear13media.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/content-what-is-your-project-

about.html

Production

During production the most successful aspect was filming, this is because everything went smoothly

according to plan. I did not have to re-film any of footage as it was fine the first time around. I stayed

ahead schedule which gave me additional; time to make improvements in my weak areas in order to

make my documentary effective. I used my time wisely during the half term to film all of the vox

pops, were I easily managed to get people who would not mind being on camera. As well as filming

additional footage such as filming my journey to Westminster for an interview with MP Lee Scott.

Lastly another aspect that I think was most successful during my production was the camera shots,

as a range of shots and camera movement was used which did not make my documentary look plan

and boring.

Below are examples of few of my camera shots:

Post production

The most successful aspect in my post- production was cutting down each interview, as each

interview was over five minutes long. At first I thought that this would be a problem as I was not

sure what to keep and cut out. However after a while when starting to edit it became much easier as

I got rid of questions which were irrelevant as well as repetitive responses from contributors. I used

my time effectively as I stayed behind to edit during my free periods, lunchtimes and after school. In

week nine I received feedback from the class on what they thought about the draft documentary so

far, on what works well and suggestions in areas which needs improving.

Below is my production log week nine:

http://bhavishathakoreyear13media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/unit-5-production-log-week-nine.html

The class thought that my documentary was appealing but a couple of areas could be worked on.

Examples for some are getting rid of jump shots by adding transitions and cutaways between

interviews linked to what they were saying, as well as removing the presenter myself as it failed to

flow well and instead have voice over’s. This is because it was not exciting the talking was too long

and it was not engaging for the audience to view. However I feel by making these changes

immediately improved my work massively.

Below is my final documentary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvIaYGGvNuI&feature=player_embedded

Time management

In my pre-production I thought that I was keeping up well with meeting deadlines, I did not feel

rushed in order to catch up. Also as I sent E-mails to contributors in advance and received responses

quickly and arranging appointments I felt planned and organised. This is because I was able to fill out

all of the paper work required without being hurried, such as the call sheets and risk assessments.

However there was a slight problem as I was not able to arrange an interview with Connexions as

they were not happy to be filmed. Luckily I had a backup plan and instead booked an interview with

a professor. This gave me additional time to focus on the shooting script to the best of my ability as I

did not have to worry about arranging any more interviews.

Below shows E-mails to and from contributors:

http://bhavishathakoreyear13media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/unit-5-e-mails-to-and-from-

contributors_30.html

Production

During production I was fully aware and prepared on the dates and times each interview will be held

and booked all the equipment I will need in order to film. As I started my filming in a much earlier

stage before the starting date, I accomplished the entire filming before the production deadline,

which put me in a better position as I was able to edit and was not stressed. Furthermore I was

recommended that filming an interview with a sixth form student would give me a student’s point of

view on the topic which would be attention grabbing. This was not part of my original plan but took

it into account and quickly filmed an interview with a student from the same class during a free

period. By doing this I did not fall behind and made the right decision.

Post production

During post production I felt that I used my time sensibly as I came to edit during my free time. On

the final edit deadline I had couple of problems with the sound but managed to sort the problem out

as it was very essential to fix. Also before the work had to be uploaded I thought that I could have

looked through my documentary for the final time to see if everything ran smoothly in high

standards.

Below is my production log week 10:

http://bhavishathakoreyear13media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/unit5-production-log-week10.html

Actors and Crew

Pre- production

During pre- production I felt that I prepared my crew who will be helping me out throughout

production, such as the presenter, sound operator and the camera person. The crew I prepared was

Halima Said a student from the same class and my sister Devina Thakore , they both were very

helpful as the framing of the shots were good, when I was on camera they also stuck to the dates

according to the schedule which means I was always up to date. I decided to be the presenter for

my documentary as I did not mind being on camera as well as being the voice over artist. My contact

list was straight forward as I had an idea on the type of people I wanted my documentary to include.

I had to do a lot of research in order to find professionals. I thought that organising interviews was

not a dilemma as all of my contacts were local and did not mind supporting me by taking part in my

documentary. Examples for two of my contacts are Mike Gapes an Ilford South MP and Lee Scott an

Ilford North MP. I received quick responses from all of the contributors by phone calls and E-mails

earlier which gave me time to prepare. I also made several phone calls before the interviews to

confirm whether the interviews were definitely still taking place, which in this case they were. I feel

that communicating and organising appointments with contributors will be beneficial for the

upcoming. I thought that my contributors were good as they took their time in answering questions

were I received different responses which balanced out my documentary.

Below is my production log week ten:

http://bhavishathakoreyear13media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/unit5-production-log-week10.html

Production

Throughout production all five interviews were trustworthy and filmed successfully, none of them

got cancelled or either delayed which was a relief; everything went smoothly according to plan. I

received good responses which I was looking for. Also I ended up taking someone else to film in

London for famous attractions as Halima was unable to come as she was busy filming her own

documentary.

Post production

During post production I edited the entire documentary, also as I was the presenter throughout I

was the voice over artist for the sigh in and sign out and facts and statistics. I managed to get them

over and done with as soon as I completed editing my whole documentary. I felt organised as I had

wrote up the script in advance, making sure everything was correct this made it much easier for me

as I did not waste any time thinking about what I will have to say so it did not cause any hassle or

delays and quickly recorded all of them.

Equipment and booking

The pre-production level was not to book any equipment out to film as this was the first stage of the

process which was to plan by using the internet to find material which would be useful for my

documentary. However instead I did organise myself on what equipment I will be using so I did not

forget any of the equipment for the production period. Such as the boom mic for vox pops, camera,

tape, tripod and lastly an Apple Mac.

Below is my final treatment:

http://bhavishathakoreyear13media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/treatment.html

Production

During production I made sure that I booked all the equipment I needed before hand so it would not

delay any of the interviews or footage which needed filming, an example for this is students studying

at Roehampton University. However before each time I took out equipment I made sure that I had a

fully charged battery and a charger so I would be able to get my work done without rushing and not

have to go back to the same location which would put me behind schedule. As well as making sure

there was a base on the tripod, check whether the HD camera had a memory card inserted and lastly

check if the batteries in the boom mic need replacing. As I had an issue during production when I

went to London to film quick shots I did not have enough battery life, but luckily I managed to get all

the filming done on time.

Below is my final treatment:

http://bhavishathakoreyear13media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/treatment.html

Post production

During this stage I was an Apple Mac to start my editing, the programme I used in order to edit was

Final Cut Pro, and for graphics I used Live Type. Other pupils were also using the same Mac in order

to get their project done. I solved this problem by making sure that I was not affected by this and

booked the Mac much earlier on so it would not have an impact on my work.

Budget

Pre-production

In pre-production I had a total of £7, 500,00 I had to make sure that I did not over spend as I had to

think about many things such as travel costs, camera equipment, Final Cut Pro software and many

more. I was not sure whether the money would be enough as it was very cost effective to rent

equipment for production. I booked a couple of times to get as much filming done as possible. I had

spare money just in case it was needed.

Below is my budget for my documentary:

http://bhavishathakoreyear13media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/budget.html

Production

During production I still had money left over but it was still expensive as I had to pay in different

areas such as for the images and music as none of them was my own material. However the prices in

some cases were cheaper which saved money as I did not have to pay for my crew’s bus journeys as

everyone had free travel. I did not have to pay as a large amount of money for the interviews; this

was good as this meant that I could use the money for tube journeys instead. Furthermore I did not

have to pay much for the crew as I myself was the presenter and sound operator, which means that I

only had to pay the camera person during production.

Post production

During post production I felt that the number of days I booked to edit were less this was because I

took longer to edit then I was actually suppose to. The reason for this was because I had problems

with the sound as it was not sinking in during Redbridge councillor John Tyne’s interview. As I spent

more time on this meant I had less time to do all my voice over’s as well as my graphics.

Below are images of my graphics:

Least successful aspect

Pre- production

I think that the least successful aspect of my pre- production would be my shooting script; I feel that

it was not do the best of my standards. I think that I could have done much better in order for my

documentary to flow well.

Below is my shooting script:

http://bhavishathakoreyear13media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/unit-5-shooting-script_21.html

Production

The least successful aspect during production was that the weather conditions were really cold when

I went out to film the vox pops. Because of this I did not particularly enjoy doing this and so quickly

filmed responses from the public. Another is when I went out to film quick shots in London I forgot

to get a charger from school. Although I managed to get all the filming I wanted to get done was not

able to film any additional back up footage just in case.

Below shows my production schedules for February and March:

February production schedule:

http://bhavishathakoreyear13media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/unit5-february-production-

schedule.html

March production schedule:

http://bhavishathakoreyear13media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/unit-5-march-production-

schedule.html

Post production

During post production I felt that the least successful aspect was that I did not edit the documentary

to the best of my ability towards the end as I could have done, in order to make my product look

catchy and effective. Another aspect I thought was least successful was Robert Kagawa the

professor’s interview, I changed the sound level to the highest but it did not make a big difference,

because the interview was not as clear this made the sound level unbalanced.

Below is my final documentary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvIaYGGvNuI&feature=player_embedded