WEEKLY JOURNALS

This is where you think about your FMP learning journey and development.
Don’t simply describe what you did - consider what you have learnt and how this has benefitted
your project. What do you need to improve?

THIS IS JUST GUIDANCE THAT YOU NEED TO ADAPT TO YOUR OWN PROJECT. YOU HAVE
CREATED YOUR OWN PRODUCTION SCHEDULES AND YOUR WEEKLY BLOGS SHOULD
REFELCT THAT.

THESE QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED IN THE WEEKS YOU COMPLETED THEM. DO

Week Two - Research

RESEARCH

What did you learn from your I learnt a lot from my research which I will use for my
research? planning. First, I researched about documentaries and the
history of them. This has given me some background
knowledge of what a documentary is and what they should
include. I found out some history about the first
documentaries. I found that in those days they were used to
show the events that were happening such as the world wars
and they were informing people of what was going on.
I then researched deeper into David Attenborough and his
documentaries, especially Planet Earth. This was a highly
popular and successful documentary, so I researched into it to
find out why it was so successful. I found that this was
because of the new technology that they used while filming.
They used drones and camera stabilisers to create footage
that is breath taking and exciting to watch. It was also the first
BBC TV programme to be shown in ultra-high-definition.
I also made a survey to find out what people like about
documentaries so that I can make mine suitable for the target
audience.
I then researched the genre by watching two gymnastics
documentaries and analysing them in detail. I learnt a lot
about how to make a documentary by doing this. I learnt that
it is important to get footage of the person you are discussing
in their home as it shows their normal everyday life. I also
found out that it is good to show competition videos because
this is exciting and builds tension, so it is more intriguing for
the audience.

How has the research for your It has shown me what a documentary is and how to make a
medium helped you improve your successful one. I will use this information when planning my
ideas? idea as I now know what I need to include and how I should
include it.
How has the research for your genre This research has helped me to understand what kind of clips
helped you improve your ideas? and stories I need to make my documentary more exciting. I
now know what I need to film in order to create an intriguing
and exciting documentary. I also learned that having an
expert included in the documentary is important because it
makes it seem more believable and it helps to teach the
audience about what is being discussed.

How has researching the Researching the conventions has been helpful as I am now
conventions of your chosen genre aware of the kind of things that I need to think about when
helped you understand what is preparing for documentary. It has shown me what a perfect
required from you in order to meet a documentary needs to make it successful and entertaining.
distinction grade?

How has including a variety of Using a rage of different ways of research has been helpful
sources (primary and secondary) because I have been able to get my information from all
helped with your understanding of different sources which means that the research that I have
your medium / genre? will be wider as it will come from more places. This means that
it will include more opinions so that I can interest more people
with my documentary.

How has the research for your Researching my topic has been helpful as it has helped me to
content/topic helped you improve understand more about gymnastics so that I can use this
your ideas? knowledge when creating my documentary. I can use these
figures in my programme so that the audience know that what
they are learning is all reliable and true. This research will also
make my filming and planning stages easier and quicker
because I won’t have to look things up while planning and I’ll
be able to make my documentary more interesting and
realistic.

How has the research into The research that I did about professional documentary
artists/producers helped you filmmakers has helped me to understand what kind of things
improve your ideas? are needed to create a professional documentary. My research
about Stacey Dooley was particularly helpful as it showed me
how important having a clear target audience is. She aimed
her documentaries completely towards younger people and
this was very effective. Therefore, I need to make sure that I
chose a target audience and I base everything around them. I
also learnt that telling a story is very important as this is what
would interest the audience.

What work do you need to complete To improve my research, I am going to watch more
outside of lessons to stay on track? documentaries carefully and learn from them. I will watch
more of Stacey Dooley and I will also watch other gymnastics
documentaries. This will show me what I need to include when
planning for my production.

High Grade Tips

Research
● ‘Thorough research’ - include plenty of sources and detailed analysis of this information
● ‘relevant & coherent’ – make sure your research sources are not just the same as the
Media product you hope to make - and talk about how they inform your planning
● ‘sustained’ – continue your research throughout the eleven-week project and don’t just limit
it to the first two weeks
● ‘accomplished & considered’ – all of the above referred to in your daily/weekly reflections