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

NOT JUST SUBMIT THIS FORM FILLED IN FOR YOUR WEEKLY BLOGS. THERE SHOULD BE
11 WEEKLY BLOG ENTRIES (INCLUDING EASTER).

Week Two - Research

RESEARCH

What did you learn from your From my research I have found that short films and films in
research? general have developed majorly since the first film which was
created and released in the late 1800’s and lasted for 12
seconds. I also learnt that generally short films are around 40
minutes long but can also be any length. I also found that
there are lots of awards and festivals for short film makers to
present their productions allowing them to gain connections in
the industry as well as giving them the opportunity to make a
name for themselves.

How has the research for your
medium helped you improve your
ideas?
From my research I have found that since short films have
such a niche audience it means that the director needs to be
creative with their production in order to appeal to a wider
audience. This can be done through the themes of the short
film for example, in “the phone call” the operator fails to stop
a mans suicide even after befriending him but also falls in love
with a co-worker as we see them going on a date towards the
end of the short film. It can also be done from the genre and
the sub-genre like a horror-comedy.

How has the research for your genre
helped you improve your ideas?
Research into my genre has firstly allowed me to direct my
production into a more appropriate target audience for my
production. Since the genre of my short film will be romance
and the primary target audience for the romance genre is 12-
24-year-old females I have decided to target my production
towards 16-25-year-old females. I have decided this because
they will be able to access the production on the social media
platforms I will post it on which will be YouTube and Instagram
TV.

How has researching the Researching the conventions of the romance genre has helped
conventions of your chosen genre me to understand that in order to get a distinction grade I
helped you understand what is need to have a linear storyline that makes sense as is easy to
required from you in order to meet a
distinction grade?
How has including a variety of
sources (primary and secondary)
helped with your understanding of
your medium / genre?
What sources of information did you
look at that were different from your
proposed project?
How will this be useful to your
planning?
How has the research for your
content/topic helped you improve
your ideas?
How has the research into
artists/producers helped you
improve your ideas?
follow, as well as this I will need to have the appropriate
imagery. I will also need to have music which reflects the
actions on screen as well using as lighting and camera angles
that reflect what is going on.
Getting my information from a variety of different sources has
allowed me to get more information on my chosen genre. I
also sent a survey out to my target audience asking questions
about the genre and what they expect to see and it was
generally the same kind of things I got from my research like
having a “love at first sight” moment which is very typical and
expected of the genre.
I mainly looked on different websites to get my information
even though I had originally planned on using multiple
different types of sources to get the information I needed like
videos and books. However, due to the lockdown I haven’t
been able to access any books and I found the information in
some of the videos I found to be too simple and generic. As
well as this since my chosen topic is so niche there isn’t much
information available on it anyway and I haven’t been able to
talk to my family and friends who are more informed on the
topic due to the difference in time zones.
My research will be useful when planning as I will know which
camera angles and techniques to use from my research into
the conventions of the genre and be able to put them onto my
storyboards. I will also be able to incorporate my research into
my script so that the imagery and my chosen topic are clear
so that the audience is able to easily identify the genre.
I already knew quite a lot about my chosen topic which was
soulmates and the red string of fate, however I found it
difficult to do further research into it as its such a niche idea.
Research into the producers of my chosen medium has helped
me to improve my idea as it has shown me what a high quality
short film consists of. It has also made me ultimately decide to
somewhat simplify my main idea as simple ideas work better
 since you are able to develop them more.

What work do you need to complete None

outside of lessons to stay on track?

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