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 Four - Planning

PLANNING

What did you learn from your
planning this week?
My planning let me start to really think about the detail of
each scene, things like what angle do I want, what emotion
do I want my characters to portray and why- it can also let
me plan where I want my plot twists when I feel I need to
engage my audience more. My storyboards was key for me
and I took a lot of time doing them multiple times so my
production is refined as possible, as I feel if I hadn’t my
production would have had some unnecessary scenes and
could have slowed it down a lot which is not what I want as it
may seem boring for my audience. This has helped me
improve and refine my production and now I feel ready to
continue editing my script so that becomes as high quality
as possible- as this means I should be able to boost my
grade as these are two key pieces of planning I am trying to
get to a high standard.

What issues did you encounter and
how did you overcome them?
One issue I overcame was having to short of a storyboard, as
I felt I was rushing it. So I set it aside and started working on
a better version, one that shows more of my shots to give
my marker evidence of me being able to visualise my
production, and for them to do it too- I overcame it by doing
my storyboards slowly to make sure everything was to a
high standard, as well as making my storyboards refined as
possible, getting all the crucial shots in to help visualise
what my production will look like. When I wrote my first draft
of my script I was also unsure about the ending- as I had two
in my mind. I overcame this by taking time to think what my
target audience would want, as after all the surveys I’ve
done for them I believe I now know what is best- while also
trying to make the production as high quality as possible,
without any flowing issues. I overcame this by redoing and
refining my main pieces of planning work for my production
How did you ensure that your
storyboards were completed to a
high standard?
How has your planning
developed/changed during the
planning stage?
How have you ensured your
script/shooting script is of a high
detailed standard?
How well have you managed and
organised your cast and crew to be
in available when you need them?
I took a lot of time carefully doing multiple drafts of my
storyboards and refining them by adding shots I felt were
pivotal in visualising my production as well as removing
shots I felt were unnecessary and disrupting the flow of my
production, as I felt some scenes would have been
uninteresting and unneeded. One of these was that I was
going to show the car ride of Sammy going to football,
however it would have been really quick and as he portrayed
his emotions at home and then at the football training I felt I
didn’t need to spoon-feed the audience about how he’s
feeling. This also allowed me for to keep in my target time
frame while also adding my dual ending scene inspired by
James wan- which I feel is something a lot more important
than Sammy showing more sad emotions when there is
already a few other scenes of him doing that too.
When making my script and storyboard, I had to think
carefully about every shot and characters speech to make
my production as highest grade as it could be, as by
carefully writing each line I could make sure the production
flows well and doesn’t sound robotic. To prevent this I have
done multiple drafts of my script and re-read a lot, making
changes that would benefit my production and take out less
of the unneeded material. One thing I added during the
planning stage is having Sammy’s new bodies’ caretaker to
have seen the same issues before, this tells the audience
that this same thing has happened before without either of
them realising it. This was decided by me after doing
multiple re-writes of the script as I felt this would benefit my
production and hopefully another writing technique to help
me achieve a better grade for my FMP.
I had re-read my script multiple time to ensure that it sound
natural and well flowing, and not robotic. This helped me a
lot as I was able to take out some of the speech that was
unneeded, as I want everything in my production to be
specific and refined to stop my audience from getting bored
and keeping them engaged. The storyboards took me a lot
of time to draw, not only because I carefully though about
each shot, but I also included as many of my shots as
possible, rather than some of my past storyboards which I
felt only included a minimal amount if shots, and as I am not
actually making a production I felt the need to do as many
as possible to help my marker really visualise my
production, as a result of me putting a lot of detail into each
of these planning pages.
I feel I have managed them very well because I sent them
texts notifying them asking them if they wanted to be in the
production a long time before so they can double check their
availability. I also gave them all the contingency date where
there will be reshoots if needed if someone can’t make it-
but I also have some extras that I had asked too incise some
of my crew can make it. Everyone I asked I have worked with
before and have full trust in them to fulfil their duties when I
call upon them, as the are all well prepared.
Are you on track for the week? If Yes, I am on track now after having to do a little catching up
not, how far behind are you? in my own time and I am ready for the final stages of my
FMP

What work do you need to complete All of the work was completed at home due to college being
outside of lessons to stay on track? closed because of COVID-19.

High Grade Tips

Planning & Production

● ‘effective planning, organisation’ – your FMP Workbook will explain what you need to do
in the next few weeks to make sure all of your planning is completed, and also how this will
help you
● ‘efficient production against timescales’ – your FMP Proposal will clearly identify how
you intend to create your project before the deadline in May
● ‘commitment & subject engagement’ – all of the above referred to in your daily/weekly
reflections