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 Three - Research

RESEARCH

What did you learn from your
research?
I learnt a number of important facts and figures due to my
research which I will be able to use throughout my programme
to improve it. I found both my secondary and primary
research incredibly important, although I preferred collecting
primary research. This is because I knew that this was
accurate and I was asking the questions so got the answers
which I wanted. The main thing I learnt due to my research
was what my target audience want. Personally I think this is
very important as I could do a range of research looking into
factual programmes and how they are laid out etc, but if they
are not aimed at the audience I want to target they are not a
massive amount of use. So by doing research I learnt that
teens to young adults are more likely to watch a factual
programme if the topic is personal to them. Therefore I think
that the topic I have chosen is perfect for my audience.

While researching I was able to look into the BBFC guidelines,

this made me really think about my programme as a whole
and what I wanted to achieve from it. I learnt that although I
thought my programme could be seen by a broad range of
people, it can’t be. This is because a film rated ‘U’ can’t have
any form of language or reference to violence and I don’t want
to be worried or focused on that throughout. This was
something which I never thought about and learnt a lot from.

How has the research into your
target audience helped you improve
your ideas?
My research into my target audience has made me realise that
everyone has different opinions. Some people enjoy watching
factual programmes, yet others don’t. To collect my target
audiences opinions I used the power of Instagram to ask
simple questions which they could simply answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’
too. I had 18 responses and a variation of answers yet there
was a large majority who had the same answers.
 80% of people said that they found factual programmes
interesting although only 60% said that they actually watch
them. Therefore my target audience would rather watch their
favourite youtuber or Netflix series than a factual programme,
but this doesn’t necessarily mean they find it boring. Because
of this response I am going to try and make my factual
programmes as engaging as possible by using similar methods
to Netflix programmes etc.

How has the research into your
platform helped you improve your
ideas?
Research into platforms has helped me think about what is the
best fit for my programme and the best fit for my target
audience. I did this by creating a survey which was simple to
fill out creating simple and easy responses. I have realised that
the top 2 platforms are YouTube and Netflix, yet the winning
spot was YouTube. This has helped me improve my ideas as I
have now realised that my audience enjoy the content
displayed on YouTube perhaps because it’s considered more
fun and original. This is something which I want to achieve.

What work do you need to complete Perhaps further research.

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