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 have found that short films and films in
research? general have become majorly popular and have developed
largely since the first films which were created and released in
the 1800’s. I learnt that in the 1980’s the explosion of music
television saw money pouring back into short films. I also
learnt that there are many different film festivals for people
who create and release short films for them to be able to
present their productions which would allow them to have the
opportunity to make themselves known to many others.

How has the research for your From my research I have found that for directors to have the
medium helped you improve your audience they want they need to be creative and adventurous
ideas? with their productions in order for them to gain wider range of
audience. This can be done

How has the research for your genre
helped you improve your ideas?
The research I have completed has helped me expand
on my idea for my production as when I was analysing
the two short films I realised that there is a lot that I
can Include in my production which will catch my
target audiences attention as, as teenagers grow up
they learnt a lot about themselves and make decisions
for example education after GCSEs and whether teens
decide to go to college or 6th for or work. Doing
research has really helped me open my eye about
‘coming of age’. I have decided that my production will
be aimed at both genres male and female however I
feel that it will apply to more females than males. I feel
that this is because girls have a lot more that they
have to deal with when coming to puberty and growing
up into adult life. I do feel that teenage boys can relate
to growing into adults as everyone finds themselves
and realises a lot about growing up. I have decided
also for my production to be aimed at teens from 16-24

How has researching the
conventions of your chosen genre
helped you understand what is
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?
year olds as the platforms that I want to release my
production on many teens and young adult have social
media such as snapchat, Facebook ect so therefore will
be able to see what I have produced
Researching into the ‘coming of age’ genre has helped
me to understand that in order for me to get a
distinction grade I need to make sure that I have a
linear storyline that will be clear and easy to
understand, as well as this I will also need to have the
correct imagery for my production, I feel that I will also
need to include background music and b roll that will
reflect on what I am hoping to get across to teens and
young adults. I will also need to have the correct and
precise camera angles and lighting.
Including a variety of sources has helped me as I have
allowed myself to gather more information on my
chosen genre. I have sent a survey out to my target
audience asking what they would expect to see in a
short film of my chosen genre and what platform they
use the most. When I sent the survey out to my target
audience I found out that for my first question people
were interested in seeing something mainly based on
collage or school life, the growing’s of teenagers. For
my second question that I sent out I asked what
platform they mostly used and I gathered that the
highest percentage of 80% use snapchat the most
I mainly looked on different websites to gather my
information finding out different facts and information
that caught my attention and that fitted well with my
production plan. I originally planned to use websites to
gather my information so I knew what I was looking
for. For the genre that I chose I found that overall I did
struggle to find detailed and in-depth information as I
feel ‘coming of age’ isn’t mainstream compared to
something like a comedy. I did feel that this challenged
me but I did gather as much information as I could in
detail.
My research will be useful when planning as I will have
a clear understanding in which camera shots and
angles I want to include as well as the lighting. I will
also be able to use my research into my script so that
what I am trying to show and produce is clear to my
target audience and easily understood.
Before doing research on my chosen genre I didn’t
know much about it and I felt that it would be
something appealing ad interesting to find information
on as well as it relating to my chosen idea for my FMP.
I did however struggle to get lots of information and
when analysing I found it difficult to find short film
examples that relate to the coming of age genre.
Research into the producers of my chosen medium has
helped me develop my knowledge on this genre and
has also helped me to improve my idea as it has shown
 me what a high standard short film consists of

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