Documentary: Evaluation

Now the assignment was complete, it was my time to look over and reflect on the process. To do this, I have used the Gibbs reflective cycle and spit my evaluation into two sections, one on self reflection and one on the efforts of the group.

For this assignment I had to work in a team to create a documentary on a topic of our choosing. We had to make sure we had in depth research and the video must be balanced between story and theme. We all assumed roles to take on in our progression and I landed as director as I had a vision for the documentary and wanted to work on my leadership skills. In the early stages of the process, the group came together with input about how to display our chosen topic of D&D, steered by me and organized by Vi. We fairly quickly, hitting our schedule, made advancements into production which was led by myself. I carried out a couple of the shoots on my own due to necessity and time constraints and the group worked together to make our biggest day on filming all together work. Following production, it was over to Josh and myself to complete the edit, with me on the rough cut and Josh doing the rest. However, this didn’t quite go to plan this way and I ended up doing a lot more of the editing which I was able to work with as it is one of my preferred aspects of filmmaking. 

Towards the beginning of the assignment, I didn’t feel as if I was contributing as much as I could’ve done. I think that this mainly came down to not having any evidence written by me of things we had discussed as a group because Vi was recording information to share with everyone. Moving forward, I felt more involved during production and there were a few flaws such as the framing that I could definitely have done differently. For the post production stage, I was a little worried that editing wasn’t going as well as intended but luckily we had given a lot of time for this part and I was able to jump in and get the job done. 

A good part of this process was getting to explore a topic that I hold very close and truly delving into its history and meaning through the research. Also, I enjoyed the directing aspect. At first I was cautious to be directing as these were my friends and I wasn’t aware how they would respond but I definitely felt I have grown as an individual and have more faith in myself for tasks like this. The downside, however, was that as we got further through production, some members in the group but the brakes on a little too early and I found myself parenting to get work done rather than directing. I was fine with carrying out extra jobs but in a group effort everyone needed to pull their weight. This began to take a toll on me as we got into the last week on the assignment but I was able to pull through.

In terms of a conclusion to this assignment, I feel I have grown as a director and got a better grip on how to manage people in a more professional environment. I have always been the one in friend groups organizing people and where they need to be so now I have adjusted those methods to go with my role in the industry. I have also improved my editing skills as this has been a longer video to edit I have been able to use more stable effects and transitions to ease the flow of the documentary. In future, maybe I need to tie myself down to a specific role as when I was directing and something hadn’t been done for when I asked I would jump in and take over which isn’t particularly fair, although it get the job done. For a future assignment, I believe I need to take a role where I can take instructions and work to someone else’s ideas and vision to master a particularly roll.

Now I will move on to summarise the efforts of my group. To begin, Vi, our producer was excellent with their role. They had many spreadsheets and files succinctly organized to make sure my production went well and on time. Vi and I collaborate really well and they handled most of the pre-production work. We are both aware that their editing isn’t as clean but I was able to return the favour and help them when they needed it in this aspect. Sometimes we see a little too eye to eye and we can cause jokey small issues about work load but all positive experiences. Vi just needs to focus on their confidence and then they will be even more amazing then they already are. Next, Jacob, one of the camera operators, was great to be on a team with. He was very reliable and, although he didn’t input as much as Vi, was able to support the team and vision to keep it moving. His skills with the camera are great and he knew when he hit his limits and wouldn’t be afraid to ask. Jacob is confident and proud of his work and the editing of the credits was excellent no matter how many more names I threw his way. 

Following him, we have Cai, the other camera operator, who didn’t take to this role as much. They were good with generating ideas during the process but would need more persuading to do a job themself. I often found I would ask them to do something and it wouldn’t be done which is slightly frustrating on a time limited assignment. They weren’t as confident with the camera work as Jacob but would take and ask for advice quickly and easily. Also, they were very prepared in front of the camera, being able to answer my questions albeit when they weren’t exactly what I suggested answers to include to fit the section but the alternative answers were useful. Finally, Josh was more difficult to keep motivated towards the end of the process. As editor, he didn’t put himself forward as much during the planning and production stages of development although he did capably jump in to help with camera work on the longer day of filming. When it came to editing. Josh started doing a fantastic job but lost motivation when everyone else had finished their roles. Seeing this, I offered him more support and it was a joint decision that, in order to hit the deadline, I take over and just finish it. As much as I love editing this wasn’t the greatest change in gear but we pushed through.

Overall, we worked well as a group and all got on but there were definitely some people pulling more weight than others.