Evaluation
Initial research
I started the project off by interpreting the brief. This was to show that I had an understanding of what I had to do. But also this let me know what i was doing, who it was for and how it would fit into the clients needs. This made things easier when starting my client and audience research as it helped to break things down so i could start to research into the BBC and their previous campaigns, as well as ask people in the age range of my target audience, what they might want to see from a documentary.
I started off the project by doing research into the client, the BBC, and find out more about them. from this i could find out about what they do, their policies, their conventions they use into making their previous products and things like that. This helps me find out about them.
I started by doing some basic initial research into The client which was the BBC. From this, I figured out that they were split into 3 different groups, The BBC which was targeted at people all age ranges for TV shows on channels such as BBC one, two and three known for broadcasting shows in the UK and Northern island and that they were made in more than 40 languages, which would help it to be accessible for people outside the country, or for people from different countries who are maybe moving to the UK and want to see the BBCs shows and services. That way they are not limiting their audience. They also had BBC three which was targeted towards younger people to get the youth into their services and watching shows on their channels. and Northern voices which was a campaign for young writers to get their amazing work published.
I then looked into BBC three. This was a vital important step into my research as BBC three was targeted towards younger people which matches the brief so it was vital that i took some good notes from BBC three when doijg my research before planning and making my documentary. I found out that it was a free service which is important as if you charge yong people for something, they wont have much money as they dont earn a wage so it would restrict their audience. So this is a smart move to make. They have also made many award winning shows so it has been a fine success. They initially had BBC three as a TV channel but replaced it with an online streaming service which makes sense as most youths these days use things like Netflix and amazon Prime as they have a short attention span and wont wait for shows to come on at a certain time. By researching these things, I am already starting to think outside the box and understand more about my target audience for this brief.
I then wanted to research into Northern voices as id never really heard of it before so i wanted to find out more as it may help. It is a 6 month speaking programme to help young writers across the country to develop their skills and talent by telling unique inspiring stories to inspire other young people. This helped tackle gender and racial imbalances which helps promote diversity in the media industry. This campaign also helped them with their research into their target audience as by hearing their stories they could find out more about them.
I then found out that the BBC had 3 Rethian principles which i didn't know about before. This is to Inform, Educate, and Entertain. This is something they try to achieve in their BBC shows. From this i will take inspiration and try to follow these principles when making my documentary as this will help me structure my documentary and make it informal to my audience.
Continuing with my Audience research, I Looked at codes and conventions within existing BBC and other documentaries. Since I have only seen a few documentaries before, I thought it would be good to teach myself and become familiar with codes and conventions that are used in regular documentaries. That way i could take some inspiration and plan and start to develop a plan to develop my ideas and interests and plan out some whot types i could use when creating a documentary to inspire and educate young people about how technology has impacted people their own age. From this i faliliarised myself with some editing and filming techniques that i could use in my documentary, at the same time I learned some new techniques as well. For example I never realised i could use archive footage to show my audience something that happened in the past. Also i learned different modes of address. To make this look a bit more formal, I think i will use indirect modes of address by getting my audience look to the side of camera rather than looking directly into it. This way. I will be getting the person to look at me, The director rather than at the camera rather than looking at the camera so it looks like a conversation rather than an intense serious interview. This is some advice that i took from my interview that helped make my documentary look better. they are other things i took from the codes and conventions that really helped improve the quality of my documentary.
Next, I wanted to do some research into the different styles of documentaries and what they include. This will help me follow a general direction of what type of documentary I am going to include. The poetic documentary didn't interest me too much as its not a style I am trying to achieve, However i did like the idea of showing perspectives and showing the audience the truth. I was heavily inspired by the expository documentary as it uses Voice of god which is something I want to include in my documentary a good bit. This documentary will tell a good message, however I don't want it to turn out to look like a video essay like it suggests, as that will not entertain a young audience, as i think it will more so make them seem bored.
I was heavily considering to do a Participatory documentary, In fact, It was the style i mostly tried to follow. This was due to the fact that the narrative of the documentaries story, will be influenced by the filmmaker (me) in which i will be heavily participating in the production of this documentary. This will involve me giving out questions to people, Presenting a story within the documentary which will show facts and statistics in order to entertain, Inform and educate the audience which follows the BBC's 3 principles in order to help present my information. so this is what Style I end up following.
Reflexive documentaries also take a big inspiration of what i made. as I am mostly making and being involved in the production of the documentary, however it doesn't fully follow this style as I do have others featured in it as i want it to truly show a young persons experiences as it will help draw my audiences attention as they will be influenced by it if it features people their won age.]
I wasn't going to do a preformative documentary as It wont be showing an emotional response as that is not what I am trying to achieve and will not express political or historical issues. But it is an interesting style for those willing to make that type of documentary.
The last thing I did in my client research was look into existing documentaries. To develop ideas on how I want to plan my pre production for my documentary, I watched a few videogame documentaries to help further develop and inspire ideas for my documentary.
Audience research
Next I moved onto audience research. This helped me find out about my target audience age group. Things like what documentaries, they have seen, What they do and don't like to see in a documentary, also what they might want to see in a documentary about videogames.
From this feedback I gathered the responses and go over what I'm taking from it to help with my documentary. In my audience research I explain how this advice helps me when making my product.
Overall this was important as it helps me to develop an audience profile to see what my target audience do and don't like. This will help me adapt my planning from the client research and make something that is targeted towards people in my age group so they like it by making it inspired on their feedback while following the codes and conventions of the BBC's campaigns and shows and following their main 3 principles to Inform, Educate and Entertain.
following the survey responses, I then took a few of people in my target audience to talk to them in person to find out more based on the survey responses. This would help to develop my audience research to find out in detail what they do and don't like in documentaries and what they would like too see. By this point I had 100% settled on the idea of making it about the technological development of videogames, Showing how they had advances over the years. I picked 4 quick questions to ask people in person and get detailed responses. these questions were:
1)What interests you most into a documentary?
2)what style of documentaries do you like to watch?
3)What is your earliest memory into playing video games?
4)What would you like to see in a documentary about video games?
I then documented this feedback so I could re watch it to keep a log of it so I could fetch the information I wanted in case I missed it the first time round. From this point on I was ready to make a plan and pitch my Initial ideas and thoughts. This audience research helped me develop my ideas so I could move onto this
Presenting my ideas
I created a pitch to present my ideas to people in my target audience to see if they liked my idea that I had and to see if there was things they thought I should change. I did this as if I presented my pitch and they liked my idea, I know it will be a successful documentary so I have the get go to make it as I Know it will satisfy my audience.
Pre production
Before rushing into production, I thought It would be best to plan out my documentary. I already slightly started to do this during my client research as I made notes when researching into the BBC to talk about the codes and conventions. 
I basically researched into the codes and conventions of previous documentaries and made some notes on the codes and conventions they use and tried to think of creative ways I could use it in order to make it work in a video game documentary. when Researching these are the few that I thought would work best in my documentary. This process was really useful before making my documentary as it really helped mope my imagination so I could develop my ideas into how I would make a documentary.
Before starting to make the script, I thought Id create a list of notes and break my documentary up into chapters, which is something I show a lot in the post production editing process when I break my editing segments up. This is to make my planning easier as I only have to focus on creating one chapter of the documentary at a time. I then separated each chapter of the documentary into decade eras of video games, and then thought ways of how I could show it showing technology affecting young people. This would help meet the clients requirements. In my notes for each chapter I quickly make an overview on what its going to be about, what consoles I'm including, what shots I'm including, what codes and conventions I might use, what information I might share. This all made it way easier when making the script as I could refer to this when typing up the script as I could look at my plan and think, right, that's what I need to do and that's how I'm going to do it. These notes really help expand my ideas further to create a well thought out plan and begin to write a script that really presents the right information, not only to entertain the audience, but to meet the clients needs as well.
These are the notes for the last 2 parts of the documentary. Obviously I might not of included all of these notes fully in the overall product, and they might be parts that get scrapped or change as I might find a better thing to include during development, and that can happen sometimes during production projects, and I expected it to.
Also before production, I then filled out logistical forms. This was to ensure that all legal actions and precautions were taken. I filled out a contributors release form to ensure I had legal rights to work with the collaborate with the land owner and film footage in their property during the production times stated. And to publicly publish any footage taken in their property. I then made a location release form. This gave ,e full permissions by the property manager to film on the property but also full access to the facility freely anytime for me or any of my cast and crew fully during the started dates and times stated. this is to give me full flexibility and usage of the property. I also get permission to bring in any equipment needed onto the property during the time period.
I then also created an equipment list. This was to ensure that I was attending filming days equipped and prepared with the right tools and assets that I needed to make my documentary. It helps to save time as if I turn up to a filming day without something, I have to wait another day and then could cost me precious time during production that I can't get back. Being prepared and making sure I come to my filming sessions equipped and prepared is very important to make sure work gets done by the deadline.
I then created a personal list. This would note all the people involved in my production of the documentary. This would give me the list of their names and contact details so I could contact them ahead of time to arrange meet-up times for the production days so I knew they were ready and prepared to helps make my documentary. I was mostly working on my own but I noted 2 peoples names so I had some spare camera men incase needed for some difficult camera angles and shots. Also I would later need them for interviews anyway so I thought id collaborate with some people.
Finally I created risk assessment sheets Before production, I checked out the facility for any major or minor potential hazards that could get in the way of production and cost time. I then put in precautions for these in risk assessment B to ensure the safety of me and my cast and crew to make sure everyone was safe. This was to help prevent having to fill out any complicated paperwork later on if someone got seriously injured.
After all this I then got to work on my script using Celt X which was a free to use script writing website which allowed me to write a script for my documentary.
Filming production
Before production, I looked at previous documentaries. This gave me lots of inspiration of a big variety of shot types to use in my documentary. Since it shows game-play of games, I thought an Over the shoulder shot would work really well. I wanted to include as many shot types as I could so I then tried experimenting with some other shot types to see what would and wouldn't work best. I did this as I thought it would be more entertaining for the audience rather than it being stuck on one camera angle for the duration of the segment. Switching the camera angles constantly makes it more entertaining and immersive for the audience when watching. I did find it repetitive and tedious when filming to keep re recording the same thing from different points, However it made the final product look way better. I also tried to get my footage during midday in order for my filming environment to have the best lighting. This would prevent my shots from looking poor in quality.
Software used During Production
I used a variety of different software during the making and editing of my documentary. For the voice recordings I used an app on my phone called "Voice Memos". this allowed me to talk straight into my phone and read the script aloud so I could then edit the audio once it was done. The good thing is I could stop for breaks to breathe and take my time so I was saying things right, or say a line again if I didn't like how I said it. This is because I could easily edit parts out in premier pro if it didn't sound right and the end product would sound better and would seamlessly flow together. After I voice recorded, I then renamed the file to what part of the documentary it was for and then saved it to my one drive in which I could then edit it on the computer.
For the video recordings, I used the camera on my phone. This gave me the option to record in HD or 4K in either 30 or 60 frames per second. I decided to alter this based on what the shot was and weather I wanted it to look smooth or in higher quality.
For the video editing process I used Adobe Premier pro.I used the 2022 version while I edited at college and the 2023 version while I edited at home. This gave me access to a wide variety of editing tools that made editing seamlessly easy. it made organising of my layers of videos and images easy to organise together to make the video. separating my documentary into chapters made it really easy during the editing process and made it less stressful as I only focused on one chapter at a time.
Skills I learned
during the making of the documentary, I feel like I heavily developed my camera usage techniques as I became better with getting good shots. I learned new ways to achieve certain camera angles. I used my imagination to think of ways t constantly achieve better angles and camera techniques. I also changed the focus by tapping on my phone what I wanted it to focus on which would then change the lighting within the shot. When doing the voice recordings, I feel like I became a lot more confident in reading aloud, because its something I wasnt comfortable with at the start and I feel as the production went on, my scripts sounded better and better as I decided to exaggerate how I said certain words to emphasise a point which my audience will understand. Also as I was editing I feel like I became way more familiar as the production went on, Making the editing of later chapters of the documentary go way quicker than before as I was way more familiar with what I had to do.
Problems that occurred during production
I had a few problems during production that really slowed things down. One of the main ones being is editing my documentary at home. This is because I was using an older laptop which struggled to run premier pro and decided to crash on certain occasions. This would halt my progress and make me lose valuable time. Another technical issue I had Is when I was filming footage on my phone, I upscaled the recordings to 4K 60FPS to make my documentary look the best quality possible so it suits the client and their needs by looking the same quality of their documentaries.
Another problem I had while filming with my phone is I tried to stack boxes to achieve a shot, but I couldn't do it, so I went on amazon and bought myself a cheap phone tripod and I could gather all the shots I needed.
The Final Product
I finished creating and editing the final product. I really like how it turned out. I made sure to include lots of camera angles and techniques to make the documentary more entertaining. With this documentary I planned it to sort of have a flow and narrative. This would show a historical story of the evolution of video game technology and how each era has helped lead up to how video games do today.This will go through how the technology has impacted young people at the time of each era. I had the help of my dad as he owned a few of the older consoles shown In the start so I thought id use him to show a reliable accurate first person perspective of what it was like to use that older technology and how mind blowing it was at the time. With this I got him to play the older games so I could show that over the top of interviews so the audience know what I am talking about. This would show my audience what it was like back then from the perspective of someone who was their age at the time. Since my dad was in the target audience range at the time of him playing on those consoles.
At first, I was going to plan for this to show all video game consoles through time, But due to retaining this to 10-15 minutes, I primarily focused on showing the Nintendo consoles, however I quickly mentioned some other company consoles who were rivals with Nintendo at the time to show some variety and so it doesn't look too biased. When writing the script for each segment of the documentary, I already had some common knowledge that I wanted to include, but when writing the script, I made sure that I had done research to write it in detail and to fact check everything, this is so I wasn't educating my audience on misinformation that wasn't correct or didn't happen. I wanted to follow the clients 3 main principles which was to inform, entertain and educate so I wanted to inform them by telling them how the technology impacted young people to show that people their age were effected even back then but this showed how this is different to present day, I entertained them by showing gameplay. In did this through multiple different shots. OTS shots, Insert shots, side shots, Medium shots and a few close ups. To make this work and have a flow, I recorded the exact same thing from multiple different angles. This was tedious as I had to record the same shot 3 or 4 times from different angles, however it makes the final product look good as it switches camera angles, showing the audience the same thing from different perspectives. This helps to show character expressions, things in the background and on the set, details of things in the scene and so on. the makes the documentary look more entertaining rather than starring at the same camera angle for every shot as it only shows the same perspective.
To help the documentary look believable to the audience and create a sense of realism so I am not just presenting my facts and point of view, I include lots of archive footage, this shows sort of a flashback to show the audience what things looked like back in the day. This is used a lot in the start of the documentary in order to show what gaming was like in the 80's in the arcade era, before big video game consoles came around. Because I could just talk about the fact it was popular, but by including actual footage from back then, it really gives the audience a true understanding of what it was like and how popular it was. I se archive footage in some other segments like In the gamecube part when I am talking about LAN parties as that was one of the main ways to play video games with your friends back then as online play wasn't a thing, and LAN parties were a big thing at the time as you'd always take the GameCube to your friends house and link your consoles together. I used archive footage for this as I couldn't replicate this as I didn't have multiple gamecube.
I also use a few interviews, Some of these are from friends, and some are from my dad. This is so it shares an opinion from different points of views. This is so the audience believes the Points of views so its not just mine as that would be presenting a biased point of view in the documentary. For these shots, I make it a medium shot, having the camera show their head and juts above the waist. This is to show their expression while their talking. I get them to look just above or to the side of the camera so it looks like a formal conversation between me (the director) and them. This is because this isn't a serious interview in the documentary, its just getting an opinion so I don't want it to be as formal.
After the intro of the documentary, I include a montage. This is to grasp the audiences attention at the start to make them want to watch the entire documentary by showing 3 -5 second clips of loads of different games. This starts from the beginning and works its way to present day to show how technology has evolved and this shows as the graphics get better as it goes on. I play some dramatic music to really increase the energy level to help keep the audience engaged so they want to keep watching. it also includes clips from the middle and end of the documentary so it teases them of what's to come.
How this suits the client
I think that the final product really helps to suit the client as it follows their principles to inform entertain and educate. When making, I tried to follow the same steps that they take when making my product. I did this by looking at existing documentaries that are out there. This really put me in their shoes and showed me how to make a documentary suited to be broadcasted on their channels. This uses a variety of shot types to help to make it look entertaining. It includes lots of facts and statistics to educate the audience on the past history of video game technology to show them what it was like compared to now. Also I use archive footage to inform them on what things looked like back then.
How this suits my audience
I think this does a good job to be a suitable documentary for my audience. This is because it is only 15 minutes. This is a short run time for a documentary as it is to prevent my audience for being bored and not watching it as younger people have proved to having a short attention span when it comes to watching things. So I kept it short so it didn't take up too much of their time. Also, since most teens and adults like vidoegames, I thought this subject would be something that attracts their attention and gains a lot of attention. I did this by showing the gameplay from multiple angles to show the same thing from different perspectives. This is to focus the audiences attention onto different little details. This is to wow them so they want to keep watching. This helps to make it look more entertaining which therefore makes it a success.
Reflection- What I would change next time
I like how the documentary looks, although on reflection after watching it, there would be a few things I have noted from this production time of this project that I would then change in order to do things differently next time. One thing I would of done is for the part where I am interviewing my dad, For some of the spectrum games he talks about, I don't use gameplay to go over the top. This is the same for one of my friends when he was talking about Halo and Skyrim. I wish I found archive footage or gameplay footage for these segments to give my audience a better understanding on what it looked like so they know what they are talking about.
Also, for one of the interviews where I am asking my friends some questions, The audio sounds really loud and muffled, in order to prevent this happening again, I would either adjust the distance between me an the camera, or find a plug in Mic in order for the audio to sound better.
Also when I rewatch the documentary, I notice that I talk a lot and it almost seems too much, so if I was to do this again I would split it up so I would have sections when it cuts to just gameplay as oppose to me talking over gameplay. This is because if there's too much info, I feel like this would be too much and bore my audience.
Towards the end, I planned to do a small section about the Wii U, but cos I was cut for tie at the end of production, I cut this out. Also I was going to go over how modern day technology has affected young people with video games. However, since young people watching already know how video game technology affects them, I decided to cut this bit out also, to prevent the documentary going on for too long, so instead I quickly did a segment talking and comparing the past and present technology to sum it up.
IMPROVEMENTS
After watching my documentary a few times, I reflected on my final product and decided to make a second draft in order to fix the few technical issues I analysed after watching that I made not of in the evaluation. One of the things that was notable is the drastic change in the audio from the script reading and gameplay to the interviews which are really quiet. Also in the interviews with my friends, I standed really close to the camera causing the audio to go loud and muffled. I went into Adobe audition and altered the audio so it was the same throughout to make it less disturbing for my audiences so it is better quality.
I then wanted to add a end credits screen to the documentary to give credit to everyone who was involved in the filming or production of the documentary so they'd get recognition for their involvement.
One final thing I improved was to add a BBC Three logo at the start of the documentary before it starts to act as an opening sequence to those watching so they know it is a production made by the BBC. Also I added a BBC logo in the bottom right corner of the screen. It is small and minimal but it is to act as a watermark throughout to mark who the content belongs to to prevent other people from stealing the work and reuploading it as their own to try to steal the credit. It also helps to add brand identity so people know this is the BBC to give the client recognition. This is something that is present in previous BBC documentaries, so it is appropriate to include it here to show and remind the audience who made it.
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