Reflective Log

17/03/2025:

The brief for the FMP was delivered. We have to create a written piece and a technical piece, on a subject of our choosing. The presentation was delivered and I created blog pages for each of the elements of the project I needed, added a new 'FMP 2' category and new tags under FMP 1-5. I also moved the category to the front of the selection on my coursework page so it is easier for people to access. The pitch will be on the Thursday 3rd April. I wrote what my initial response to the brief was, and started developing ideas.

20/03/2025:

Today I need to further my idea development. I need to complete some secondary research on topics in the film industry. I want to research types of documentaries, find inspiration and research more into possible ideas. I continued idea development, researching film essay topic ideas and picking ones that I liked. I then shortlisted it to 10, and made notes about the angle and scope I may take for the topic and what interviews I would conduct. I then shortlisted it to 5 ideas for further research. I briefly researched each topic to get a better understanding to see if it would interest me and I could make it work. I was getting unmotivated by the secondary research, so I decided to take a break and find inspiration by watching other documentaries about film topics to help inform my decision about the topic and my vision for the project.

However I am really interested in the idea of participating in the action of the documentary and setting myself a challenge to immerse myself in throughout the investigation, a performative documentary which is about sharing my experiences. I researched the performative style of documentary as that is what I may do, and I took inspiration from the example of Supersize Me.

I am going to start researching into film or acting related companies so that I can get information about whether I can achieve the plans I am trying to. I will research further into the idea of doing the 'how to' style documentary and what it will take to become a film nerd or actor or to make a film, so I can figure out whether I have the access and it will be achievable. If the project may require funds to make it the best quality, I may need to consider fund raising or even getting a contributor. So I am going to research people that I could possibly work with on this project to find out if I have access and get a head start contacting them to allow maximum time for a response.

I added notes to my idea generation about what 'how to become a film nerd/actor' would require. Upon discussion with my tutor who's interest was peaked by my idea of doing a performative documentary about becoming a film nerd that is the idea I will progress into secondary research with. I am still leaving the opportunity for me to pick another topic open, if I find that this one may be hard to do, however I will research and start laying the foundations of the project. I think the 'How to' idea will be engaging for me and the audience alike and will be useful for me as I progress onto university where I am going to study filmmaking, so I need to improve my film knowledge as I feel that I am lacking. I wrote a project proposal on paper to visualise my initial plan.

21/03/2025:

I will conduct research into the characteristics of a cinephile and develop my understanding. I completed a plan for my 'how to' idea, considering elements that a good idea needs like angle, scoop, medium, audience, inspiration and why you are the right person to address the subject. Considering these things helps me see if my idea works. Planning like this will help me understand what I aiming to get from the project and make sure that I consider the elements at every stage of the process.

24/03/2025:

Today I need to do a rough plan of the content I need to create for the documentary, which will help me start secondary research. To do that I will complete a documentary treatment which will go on my pre-production blog. From completing this I have decided that I need to conduct an interview before I even start the process to give me an idea of what I need to do, how to create a guide to follow. I also need to plan a rough calendar, to see if I can make this a 30 day challenge, giving me enough time to film footage and edit it all in time for the deadline.

I started researching possible interviewees who can give me advice to help me set out the process and conduct the right research. For this I will go onto Instagram and Tiktok to find creators who talk about films, and people who are 'film nerds'. For other interviews I may talk to professionals in the industry to give me a better insight into film nerds and what impact they have, and a better understanding of film. I will also research how to become a film nerd on google and social media to get a better understanding of my topic and find people I could interviewee.

26/03/2025:

I found myself confused by what I needed to do to progress the project, so I wanted to keep it simple. I have decided that I will set a simple challenge for myself, by finding a letterboxed list to follow of films to watch and watch as many films as possible during a month, improving my letterboxed by logging and reviewing films. Before I start the process I will reflect on the current state of my letterboxed and set my goals, aswell as taking some time to learn about film analysis. Throughout I will give progress updates and vlogs. Alongside this I will investigate a topic, try to find the answer to one question, which is how I will conduct secondary research and gain a better understanding. Then at the end I will set up my guide to becoming a film nerd, which could become my written piece aswell, or it could be an overview of my experience.

I will also finish off the side investigation into a question, which will be something that film nerds like to discuss. I can also dive deeper into certain films, watching them multiple times, analysing them and discussing them on social media, which is what a lot of film fans do. I can compare watching many films vs watching the same films over and over again. I will spend tomorrow planning this more so that I can understand what I need to do next, conduct more secondary research, start primary research and set plans into motion.

27/03/2025:

I got the contact for John Currie from the Beeston film festival. I researched him and the Beeston film festival to see if it would fit into my project. I had two possible questions that I could answer, 'what is the greatest film of all time?' and 'how do you get into the film industry?'. For interviews it would be more interesting and useful if I asked people how they got into the industry. I could potentially try to answer the question of what is the greatest film by watching some of the greatest films ever, but it is a very subjective topic. I sent an email to John about a potential email and explained what I am doing with the documentary.

I will also plan primary research for social media, maybe asking what people think the best movies are, what films that everyone should watch, fan favs and other research to help me create a list of films that I'm going to watch and make sure that I can access them all. I will watch mainly new films, but may re-watch some of my favourites for analysis I have been researching top film lists, some according to fans some according to critics. I think primary research may give me a better chance of finding classics to watch, instead of looking through many different lists all with different answers. However I have decided that I will use Letterboxed Top 250 as a guide, because it is decided by fans, which is the focus of my piece, not about critic opinion. I will also research which films are most referenced in other media and daily life, so that I can find classics to watch and learn keep up with people's references.

I researched the top 25 movies of the letterboxed top 250 with fans list to see if I have access to watch them and I do with all of them, either with a DVD or streaming site.

28/03/2025:

I booked the interview with John Currie for 2pm on Tuesday 1st April. I need to create and send over a link. I also need to draft up some questions in preparation. I will also begin preparation for my pitch next week. I wrote out the notes I made on a paper proposal onto my Wix proposal page, using the template I used in my first FMP. I did this because my Wix storage is out, I can't upload any more photos so I decided to directly input it onto the blog instead. It also made me think through my plan again and alter some elements. I similarly did this with the email I sent, I couldn't upload a screenshot of it so I copied the text of my email into the contributor communication blog, and I may find a way to include photo evidence further in the project.

31/03/2025:

Today I need to decide on my questions for the interview tomorrow and begin preparing my pitch, creating a presentation. I haven't yet created a social media post for primary research but will in the coming days. We received guidance on creating out pitch and practicing ready for Thursday when we will deliver the pitch. I looked on Canva for presentations that looked 'film' themed. I then started customising my chosen template and used the guidance I had received to help me.

I also need to identify other participants and start contacting them. I will contact the creator that inspired the documentary, asking for a potential interview and I will also include her as inspiration in my pitch presentation. I need to find other sources of inspiration that will be similar to my style of documentary. I contacted Amalia Maria on Instagram in hopes of an interview or gaining some tips from her about becoming a 'filmbro'. I got a response from her quickly, saying she wanted to help and I explained some of the details to her, that I would like to talk to her about her experience, and also would like if she could set me a challenge of some sort, like a list of films to watch.

I may ask Letterboxed for a quote on what film fans mean to them, as I will investigate on the side the experience and impact of film fans.

01/04/2025:

I conducted the interview with John Currie. I recorded it on Zoom, I used my Razor Seiren Mini Microphone and my USB webcam.

03/04/2025:

I needed to edit some footage from the interview that I did to add to my pitch presentation, search for inspiration and create a rough plan to continue the project. I edited a short clip from the interview where John Currie discuss Christopher Nolan and Dunkirk, explaining how he thinks that it is one of the best in modern times. This will help the pitch audience picture what I will be asking in interviews and what I am trying to find out during the process. I then went on YouTube to find inspiration, videos under similar titles as mine and videos with the same format that I want. I added these to the pitch presentation along with the Tiktok that initially inspired me. I will explain briefly how each one inspired me in my pitch script. I also thought that I could find a film test to do at the start and end of the project to see how knowledgeable I have become.

I added a rough plan using calendars to my pitch presentation. I also wrote a script for the presentation which will take me roughly up to 5 minutes. I read through it a few times and edited it down to keep it brief but informative. I created a google forms asking people for their favourite films and created a QR code for it adding this to my presentation.

I conducted the pitch and it went well. I was brief in my explanation, used the slides as talking points and roughly used the script that I wrote, however I found it easier to just speak freely instead of stick with the script. Some people put in responses for my google forms, and that will help me for my primary research and making a list of films to watch. I was asked questions about how I would conduct secondary research, if I would focus on genres and what methods I would use to analyse films. I answered all of them confidently and felt satisfied with the responses I gave, the feedback seemed positive and people seemed to like my idea.

Going forward I will use the feedback, taking into consideration points about secondary research, using many different mediums to conduct it aswell as the methods I can use to analyse my films. The responses I got from the survey will also give me some recommendations to consider.

17/04/2025:

I drafted up a script for my intro piece to camera which will set the scene and explain what I am setting out to do during the duration of the challenge. I will film this tomorrow so that I can begin the challenge on Monday.

20/04/2025:

I filmed the intro for my documentary. I did over half an hour of footage so it will take a lot of editing, which I will start this week. I filmed it using my phone and the app Open Camera, aswell as a phone ring light and mini microphone

21/04/2025:

Today is the first day of the challenge. I need to create a to-do list for the challenge, and then film some footage for the first day. I will find something to learn about film (history, theory) which I will study and film footage about and I need to watch at least one film, and take a photo of it. I will film check-in footage whenever I can and then compile it in the final edit. I have made a list of over 70 films i could watch throughout the 30 days, started making plans for the rest of the week for what I need to study and watch, aswell as the footage I need to film for the documentary and social media. I will post social media content alongside filming the documentary, which will help promote the documentary when it comes out and gain an audience. Today I am watching the first film (Black Swan) and will record some footage before I do.

22/04/2025:

I filmed a Tiktok asking for film recommendations, aswell as studying some film history and documenting it. I have collected a lot of footage. I am transferring all of my footage to my OneDrive to keep it all in one place and organised. For this project I am going to be dealing with a lot of footage so I need to organise it properly, and I will begin editing at the end of the week. I will also look for someone on social media who I can interview about film history and theory, to give me a better insight. I did a few film quizzes and screen recorded them using Clip champ, which also allowed my to record the webcam footage.

23/04/2025:

Today I am going to watch 2 films. I have recorded a little clip for today, just explaining what I might do. I might watch a YouTube video about analysing films to learn how to do it.

24/04/2025:

Today I have a few different things I can do. I can begin editing the footage I have already got, do some more planning for the next few days and the skits I want to do for the documentary, find some other interviewees, and I could conduct some more research about film. As I have a lot of time until my deadline, I don't need to rush with the editing, so I can do a bit of everything today to keep me engaged and not bored or unmotivated.

25/04/2025:

I received feedback that I could have an end product that I will work towards of a studio recorded film review/critique. This will give me something to work towards. I could pick my top 10 films or so that I have watched and review them or just do one and go in depth. I was told about Barry Norman, a film reviewer from the past, an iconic figure in film, so I will research him and see if I can find inspiration to help me for my documentary.

We also had a group meeting for NEON magazine, which my written piece may feature in. I was appointed editor of the issue, which means I will be in charge of decisions of what goes into the magazine. I started a spreadsheet of articles, to keep track of everyone's progress.

28/04/2025:

Today I will do research into film analysis. I have been researching some more films and access I have to them. I also discussed films that I have watched with others and got recommendations from them. I have found out about the BFI Player that has a lot of classic great films available, and it has a free 14 day trial, so I can get this and use it during the process to watch films like Seven Samurai, The 400 Blows and La Haine. I am also going to research films critics more for my secondary research, to help me learn about film analysis and give me inspiration for my documentary.

I also sent Amalia films another DM on Instagram, about a month after I last sent her one, when she agreed to talk to me and I gave her information about what it would entail, and I received no response, she didn't see the message. I probably should have contacted her earlier, but I was focused on setting up the challenge. Now I have contacted her for an interview whilst I am already in the process, asking her for guidance and recommendations and it may be less pressure than the previous interview I asked for. Today was the right time for me to reach out again, as I've already started the 30 days, hopefully she will reply and we can chat about becoming a film nerd/film bro. It will be disappointing if I cannot receive a response or arrange an interview as she is a big inspiration for this piece, however there are other options out there for me. I will look for content creators on Tiktok and Instagram, aswell as critics to contact for an insight and guidance. I will also research Mark Kermode, and reach out for a potential email later on once I have a good idea of what he does. I can reach out via Instagram or an email on his website.

I also have to start thinking about my article. I started planning elements of the technical piece, like documentary segments I want to do aswell as social media content that I am going to produce alongside the production. I want to create some differnet, unique, creative segments for my documentary to make it engaging and informative. These will go alongside me documenting my progress in watching films. All of this planning is going into my Pre-production blog. I am also trying to bring other notes that I have made outside of wix, and ideas that I have developed into my one Idea generation blog so I can keep track of them and try to include them. I am trying to keep as organised as possible during this project as there is a lot of information to deal with and I want to bring it all together in one cohesive piece. I also want to experiment with the technical side especially, I want to make my documentary artistic and use a lot of different techniques, so I may need inspiration for this. I could try and make a storyboard for the documentary to help me get the footage I want and begin editing.

I also researched film books, because it would be good if I could find books about film studies, to guide me and help me learn. I will also watch more YouTube videos about film, and hopefully find some series that can teach me about film history and theory. I received a book called 'The good, the bad and the multiplex' by Mark Kermode, from my tutor. I will try to read this as it seems interesting.

01/05/2025:

I watched the film analysis YouTube video, which is like a masterclass o film analysis. I made extensive notes in my secondary research blog and feel much more confident about analysing films. At one point I will try to put this into practice. I watched Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo's podcast clips on YouTube, to watch analysis in practice. This will inspire me as I may want to start a film analysis podcast in the future, so watching others do this will help me learn.

02/05/2025:

I conducted more secondary research into film critic Barry Norman to inspire me for a segment at the end of the documentary. I want to do a film analysis piece/review at the end to show how I have improved in knowledge and experience, aswell as setting up future projects.

There was a second NEON meeting, where we discussed what may feature on the front cover. People shared ideas and we shortlisted a few different pieces. The design team sketched some ideas and I worked closely with them to set up a cover shoot for my piece, even though it hasn't been decided yet, it will be good to try things out. Next friday we will be taking pictures, working with the photography students, to make potential cover photos. For mine it will feature a TV and a collection of DVDs corresponding to the films I have watched during the process. Although I am still in the 30 days and won't be finshed by the time of the shoot, so I will have to pre-plan what I will watch, and not all the films I watch may be in the picture, also due to missing a few DVDs, aslong as it includes 30 DVDs, with titles that I have watched, it should still be a great cover photo and will draw the attention of readers, giving them insight into what my article will entail. If my piece doesn't make the cover, the photos we take during the shoot will still be very useful for my spread.

03/05/2025:

I started drafting up my article. I took inspiration from my pitch script and the intro footage I have filmed for the documentary, to help me draft up an intro for the written piece, to set the scene. I plan on making the article like a diary at the start, documenting my progress and using the footage I have filmed and my blog to help me write it. Then after I will conclude what I have learned and give advice, maybe even a step guide to become a film nerd.

06/05/2025:

I filmed my week 2 overview. Like all of the piece to cameras I have filmed so far, it was not scripted and I just improvised, using my letterboxed as a prompt and at times preparing quotes, like I did for my intro footage. I am filming like this because I am confident about the topic and it is sharing my experience, with informal check-ins so it would be too forced and not seem authentic if I scripted everything. It does mean I tend to ramble and get stuck for words when filming, leading to longer footage and less quality content but it feels more natural this way, and by beginning editing as soon as possible I will find what I need to film to fill in gaps and do that. I will be filming some scripted segments later in the process, which will help tell the story I want to, but when I am sharing my personal experience it is more natural to be unscripted.

07/05/2025:

I transferred the videos and photos I had captured on my phone onto my OneDrive, so that I could access the files at college to begin editing. However, my latest video file, the overview of week 2 didn't transfer because my laptop crashed, but the footage is not lost, it is is in my files, I just need to get it to my OneDrive. I will begin editing without it anyway as the editing is mainly chronological so I can add it in after.

08/05/2025:

I am beginning editing today because I want to get a head start, as there is a lot of footage and I'm running out of time. I also want to understand what footage I need to film, to help me complete the video. I first tried to open Adobe Premiere Pro, however it came up with a system compatibility report and issues, which I don't understand. I don't want to continue with these issues in case it affects my editing, so I will research them and see if I can proceed. It says there is an unsupported video driver, which may mean that my software needs an update.

I also thought about editing on Microsoft Clip Champ because it is easier to access and use, however using Adobe will give me better quality edits and may be able to handle the large amount of footage I have, whereas with Clip Champ, I may need to edit each segment individually and put them together in a sequence, which could work given that its chronological, however would be more effort and could result in mistakes. I could create a sequence on Clip Champ to be more convenient, it would also allow me to edit outside college, and then once the whole sequence is together put it onto Premier Pro to improve the quality of the visuals and audio and fix any mistakes.

However, I have been struggling to import my files from OneDrive onto Clip Champ. Dragging and dropping the footage from my OneDrive onto Clip Champ isn't working, and when I try to import from the computer files, where it is signed into my OneDrive, not all of my footage is there and when I try to open files it doesn't work. To fix this I will try downloading a small video file from my OneDrive onto my computer and then importing it onto Clip Champ to see if it will work, if it does it will make the editing process harder and more time-consuming, but if it doesn't I will look for alternative methods or software.

It worked when I downloaded the footage to my computer and then dragged and dropped it into to Clip Champ and it was pretty quick, because it was a small file. However I have a few long videos, between 20-30 minutes and a few gb in storage, so it would take a while to do this for those videos and make slow down my computer. I can also directly import a video to Clip Champ from OneDrive, so my solution is that for bigger clips I will directly import them into Clip Champ via OneDrive and edit them separately and for smaller files I will download them and drop them into a sequence when needed. I will edit in chronological order and decrease the length of my footage so that I can bring it all into one sequence.

I have used both Clip Champ and Premier Pro to edit in previous projects and know how to use them well and in conjunction. I started editing my intro footage. The video started off being 28 minutes long I got it down to 21 minutes which is way too much. However I kept in a lot of alternatives, so that I have many different options when editing a sequence together for what I will include. I may add the other footage from my intro to edit that down and create the first glimpses of the introduction to my video.

I also need to reach out to more people for interviews because I have been stalling and procrastinating, however I am running out of time. I was very organised in my first fmp, with a contact list spreadsheet and it helped massively however I don't feel that it is necessary for this project as I have better access to possible interviewees, they aren't famous, busy racing drivers and so may not need to reach out to as many people, so don't need to keep track of it in this way. I am planning on contacting Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo for an interview, which is ambitious as they have a big following and are top film critics. I will also go through my following list on Tiktok and Instagram and try to find film content creator I could talk to and send a quick DM. But before I do this I need to figure out what I need from an interview. I may want to know someone's personal experience as a film 'nerd', maybe what it takes to be a 'critic', what I need to do for the rest of the challenge. It would also be helpful to talk to someone about film history and theory, aswell as analysis. I will find creators who made content about any of these subjects and reach out to them for an interview. This will also give me a break from editing, which can get boring and unmotivating.

I want to find out what the theory behind film, how a film is made and how we interact with film (as film fans/nerds). So I could do three separate interviews for these topics or just one and merge together the answers with the answers I got from John Currie. I contacted about 10 different creators on Tiktok, about their passion for film and filmmaking and sharing this on social media. I also emailed Kermode and Mayo via the email I got from the website. I will wait a few days to hear back from people and reach out to others in the meantime, however I have made a good start on finding my next interviewee. All of this is documented on my contributor communication blog post with screenshots of the messages.

I also need to plan the scripted segments that I will film in the next two weeks. This will include the Film noob on film nerd segment. These will be humorous but informative, with the aim of telling the story in a unique way, unlike the typical documentary style, close to a recreation. I will take inspiration from Variety's Actors on Actors series, and I will film myself as a film noob and then as a film nerd, to show where I started and how far I have came in terms of knowledge and understanding.

09/05/2025:

I am completing a SWOT analysis now that it is about 2 weeks until the soft deadline. I think that this will help me evaluate my progress so far and see what I still need to do to submit a good draft. I haven't yet completed one in this project as I have focused on the 30 day process instead, however it may have been beneficial to complete one sooner to give me more guidance.

SWOT MATRIX:

STRENGTHS  +	WEAKNESSES  –
Have filmed a lot of footage, so I should have enough to make an engaging video. I have been motivated to comit to the challenge, watching the films and keeping on track with the premise. I have a passion for the subject and it is from my perspective	I feel unsure about where I am going with the conclusion. Will be running production close to soft deadline. Procastination and having a lot to do at once.
OPPORTUNITIES  +	THREATS  –
I have access to interviewees. It is about my experience, so its easy to film and write about.	There is a lot of footage to edit, may not get it done in time to submit a complete draft. I am behind in the written piece, have only written an intro, and may have to wait until I have finished the 30 days until I can finish a draft as it will detail my experience and conclusions.

I started writing more for my written piece, first roughly planning the chronological structure. I got a response from the Kermode and Mayo podcast email which gave me the addresses for their agents to contact as the email I used was just for the podcast. I'm glad I used the podcast email, because they have passed me on to the way to contact both of them and hopefully get access for an interview.

10/05/2025:

I went to the cinema as part of my project to watch one of the best latest releases: Sinners. I have logged this on Letterboxed as I have with all of my other films I've watched, and will go into detail about it in my week overview.

12/05/2025:

I have arranged an interview with filmfluencing on Tiktok for Tuesday at 11am. I need to send them a zoom link later. Today I need to prep questions for the interview. I will also do some more editing. I drafted up some questions. I have struggled with thinking of quality questions. I want the interviewee to tell me about their experience and passion, so I will probably lead with open questions, spurring them to talk a lot, rather than specific ones with facts, because they are a small Tiktok content creator it is hard to research outside of their social media pages. It may mean I will ask them an opening question and then improvise the rest of the interview listening to their answers and asking follow-up questions. It will probably be much more of an informal chat than a super-serious interview. They will give me insight into the experience of film fans, whereas the other interview I did gave me information about what its like to be inside the industry.

I have also considered making the documentary into a series on YouTube. This is due to the amount of footage I have. I have already tried editing the intro footage down, leaving some alternative clips in, however it is still over 20 minutes. So I may be able to make a whole series of YouTube videos, rather than a long documentary. It may help create an audience, who will stay to watch the whole series. However, I need to make sure that it will be engaging and not too long. I will edit more footage and then decide. It will also require adding visuals (pictures and text) to help increase the quality, and ultimately make it more engaging. I asked my tutor whether it was a good idea and got advice that it was but I need to do a concluding video that rounds everything up.

I also had a long discussion about films with my tutor and by talking discovered that I am much better at discussing and analysing films, such as my theory that the black panel in '2001; A space odyssey' is the 10 commandments, which is something I will try to feature in my project, in my overview this week. I will film my week 3 overview today or tomorrow. We also talked about how many of the highest-ranked films at 'men' films and it spurred me to research female film critics and what movies would be top-rated by women.

I wrote more for my written piece, exceeding 1700 words, but I will edit it down later. I wrote about the films I watched in week 3 aswell as talking about the cinema and physical media, to share how I watch films and talk about Sinners. I exported the finished edit of the intro footage which is still long. I exited the app before I had finished exporting it after editing it, so I tried to export it with the cuts today, all of the edits I made successfully imported into Clip champ on this different computer, so I downloaded it to my OneDrive.

13/05/2025:

I conducted the interview with filmfluencing from Tiktok. I talked to them about their social media and film club, aswell as their experiences as fans. I got over 20 minutes of footage and it was very useful for my project. I then filmed my week 3 overview. However my first attempt to do so failed, my video file got corrupted so I had to re-film it. I then sent the footage that I successfully filmed the second time to my laptop and transferred it into my OneDrive. I was very annoyed when the file corrupted because had talked for over 10 minutes and felt that my description of the films I had watched was insightful and I had to really motivate myself to film it all again. I was worried that my file would corrupt again but there wasn't much I could do so I recorded it again and felt that the frustration I had over the corrupted files may show in the video, but I did get over 20 minutes of decent footage.

I have been keeping my Onedrive organised with everything in folders named day 1-30 and organising footage and photos into the right days, so I can keep everything chronological.

14/05/2025:

I edited the intro some more and split it into an intro video and then one where I go over my physical media collection. I need to make a standard intro and outro video that I can add to each bit of footage if I am going to make it into a miniseries. I am first going to try it out on Canva, I want to create an intro and outro on there anyway, but I may need to film an intro piece to camera that sets the tone for each video, and something that doesn't leave the end of the video feeling cut off, needs to resolve each video properly so that one can lead onto another.

I wrote small scripts for the intro and outro in my pre-production blog. I had two versions for the intro and I will record both and see which works best. I used my pitch planning, and the script I wrote for my presentation to help me write the script, and it was useful because it helped me sum up my project in a short amount of words to present.

15/05/2025:

I spent time researching how to rate and review films, documenting what I learn in my secondary research blog. I will film footage about what I learnt. I also had an idea that I can bring everything I have learned theory based about film to analyse, rate and review one movie at the end of the 30 days to show my progress. I will dissect 12 Angry Men because it is one of my favourite movies I've watched during this process and will be one of my all time favourites aswell as being well-rated, 5th on the IMDb Top 250 and is rooted in film history, being a black and white film released in 1957. This will require research into the context behind the film aswell as re-watching it and making notes and reading/watching reviews and analysis about it.

I also planned the structure for the YouTube series in my pre-production blog, with a 6 episode plan. I needed to schedule when I will release each episode before 14th June, which will motivate me to keep updated with editing, which will be in my pre-production blog.

16/05/2025:

I am doing more editing to create my first few episodes. I was trying to find the intro and outro footage I filmed on Wednesday, I looked through my OneDrive 'how to become a film nerd' file, which has a numbered file for each day of the challenge. I didn't find the video in the file it should be in or any of the other files. It may still be on my personal storage on my laptop and then I could put it on my OneDrive however if it isn't I have lost it and may have to reshoot it or change my plan. So I decided that because I am not able to access my laptop in the morning, I will experiment with alternative intros and outros, and add them to an edit.

I went on Canva and tried out some different intro templates, exported one I liked and added it to my Clip Champ edit, aswell as adding transitions between cuts to make it smoother. Then I tried to find some music for my intro clip on Clip Champ's library, so that it wasn't just silent. I exported the edit I did on Clip Champ for episode 1 (intro) and episode 2. I will need to edit them down into 2 separate episodes and export, but there is a gap in between each one on the project will make it easy to do so. For the majority of the episodes it will just be a piece to camera, edited down, maybe combined with other talking clips, in chronological order, however my conclusion episode will include pictures, b-roll and a montage of everything.

I worked with other Journalism students and photography students to do a photoshoot for NEON magazine. The inspiration was the poster for the movie Poltergeist, and we used props such as a TV and DVDs. It went well and I worked well with the team that were helping me. The vision was clear, and executed well on the day. Hopefully the image works out well when it has been edited by the photography students and may potentially make the cover of the magazine.

18/05/2025:

I have ended the process of watching films, finishing it with Fight Club. I still have a few days left of the 30 days, so I will re-watch 12 Angry Men, take notes and analyse it, so that I can put my skills I've gained throughout this process into practice for the last episode of the series.

19/05/2025:

This week I need to release 2 episodes of the series, one today, and will be editing other episodes so they are ready to post in the coming weeks. I will also be planning and producing my conclusion episode. I also need to finish off the last bits of my written piece, summarise week 4 and make sure all key elements are included. Once that is done I will edit it down to size and my draft will be complete.

I started off by writing about week 4 for my written piece. I reached over 2200 words, but still haven't finished, so it will need a lot of editing down and also requires a grammar check, I will have to make sure that all film titles are in apostrophes. I went through and made sure each film title was correctly spelt, had capital letters and apostrophes.

I have already created a new YouTube account under the same username as my Tiktok and Instagram @rachelemilyeaton. I will post the series here instead of on my old account @tracksiderachel because I have moved on from that and want this series to help set up my future in filmmaking and hopefully spur me on to create more content like 'How to become a film nerd (in 30 days)'. I want to create an account that has a committed, engaged audience, who enjoy the content I make about film, TV, media and pop culture. I will find a way to incorporate the series into my website aswell, that will be easy to access and hopefully draw visitors to watch the series. I need to consider this as well as the process of making and editing the videos.

I focused my time on editing as I have alot of footage to edit down and make into coherent episodes. I spent time on Canva, experimenting with the intro sequence and how I could introduce the episodes, and trying different audios and sound effects. My process is evidenced in my Experimentation blog.

I spent some time editing, and decided that it may be best to merge episode 1 (the intro) and episode 2, to make it one episode which sets the scene, episode 2 can now be week 1. That means I need more time to edit it all together into one harmonious piece, including the interview with John Currie. I am going off the schedule that I set of releasing an episode on Mondays and Thursdays, as I need more time to edit episode 1. Instead today I will make a bit of my introduction into a trailer, for Youtube and Tiktok, and will edit it with a coming soon bit at the end, to help garner some excitement. I can then do this for each episode, taking a little part of the episode and making it into a Tiktok video, but it won't be horizontal, and it will allow me to easily produce promotional content for the series out of the full episodes. I could also consider releasing all episodes in one week, one a day or all at one time.

Alongside more editing, I will also re-watch 12 Angry Men and make notes, to prepare for tomorrow when I will conclude what I have learnt from the process and put my newfound skills into practice. I got the edit down to just over 14 minutes, but included all of the footage from my introduction, aswell as incorporating text to separate different segments, it has made the episode more coherent however I still need to edit it down further and cut out rambling. I am being ruthless when editing, cutting out unnecessary bits that don't add value. I am also being patient with myself, allowing myself breaks when I get bored and unmotivated, to do something different and try to refocus again. I also need to make sure my YouTube profile is verified so that I can post videos over 10 minutes, however I will try to make most videos under 10 minutes, the conclusion may be over.

20/05/2025:

I edited it down further and added a bit from the John Currie interview where he talks about some of his favorite films that he would recommend. I also decided to add a coming up section to the end, which will be a short clip of episode 2. I want to create some sort of outro, with music and credits. I need to add pictures to some elements and film b-roll voice-over to add to it, however I am nearing completion of my first episode. I decided I will release my first episode on Wednesday 21st May, which will be exactly a month since I began the 30 day challenge. I also filmed my week 4 overview and will film my conclusion as well as analysis of 12 Angry Men by the end of this week. Today I will release promo videos on social media for the first episode.

I got the edit down to under 10 minutes, without the coming soon and outro. I then added some pictures to the interview with John, the film posters for the movies he talks about. I wanted to record a voiceover however the record audio bit on Clip Champ wasn't there, so I will export once I've finished the edit and do it on Clip Champ online, not directly from OneDrive. Templates also aren't available, so I will have to do the same for that, as I was researching how to add a lower third (the name and job title of interviewee) and it directed me to templates, however there are none available on the version I am using, so I will have to do it after exporting.

I exported my final edit, so I could add the voice-over and lower third text in the online version of Clip Champ. I first exported it but noticed that I had a transition at the start of the video that didn't work, so I went back, changed it and exported it again in. I also edited a short clip of the intro of the video, adding slides from Canva, to make a short video for Tiktok that said that episode 1 is coming soon.

21/05/2025:

Today I planned the conclusion by writing a script for the beginning and end, aswell as talking points to help me stay on point, all of this is planned in my pre-production blog. I will record this on Friday. I also planned my voice-over for episode 1, which I will record, edit in and then post it on Youtube today.

I have faced many issues with Clip Champ today, constantly having to refresh and wait for the content to load in, or having to locate files on my device. It has taken all day to add two quick edits and post, because I have been waiting long times for things to load, so it has been frustrating and has taken up as lot of time I could have used doing other parts of my project.

I was able to export the final cut, adding audio to the footage where I show my Letterboxd instead of a voice-over, because I felt that it was more convenient, and the voice-over may not have worked, so I added the same audio that I used for my intro. I wasn't able to post it today, because it took all day to get it exported, as my browser wasn't responding and I had to wait ages for things to load, but now I will be able to post it tomorrow, before preparing the description.

22/05/2025:

I edited my written piece down, its still over 1200 words and I haven't added all elements to it, however they will require me editing my interviews down, and analysing 12 Angry Men to complete these parts, but I have been able to whittle down, by reading through it and deleting certain sentences and paragraphs. I also did more planning of my conclusion in my pre-production blog. I also planned my video description for when I post episode 1 on YouTube.

I wrote my conclusion for the written piece using my planning for my video conclusion in my pre-production blog. I have reached over 2000 words, an still need to add a paragraph about the interview with filmfluencing, aswell as an analysis of 12 Angry Men. Then I will edit down and should be able to get to my set target of 1200-1300 words, if not I can increase my target to a maximum of 1500 words. I may also use Chatgpt to help me summarise my written piece and get it down to 1200 words.

I uploaded the final cut of episode 1 to YouTube, and scheduled it to go public at 6pm today. Before then I will make promotional content to post on TikTok, to get people to go to YouTube.

02/06/2025:

I picked up from where I left off, after resting for a week. I started editing footage down in ClipChamp. I also went through and edited my written piece with my tutor, and got it to under 2000 words.

04/06/2025:

I found issues with editing at home on my laptop, as content wouldn't load and it would constantly ask me to locate files in the OneDrive which wouldn't fix my issues. So I need to edit the majority of it at college, where I shouldn't face the same issues.

05/06/2025:

I started editing the next 4 episodes of the series, one per each week. I used a structure for each one and it made the editing easier and more standardised. I first watched it through and cut it down ruthlessly, then I added the title video with music, which I downloaded from my first video. I have so far made final cuts of episode 2 and 3 (overviews of week 1 and 2), each around 6 minutes long and have a part where I explain what I watched and my thoughts and then a conclusion part where I talk about what I have learnt from that week. They then require adding photos, of films and clips from source material, then they will be finished and ready to export and post. I have 2 more episodes which I hope to edit into the final cut by the end of Friday and ready to post. Then I can post episode 2 today, episode 3 tomorrow, episode 4 Saturday and finally episode 5 on Sunday. Then I can focus on my last and most important episode the conclusion, and finish it in time for the deadline and evaluate this project.

I exported episode 2 and its ready to post. I added short clips from trailers and the posters for the movies. I also completed episode 3 by adding movie posters, not adding any clips for this episode, and exported it. Now I can focus on editing the other 2 episodes in the afternoon and making sure each episode is ready to post. I finished episode 2+3 in under 3 hours, so hopefully I can do the same for the other 2 episodes which will allow me as much time as possible to make the best edit for the final episode. I have very efficiently edited these episodes which has made up for some of the time I lost dealing with technical issues and content not loading and my OneDrive not working. I made sure to check that my exports successfully uploaded onto OneDrive so that I don't face losing the work I have done.

I watched through episode 2+3 went back to the edit and made some amendments and then exported as the final cuts, which are ready to post. Moving on I will work on editing episode 4 and the interview I did with filmfluencing and potentially episode 5 if I have time. I edited down episode 4 and its still long, a lot of I is rambling so it will take some time to edit it down to make it quality. I did finish editing the interview with filmfluencing and it is around 20 minutes long. I can take a little exert from it for episode 4 or 5, but also can post it as a standalone episode in the series. To take a break from editing, I will sort out the thumbnail, promo material and description for the next 2 episodes, so that I am ready to post later today and tomorrow.

I had issues finding a good moment of the episodes to take a screenshot of to make the thumbnail. This is something I should have considered during production, is taking pictures to be the thumbnail. However I will try to find a good moment in the video to make a thumbnail.

I also checked up with the NEON design team to see the progress of my image from the photoshoot, so it could be added to my spread design for the magazine.

06/06/2025:

I posted episode 2+3 to YouTube, instead of doing one a day I decided to upload the two at once and then focus on editing the other episodes and uploading them. I have been having issues again with ClipChamp and content not loading but I will be patient with it and believe that I can get episode 4+5 completed and posted by the end of Monday, so I can then focus on the conclusion and evaluating the project.

09/06/2025:

I edited episode 4+5 on Clip Champ and exported them ready to post. Now I can upload these episodes to YouTube and then focus on my conclusion episode, formatting my written piece and writing my evaluation. Then I worked on a promotional video for the 4 episodes, where I mix clips from each episode into one teaser, and I will post this on TikTok to get people to watch these episodes. I will try out Adobe InDesign for my written piece but may choose to use a template from Canva to format it instead because of how familiar I am with the software and the convenience. I added more information to my technical reflection. I also began my evaluation by copying and pasting the questions I had to reflect on my last FMP and over the next few days I will answer these questions, to form my evaluation and draw the project to a close. I also checked over some of my other blog posts to make sure they are complete or close to completion and any gaps are filled.

I will post the 2 other episodes later today aswell as the promotional video and then start work on my conclusion video. I will work on more promo material for the conclusion episode to get people to watch it, and launch my Letterboxd top 4. I will include a clip from the filmfluencing interview in the conclusion, as I haven't yet used it, and will upload the interviews as separate episodes later. When posting the videos to YouTube, I have been copying the description from the first episode, but personalising it to the episode I am posting. All episodes are added to a playlist on YouTube under 'How to become a film nerd (in 30 days)'.

07/06/2025:

I received the design for the magazine.

12/06/2025:

I have to edit the conclusion episode today. I have also found out that I don't have to format my article into a magazine as my main piece is my video so it gives me more time to focus on that. I am trying to create a montage of the pictures I took of the films I watched.

I got the edit to just under 15 minutes, so my goal is to watch it and be ruthless with cuts, add more visual elements like images to support what I'm saying and text, aswell as try to include a little exert from my interview if I can.

I ended up with a final edit of 14 minutes 21 seconds, including about 3 or 4 minutes of footage from the filmfluencing interview. I added text for the main points I make and images when I refer to films. I have the montage at the start. The video is separated into segment, each out 3-4 minutes long, with several cuts and fade through black transitions. I will work on a thumbnail that will include text and images, and will pick a good point from the video to screenshot and edit on Canva into a thumbnail. I have exported the edit and will watch it through to see if there are any issues to fix. However in the meantime I will make sure my written piece is displayed on my website and begin writing my evaluation.

After watching my exported video through, I found no major errors I needed to fix, but I wanted to go back and add some more images, as I had referenced films as my honourable mentions for my top 4, but haven't added an image. After making amendments I re-watched it and added it to my exports file (which is where the final cut of each episode is, in files with the episode number). This means it is ready to post. Now my main focus is on completing my evaluation and making sure each blog post from FMP 2 is finished and to the highest standard.

13/06/2025:

I wrote my evaluation and posted the conclusion episode to YouTube. I added timestamps and also created promotional content for TikTok.

14/06/2025:

I finished off my evaluation and checked through each of my blog posts one last time, to make sure they were complete and filled any gaps. I realised that I hadn't added a pull quote to my written piece so I did that and then decided that I was happy with everything and have completed the project.