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.