FINAL MAJOR PROJECT
EVALUATION & REFLECTION
Within this section of my portfolio, I will be writing summaries of my activities per listed time period; in-depth evaluations can also be seen through Practical Skills & Production.
20/4/22
To begin, I opted to complete my treatment ready to use for reference throughout my work; with this, I highlighted my production schedule for that week, the style of my review, as well as the themes I seek to cover. For each review, I am striving to have one key motif that will drive the direction of my writing. I will be completing one treatment per review; however, as these will subsequently follow the same layout as one another, I will be keeping a rough template of the treatment that I will be taking advantage of. Each rotation, I will be expanding upon the structure by discussing specifically what I will write revolving around the particular film at hand. Due to this, you will be able to see similar terms and phrases used in each treatment plan - this will, however, be able to save me time when it comes to having to complete each individual plan before I begin my research and writing process.
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Research, for the most part, was not too difficult thanks to the majority of sources I gathered when finishing my proposal - this proved to be greatly beneficial in the long term. I was easily able to look back on the collection of sources and was also able to search for other takes of inspiration. Based on the material I had acquired, I decided to draw a mind map to assist me in solidifying my thoughts and ideas. Through this, I was able to separate these factors into their own categories and help myself form a clearer idea on what to utilise within my review.
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Following this, I also did the same to help me decide upon a title - whilst I knew roughly what I wanted, I wanted to brainstorm more in order to ensure that I had the most suitable title that would correlate with the themes I would be investigating into. It's essential that your writing is able to link back to your title. Eventually, I settled on How the Internet Can Prompt Self-Discovery. I felt as though prompt was an important word as it implies that it can kickstart the process; as opposed to being the sole reason as to why. It's ultimately up to the individual, after all. The virtual world presented in Belle only allows Suzu, the protagonist, to grow as a character by permitting her to have her own alter ego. I'll be discussing this idea further in my review.
21/4/22
Having congregated all of my research, I started and finished writing the draft of my review - I say draft as through each process I am required to submit the writing to my tutor to be proofread and then edited. After this, I will be implementing the provided edits into my writing and publishing when given permission to.
22/4/22
I have now retrieved the edited copy of the review back from my tutor - I have applied the edits into my writing as such. Furthermore, I have assembled an array of imagery to make use of. I feel as though photos from the movie will be crucial when it comes to supporting my piece of writing; as the reader will be able to refer to the images that correspond with each specific section.
With this being said, I have now published the review onto my portfolio. I have also ensured to provide copyright to the creators behind the film when using the aforementioned images - whilst I will likely not be able to employ these if I decide to display my work on the Miskin Views site, this at least means I will be able to on my portfolio without any potential repercussions. I've had a brief discussion with my tutor to clarify this.
23/4/22 - 26/4/22
During this time period, I took the opportunity to ensure that all of my production work was available to see on my portfolio. Notably, this included the following:
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• Notes and Diagrams
• Research and Sources
• Editing Process
• Collected Imagery
27/4/22
As for my second rotation, I completed my treatment accordingly - this is what I will be ensuring to do at the start of each individual cycle. As previously mentioned, I will be using the same layout in order to consume less time. Furthermore, I have also gathered a variety of research sources to use; including those that have been attached in my treatment. As for this time, subsequent to re-watching the movie, I decided to take advantage of research from a different format - this being YouTube videos. In my past-time, I often find myself watching this type of material and it allows me to generate my own flow of thoughts. I feel as though exploring a different format will provide me with the opportunity to expand upon my own viewpoint. Therefore, I came across quite a few videos covering both of these films - to which they can be found in my production page. All material that I gather will be compiled here.
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Rather than pausing and playing, I decided to instead open Notepad - as this application allows me to have it open at the side whilst the video continues to play in the background. This way, I'm able to take in the visuals as well as what the speaker is relaying to their audience. As I'm rather fast at typing, this was not an issue. I was able to keep up with the pace of the video and collect an array of takes on the films.
28/4/22
Much like before, I spent today beginning to write my review - I am able to most commonly finish these within a day, which aids me in following my schedule correspondingly. I have now submitted this ready to be proofread and edited by my tutor.
29/4/22
Upon receiving my review back from my tutor, I have now assembled multiple sources of imagery to use for my review and implemented the said edits into my writing. My tutor brought to my attention that I could benefit from looking into the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound; which are terms that are typically used within reviewing. By using these types of specific terms, I will be able to develop my writing into a far more professional standard that is well-suited to its format and my target demographic.
I decided to look into the popular film Baby Driver; which takes advantage of this to tell its narrative. The story of the movie would not be the same without the use of music and as to how its weaved into its key plot points and beats. I also looked into a handful of videos and articles explaining the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound; alongside the branches that have emanated from such, including meta-diegetic.
Following this, I was able to publish my second review onto the Animalysis website.
30/4/22 - 3/5/22
In this duration, I updated my portfolio with my production work. This includes the process of writing and editing my review - alongside all sources of research, including external. It can be viewed on my production page of this portfolio.
4/5/22
I have now started collecting research regarding my review on the movie Promare; which goes into depth about the struggles that minorities face on a regular basis. Additionally, I have recognised links between this film and previous world events and the comparison between them and our modern society - primarily how the issue still remains. On top of the sources I have put together in my proposal, I also decided to continue using YouTube videos that analyse these works as another form of outside input. This assisted me in writing my previous review to a great degree.
With Promare, I have managed to look into various amounts of information such as the imagery used in the film, including but not limited to The Pink Triangle, and how it applies to the narrative and the group of the Burnish.
5/5/22
I have written the first draft of my review and have now sent it to my tutor; after I have received the copy back, I will be reading through the edits made and the comments left to expand upon my own writing abilities. In the meantime, I have been adding my production work to the dedicated section on my portfolio.
6/5/22
Obtaining my edited review back from my tutor, there were little changes to be made - instead, I was encouraged to look into my use of language and as to how it applies to my target audience. As I'm looking to write with an educated, well-informed demographic in mind, however, I do not think this is a huge issue. I will improve in the future by using less terminology than what is deemed necessary.
Regardless, I have now published my review following once again building a collection of imagery to use. To some extent, this included me having to dig around - as it was somewhat difficult to find the scenes that I had in mind. I also had this slight issue with my previous review; having to find the film myself and screenshot certain frames.
7/5/22 - 10/5/22
As noted in my schedule, I used this time to further develop my portfolio and certify that all the material I had generated throughout my production process was available to be viewed.
11/5/22
With this being my final review, for the last time I referred back to the research I had accumulated beforehand, included in my proposal - I also used YouTube videos as a format to generate thoughts and ideas from, as well as some external reviews. Josee, the Tiger and the Fish, I learned, is a film that focuses on overcoming your own personal boundaries regardless of your physical limitations. Therefore, whilst I still wanted to include my prior ideas about the link between disability and mental health, as its a prominent theme throughout the film, I wanted to change the theme at hand to something far more enlightening. I believed that this would be suited as my final review.
Josee is a movie that is about dreams, and reaching towards your own personal ambitions. That is what I will be highlighting throughout this review.
12/5/22
Ensuing my research process, I have now written and completed the final draft I will be providing for this project. Furthermore, I have sent this to my tutor ready for review and to be published onto my Animalysis website. I will be using the spare time I have to upkeep my production work and to continue designing my separate website to a standard that I am personally satisfied with - as of now, it does not feel as though it reflects my identity as a writer nor feels as professional, much like the platforms I have used for inspiration, as I would have hoped.
Considering that I have made sure of the fact that I will have a fair share of time to add any final touches and write my final evaluation, this will not be an issue and I have plenty of time to make any changes that I desire.
13/5/22
I have now received the final draft from my tutor, to which I have added the changes that can be seen on the production section of my portfolio. Following this, I have also published my last review onto my website with the imagery I had managed to collect. Overall, this included once again drawing attention to my writing and the demographic that I have in mind. As long as I am able to address this within my evaluation process, to which I am stating that my formal writing style is primarily targeted to an audience with a high level of comprehension, then this will work in my favour.
14/5/22 - 18/5/22
Throughout this time period, I worked on uploading all of my production work up until this point; this will ensure that my process is fully documented to a standard that I am content with. I am striving to achieve a grade of distinction - I am hoping that the amount of work I have dedicated to this project will showcase this. Additionally, I have finished designing my website and I am now happy with how my work is presented.
14/5/22 - 18/5/22
With my reviews now complete, I had time committed solely to making sure that my site is representative of the work I have completed. This includes all of my research, as well as the production process. Moreover, I have also added the finishing touches to the Animalysis website and have published all of the reviews onto the platform as such. Primarily, I used websites such as Animation World Network, Crunchyroll and Tokyo Otaku Mode as reference for the layout of my website.
I am aiming to wrap up my work before the set deadline - allowing me to have some time to make changes or edits if I see fit.
Final Evaluation
Approaching this project, I found myself determined to produce a platform that would be revolved around my identity as a writer, as well as myself as an individual; I wanted the final piece of work I would create as a student on this course to be reflective of who I am along with the unique interests I harbour. I set high expectations for myself - taking into account that I wanted to prove to myself that I would be able to construct compelling and intriguing content that would set me apart from the rest of those in my class. Overall, I thoroughly believe that in the end I managed to generate a distinctive impression of myself and establish a final product that contrasted with other people's work. Throughout my time as a writer, I have always strived to produce my own take towards handling matters; I somewhat pride myself on this fact. I prefer to challenge myself by forming an eccentric angle and providing results that stand out amongst others. Entering the second year of this course, I found myself unaware of my own abilities but with a greater amount of confidence compared to what I had lacked during my first year. Initially, I wasn't quite sure as to what I wanted to cover for my final project - but then eventually arrived at the conclusion that it would be befitting for me to write what about I am passionate about. I am proud of myself for managing to keep myself in line and dedicated to my work.
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During the time period I had worked on this project, I kept in close contact with my tutor who assisted me in clarifying what my individualistic writing style and my platform would be directed towards. Further into writing my reviews, I slowly started to recognise the fact that Animalysis would have a unique selling point of being a website that targeted well-informed, educated fans of animation much like myself. I was consistently looking to dissect and analyse the movies that I grew to be so eager to write about. In addition to this, I realised that it would be difficult for me to talk about these works in as much depth as I would have liked without spoiling the majority of the movie. Therefore, unless stated otherwise, my reviews are purely devoted to an audience that have already seen the film or do not mind about spoilers. This is the solution I provided to this issue. From my own personal experience, I do not think this will hinder the influence my writing will have; often, in my past-time, I find myself traversing through a plethora of videos on YouTube discussing the themes introduced in many movies that I have not seen for myself. Regardless of this, I still enjoy listening to another individual explore the intent of the creators behind the work and to pick apart the various aspects of the film itself. It can be enthralling to take in what another reviewer has to say - in fact, this is what led to me developing upon my own viewpoint when it came to the majority of these movies. Outside opinion has the potential to help gather more thoughts to feed into whatever you are creating.
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By my tutor, I was encouraged to engage with my target demographic by taking into consideration the reading comprehension of my readers. Subsequent to this, I went back over the four reviews I had produced and slightly altered the language to take into consideration the language they may be accustomed to. Moreover, the use of we and us can assist in building a connection with your viewer - as this is personal vocabulary. With this in mind, for future reference I will be looking to pay close attention to how I apply my sourced inspiration to my writing - this being, for example, the select few creators I have referenced within my proposal. My ambition is more so to take the format that these creators fundamentally use, and re-structure this within my writing. Without the use of visual storytelling, I have to ensure to take into account as to how this comes across to the reader. Imagery that can be seen throughout the film can go on to support this.
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To accommodate my work, I also ventured to my college's library and booked out some magazines; this allowed me to discover writing through the means of a physical format and to gain inspiration for the layout of my website. Additionally, I came across professional as well as casual works - and was able to compare the two. By establishing the contrast between these two mediums, this was of service to innovating my own writing. I was able to gain an impression of the typical piece of writing that is published for these types of films; alongside the more mainstream media that takes use of professional vocabulary and presentation. Considering that my project is somewhat of a hybrid between the two, I felt stimulated to write to the same standard.
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As a minor comment - I occasionally forgot to present titles I am addressing in italics. When it came to finishing my last review, I kept this in mind and read over the writing in its entirety to avoid making this same mistake. If I continue to do this, it will likely stick with me and therefore prevent this from happening on a regular basis. Predominantly, I was introduced to the use of using terms that are typically used when reviewing films; using specific terminology allowed me to explore extra components of the movies at hand. Upon learning about the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound in cinematography, I went on to view works such as Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop and Sing a Bit of Harmony from a different perspective. This provided more substance to the review that I was working on at the time. This had quite the considerable impact on the way I decided to write my reviews, from that point onwards; addressing the use of narrative, characters and animation. This also applied to features such as camera angles and lighting. I am expecting for this to be exhibited within my work.
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All in all, I am eager to receive the feedback and results of my production; I feel as though this has been an incredible learning experience for me, and has aided in me traversing the territories of my writing. As I will now be continuing my studies into university, I believe that the work that I have assembled will serve as a solid start to growing as a writer - to which I aim to continue evolving my remarkable writing style to pursue my goals and ambitions.