Professional Pre-Production: Project Evaluation

PROFESSIONAL PRE-PRODUCTION PROJECT EVALUATION

Before I started this unit, I had four clear ideas that I needed to narrow down to one. Eventually, after much thought, I narrowed it down to Pleasure Park, a comedy set in a fictional and failing seaside amusement park.

My initial plans for Pleasure Park were that it would be a mockumentary series broadcast on Netflix, however it soon became clear that my story choices, location choices, and casting choices were not going to allow for that, and so the show became a comedy series broadcast on Sky One.

Throughout this project I attempted to develop my storylines and character developments as much as possible, and in the end, I feel what I produced was not bad, but it probably wasn’t the best it could be. I had to greatly reduce my character numbers because there were too many that just didn’t fit in, and looking back, I can think of at least two more characters that also could’ve been scrapped.

I was mainly focusing on the visual side of the project, and I feel my branding, marketing, and title sequence were of a good standard, however I feel I could’ve done more work on my visual style and editing style. I also feel I could’ve completed more contextual research.

I chose to present my work in the form of a website, and I feel the final website I produced was of a good standard. It is easy to navigate, and all of the information is presented clearly. The website follows the same themes and styles set out by the shows branding, which shows a consistency across the project.

OVERALL EVALUATION: CRITICAL REFLECTIONS

Strengths-

·      After narrowing it down, I came into this unit with one clear idea. I completed a lot of elements of the graphic design side of the project during the summer period, which meant that when it came to September, I was in a good place, and had enough time to start making changes. I feel this helped me keep on track.

·      During the Digital News until I picked up a lot of skills, one of which was using the Wix Website Creator, which came in handy on this unit. As I had decided to present my work in the form of a website, it was good to know that I had experience with the platform already. This meant I was able to put an initial website design together quickly at the start of the project, which ultimately didn’t change to much throughout. Like the previous point, I feel this helped me keep on track.

·      Another strength that I feel aided me in this project is my graphic designs skills. As my role was a Concept Producer, I had to complete a lot of tasks which involved manipulating imagery in some way. My experience using the Adobe Creative Suite, helped on all aspects of this unit, and I feel the final pieces I have produced demonstrate this.

Weaknesses-

·      Character Development was a weakness for me. At first, and possibly even still, my characters were not as developed as they could be, and seemed to be mostly based on stereotypes. Most of my characters are based on real people I know, but I had to ensure they weren’t too obvious. I feel because I had to do that, I had to make things up for some characters, which ultimately meant that some of them didn’t appear to develop much. It was mentioned that my female characters especially needed work. I feel my lack of good character development may let me down on this unit.

·      I am not a very good writer. This was a problem on this unit, as I had to create synopses for every episode. I struggled initially as there wasn’t a clear story arc. I feel in the end my synopses were not awful, but they could probably be better, if my writing abilities were better. I need to improve on this.

·      Organisation was a struggle at times. I feel because I started this unit a little bit ahead of where I should’ve been, I let this sway me into thinking I could leave the project alone for a few weeks. Ultimately this lead to a lot of last minute decisions that could spoil the rest of the project. I am normally organised, but a lack of good motivation affected me on this project.

·      I need to improve on accepting feedback from others. I’ve never been very good at it. Once I have created something, I seem to feel there is nothing that can be done to improve it. However, on this unit, once I did eventually start to follow feedback, I found the project was greatly improved, and so I wish I had listened earlier.

Possible Developments- What did I learn?

·      You’re not always right first time. Feedback, whether it be positive or negative, is a good thing, and should be listened to, not ignored.

·      If I were to do this again, I would:

o   Listen more.

o   Be more organised and not let last minute decisions spoil my work

o   Work on the writing side of the project more to ensure it is the best it can be

o   Think more about character development, as it is an important part of any visual piece.

CONCLUSION

Working on this project solo has taught me a lot about myself and the way I work when I not being motivated by others. It would appear that I just stop working, and leave certain things that look too difficult until last minute, which ultimately means they’re not any good. I have also continued to learn that I am not very good at accepting feedback from others, something I definitely need to work on and improve on before the next unit starts. And finally, I have learnt that writing is definitely not for me.

Overall, I am very happy with the final pre-production package I produced. I really like my idea, and I am very pleased with all of the changes that have been made to it since the initial stages. In the end, I feel I produced something that would have a chance in today’s marketing, and would have an audience on my chosen broadcaster. In my opinion, Pleasure Park is unique and I hope there is a good future for it.