Year 1: U8 FMP evaluation guide.

LO4: Be able to evaluate a creative media report.

AC4.1: Critically evaluate a creative media project against the agreed requirements and
parameters.

Having completed your Year 1 Final Major Project practical work, you are required to provide an
evaluation. You should answer the questions below, supporting your thoughts where you can with
evidence from your research/planning/production diary pages. You can screenshot images from these
using CMD+SHIFT+4, then sourcing the saved images from your desktop:

1. What was your intention for the FMP? ✓

2. Why did you choose this? ✓
3. Which technical/software skills were you confident in before starting the FMP? ✓
4. Which technical/software skills did you need to improve or learn during your FMP? ✓
5. What primary research did you undertake and how was this useful to your project? ✓
6. What secondary research did you undertake and how was this useful to your project? ✓
7. Which technical/software skills have you used during your FMP? ✓
8. How did you use particular technical/software skills during your FMP? ✓

9. How close did you stick to your original Statement of Aims idea? ✓
10. If you changed your Statement of Aims – why did this happen? ✓
11. What challenges did you face on your FMP? ✓
12. How did you meet any challenges on your FMP? ✓
13. What problems did you face for your FMP? (This might include technical problems or issues
such as time management, for example) ✓
14. How did you overcome any problems on your FMP? ✓
15. Which skills have you improved during your FMP? (Consider technical, communication,
personal, research skills) ✓
16. Which part or parts of the FMP did you feel worked well? ✓
17. What might you do differently? ✓

You must also exhibit it for an audience and reflect on their feedback in a conclusion.

You should produce a survey with a sample size of at least 10 responses where you must gain
information to help you reflect upon their feedback and remember to get screen shots of your
audience responses as evidence). This could be based on questions such as:

1. What did the audience like about it?

2. What did they think you could improve?
3. Is the work clear and understandable?
4. How does it compare to professional work?

Your Survey link could be posted as a QR code on your section of the exhibition, social media
comment list or anything else you feel will help you reach your audience, but the exhibition will be
your best chance of getting the required numbers so make sure you have prepared for this.

Remember, the difference between Pass, Merit and Distinction in an evaluation is often as simple as
(a) stating something (b) saying why and (c) proving it.

Good luck!
 What was your intention for the FMP?

In hindsight my intentions with the finalising of my edit were to create a piece of media that
was constant-moving, that reflects my love for the decade period the 80’s/ all the while is
consumed and enjoyed by a dual target audience. From this, I wanted it to evoke the
quintessential nostalgia of consuming media and music from this time period. In reflection I
believe I managed to achieve this point, as the type of media I created is very consumed
with 80’s references and as the music from this time period is what I’m most interested, this
is the most prominent theme that is recognisable.
The edit itself is constructed to make the viewer emersed into an 80’s time-warp, to look and
feel as though you are placed back within this time period and you are watching Top of The
Pops or MTV, looking out for your favourite artists and bands, and remembering the lyrics to
your favourite songs by them as they flash up on the screen (hence the lyrics being a huge
and ever constant component to the edit and inside a tv the edit itself takes place). As shown
for reference: these are recent screenshots that was taken when I was finalising the last
components of the edit. As previously explained, you can see the overlay of different song
lyrics from past and present albums that have been in transition during the course of the edit.
This relates upon the point I previously mentioned how I aimed for my edit to be constant
moving- and give the vibe you are
fully emersed in watching a piece of
80’s media.

Why did you choose this?

I chose to devote a project to this because of my childhood and present love that surrounds
itself within 80’s music. I have always had this admiration and never been able to exercise
any of this in the past, due to lack of opportunity and feeling as thought this passion of mine
can't be greatly exercised. However, when I read the assignment brief for the FMP and was
trying to brainstorm ideas, it was almost like a lightbulb went off in my head. I constructed my
idea very rapidly, as the music and the artist backgrounds are something I’m very
knowledgeable within; alongside research (which is mostly all prior knowledge and required
me specifying) I was easily able to adapt for long pieces of extended writing. The editing
style and equipment also came very familiar to me, as I use to make various video edits of
celebrities as a hobby when I was younger, therefore I already had the preview on what I
was trying to create overall and didn’t have to worry about the specific certifications and not
being able to complete what I envisioned due to lack of technical skill.

Which technical/software skills were you confident in before starting the FMP?

As previously mentioned, I’ve had prior experience using various of

software due to my premedicated hobby of video editing, and these
edits would consist of downloading videos from YouTube,
Instagram (any social media platform) and editing them in a way
that would best fit the narrative that I was trying to portray. I have
had experience with picture editing software’s, such as Picsart (as
shown beside screenshots of me drawing and editing the symbol
for my FMP) Photoshop and Phonto. On the video side, I am
confident with a variety of apps (they mostly all apps as I always
created the edits on my smartphone as I found it easier as I wanted
it to be consumed by other smartphone users) these apps to name
a few are: Imovie, Inshot, Meitu, Mojo, Tezza and Vont.

Which technical/software skills did you need to improve or

learn during your FMP?

When it came to the finalising of creating my edit, I knew that I needed

to allow myself around just under a week to completely devote myself to
getting it completed otherwise I would procrastinate and not get
everything that I needed to get done in time for the deadline, as I
wanted to be as punctual as possible. With that being said, I worked a
lot of cutting out long durations of times from my edit as certain
transition hots were too short and others were too fast, which gave the
edit an irregular feel to it as it didn’t look consistent enough. As referred
to by the screenshot besides, the timing of the lyrics was also an issue
for me, as I couldn’t figure out why they were appearing so slow and
wouldn’t conform to certain time frames that I originally wanted. These
issues I occurred was just a standard issue of misinformation as I never
used the software for these purposes prior to the FMP. Therefore, I had
to learn how to go directly into each transition and set it at a timeframe
that I wanted, remember to save it, and overwrite the original timeframe
that the app generated.
 What primary research did you undertake and how was
this useful to your project?

For my primary research I undertook many revenues that

included varies of surveys and personal accounts also. The
screenshots you see besides are taken from my research page
directly, this is where asked three staff members (Mike Bush,
Steve Bell and Trevor McCready) three questions that pertained
to these albums showed. I then turned the results of the data into
a table as I thought it would more conclusive if I could see if there
were any repeating themes used throughout. The reasoning for
the personal accounts of these adults in particular that I
interviewed, is simply that they are of the same age range and
therefore would fit into the other side of my dual target audience
as they themselves would’ve been experiencing life and living in
the 80’s. This would intel personal recollections of these albums.
Personal accounts evoke emotions, and my primary research is
centred all around emotion: how does music make you feel? how
does different artists make you feel? how does different weathers
make you feel? And how does different scenery make you feel?
This particular revenue of research was very vital to my overall
project, as it gave me the most insight on what emotions certain
genres and artists emulate, therefore I was able to match the
scenery and landscapes to fit these emotions and create
something that is heavily based on target audience preference. I
feel the research I conducted, was able to push me beyond my
already vivid knowledge of the 80s and help construct something
that is quintessential nostalgia from this time, and thus appealing
to my dual target audience.

The surveys (pictured below) where a very informative way for me

to collect determining data on which specific genres and artists
are more favourable, and in turn, chose which albums would be
the best fit in turns of favourability amongst a target audience
and different demographics. The surveys itself I collected the
data, analysed it and reflected on it, I found the less people who
responded, and they were localised, their results were the same
however a broader demographic of people made the results
irregular and didn’t have any patterns. This suggested this was
no constant when it came to results.

I also was very active on social media around this time, in

particular TikTok and I was able to engage in familiar type of
videography that was centred and gave me the prior
inspirations. This research was useful as it allowed me to
engage on the types of media I had been consuming, all the
while trying to figure out what type of angle that I wanted my
edit to consist of.
What secondary research did you undertake and how was this useful to your project?

For the secondary research, I feel as though I didn’t engage in too much localised than the
primary and that was due to my lack of knowledge of what exactly consists of secondary
research on the basis of what I wanted to research. However, I came to the late conclusion
that I had been consuming secondary research all my life, as my favourite type of media to
consume is the music charts, film rankings and music/music video rankings. Similarly, I was
able to recall certain videos that I saved in my phone (for reference as there was songs that
somebody ranked that I had hadn’t heard of before and I wanted to listen to). Below, the
screenshots also show a public forum that I’m a part of that speaks about iconic 80’s cultural
moments, and I was surprised to find that in this particular forum, there was a question that
posed the same information that I needed to complete my research. The secondary research
proved important as it was interesting to see

what others had equated with and put out into

the world regarding their own opinions on the
topics opposed. This in turn, helps me gage a
broader range of responses and preferences
which helped me to spread out my albums used.

Which technical/software skills have you used during your

FMP?

During the course of my FMP, I have

used a variety of software of
consistently try to engage in different
varieties and versions of what I
envisioned my project to look like
mentally, verses how it was transitioning digitally. I made the decision to work solely from my
Iphone, I made this decision as I wanted the type of media, I was creating to be consumed
by other smartphone users (as researched this is the most used device for digital media
consuming) and I thought it would be better to create on this hardware, so the video is
tailored around this audience of people. The other reasoning for this decision was because I
knew if I worked on the editing process on the computer, it’ll take me longer to finish, this is
because I lack motivation due to high levels of procrastination. Therefore, going to my Mac
at home, waiting for it to turn on and loading up the software would’ve been
counterproductive for me, and as I’m constantly on my phone it makes more sense for me to
utilise this habit. Similarly, as previously mentioned due to my habit of video editing, I already
had paid software and app subscriptions. I have used background screening and be able to
transition video and picture together so that it's still giving the illusion that it’s still moving. My
video itself plays within a picture of a retro Tv that I edited and constructed it to look like is
playing first hand as a consumer. I also was able to extract audio from a file that was
encrypted just to listen to for musical purposes and was able to transfer it to a more local
format, soi could use it as the main soundtrack behind my project.

How did you use particular technical/software skills during your FMP?

I was able to use the prior knowledge that I had surrounding the technicalities of software to
challenge my own boundaries when it came to video production. Beforehand the assets that
I had mentioned previously came as second nature, however I
hadn’t had the opportunity to further push the boundaries.
Furthermore, the skills that I obtained, drawing, editing, filtering
and animating an image, was something uncommon for me to
practice out of fear of not being able to create something
substantial, however my thirst to create something that I am
very proud of and that showcases my abilities overshadowed
any prior anxieties that I had been harbouring.

How close did you stick to your original Statement of Aims

idea?

My original statement of aims is highly detailed about the

technical components of what I was aiming for first-hand, when
it came to what I was hoping to construct. In terms of sticking to
the original basis of what I wanted to create, I believe that I was
able to achieve. I set out to create a piece of media that had all
the components of a quintessential 80’s music shadowing.
Through the research of albums, artists and other cultural
significant standpoints of the music industry, I was able to
incorporate all these assets and achieve the target audience
duality and favouritism that I originally wanted to capture. However,
in terms of technically, the final project and edit is something that
has differed from what I originally had in mind, this is due to further
research and me being inspired to create something more abstract
and a willingness to push myself and challenge my abilities.

If you changed your Statement of Aims – why did this

happen?
As highlighted below, this is a screenshot taken directly from my production diary, which
marks the time period that I changed the fundamental assets of what the final depiction of
my project was going to look like. Originally, I had the idea of editing with the idea of different
transitions of the albums appearing one by one and followed by their distinct lyrics which
were memorable from said album, before the transition period would come and another
album would replace this factor etc. I tweaked the point as I figured it was all too slow and
basic, I didn’t feel like it was exciting enough, therefore I had the idea to overlay the albums,
which meant using more albums (greater variety of media) and have the lyrics transition onto
the screen as these albums leave. I felt it was more exciting to leave the lyrics in the
background and have the foreground the constant changing variable, this ensured that if the
audience wasn’t particularly impressed by the albums in a transition there would always be
something they could look back on and evoke emotion while reading certain past/present
lyrics. Similarly, at the end of the practical time period, I decided I wanted the video to be
playing in the foreground of a Retro Television. This also differs from my original as I just
wanted to use retro software to get this point across, rather than having the mental thought
process of taking it that step further and placing it within. Below I have linked the two
differing videos for reference.
https://youtu.be/Od_LaNpuPJE - Old Idea
https://youtu.be/fKbi5HMuYzM - New Idea

What challenges did you face on your FMP?

I encountered a fair few problems when it came to the production side of my project. I often
worried about my lack of productivity when it came to the practical work, as everyone around
me seemed busy with this and as my pictures that were the main body of project, and that
component was taken care of due to these pictures being a collection of things I had
previously recollected. I also faced the challenge of my software stopping from running at
certain points and therefore impeding my progress and often the things I would make a start
on, wouldn’t save and subsequentially would have to start again. This challenged me to set
aside a specific timeframe and just work and work until I was satisfied with what I created, as
this notion isn’t in my usual work ethic.

How did you meet any challenges on your FMP?

When I was first experiencing the challenges, I had the tendency to just forget about my
motive all together and just abandon the prospects of doing anything a all. This subsequently
impeded my progress on the practical element, and meant I was wasting time that could’ve
been used to further perfect my craft. The feeling of productivity was met through me
diving into further research and constantly updating the production elements on Weebly.

What problems did you face for your FMP? (This might include technical problems
or issues such as time management, for example)

The problems I faced during the course of my FMP, a lot of it was down to my great skill of
procrastination as when I have an idea in my head, I will constancy overthink and doubt my
abilities to execute what I'm hoping for in the end. This then creates a time management
issue, as I spend vast amount of general time going over the idea and testing out all the
avenues of ensure it’s not something when I get to the end of the deadline, I'm not going to
be able to exercise. I feel this is a natural response however, it shouldn’t take weeks to
reflect this point. I also encountered issues with the software that I was using, as I hadn’t
used it previously to this point for long bodies of video, I realised that when I tied to overload
a transition, the app itself would close and this would remove all my progress up until this
point. Additionally, the primary app I used for the text encryptions on the different shots, I
found out that you could only add 10 texts and if I wanted to add anymore I had together,
create each shot individually, then re-edit them together or I could pay for the premium and
this would allow me to add as many fonts/texts as possible. Conclusively, I also had the
issue of grouping all of my materials together as I realised half of my progress was linked to
different machines at the college.

How did you overcome any problems on your FMP?

I overcame my issues by creating a schedule and sticking to it, ensuring that I devote my
college periods to the written components of the assignment and at home, work sole on the
production side. This then ensued that I could create a steady workflow that wasn’t
overbearing for me and didn’t impede my abilities to progress from one thing to another. As
for the issues with the apps closing, I figured out this was just a technical issue because I
had failed to update it to its newest file, this was the root of the issue and after I updated all
the software, it was all working perfectly and didn’t overheat/close itself. Additionally, the
issue with different versions of my work being linked to different college machines was
solved by saving everything in my OneDrive, this allowed me to access everything category
and anywhere that I chose to work everything was available for me. As pictured below, you
can see how I made sperate folders for each component, which eliminated the risk of me
misplacing documents or forgetting to do something important in the long run. Subsequently,
for the issue with the text, I brought the premium subscription that allowed me to add as
many text/fonts that I wanted to the transitions. I made this decision based on time and
practicality and realised if I had to individually edit 14 different shots over and over, and then
compress it together, this was
going to take up all of my time
and not give me the opportunity
to really focus on each shot and

perfect the ideology of what mentally I'm trying to achieve.

 Which skills have you improved during your FMP? (Consider technical,
communication, personal, research skills)

From my perspective, many of the previous technical skills that i possessed have been
improved greatly over the time period of experimenting with different techniques and
methods when it came to the longevity of what i wanted to achieve overall with my FMP. I
was able to improve on my technical skills when it came to video editing, as prior to the FMP
i had never taken an image and was able to place a video within it, to give the illusion they
were morphed into one. Personally, creating something that i’m proud of has always been a
struggle for me as i tend to overthink and doubt my abilities, however with this particular
project i can say that i’m proud of what i’ve created, as in hindsight what i’ve made appeals
to the target audience in which i’m apart of and from a viewing perspective (non-bias) i
believe that what emotions i was trying to convey has been brought across with my craft. I
believe i also was able to differentiate better between primary and secondary research, as
before i knew the concept of this however i hadn’t ever had a great measure of being able to
exercise and distinguish between the two. Through the course of the FMP, it has given me
more confidence when it comes to confiding and discussing my ideas with various members
of staff, whereas before i would’ve been too anxious to ask for help or just to have general
confirmation about what i’m doing and if there’s anything i need to improve upon. This
aspect has helped me greatly, as i’ve been been able to have a steady flow throughout of
what the general consensus is for my concept (which is something i struggle to maintain
previously) Additionally, the FMP experience has been a great opportunity for me to
showcase one of the biggest elements of who i am, 80’s music and the culture that
surrounds this is at the centre of my being, and is something i’ve always been extremely
passionate about and it’s been great to exploit this factor finally, and connect with a project
that is close to the heart.

Which part or parts of the FMP did you feel worked well?

Furthermore, I feel that the strongest element to my project was getting the practical work
finalised and perfected. In the past this has always been the biggest challenge for me as i’m
not particularly overly artistic or creative, i’m more of a literary person, that’s where my
strengths have always been throughout my life. However, with this opportunity i was able to
fully exercise and experience the creativity that is somewhere within me, and this has thus
opened new doors for me in the prospects of what i can create. Being able to have the
critical thinking of utilising different softwares to achieve a result, and making sure everything
is aligned with what i hoped it would, has been a great triumph for me. I believe that figuring
out an idea as quick as i did was also very important for me, as if i wouldn’t of been
connected to what i wanted from the start, i would’ve procrastinated even more on the
subject, changed my mind on what i wanted as i wouldn’t be able to fully commit to
something that i’m not particularly passionate about and this would’ve in turn stopped me
from creating something that i’m proud of. 

What might you do differently?

If i had to experience the FMP again from the start, i would definitely start immediately
researching as the only component that i’m not particularly happy with is the amount of evidence
of research. However, a lot of this is down to this being something i’m passionate about therefore
i struggled to find means of research as most of what i would’ve been researching if this was a
brand new concept would’ve been the knowledge that i already know. I would take earlier steps
of production, making sure all the software is up to date and works, to avoid any stress of
impeding or progress when it came to the final hurdle. Furthermore, i would spend more time
pulling together different sources and trying to get the necessary paperwork finalised, before i
worried about the bigger elements of my project, as this had a huge impact on my ability to get
things done on in scheduled manner. Additionally, i would spend more time focussing on
stretching out my to-do-list and taking each component at a steady pace, rather than trying to fit
too many things in one space of time, which lead to me overcompensating on certain elements
and others were left behind due to this.