Senior Project Self-Evaluation

Name Adrianna Laferriere

Project Start Date

February 1, 2016

Title of Project: The Treble of Copyright Laws: Protecting Artists Creativity

Project Completion Date: March 25, 2016
1. In 40 words or more describe your project and the steps you performed to complete it. What
did you produce or perform?
For my project, I hosted an event where I showed a premiere of a documentary created by
myself, while also hosting a discussion with a speaker and created an activity which allowed for
the entire audience to participate. To complete my project, I began by completing a storyboard of
my documentary. I then set up specific times to brainstorm questions to ask during the interview
as well as take time to meet with my consultant each week to bounce ideas off of him.
Throughout a two-week period, I would work to complete my documentary by coordinating
dates with people that would help record, edit, or be interviewed. After Mr. Wills had mentioned
a composer he thought would be perfect for the job, I invited Mr. Oare to speak with my
audience about the importance of copyright laws at the end of my event. I would then spend the
rest of the weeks working on creating a survey, solidifying dates and times with consultants,
speakers and assistants as well as creating an interactive activity. On the day of my event, I
welcomed my audience and then presented my documentary. Next I held an interactive activity
where audience members listened to pairs of songs and had to guess the original. Finally, my
audience was able to have a discussion session with my guest speaker, Mr. Oare. My project
turned out really successful and all of the pieces fit together really well because of planning and
the assistance of several peers.
2. In at least 40 words explain how the project challenged you, and what sort of time challenges and
resource problems did you encounter?
Planning an event by myself from the start can be the most challenging thing a teenager can do
alone. Throughout the first few weeks of my project planning, I had the idea that I was going to
throw a concert with only original music. The challenge I started to face was with finding a
venue and finding bands, so then Mrs. Phillips suggested the documentary idea which had solved
that dilemma. My next challenge was to make the documentary as entertaining as possible. This
challenge was overcome based on the feedback that I had received after my project about how
the overall event had gone. A resource problem that is always a fear when using technology is
that it wont work. At the beginning of my event when I was about to start the documentary, the
screen froze. Although I thought this dilemma had been prevented when I checked several times
the day before and the day of to make sure it would work, this dilemma was solved when I
closed out of the video and then re-opened it. One problem that I thought was covered beforehand was someone taking pictures at my project. Although I had someone to take pictures, they
didnt take it as seriously as they shouldve and I didnt get as many pictures as I could have.
This challenge was overcome when I texted people who came to my event and asked them to
send me any pictures that they had taken. All of the challenges that I had faced before, during,

and after my project had been overcome eventually which in turn had been a very successful
project.
3. List and then describe 5-8 fundamental ideas/concepts/skills of your project, which you learned
during your project.
Idea/Concept/Skill
Explanation (how you learned it)
Creating/editing a
documentary

In order to create the main part of my project, I would have to

figure out how to use iMovie as well as edit a video and add
music to it.

How to create a google

forms survey

Since I have never used google forms, I would have to learn

about the different ways and forms to ask questions for a survey
such as scaling, multiple choice, or yes/no answers.
To interview people for my documentary I had to stay organized
by creating a set of questions, coordinate times to film, and
learn how to phrase questions in a way to get long enough
answers.
To reach out to a guest speaker I would have to find someone
knowledgeable about the topic and someone that would be
willing to come in for free. I learned how to reach out to a guest
speaker by talking with my consultant as well as simply
emailing possible guest speakers until someone emailed back.
To make sure my entire project was completed in a timely
manner, I planned out certain steps of what I need to complete
by prioritizing things like emailing a speaker to come out to my
event with plenty of time in advanced, then began storyboarding
and filming, then plan the activity and survey.
To do this, I set aside time reach out to teachers or students to
interview, film, or run ideas off of.

How to interview

Reach out to possible guest

speakers

Time management and

prioritize

Coordinating schedules

4. List and describe 5-8 problems you encountered in your project, and briefly describe how
you solved each.
Problem
Explanation

Not as many pictures

Finding an activity

The person that I asked to take pictures for my project had gotten
distracted and didnt take as many pictures as there were
opportunities for.
When I first learned that I needed an activity to interact with my
audience, I had talked with several people to find one that fit the
theme of my project. Mrs. V suggested the idea of comparing two
YouTube videos as my activity.

Filming/ Editing a
documentary

Since I have absolutely no experience using iMovie or filming for

anything other than a short clip, I didnt know how to put all of the
clips of the actors, the interviews, or anything else together until I
asked some of my friends to help me.

Fear of only one person

showing up

The fear of finding people to come to the event is always a rough

patch within Senior Project because you never know if all of the
advertising had helped. To solve this, I asked people if they were
coming and then compiled a list of more than the required 20
people.

Finding a Speaker

Finding a date that

worked for everyone

When I originally brought the idea of having a speaker at my event

to my consultant, he had mentioned a local artist that might be
willing to speak at my event. After looking at his website and then
taking a chance by emailing him just in case he might say yes,
there was no response. Mr. Wills helped me get in contact with Mr.
Oare, I emailed him, and he agreed to speak for my event.
After I had already set a date for my original idea to be held on, I
changed my project idea to something that was more connected to
my paper. I then had to change the date of my project two other
times because either my consultant or my speaker would not be
able to attend. While also working around this dilemma, I would
have to find a date and time that didnt conflict with any of the
other projects from the LSA Senior Class. This problem was solved
because I planned my project the day that Spring Break started
rather than on a day that teachers might have meetings, tutoring, or
working on the other side of town.

5. Outline the process hours spent in completing the project.

A.
B.

6.

Estimated total hours spent on project: 25 hours

Estimated total steps involved in your project: 13 steps
Steps Involved
Hours
Date Completed

Step 1

Talk to Ms. Phillips about new ideas in a

project

20 minutes

2/23/2016

Step 2

Research how to make a documentary

3 hours

2/25/2016

Step 3

Research for documentary

2 hours

2/27/2016

Step 4

Research for documentary

1.5 hours

2/28/2016

Step 5

Start storyboarding, continue

researching

2 hours

3/2/2016

Step 6

Research, advertise, coordinate filming

dates with actors and film people

3.5 hours

3/13/2016

Step 7

Film and coordinate dates to edit and

finalize documentary

2 hours

3/15/2016

Step 8

Film, coordinate dates, create agenda

and speeches

2.5 hours

3/21/2016

Step 9

Finalize filming, complete editing,

finalize all other arrangements

2 hours

3/22/2016

Step 10

Meet with speaker in person- discuss

what to talk about as well as show final
product

1.5 hours

3/23/2016

Step 11

Make sure everything is coordinated with 1.5 hours

library, set up for the next day and ready

Step 12

Make sure all agendas, logs, and paper

copies are up to date and available on
website

Step 13

Double check all things related to project 30 minutes

List materials used.

Storyboard for documentary
iMovie
Laptops
Sign-in sheet
Projector
Speaker

1.5

3/24/2016
3/24/2016

3/25/2016

 Food, drinks, cooler

table covers
7. List all people who helped you on the project and briefly describe the help given.
W. Bryan Wills
Project Sponsor; he allowed me to run all of my ideas past him and
together we compromised better ways to put parts of my project
together. This man was my main asset to my moral support system.
Mr. Mason
Project Co-Sponsor; he allowed me to run new ideas or suggestions past
him.
Mrs. Van Schenck
Allowed me to run ideas about my project past her, gave ideas for
documentary and activity.
Denise Turack
Inspirational and motivational support; made food, bought drinks,
bought table covers.
Mrs. Phillips
Main contact, support team, brainstorming partner, and final project
event helper. This woman has done so much to make sure that once my
original project idea failed, that an idea she had would definitely be doable.
Mr. Oare
Speaking at my project and discussing the importance of copyright laws
as it pertains to the protection of artists creativity.
Bonnie Pugh
Bouncing ideas off of her and getting moral support for this event.
Jonikka Wilson
Moral support and other ideas for documentary.
Jacob Wilson
Actor, helped edit documentary, and trailer.
Matthew Bradshaw Helped edit, film and interview people in documentary.
Matt Hawickhorst
Actor in documentary.
Scott Hawickhorst
Helped edit and put all of the pieces of the documentary together. He was
the main reason the documentary got put together because of technique,
software, and other movie capabilities.
Josh Sulecki
Guided me through moral support as well as motivated me to keep going
throughout the entire senior project period; helped clean up and set up;
made sure everyone signed in to my event.
Julie McCorkindale Took pictures for my project as well as gave feedback about the project
itself.
Zach Hatfield
Helped set up and clean up before/ after project.
8. How does your completed project compare to the picture you had in mind when you started the
project?
When I had first imagined what I was going to do for my project, I had a plan of what I wanted
to do and had started asking around for assistance within the first week of getting the actual
assignment. My original idea was to hold a concert with high school and college bands
performing at a venue other than the school. My main intent was to have an interesting event for
people to come and learn about copyright laws in a new way. In comparison to this, I decided to
hold a documentary premiere that discussed copyright then holding an activity and a discussion
with a speaker who knows about copyright laws. These two compare because they both have
some sort of entertaining interaction with the audience. Although one would have a lot more

energy than the other, I am happy with how my event turned out because it was less stressful
than holding a concert would have been.
9. If given the opportunity, what would you do differently now that you speak from
experience?
If I were to do the event differently if given the opportunity, I would be more concerned with the
little details that I might have not noticed. I wish I wouldve had multiple people take pictures to
get a bunch of pictures of multiple things rather than just the same picture a bunch of times. I
wish I would have focused more attention on the documentary to make it shorter and less boring
since that is the way all documentaries have no intention of turning out, but always do. I
definitely regret putting time into the bigger picture rather than contributing to the little details
that wouldve made my senior project shine.
10. Now that the project is completed, explain/describe the stretch or challenge you
encountered/experienced.
The biggest stretch or challenge for me was to actually storyboard for the documentary and
figure out what I wanted in it. Yes, there were other challenges of figuring out how to film the
material and then put it all together into iMovie, but my main challenge was being creative and
coming up with ideas of what to have in my documentary without a boring outcome. This was
the main challenge because of the time criteria that I had to meet for me to be able to do a
documentary for my senior project. Although there were challenges such as finding a speaker,
coming up with an activity, finding people to help edit/film, the main stretch of being creative
was overcome by embracing the idea that the project was almost over and it would turn out great
either way. Facing my fears head on and just completing the project without extremely overthinking everything was the biggest stretch that I faced when completing my project.
11. Beyond the project itself, what did you learn about yourself?
Beyond the project, I learned that I need to manage my time more efficiently, learn how to
communicate with others in advanced if help is needed, and go crazy with being creative because
that is how you stay motivated to do something you want to do. I learned that I am not he most
creative person because it takes me longer than most to come up with an idea and then build off
of it with something like a documentary. I learned that in college, I need to focus more in general
as well as focusing on simple tasks to complete the bigger picture rather than all at once. The
most satisfying relief to this project was learning that my biggest motivation to complete this
project would end up being the inspiration that I would receive from my Band Director/
Consultant. Learning these skills will help me with future projects in college and big events in
college.
12. What grade would you give yourself on the project? Justify the evaluation of your grade in
at least 25 words.
Grade: 92

Justification: I would give myself an A- because I considered multiple ways to address the
issues associated with copyright laws and attempted to make the topic as interesting as possible.
I didnt give myself a 100% because there is always room for improvement and there are always
things I couldve done differently. While beginning the semester studying and recording the
opinions of experts, peers, and copyright offenders, I was able to bring this event together to
inform my audience of this important issue. I was able to create a documentary with the little
knowledge I previously had about using iMovie. By overcoming my fears and challenges, I had
the opportunity to meet experts in the field and tap in to their knowledge and expertise. I also
took the opportunity to advertise throughout social media in different groups to create a diverse
audience rather than just LSA seniors. My senior project taught me to reach beyond my comfort
zone and explore my potential creativity.