Guidance notes for CW 5. 1500 word individual reflective report.

This piece of work is a report not an essay and so it should have the structure of a report (see
suggested structure). It differs from a formal report because it is reflective. Much
professional & educational practice now requires us to reflect. This means looking back over
what has happened and analyzing it to see what is working for us & what we may need to do
a different way in order to improve & move forward. Most intelligent people do this every day.
They don’t just accept things at face value. They ask questions & challenge assumptions
about their situations/roles. They also contextualise their situation i.e. put their situation into
context with others in the same situation/role (compare themselves). Because you are
reflecting and this is a personal thing, this means you should express your own personal,
individual feelings & thoughts about your progress & the process you were involved in. In
your report you are thinking back over the work you did in both the location & studio parts of
the module and assessing and evaluating your progress, learning & the final film. We are
looking for evidence of what & how you are learning so be sure you make this clear.

This sort of subjective (personal) writing is unacceptable in formal reports because they are
normally objective pieces of work (remember this if you are ever asked to write a formal
report!)

SUGGESTED STRUCTURE.

Formal reports have many standard sections but for your report you can just use:

Title

Introduction

Main Body

Conclusion with recommendations for future work.

TITLE (On a separate cover sheet with your name also).

‘Individual Reflective Report on module Med 1004, Moving Image Production.’

INTRODUCTION

Tell the reader what the report is about. Remember that some readers may be unfamiliar with
your work & why you did it (e.g. external examiner, second marker) so make sure you explain
clearly that the module required you to produce a 3 minute film, shot on location, which
required editing & also a 30min. studio based magazine programme. Explain that you will
compare & contrast these production experiences.

State what your aims and objectives were for your films (what you intended to achieve) also
look at the aims of the module in your handbook.

MAIN BODY (do not write this. It is not the title of the section just the main part of the report,
you decide on the section title(s)

You may put all this as one section or sub divide it into headed sections as you see fit.

Perhaps: Pre-production, Production & Post-production or

The film making process & The finished film / product or

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 The process & What I learned & how.

This is your choice, however you structure this section it must include the following.

• Your individual role & group work. Look at the aims & learning outcomes in the handbook &
make sure you cover them e.g. L.O.2 means that how well you worked as a team is important
L.O 3 & 5 are achieved through your practical work also. L.O 1 & 6 are achieved through
writing this report. L.O. 4 is achieved by showing the reader that you understand the target
audience that your film/programme was aimed at and how you made your programme to suit
it. Your discussion of the other films or programmes you watched as research for making
your own films places your films into a context with the wider world of film & tv and your own
authored view of the world. Say specifically what you liked and disliked about these films but
also say why & how you applied this knowledge to your own productions. Also include quotes
from books on your reading list or ones you have read of your own choice. Remember that
quotes must be relevant to the point you are making.

• Describe briefly how you went about achieving your tasks in all three stages of production.
Give specific examples of what your role was & show that you know all the other production
roles & processes involved in making the programme (do not name fellow students just the
roles). Remember to compare location v. studio.

• Evaluate (good or bad?) and analyse (how, why, what?) your work

Give specific examples of what worked well & why. What didn’t work so well & why, what
mistakes did you make & what did you learn from them? Think specifically about how you
learned. Was it peer or tutor feedback from viewing your rushes or a rough cut or was it your
own mistakes that you reflected on and then went back & performed the task again e.g. your
rushes were bleached out so you realised you had over exposed the shots & asked advice on
using the aperture on the camera. Did you hire the PD170 in your own time & experiment with
lighting or depth of field or even just the basic controls because you are keen on camera work
& passionate about making films?

Think about personal development that is less obvious. Perhaps gaining the confidence to
approach people to ask for interviews or participation. You may not have done this before &
been apprehensive. However after successfully securing an interviewee (describe how!) you
realise that they do not bite & look forward to doing it again. You may have incurred problems
with an awkward contributor but devised a way to get the best out of them, you will use what
you learned in future similar situations. If you lacked the confidence to use contributors from
‘the real world’ so you used your fellow students as subjects for your films, say if this worked
well enough and truly achieved the point of your film. If not say why not and perhaps
recommend that you put more effort into research in finding relevant contributors outside of
your comfort zone because this will produce a much better film.

Make sure you show you are aware of your learning by including your thoughts & feelings on
what you are discussing.

How important are research, planning, the questions you ask, timing, rehearsal,
technical skills, editing, use of music/sound, communication, team work, paperwork
AND WHY?

• Always offer solutions to problems, even if you did not solve them in this module, put
suggestions in for future work (this is how we know you are learning)

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• Be Critical (critically analyse your work)

This is not the same as Criticise! It means you should challenge assumptions & explore
alternatives. These may be your own assumptions e.g. did I ask the right questions of my
interviewee? What else could I have asked that may have got the point of the film across
more clearly? Maybe you are turning the magazine show format on its head or challenging
assumptions currently prevalent in the media e.g. single parent families are the main cause of
criminal activity in the working classes or all young people are trouble causers & contribute
nothing to society. Remember, as a student you are here to develop critical thinking
skills. You should analyse & challenge the current status quo in the media & society if
you are to go on to be effective content providers, critics or academics in the industry.
You are not here to simply copy what already exists.

Being critical also means identifying things that do work and discussing why.

• Cite other people’s work to support your arguments & put your work in context.

Weather you admire or are disagreeing with the style or content of other media texts, it is
helpful to reference these other films/tv or book quotes to illustrate & support your point and
say how it influences your work. This is good academic practice & improves your marks
greatly as long as they are relevant & in the correct context.

NOTE. Do not use the under lined, bullet point headings as headings for this section.
These are prompts of what you should include and should be woven into the section
as you see fit.

CONCLUSION WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK

Did you achieve the aims & objectives set out in your introduction both for your film and your
own learning (think about your own wishes here & the learning outcomes of the module). How
effective was your film & did it reach its target audience?

Give a resume of the main things that you learned, things you are pleased with and also a list
of action points for improving your future work in terms of research & content, technical skills,
production process and team work.

Don’t forget to: compare location production to studio production.

Critique your finished film as well as what you learned.

BIBLIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY

Remember to reference any film or book that you have mentioned (cited) in your report.

Look up how to do this on Blackboard under the Harvard Referencing System.

1500 words are not that much (it’s probably taken me longer to explain what to do than it will
for you to write the report). For this reason you must get to the point quickly (be succinct).
Think about the most important points & give examples of these, you can’t include everything.
You will probably have to redraught your report several times to get rid of the chaff so allow
time for this.

The latest I can look at a rough draught is the end of week 10. Remember also the
volume of students doing this module, if they all arrive at the last minute I can only

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feedback on a first come, first served basis, so don’t leave it until the last minute.

E-mail the rough draughts TO ME but remember your final submission MUST GO IN
THE COLLECTION BOX IN CMIST BY 12 NOON OF THE STATED DEADLINE DATE

Good Luck & have a good holiday.