Pre-Production: Project Evaluation

For our final major project I am the Producer/Co-writer of Rewerked, in this evaluation I'll be discussing my role in; idea, the budget, locations, script, schedule, picking the target audience and channel.

Research

For my research I looked into both LGBTQ+ documentaries, normal documentaries, LGBTQ+ people in the media, LGBTQ+ history, LGBTQ+ terminology and LGBTQ+ politics. This research not only allowed me to gain general knowledge about documentaries but also meant that I learnt a lot of general back ground information about LGBT people.

I also did research into being a producer, I did this both through books and websites but also got in contact with multiple producers to ask them questions. I found this helpful as their replies were tailored to what I wanted to find out rather than being standard information in a book. This helped me understand my role and my responsibilities a lot more.

Idea

During the idea process myself and Jemma brainstormed throughout the summer and had multiple Skype calls with Gavin to get his input on these ideas. After going through many different options we settled on exploring whether you have to be a man to do drag, using contributors like Tanya aka Miss Zodi an 18 year old female Drag Queen to share the idea that anyone can do drag.

It is aimed at educating the general public about something they might not have seen before and is trying to break misconceptions and stereotypes that older generations have perpetuated. 

When the idea was confirmed I contact Tanya and spoke to her about the project which she was very interested in being apart of. From there I sent her research questions and spoke with Jemma who agreed that she would be great as our lead contributor. After Skyping her and visiting her Tanya is very invested in the project and eager to take part.

I also contact Oliver who I was already in touch with through other projects, he was very eager to take part in filming and loved the premise of the documentary.

Budget

For the budget I looked at other professional budgets and did research into how it would be best to format it and what I should consider in the budget.

From there I did a rough estimate of what everything should cost, and worked out how I could cuts costs, this was mainly in the kit department as travel is something we cannot compromise on. I then added in a contingency allowance for if any thing went over. I showed this to Helen and got her feedback, she recommend cutting accommodation costs and trying to cut the travel cost in any way.

I formatted the budget so that it had what things should cost and what they actually do, this way I can see if we are going over or under budget and can fix it accordingly. The budget is also easily understandable and available for the entire crew to view when ever they need to.

Locations

For locations, Jemma wanted a theatre and it was agreed that because Drag is something that has been happening in theatres for years we would go with that idea. I contacted multiple theatres how ever they were out of our budget. I was given the contact details for the Tom Thumb theatre in Margate. 

They were happy to let us do the filming in their theatre for the dates we needed and the aesthetic of the building worked really well for us.

After discussing with Tanya she said she was happy for us to film in her house so long as we stayed out of certain rooms like her parents bedroom.

Script

Jemma and I co-wrote the script, we sat together to work out the structure of our documentary and from there sat down together to write the script and come up with durations for each part.

Schedule

The original schedule lasted for three days of filming however when we did our pitch update, Simon said this would not be long enough for filming. I extended filming to five days this includes time for any pick ups and title work, this also means we can spend longer in Cornwall filming Tanya and her family. 

Picking the target audience/Channel

I went through the remits and target audiences for multiple channels, I came to BBC three who make short form content similar to ours, put it online, and target the age range we wanted I decided we would be aiming for a BBC 3 documentary. The 18-30's age range was chosen as this is the age demographic that are becoming more interested in shows like Ru-Pauls Drag Race that are similar in content to our doc.

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In conclusion I think this unit has gone well, as Producer I feel as though the creative vision for this documentary suitably fits with the schedule I've made and works with the budget restraints we have. Something I think I can improve on is my emails, I need to reply to emails from contributors faster than I currently do so that no one is left not knowing what's happening. However I believe I communicated well with the contributors when emailing them and with the crew about what we can and cannot do. 

What would I improve on:

• I would communicate more often face to face with crew and where possible call contributors rather then email them
• Keep better organisation with people who have an have not been contacted
• Leave more time for myself to finish tasks

What I've learnt:

• The importance of being clear and concise via email
• To over plan everything to avoid missing something
• Where to effectively use research I have done