Meeting the brief - How well did you meet the brief? Did it meet your standards of success?

​

When it comes to meeting the brief I think did really well and I think I met it to a pretty high standard. With each stage that we had in the making this project I managed to meet the deadlines and the brief with each ones. I think that it did meet my standards of success as when I looked at my final edit and the outcome of my documentary as well as the whole process of making this I was really impressed with how far I have come and the amount of success I achieved making this. I think the brief was really straight forward and simple to understand which was amazing as there wasn't points of confusion and panic that I don't understand something. Due to this, it made meeting the brief pretty simple. I think I met to a pretty high standard mainly because of the constant feedback I was asking for from my teachers to make I meet the brief to the highest grade possible.

​

Effect - How effective was your effect? Did it fit in with the style of the film?

​

When it comes to how effective my documentary was and did it fit in with the style, I would say that my documentary was really effective and to the point. I personally think that I put all the information across about the team, organisations, each individual player and a few other things pretty clear and easy to understand. My documentary was so that people could get an understanding of how strong, powerful and important this team was and I think I conveyed this idea pretty well in my work. I included all their success that they achieved whilst playing which helped show the idea of how successful they were. I also included a decent amount of information about each of the players in the team and their importance in the team, this helped show how important and powerful the team was. Overall, with my documentary I also wanted to give people an insight into the e-sport life, I think that I managed this pretty well with the interview that I had which had a few answers to a few of my questions, the main ones. I also wanted through my documentary to show how fun, popular and exciting this game and the whole e-sport scene can be. I think I showed that pretty well mainly through the use of some of the clips that I included in my documentary. When it came to how relevant this was to other gamers I would personally say that it was really relevant as it gave them a lot of information on one of the most famous and popular e-sport teams ever. It also included a bit of information for people that are inspiring to becoming a pro e-sport player with the interview answering that question. I think that my documentary overall was really relevant to other gamers as of course it was also about something that they like themselves. On the other hand, when it comes to people outside the e-sport scene I think that It wasn't too effective as there wasn't too much information about the whole e-sport scene and what it looks like and the dedication it takes. The interviewee did briefly touch on a questioner regarding people outside the e-sport scene but I unfortunately didn't focus on people outside the scene too much and when it comes to that point I don't think my documentary was too effective when it comes to educating them but I do think that it might still seem a little bit interesting just because of the way it is all edited together.

​

Research - describe your research process, how successful and useful was it? What would you do differently to improve your research?

​

My research process for this project was pretty complicated and at a high standard. There was a lot of things I had to research to even make this documentary achieve the lowest grade. Starting off before I could even think about making the documentary and anything about it, I had to research what makes successful documentary as well as looking for inspiration and ideas on what mine could look like. After researching and gathering some sort of knowledge on how to make successful documentaries I had to research everything that I will need to make this. This includes: Software's for recording editing etc, information about the team and organisation, who I could interview and why, ideal voice-over actor. I think when it comes to how successful and useful my research was I would say it was extremely successful as I managed to find a lot of information about making documentaries that I managed to keep an eye out when making mine. As well as some of my inspirations helped me make my documentary and gave me ideas. Another main thing that made my documentary successful is gaining the knowledge of the software that I will need to use and getting some basic knowledge of all of them, this is because one of the software (HLAE) was extremely difficult to use at first and when I was learning how to use it, it took me a good 2-3 days to get an understand the most basic things about, this saved me a lot of time when it came to production. I think my research was also extremely useful as I did research every small bit that I might need and in really good detail meaning that if at any point later on there was something I didn't understand I could just go back to my research and get some help from there. The only thing I can see that I could possibly do different next time when making a documentary so that my research improves is definitely research more on the making of documentaries and different directors as this time I didn't do a huge amount of research on it. I did do a bit but I think I could of done a lot more. I personally think that is the only thing I could do different next time.

​

The effectiveness of your workflow - What did you do well? How would you change it?

​

When it comes to my workflow and how well I did, I personally would say that my workflow was extremely good and was on a really high level. Each day, I was managing to achieve everything that I scheduled myself and planned to complete on that day. I was working really effectively making sure that everything I plan on doing is in the write order and that I am not doing too little on that specific date. I planned out everything so well that I had a good amount of work to do each day and not stress about possibly not finishing on time. Even due to us being in Lockdown which for a lot of people was a point where they lacked motivation was work, I personally had even more and that made my workflow even better. I think that the main reason for my workflow being so effective and so good is that I was actually doing something I am passionate about and have a massive interest in which is gaming and e-sport. If I was to be honest with myself, I don't see anything I could possibly change about my workflow and the effectiveness, possibly maybe try and do a bit more work each day to try and finish even earlier but at the same time I didn't want to stress myself with too much working and worrying that I am not doing enough in a day and falling behind. That's why I think there isn'tanything I would change in my workflow it's effectiveness in the future.

​

Scope of the project - Did you feel challenged? Did you stretch yourself?

​

Personally, I think there was definitely moments where I felt extremely challenged. The main ones would for sure have to be when it came to finding footage, not only found footage from the internet but also ideas on how to record my own. The reason why I felt challenged at that moment is because at the start when I found a couple of clips and put them together I wasn't too happy with how it looked and was worried that it wouldn't come out to the level I wanted to. Another major thing I feel I got challenged with would have to be understanding all of the software I will be needing to use and learning how house them because one of them in particular was extremely hard to use and stared to worry me that I would have to change my whole idea If I didn't figure out how to use the software. But I do like having a little challenge when doing something so overall I'm glad I was challenged at some points as they taught me new things and I like learning new things. When it comes if I stretched myself or not, I would confidently say that yes I did stretch myself as this isn't a standard idea and an easy one to pull off and make look good. I think that I set myself a pretty hard challenge but that was the whole point and thankfully I was able to complete it to a really high standard and prove to myself that I am able of doing such high level things. Overall, I think I enjoyed the challenges I had when making this documentary, like constant issues when editing and forgetting the smallest of things to change and thinking that I didn't save it and have to do it as well. As well as, stretching myself and creating something I never thought I would make myself and even imagine myself trying to create something like this.

​

Management - How well managed was your time? How did this impact your final piece?

​

When it comes to management and time management I think I did extremely well with this. With each stage of the project I would make sure I did at least a week plan for what I want to do and get done in that time. Thanks to this I didn't have a lot of stress and panic of thinking of what I still might have to do and get done before the deadline, as I had a nicely laid out plan. When it came to the production stage, I planned a day to day plan for what I will be doing each day. This made me feel really confident with my work and my progress as I could easily check if I am falling behind or if I am ahead of what I want need to get done. Time management was probably one of the most important things I focused on during this project as I didn't want to put myself into too much stress and panic. I wanted to focus on getting the work done and not constantly think if I am behind or not, which could of resulted in me not completing things on time. I think due to me managing my time so well it had a massive impact on my final piece, in a positive way. The reason for this is as I had each day planned out, I was able to feel confident with the work I had done as well as focus on the things that I have planned on that day instead of focusing on other things that might of lead me to falling behind. Overall, due to me managing my time so well it had a positive impact on my final piece mainly because I laid out my editing drafts and feedback days out so well I had enough days to edit and send of my drafts a couple of times to get feedback and still have a day or 2 left before the deadline, this made me be able to calmly fix any issues in my documentary without rushing and possibly causing more issues.

​

Autonomous learning - How did you cope with being self-dependent? What did you learn about yourself? Where do you need to improve? When were you tested? How did you overcome issues by yourself?​

​

I personally think that I copped really well with being self-dependent, I always preferred to do things on my own and not depend on others as I work better in that way when it comes to college work. So with this, I had nothing to complain about, I was able to work at the pace I was happy with, doing things in the order that I wanted to do and not have to rely on others and listen to other people's opinion. The main thing I learnt about myself when it came to this project and working on my own is for sure my determination and my eagerness to get something that I am really patinate about finished. The main thing I realised when I started this project is with each day I was getting more and more excited to actually seeing the final piece that I will make. There wasn't a time where I was scared that it might not look good or that I was lacking motivation to work on this project. I might of lacked motivation but that was to some personal reasons. The main thing I think I would have to improve on next time, would have to be the way I put my idea across. I think this time the way my idea came across was different then how I wanted to and it confused the teachers. For next time, I definitely want to make sure that when I am explaining my idea, that it is clear and to the point and make sure that there isn't any confusion or misunderstanding about what I said, I think I could also go over the things I write a bit more making sure that the things that I did write make sense and I have written it in the way I wanted to without confusing myself too. The times that I was tested during this project would have to be when it came to creativity, that is something that I have always lacked and struggled with. Mainly, when I had to come up with other ideas than the one I chose, even when I had this idea I struggled at the start to expand it and make it even more interesting as at the start in my head the idea was alright but seemed a little boring. I was also tested when at times the project wasn't going the way I wanted to, a good example I could give would have to be when I sent about 15 emails to different people and after a week I still haven't had a response and I was slowly losing hope that I will have someone for an interview. At that time, I had to think quick and try and sort out a possible alternative if no one actually responded. The way I overcame the issues I faced would be the same way I overcome all my issues I have or I have had, I just gave it time and took everything a little slower. I know personally that rushing into finding a solution to a problem is the worst option as well as forcefully trying to find a solution too. When I did run into problem, I slowed down a bit with the work and took a couple steps back trying to analyse where I went wrong and after finding where I went wrong I then would change my approach and try something different. I personally think that I dealt extremely well with all the issues that I faced and dealt with this really well too.

​

Ideas – How did your ideas develop your ideas as you progressed?

​

During this whole project, my ideas have changed constantly. I started off with having a pretty advanced idea for my documentary. I was planning on flying to Poland and recording all my footage, interviews etc there. I was planning on renting a studio and setting up a nice professional set for my interviews, which would of needed a massive budget but I could have coped as I was so interested in making this. Unfortunately, due to COVID, my main idea went straight to the bin and I had to think of alternatives and other ways of making this documentary. I first started of with the thought of only having gameplay footage with a voice-over in it. But, after a quick think and discussion with a lot of people, that idea seemed pretty boring. So, I decided to go with the idea of using found footage from online and mixing it in with my own footage. At this point, I also decided to scrap the idea of having an interview with someone as I didn't see it working out having a video call or normal call over zoom about this topic. After doing a bit of research and watching a few documentaries I understood that having an interview was key, so I decided to add it back into the planning map and started looking for who would be interested which took a long time and a lot of emails being sent with no responses. During the project, I also had to do a bit thinking with which voice-over actor I wanted to go with, each one of them had a decent voice but had a pretty strong accent as well as the price they quoted me was ridiculous. So, the reason I went with Callum is because he ticked all the boxes and his price was reasonable. When it came to my interview, my idea with that changed a couple of times as at first I wanted to make it a video call interview so it seems as professional and similar to my original idea, but the person I wanted to interview wasn't too keen on the idea of having a video call. I found the solution of doing a normal call and just using game footage underneath it which turns out worked really well. Overall, I think that the way my ideas progressed was really well and lead me to making really good decisions and making an even better piece of work than what It could of come out as without the changes and new ideas.

​

Decision making - Did you make informed decisions as you went along? Did you change your mind at all? What affected the decisions you made? Were they the right decisions, or in retrospect would you amend what you decided?

​

When it came to decision making, I was constantly making up new decision as I went along, that could be with changing what I want to ask my interviewee about or even how I want to layout my documentary. All my decisions and ideas I made I would have gotten the inspiration for it either from my research page or from feedback from friends or teacher, these would spark a new idea in my mind and possibly make me make a decision on a change or something similar. When it comes to me changing my mind during the whole project, yes there was moments where I did change my mind and think that I would have to do something completely different or just change it a bit. The main part and the most obvious one for me would be when my planning for the interview wasn't going so well, I wasn't getting any responses and was slowing losing hope in actually getting anyone in for the interview. There was a point where decided for a bit that I will just scrap the idea of having an interview in the documentary and just stick to having footage and voice over with information in it. I also at a point was close to making a decision of not having anyone deep in the e-sport scene and get someone that maybe is aspiring to become one, but after a long think that idea wouldn't;t really fit in with my whole concept and the visual I had in my mind of how I will want it to look like. The main thing in my opinion that affected my decisions would be the people I had around me supporting me and giving me feedback, this could be my teacher or my girlfriend which has watched the documentary more times than I have myself. I think that without these 2 people and a few other friends I would of possibly made decisions that I would have regretted now as they constantly gave me feedback and gave suggestions on things I could improve. Overall, I think that the decisions I did make where the right ones as I managed to create a documentary that I am extremely proud of and it is probably one of the proudest things I have ever made if not the proudest. All the decisions I did make even the small ones like taking a step back and relaxing slightly with my work led me to where I am today which is with a finished product at a really high level in my opinion.

​

​

Pride - are you proud of your work? What will you do with your work now?

​

​

When it comes to pride, I am without a doubt extremely proud of myself that I managed to create such an interesting and fun to watch documentary. The thing with me is that I personally lack creativity so creating something like this just blows me away that I actually did it. This project and overall this whole thing that I have made has to for sure be one of my proudest moments in life and most likely the best things I have ever created in my life. At the start of the project, my visual and the image I created inside my head looked nothing to what I have actually created. With each day, that I was editing and looking at how my documentary is coming across I was being blown away with what I was making. I am proud of not only the actual documentary I have made but everything to do with it, like the research phase, production, proposal etc. I am proud of all the steps that I had to make to finally be able to present this piece of work. I think that the next step that I have with this work is to publish it on Youtube which is something I have been recommended to do by almost everyone that has watched the documentary  as they think it could reach a massive amount of viewers and I could gain a massive amount of viewers.  My goal isn't to gain a massive following or have a huge amount of followers, my goal is simply to educate people on the team and their history whilst also showing off what hard work, dedication and motivation looks like as I really have put in all my skills hard work and determination into this project to complete it.

​

Skills - What soft skills have you developed? What hard skills have you developed?

​

I think personally that during this project I have gained a few soft and hard skills. The main soft skills I have gained I think would definitely have to be work-ethic, flexibility, time management and problem solving. I might of already had those skills but I think during this project they have advanced and improved for sure. I always had a pretty decent work ethic being that for college or my personal job that I have but when it came to this project my work-ethic was at a point that I have never seen it before. I would do a lot more work outside of college than I have ever done. I was never so eager and focused on something in my life and never wanted to actually complete something so bad like this documentary. With time management, this was one of the most important things in the project. I have always been a well time managed person but in this project my skills were tested. I had to accurately plan out my schedule and make sure that what I am planning is not only achievable by me but also not at risk to be too and pass the deadline. We had a pretty short amount of time when it came to production mainly and I had to plan out each day in detail and carefully making sure I am setting myself the right amount of work so that I am not falling behind but also finish in a good amount of time so that I have a bit of time left before the deadline to double check over everything. Problem solving skills in this project were improved too, I had a couple  of problems that I faced when making this documentary. The main one, being rudely but also politely declined when it came to interviews. The interviews were the thing that had the most issues, were the most streusel and most annoying as because these people are really popular and famous they are hard to get hold of and some are just too egoistic to not join and harshly tell you to jog on. I had to come up with a solution to all my problems that I faced, another major one that I managed to solve pretty quickly was the fact that I wouldn't be able to film a live interview face to face with someone as well as recording some of my own footage in Poland, the solutions that I came up with for the interview is to do a video call one but that didn't work out so I had to think fo something else. When it came to not having my own footage I had to go and use found footage from online and focus on editing and getting graded on that. The main hard skills that I have developed and gained during this project is the use of certain software as well as developing more skills in some software I have already used. The main software that I have developed skills in would be HLAE which Is the software I used to record my intro as well as all my clips for CSGO, this software was not easy to use at all and took me a couple of days to understand the fundamental skills needed to use this software. After about a week or 2 I was feeling really confident with the software and today I can say that I know how to use the software without any issues and can manage to record intros and footage in game without any major issues or problems. Another hard skills I have gained is some extra editing skills in Premiere pro, I have definitely become a lot more confident using it and can now do a lot of things a lot quicker than I couldn't do before. I have also gained skills when it comes to the use of effects and transitions in Premiere pro which is something I have never used in my life in this program. Overall, I think that I have gained a nice amount of soft and hard skills from this project and has put me in a lot better place for the future for any similar occasions that might involve making something we aspire in and follow.

​

Future – What is the next stage, what are your future plans, how has this project altered or affected what you want to do next or in the future? 

​

For me personally, the next stage after submitting my documentary is to upload it to Youtube and try and get it to as many people as possible so that I can educate them as well as entertain them with my piece of work I have done. When it comes to life, I am going to take a gap year to try and learn some new things throughout it as well as try and enjoy life a bit more as so far due to the pandemic that was close to impossible. I am then going to go to university in London to study accountancy and finance to become an accountant. When doing this project, it hasn't really changed my plans for my future or anything similar as I have been set on this path to become an accountant for a really long time now, the only thing that I have realised during this project is the passion and love I actually have for this game and the whole e-sport and in some way hate myself for not taking the chance I had in 2016 to sign with a team which never knew where it could of led me. But, I can't complain, I still play the game pretty competitively and still have a set path for life and overall just extremely enjoyed this project and everything about it. In the future I will also for sure want to make another documentary like this but in my own time, possibly on another team or maybe on e-sport In general. I definitely want to make some sort of documentary around all this again, as I have really enjoyed this project and see myself trying to make something similar in the future.

​

​