MIDPOINT REFLECTION

What has been successful so far, what have you been pleased with?

The in depth research that I have collected so far during the early stages of this project has enabled me to gain a wide range of knowledge into the working techniques of other creatives as well as the social media dependencies and habits that various individuals have. I still feel that I need to research further into production processes and various cutting edge practices to  assist the progression of ideas and concepts, which I will continue to do over the next few weeks.

Despite the issues with unreliability of others on test shoots, I think that the images produced so far have been of great success. They have proved to me that my ideas have some substance and are relatable to the topic I have chosen to represent within my work. I often doubt my ideas, as I feel they aren't good enough, however after being proven wrong and having mentors/tutors praise my ideas, it has given me to confidence boost I need to propel forward and continue to produce innovative objectives to work on.

Are you on track with your original production schedule, if not why and what do you need to adjust?

I am ridiculously behind schedule at this stage of the development time. By the end of this week the following points should have been completed:

Planned shoots

Finalised ideas

Models sources

Photographers sourced

MUA’s Sourced

Other creative help sourced

Locations confirmed

Materials sourced (clothes, props, etc)

Shoot one – six complete

Edited images

Planned book layout & typography

Circumstances outside of my university studies have been a huge factor as to why I have fallen so far behind on my project schedule. Procrastinating so drastically has meant that none of the above is completely finished, and I am now halfway through the allocated production time and have nothing to really show for my work. I understand that this is not acceptable within my studies and definitely will not be within industry, so I have had to work extra hard to devise a new strategic way to achieve the goals that I wish to achieve within this project along with the guidance from my mentor Jennifer. 

How have you resolved major issues?

The issue of being totally unfocused was resolved after I created specific questions that I needed to use a basis for my creative concepts.

Why is society so obsessed with social media?

Why do people feel the need to share so much information online?

Is it making an impact on their life, their jobs, their relationships?

By having these questions to refer back to it will ensure that I stay on track and am always producing work that fits the ethos of the publication. As a result, the end product will have a steady flow from concept to concept as they will all relate to one another.

Another major issue that I recently faced was that the course tutors thought that my project and my ideas were ‘too moralising’, explaining that I was generalising all social media issues as if everyone in the entire world was going through the same thing. I could understand their point completely, as I had been struggling to come up with fresh concepts that were relatable, without using myself as a foundation for those ideas. This was resolved by deciding to change the perspective of my final major project from an objective one to subjective.

“An objective perspective is one that is not influenced by emotions, opinions, or personal feelings - it is a perspective based in fact, in things quantifiable and measurable. A subjective perspective is one open to greater interpretation based on personal feeling, emotion, aesthetics, etc.”

After the success of using myself as a model prior to this, I felt that this would be an appropriate decision as it would also resolve a recurring issue of unreliability that I had to deal with previously. Having one less team member to depend on will allow me to use the energy I would of used stressing and worrying about the whereabouts of others on another area of production that will be more beneficial in the long term. Learning to adjust to stressful situations and make informed decisions like this will help the production of the project move smoothly and efficiently to a professional standard.

What requires further improvement?

I need to ensure that I am working at a fast pace now that half of the production time has past and deadlines are approaching. My confidence is improving everyday within my ideas and since changing the direction of the project I feel positive that all of my aims are achievable and am excited to finally produce some outcomes that work on all levels and aspects of the brief.

Developments, feedback and ideas - big and small - need to constantly be noted within this blog so that I can continue to refer back to ideas and reflections. This will help improve my thought process  as I can work  and build from all of the constructive criticism and praise given to me. 

You may also want to suggest ideas for further development of your project.

 Since altering the perspective of the project to a subjective viewpoint, it has allowed me to personalise my ideas and the creation of concepts has improved immensely. Below are the notes that I have made that I wish to represent within my work. Having a subjective perspective has made it a lot easier to justify within the production of concepts, as they are all a part of my life and situations that I am personally going through. If I was to still have an objective perspective to work towards, I would need to continue to collect endless amounts of data and research to ensure that I had facts and statistics to relate back too at all times.