Skip to main content

Lockdown Project Contextual


 Lockdown 

In this essay I shall be discussing my lockdown project. This will be in the style of a vlog, where I can share my personal experiences about my time in lockdown. Also, how it has affected me with my disability and my struggles. I shall also discuss what it is like to live my life during lockdown. I will be talking about what I'm finding hard with my new day to day life, and the ways in which I'm adapting to this. I will also discuss the issues I will face when making my vlog.

My vlog will be in the style of a real vlog, which is in the style of a documentary about my life under lockdown. I have never made a vlog style project before, but I want a challenge, even though I am not sure how successful I will be. I wanted to make a documentary for my FMP during this college year with one of my peers, but the situation in the world has made this impossible. So, I have decided to make this project about my disability, and how the crisis has made times hard right now. I also think that making a documentary will be a good idea, as I will have to make one for Level 3 year 2 and this will be good practice. I would also like to begin developing my own style, almost as an “Auteur” approach and working on my own will help me do this. In most of my projects I like to use strong colours and similar editing techniques. I also like to use then same style of music in my projects, which is “beat music”, but in this project I shall have to use another style.

My story will be about my struggles and what I have learned during lockdown. I will talk about how I have taken a big responsibility in making my own decisions, due to not having so much help. I have also been a little worried about completing work on time, because of how I take time completing my tasks. However, I think I have come a long way with the knowledge I have gained through Level 2 and Level 3 media studies. I will talk about some of the positives I have taken from this lockdown, such as joining an online racing community on a game I play a lot, how I have been watching Youtube videos on editing to my improve my knowledge, connecting with friends and family via Facetime, and also spending more time with my family. I will, also, talk about the negatives, such as not being able to meet and see my friends, not spending time with my nan and grandad, missing college life with the staff and small fun tasks, not being able to get support in person as this is how I prefer to work, and my phone keeping going flat.

To make the vlog, I will need to have, or learn, certain skills. I know that I will need to speak clearly when presenting myself to others. I will need to improve this skill, as I can sometimes appear lacking in confidence, unless it is about a subject, I am in love with, and then I will be in my zone. I will also need to know how to make the vlog fluent with what I am trying to say, and I need to plan and improve this. I think the main thing about a vlog is to make it entertaining, and I will have to use my editing skills to do this, as well as researching this. Working alone is something I am not so experienced in, and this will give me an opportunity to practice this, but I much prefer to work in a team.

I am going to use the skills that I am good at to make this vlog. I think I have a lot of creativity, and it is something I am good at. I like to be creative as a cinematographer, and use creative camera angles, and I will try and use this in my vlog, although it may be difficult. I know I am good at editing, and I like to have my own editing style. I have learned a lot about the tools and features of Premiere Pro, and I can use my creativity in my edits. I will also research what techniques make a good vlog, and what makes a good documentary. The techniques I will need to learn and know about are: good camera angles, styles of cinematography (possibly POV), good audio, and working alone.

I, also, know that there will be issues and problems in making this vlog. I will need to know my target audience, and whether they will be interested in my story. Being the subject of the vlog and also being the director may also cause some issues, as I have not done this before. Because I have not tried this before, I will need to research many things and my primary and secondary research will be very useful. I think my main research will be secondary, using the internet to watch documentaries and vlogs. I can them see how other people do this.

Although this is all new to me, I am happy to have something different to keep me occupied. This is another problem with lockdown. There are things which I won’t enjoy so much, like the fact it invades into my personal life a little more than I would like, but this may also open up my understanding of different situations, and allow my story to be heard. This in turn could make me feel more confident about, and during, the making of this project. It will be good to get experience of documentaries, ready for next year. I will place my finished project on Youtube, and my target audience will be teenagers. I hope that my project will help to get people to understand about disability and also the extra problems people with disability have during lockdown.

Inspirational Documentaries
There are two documentaries I will use for inspiration, when making my vlog. I know they are both different, but they inspire me in different ways.

The main documentary that inspires me most is called “Back in the Driver’s Seat with Ben Conolly” which I found on the Chairslayer’s Foundation Youtube channel. This is about a man who had a serious car crash, and lost both his legs. He wanted to get back into his favourite sport which is Car Drifting. It is about his determination and his struggles to be able to do this, by building a car which helps him overcome his disabilities. This very much inspires me, because I can relate to it and it helps me relate to the difficulties I am experiencing now, and throughout my life. Form when I was young I have overcome difficulties that people said were impossible. When I get my driving licence, I also want to get into motor sport, and I know I will have to adapt to my disabilities. This man is my idol.









The second video is a different type of story and is not really about disability, but I very much liked the way the documentary was made, and I also like the way it goes in depth. The documentary is called “The Trump Dynasty”. It is a story about Donald Trump and his father, and how Donald Trump became president of America. There were several camera shots that made me think “Wow”, and the whole documentary kept me interested. I liked the way it went into depth about Donald Trump’s life, and it gives better understanding of him. I can relate to this, and in my vlog I hope people can get a deeper understanding of me and my disabilities.

I am going to use both of these documentaries for research, and to inspire me, when I think about how I will make my vlog about be I'll consider there's video.

References/bibliography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLJWQv_vhmk. 2020. [DVD].

IMDb. 2020. Biography: The Trump Dynasty (TV Mini-Series 2019) - Imdb. [online] Available at: <https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10013936/> [Accessed 20 May 2020].

Comments