Proposal & PechaKucha

Project Proposal (Ammended according to the current pandemic):

Name	Jaya Chaggar
Your Project Title	UAL Awarding Body - Level 3 and Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production and Technology. The Origins and Evolution of Rhythm and Blues Music.
Pathway:
When I started the course, I was very much into the journalistic and graphic design elements it had to offer. I think that has changed quite a lot now. Whilst I still enjoy the more graphic elements of the course, I have found that producing video work has been my favourite and the products have come out the most professional and those I am most proud of. For my Final Major Project (FMP), I want to produce a video, most probably a documentary, about the origins and evolution of Rhythms and Blues or more commonly known as R&B music.  So far, my research is going very well and I am really enjoying researching different artists throughout time and seeing how their representation within the genre has evolved over time to what we know today. I am really excited to start production.
Project Rationale:
Since starting the course, I have developed a whole new skill set. I didn’t know how to use any of the Adobe software and the whole thing was quite daunting. I think I have made a lot of progress. I also think there is definitely, some software that I am a lot more confident with than others. I think the hardest assignment for me was the one involving Dreamweaver so I decided to avoid Dreamweaver and websites for my FMP so I could produce something I was proud of and focuses on something I enjoy. I now know how to use most of them, some better than others. I think overall I am most confident with Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2018 and hopefully, I will be mainly using it for my FMP to produce a documentary. However, with the current worldwide pandemic and the likelihood I may have to complete a majority of the unit at home, without access to the Adobe Creative Cloud, I have alternatives that I could use in a worst-case scenario. Some alternatives I could use are Pixlr as an alternative to Adobe Photoshop CC 2018. NCH VideoPad as an alternative to Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2018 and WavePad as an alternative to Adobe Audition CC 2018. I didn’t think it was wise to learn new software when producing my FMP because it wouldn’t be as professional and I could definitely end up handing in an unfinished product, however, I may have to dependant on how much of this unit I will have to complete at home. I am very excited to produce my documentary. I think because I have chosen a topic I am very passionate about, I am more excited to research and produce something about it. I am also excited to produce another documentary as it was probably my favourite assignment so far and the final product is that I am most proud of.
Project Concept:
I have a strong interest in the music industry and R&B is one of my favourite genres. I enjoy the complexity each artist offers, alongside the creative control Rhythm and Blues artists have. R&B is a genre that conveys emotion alongside passion. Pain and suffering but also glee and joy. R&B is a genre of music which deserves the recognition and whose past needs to be explained. I want to create a documentary that will enable people to fall in love with music in a way they haven't before as well as educate people who think that R&B is a genre only for a specific audience. Everyone can enjoy R&B music; it is just a case of whether or not people want to listen. The aim of my documentary is to get people to listen. A quote said by Leo Tolstoy that inspired my project was “Music is the shorthand of emotion. Emotions, which let themselves be described in words with such difficulty, are directly conveyed to the man in music, and in that its power and significance”.
Evaluation and Reflection:
In terms of on-going progress within my planning, I will be updating and reflecting on my Trello board (https://trello.com/b/QLRLULlM/fmp) weekly and commenting on it in the planning part of my blog. I am also going to be updating my reflective log (https://jayafmp2.blogspot.com/p/reflective-log.html) at the end of each week and commenting on any of the progress made and any important decisions made. I find this the best way to reflect and also see what progress has been made so far and see what I have left to do. I will also constantly receive feedback and progress updates from my teachers and possibly from my peers and I will ensure that I reflect on that too.
Research Sources and Bibliography:
So far I have been researching the origins of R&B music and where it is now. I will also be researching into the cultural importance and the significance of R&B in a world of prejudice. I think it is really important to not just focus on the musical aspects of the genre but also the societal aspects that had a huge impact on the growth and development of R&B as a whole. I will also be researching the best way to produce, edit and distribute a documentary. This will give me the best chance of producing a successful final product.  I will keep a record of all websites and resources I use for research in my bibliography on my blog (https://jayafmp2.blogspot.com/p/bibliography.html) and my Trello board (https://trello.com/b/QLRLULlM/fmp-year-2). Some websites I have used so far that I have found beneficial are: https://www.liveabout.com/what-is-randb-music-2851217 - Live About, 'The Origins of R&B', (online, accessed 12/02/20) https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-history-of-r-b-music#/ - IndieGoGo, 'The History of R&B', (online, accessed 13/02/20) https://vimeo.com/99694968 - R&B IndieGoGo, (online, accessed 13/02/20) https://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/early-r-b-ma0000002520 - All Music, 'Early R&B', (online, accessed 25/02/20) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythm_and_blues - Wikipedia, 'Rhythm and Blues', (online, accessed 25/02/20) https://www.billboard.com/photos/6737387/best-r-and-b-singers-of-all-time - Billboard, 'Top R&B artists', (online, accessed 25/02/20) https://www.ranker.com/list/best-r-and-b-artists-and-bands/ranker-music - Ranker, 'The Greatest R&B artists of all time', (online, accessed 25/02/20) https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/08/16/psychographics-in-marketing - Wordstream, '9 Mind-bending ways to use psychographics in marketing', (online, accessed 26/02/20) http://therapfest.com/blueprint-rb-vs-now/ - The Rapfest, 'The blueprint of R&B', (online, accessed 26/02/20) https://folklife.si.edu/talkstory/2016/tell-it-like-it-is-a-history-of-rhythm-and-blues - Folklife, 'The history of R&B', (online, accessed 26/02/20) https://blog.storyhunter.com/7-ways-to-distribute-your-feature-documentary-8ad2a4851756 - Story Hunter, '7 ways to distribute your feature documentary', (online, accessed 02/03/20) I still have a very long way to go in terms of secondary research but research done correctly is an ongoing task that will continue throughout the duration of your project as you will constantly need to expand your knowledge in order to achieve the best end result.  In terms of primary research, I think I may produce a vox pop and maybe a questionnaire/survey, which can be found, on my blog. (https://jayafmp2.blogspot.com/p/research-contextual-analysis.html)

Pecha Kucha Plan:

I used this template to plan out each slide. This really helped me make sure I stayed on topic. Ideally, it would have also help to avoid nerves and stuttering but that inevitably still happened when I presented my Pecha Kucha. 

Pecha Kucha Presentation:

Pecha Kucha Reflection:

This was my Pechakucha. It was 20 slides long and I spoke about each slide for around 20 seconds. Overall, I think my Pechakucha went really well. I had solid points to explain why I have chosen my topic. I think the feedback was also very helpful. My main feedback was that I explained my products clearly and had good knowledge of my topic. However, a lot of the feedback said that it was repetitive that could be down to being nervous when presenting, but could also reflect some of my initial ideas. So I will need to bear this in mind during production to avoid repetition.