Evalution

Evaluation

For my final major project I chose to do a Social Community video to highlight awareness in teenage Anorexia Nervosa. To make the film have a more personal look, I decided that I would get real life anorexics to send me a video of them saying a line that I would give them that gives either facts/figures or a symptom of Anorexia.

In my awareness video, I was hoping to open people’s eyes about Anorexia Nervosa to show that it doesn’t just about want to look like a model from a magazine. I wanted to show that it is a real life illness that can absolutely destroy lives of those with it and those around it. 

My client was B-EAT, which is a local charity for Eating Disorders. They specialize on all sorts of disordered eating like Anorexia, Bulimia and Binge eating. I didn’t want to expand so much into every kind of disorder so I chose to do Anorexia, as it’s a more personal issue for me. I then thought I should narrow it down even more and highlight one subject, Anorexia Nervosa in Teenagers. I researched into B-EAT’s website and noticed they have a page especially for teenagers. They didn’t have much information on the topic and how it truly feels for someone to be suffering, so I emailed them and proposed my idea, to which they agreed too.

My idea meant relying on a lot of people, which was risky. If no one stuck to sending me a video then I wouldn’t of been able to achieve it. This was proven as It took me a while to finally gather up enough videos from different people, because of this I did fall behind on editing and my work was piling up. I have put a sequence that I filmed myself of a girl who is showing signs of body dysmorphic disorder, which is a symptom, and cause of Anorexia Nervosa. This sequence, although a very easy process, still proved to be a problem. I had multiple times of filming the sequence as my footage would delete itself or not play. In the end I managed to get the sequence together at last minute, although I am not happy about the angles and lighting of it.

If I could do this film again, I would allow myself more time and management to complete it the way I had planned it to look. The sequence footage would be a lot more clear and better lighting. I would also try and gather more emotion than I did, as I find the film was a little too dry. I would also supply more facts and statistics on the disorder to try and make it more understood and looked upon. My final disapproval was the outcome of how my film was shaped. As I had asked fellow teenager anorexics to send me videos of them saying a line, pretty much all of them recorded it on their mobile. This caused a very thin rectangle shape to the film, which I didn’t want.

However, the things I thought went well were my music choice. I find that the soundtrack goes well with the awareness, as it’s slow and quiet. The pace of the soundtrack really fits in with the pace of the film. I also find that the connection you get with the teenagers works well. They stare directly at the camera as if they are giving you eye contact whilst saying their line, giving you an emotional connection towards them.

Overall I didn’t think I completely achieved my aim.  If I did it again, I would choose to do a lot more research and practice. I would also maybe follow down a different route and interview the Anorexics myself so the films style is all the same. However, I find that even though I am not entirely happy with the end product, I think that the aim of awareness, which is my initial thought, has been highlighted and shown through the film.