Evaluation

Idea
What?
      The first thing I did was explain an introduction to my instinctual idea of DDLC. This was done in several parts including a brief introduction, an outline of my plot idea, an explanation to why I wanted to do something on DDLC, and what aspects of DDLC I planned to take on board.
      What I did next was describe how some of my research effected my ideas such as what slot it would be on,  my target audience, and some expansion on what aspects of horror I would include.

So What?
      I'm very happy with the amount I described this 1 idea, but that's just the problem. It was just one idea with no variation. I never thought to look into anything other than DDLC when there was plenty of other things I could have thought of.
      I feel like some of the inclusions of the research aspects where good, but I mostly think it was reinstating points made in that section. The bits that where good though where the sections on the radio slot and the stuff on target audience as that isn't anywhere else on the blog and it helped later on in making decisions, especially with the content and structure of the script.

Now What?
      If I did this again the thing I would need to do is come up with more than 1 thing. As a general its good to have at least 3 and choose between them. If I did this it would allow comparisons between them along with more diverse initial research to build off of as well as fallbacks if things go south.
      If I do things on the audience and slot again I would say they would be better suited to the research section. Otherwise I feel it worked well to influence and guide some of my later decisions and I certainly would do it again, possibly even including more with it.

Research
What?
      The first thing I did was look up the definition of the genre I wanted to make the Drama on. By doing this I then compared what it often included and what parts I wanted to use.
      The next thing I did was I listened to a radio drama myself, analysing it while I was listening to it for part of it and explaining what it does well and what micro and macro elements it used to good effect within its genre. I then picked out the bits I liked the most that I felt would work well within my own drama and gave brief explanations as to why I would use them, for instance what effect they would have on the reader.
      Next I looked over and decided upon which of the BBFC guidelines my drama would likely fall under, which mine was 18. I described why mine would be an 18 and how it was almost 15 worthy, but not quite due to one clause within the guidelines.
      The final and largest part of research I did was a full narrative analysis of my source material, DDLC. This included a walk though of the plot in detail with how it would link to the three narrative theories. While in hindsight this should have been indented, it was split into 3 sections and a small introduction, one pertaining to each theory and the first major section, Todorov's, including the first overview of the narrative progression of the game. At the end there's a line explaining what parts i'd use and why.

So What?
      I feel that the genre research went great and really allowed me to define and think about my ideas in a more analytical light and decide what I wanted to do with them. For instance I decided I would have more graphic 'imagery' than a standard psychological horror, but due to the form of said imagery and how the graphic nature of it was different to what would normally be considered graphic was rather different to normal, it still fit well into psychological horror.
      What I did for the example went really well and specifically shaped my soundscape a lot in the end as a lot of the ideas I ended up taking where sounds and ways to use them. The only thing I feel I lacked was detail in the ways I would use the sound. Otherwise from the standpoint of a short evaluation of a radio drama, I feel it analysed and broke it down well and ended up helping me a lot in rationalising how a radio drama is meant to look finished.
      The BBFC guidelines were interesting more than anything as I found out that only one or two things can make something jump up a rating, in my case the depiction of suicide and self harm. It didn't particularly help me shape anything this time, but it is important to be aware of whenever something is created. If I where to create anything lower in rating than this then I would include it to show the restrictions and parameters I would have to work in. Also it would be a good thing to bring up in Ideas briefly to show what kind of direction you would be going. It's in research here more because I hadn't looked it up prior to this, and so it was new information.
      I am momentously happy with how the final section of research turned out. It helped both to clearly show what kind of drama I wanted to write while also doing well to help me decide the narrative direction I wanted to go with this. The only thing I would say is to add the previously mentioned indentation and expand severely on the final part where I decided what I did and dint want to use. Otherwise it did exactly what I wanted it to.

Now What?
      The only thing I would do different to before with the genre research is that I would include more than 1 source for the definition. Ideally I would have 3 or more sources and then I would construct my own definition off of that to compare my ideas to. Aside from that it was extremely helpful and I would defiantly use it again in future projects as I'd does really well to develop how your concept works within the stereotypes of media.
      As for the radio drama example, I would say more examples would help immensely, possibly having 3 points of comparison to draw upon. aside from that, the format I took and the way I executed it was fine aside from the ending decisions on what to keep, which could be expanded to include how I would use it, not just why, and also possibly include why I decided against using other aspects. Overall though it went really well and I would be stupid not to use it next time.
      Like I said before, If I where to include the BBFC guidelines again, they would be more of a passing mention in Ideas than anything else. It wasn't that it wasn't helpful, its more that it wont be research anymore and would fit better earlier on to shape my ideas, similarly to the slot and audience overviews. But I will include it again as it did help and I expect it will to some degree later on.
      Finally, the evaluation of the source material. There are a lot of things I'd do differently If I did it again, but a lot of them where things I had planned to do but didn't have the mental fortitude to get to due to the twisted and depressing nature of the source itself. Aside from allotting myself more time to do it if it calls for more emotional strength than normal, I would include the micro-elements along with other macro-elements to fully analyse the whole thing, likely turning it into something akin to an essay more than one section of research. Also that ending evaluation on what I would and wouldn't use would be severely expanded to include more than just a few lines, likely instead being similar to what I described I would do for research into other media. Overall I wouldn't miss out on adding this in a heartbeat as it helped in a lot of areas and has the potential to help in even more. The only problem is this can only be done if you have a source material to analyse. If what i make is wholly original I wouldn't be able to make this again. But if I can then I believe it would be the most benefit to do it.

Planning
What?
      So first thing I did within planning was of course write the script, consisting of 3 main acts and having a recurring scene at the start and end of it. It mostly consisted of dialogue with added directions and descriptions within brackets interspersed. Also it included a list of voice actors at the start.
      Next I annotated all of the additional sounds I would hope to use in the final product. This also included a list of the sounds for ease of finding later and an explanation of my annotation along with a few other things that warranted mentioning.

So What?
      When I did the script I had the intention to split it in the middle into 3 different routes and then reconnect it but as I was pressed for time It ended up just becoming 1 route. Also the initial decision to have an entirely male cast was mostly as a 'spur of the moment joke' that became a semi-personal challenge. unfortunately we couldn't go though with it due to one of the voice actors being absent when we needed him, although I am glad we got a female voice considering how well she did.
      I feel my annotations helped me a lot when it came to finally making it, as otherwise I would have never known what sounds to use and where, and it ended up guiding me though its construction. Not all sounds were used or able to be found, and also extra sounds ended up getting used that I hadn't added.

Now What?
      If the script was done again the first thing I would do is add the other 2 missing routes. I would also cast females to play the female roles because as much as the men performed beautifully, they couldn't compare to the woman. Other than that the only thing I'd want to do is make it longer so it ends up being 5 episodes like the standard for a 15 minuet drama, although it technically would work as each route would count as a separate episode. But all in all I would love writing a script again and I think I did well.
      If I annotated again I would add stroke-marks to the dialogue indicating how things would be said and where pauses and things would be. Aside from that I would actually name the music I want to use instead of just describing it. Although despite this it did work very well and I feel I should invest in annotating more of my work, not just scripts.

Production
What?
      The Production page only consists of the video itself. its around 15 minuets long, has a slightly bury background due to a miscalculation on my part, and is just the final product.

So What?
      The final product took a long time to make. The majority of it was cutting and piecing together the dialogue, but it was rather rewarding and I felt I did well. Next was the effects which where a bit more technically difficult but took less time, was more rewarding, and was far more fun overall. The final part of it was adding the music which was as simple as shoving it in and adjusting where it starts or ends. there was a little bit of creative choice on that front but otherwise was just inserting music. There where a lot of parts that ended up getting missed such as the argument in the background between Yuri and Natsuki that I wish I added, but aside from that I feel it did very well.

Now What?
      If I did it again I would do several things. Firstly  I would add and explain the recording process in detail and explain why I was doing things in certain ways. Secondly I would add Left and Right audio transitions and movement, something I completely neglected due to time and I feel would have massively improved the quality. Thirdly I would explain and show the editing process, something I completely missed as I was more focused on getting it done on time than explaining my methods. Forth and finally I would add the sections and parts I had intended on adding but never did. Aside from all of that I thoroughly enjoyed making it and I did a lot well, and would do it all again. I particularly liked the audio effects and background noises and would spend more time and focus on that next time.

Additional/Overview
What?
      I did a bit of work on ideas, a fair amount of research, a small amount on planning, and not too much on production that I've actually put on blogger. It ended up getting finished on time aside from the evaluation, and actually worked pretty well.

So What?
      I did the most work on my research, which worked well in directing towards where I wanted to go for the assignment in general. While I did do quite a bit on idea, it was all focused on 1 idea and could have done with having more ideas to initially compare it to. Planning I didn't do a lot on at all aside from the scripts and could have done with some pre-production documents, but aside from that there wasn't a lot that I could put on there anyway. As for production itself, that could have done with far more being posted and described and proven than actually happened. Despite this I still finished it, which I consider an achievement in itself.

Now What?
      Next time the main thing I need to seriously improve on my time management skills. Until about a month ago, 3 weeks before the assessment was due, I was heavily procrastinating and doing very little work. I'm very glad I turned it around and managed to finish it, but I need to be doing that from the start next time. Aside from that I need to allow time at the end to then analyse my final product in production and add more to production itself that shows recording and editing and explains it. Also more planning documents would greatly improve things, as would multiple starting ideas. I don't feel there's any way to overly improve the research aside from keeping it at the standard it is currently. Overall I think I did well, there is just a lot of way I could have done better.