Introduction to Professional Studies

 Evaluation

One of the key challenges with this module and the whole programme of study has been adapting to different ways of working. My previous career had been as model-maker in the rapid prototyping/product design field and I had been used to focussing on one model at a time, working on it until completed. The major sea-change has been moving towards a multi-tasking approach, working on several projects simultaneously. I have found this difficult and I would like to improve my skills in time management, as I will need to plan more effectively at level 5 study.

I enjoyed the research for the Peach Kucha presentation, and I felt my presentation went well. I found that having only image content to the slides had impact, and this enabled me to be naturalistic in the spoken narrative, and the element of audience participation with the use of 3D glasses definitely helped with audience engagement with the topic. In future presentations I will build upon these successful elements.

Given the title of the report, I decided that conducting primary research was not feasible, as I wished to conclude the report focussing on 3D TV and this would be very difficult to access a local population who have purchased 3D TV.I have instead used some commercial sources of market research data. This has enabled me to draw upon data that is derived from a much larger sample that I could have collected and thus offers greater credibility.

I have sought to use a wide variety of sources, to enable triangulation of data. Through researching data collection methods I have become aware of pitfalls to be aware of to mitigate against. One of these is finding interview participants and making arrangements with them to record the interview. This has also been relevant for other film projects where I have been working as a producer. I have learnt that it is essential to speak to potential interviewees and make a personal request to them, and then follow this up with other phone calls, e-mails and texts to build a relationship. This approach means that the interviewee is more likely to attend and participate fully.

The content of the module, discussing current issues in film and TV, I have found very interesting and I have enjoyed reading further into these issues. I have begun to make connections with the other modules, for example for the Visual Culture module I wrote an essay on film propaganda in WW2. This led me to reflect upon current propaganda channels and how the internet has transformed communication.

Academic writing has not been completely new to me, but it has been a very long time since I have written in a formal manner and a previous course I studied there had been little written assessment. I have found that I enjoy the discipline of it, feeling that I can ‘crack it’ but it does take me a long time to do, and that I will need to speed up.