Project timeline (update)

EPQ

Progress so far

By the end of October I had hoped to have:

- picked my question

- picked which films I wanted to research

- picked which books would help me rate historical accuracy

- have watched and evaluated the films

- made case studies on each

- estimated whether I thought they were accurate or not

In reality I have fallen behind due to other work projects and applications needing to be completed, I have achieved some of the criteria though, I have:

- picked my question

- got an idea of what films I want to research

Although this may not seem like much when I wrote the timeline plan I failed to account for how long it would take me to decide what I actually wanted to investigate in my EPQ and all the small details I would need to decide on. Now I have structured what I want to investigate it is simply a task of finding the materials and evaluating them before I am back on track with my planned timeline.

Film, TV or both? (planning the project)

EPQ

Film/TV/Both?

Initially as many of my university courses include both film and TV it seemed better to try and include both into my investigation, as further research has proven though it may be harder to include TV in an investigation about historical accuracy than first though.

There are not that many TV shows to choose from that are related to specific historical events (such as films are) rather than simply set in certain time periods. Although this may have been a factor that put me off slightly what put my off the most was the realisation that to gain an accurate representation of these shows I would have to watch at least on if not more episodes of each series. This would be quite a long task and as well as just watching I would have to analyse, also just choosing to watch a few episodes does not give me a true insight into how historical events are portrayed in the show, for some episodes (such as finales/season premières) the event may be over dramatised for dramatic effect and so by only watching thee beginning and end of a season I wouldn't gain a true understanding of how events are portrayed (arguably this could be a topic I come back to another time to write an essay about). 

To watch all of a season would need time I don't have and so it seems more effective if I choose to just focus on  films where the event is condensed into a few hours viewing so I am able to watch it all from start to end and make a far more well rounded judgement on it.

Picking my question (developing a title)

EPQ

Question

After deciding my topic and the rough outline of my question I now need to finalise the exact wording, what I'm going to investigate and how I'm going to go about investigating it.

Topic: Historical accuracy in film, study of director, narrative/character theory

Question: ??

Historical event: WWII/Titanic/WWI/Holocaust

Director: James Cameron/Steven Spielberg/Quentin Tarantino

Include narrative/character theory: Yes/No

Investigate: 

- How accurate historical events are in films (over dramatised or true to events?)

- How historical events are portrayed by directors (accurate or falsified?)

From doing this planning I have found it may be quite hard to incorporate narrative/character theory into this essay, not only because it will seem like a bit of an add on but because I will almost certainly struggle to fit all of these 3 aspects into the 5000 word limit. Therefore I have chosen to cut this part and (like with editing and filming) focus on it later in the academic year in a separate essay that I will complete to further my knowledge and practice my writing rather than as part of the EPQ.

After losing the narrative.character theory part my question becomes all the more easier to structure without sounding so wordy. After some planning and rewording the first draft of my question is:

How accurately do writers/directors portray historical events in film/tv?

After I have completed some more research I should be able to narrow down which writers/directors I wish to discuss and which historical events in which film/tv shows.

Picking a topic (final)

EPQ

Topic

So far I know that I want my investigation to be into something media related, preferably linked with either TV or film. Since thinking about my initial ideas I have decided which topics/projects I can rule out and which one I want to do for my EPQ.

Unfortunately I have chosen to rule out making a film, although I would thoroughly enjoy making it and it would be an added practical piece of work I worry not only about whether I would have time to complete it to as high standard as I would like to but mainly about what I could investigate. The creative side would require a lot of planning but would be achievable but to include a research/investigation element requires more time, whilst also trying to film a A2 media trailer and assist in a AS media opening two minutes I worry I will not be able to achieve something that truly showcases how much I love film and media. Therefore I have set it as a summer task to complete some practical filming work when I have more free time to dedicate to it.

I also chose to rule out editing something, again for reasons that I am unsure what to research/investigate although for this project it would be easier I am mainly worried about copyright - could I borrow scenes from famous movies/tv shows to edit or does all the work have to be of my own creation? If it is the latter, which I fear it is, then again I would be in the situation of lacking time and resources to be able to make something of high quality. Another reason why I am choosing not to do editing as my project, and making a film as well as I am not daunted by the prospect of having to write a 1000 - 5000 word long essay and feel it would be something extra to add to my media portfolio.

Having ruled out the two practical projects I am left with three choices:
- historical accuracy in films
- study of famous director
- narrative and character theory in films

I am quite keen to combine history and film as they are two of my favourite subjects, especially 20th century history but I also like the prospect of learning more about directors (a subject I know fairly little about). Narrative and character theory in films sounds incredibly interesting but I'm apprehensive that I would be able to write a good essay about it.

In conclusion I feel my best scenario is to merge these ideas together, I will do my investigation/essay on the study of a famous directors historical accuracy and representation of characters in film. Although I am yet to decide which part of history to analyse and which director I will probably choose Titanic, the 1997 film about the event and the director James Cameron.

Signing up teacher to over see

EPQ

Teacher to monitor progress

After evaluating my initial ideas and deciding I wanted to investigate something media based I had to sign up a teacher to help oversee my process and help me if I ever got stuck. It only made sense to sign up a media teacher as they would have more of an idea as to what I was investigating and hopefully be able to help me more. I chose my media teacher Mr Thornton to oversee me as I see him often and will be able to get advice from him if necessary and he has the knowledge in media to help me if I get stuck.