1000 word commentary

My EPQ idea/inspiration came from my own personal attachment to the topic and the charity CRY (cardiac Risk in the Young). My idea is to create an awareness/ informative video around my chosen topic. I am passionate about the need to enhance the awareness of diagnosed heart conditions to others following the sudden death of my 15-year-old cousin in 2015. After the sudden loss, my family has undergone regular medical checks and diagnoses in heart conditions, allowing us to understand the risks and put preventable measures into place. I think it is vital that the risks which are associated with young sudden cardiac deaths are shared, allowing people to become more knowledgeable and reducing the risks to others.

In order to begin my video, I needed to conduct primary and secondary research which would enable me to include correct information throughout. In the first instance, I got in contact with the paramedic who helped assist my cousin the day that she died. I asked him to answer a selection of questions which I hoped I would then be able to include within my video. However, despite several requests for an interview and a few sent emails asking for certain bits of information, I did not receive the responses needed and I was unable to wait any longer, which was disappointing. Following this, I was also able to get in contact with the head fundraising officer, Ben Robinson from the charity CRY. He was able to forward statistics and information on to me to include within my video, allowing me to share correct information, reducing the chance of this being misleading to the audience.

As part of my research which I conducted before the production of the video, I completed a number of textual analysis of other awareness videos such as the British Heart Foundation. This was a vital aspect of my research as it enabled me to develop a wide knowledge around the typical characteristics which individuals would expect to see within the videos such as the choice of having a personal anecdote throughout.

As part of the video, I hoped to include a personal perspective, enabling it to become more sensitive and hard hitting to the audience. I hoped that by including personal stories in the video, it would be more engaging to the audience, making them aware of the seriousness and severity of what is being said. I initially wanted to include aspects of an interview with my Auntie and Uncle (the parents of my cousin), however, this wasn’t something that they wanted to do as it would be too emotional and difficult for them. After deciding who and what to include within the video, I made the decision to ask my mum to be a part of it. I wanted this as my mum has also been diagnosed with a heart condition, meaning that she was able to symbolise the importance of the charity, CRY and how they help and support individuals through diagnosis and family bereavement.

When confirming my decisions for my chosen topic for my EPQ, I knew I wanted to create a video rather than a dissertation. Especially as I knew I wanted to produce an awareness video informing individuals around the risks of un-diagnosed heart conditions. I hoped that by creating a video it would improve a range of skills such as communication and planning as it would be accessible to a wider ranged audience instead of an investigation like the dissertation.  

Instead of including a face to face/ voiceover interview, I made the decision to just include text on the screen. My thoughts were that anybody could watch the video and understand my mum’s answers/ what she is saying, however, if I had included a filmed interview, people may not have understood the rationale and the relevance my mum had to the interview. I knew from the beginning that I wanted everyone who watched the video to get the same thing out it, whether they had any background knowledge around the charity/ condition beforehand. I didn’t want to limit any of the viewers.

I aimed to create an awareness video which would symbolise the importance of the topic and be hard hitting to the audience however I didn’t want to signify the risks too much as this would create a sense of panic to the audience.

In order to ensure that I completed the project on time, I set myself strict criteria to meet. When beginning the project in September, I set myself a basic overview of how I hoped that my project would plan out over the upcoming months. By having the month by month plan which I followed, it made it challenging when something didn’t go as planned, such as not receiving a reply from the paramedic.

When the time came to begin the production of the video, I imagined that this would be straightforward and simple. Having completed AS media studies, I already had basic experience when referring to video production and the filming aspects, however my knowledge around the programme premiere pro is still very basic. I decided to go around the info graphic approach when creating my video as I researched that most individuals are visual learners, meaning that the audience would be able to appreciate and understanding the meaning of the video to the full extent. As I began my production of the video on premiere pro, I researched how it was possible to create graphics. As I was working to a strict time period, this wasn’t going to be the most simplistic route which I could choose. I decided to research websites and programmes which would enable me to create graphics which I could include within my video, the website ‘Canva’ enabled me to do this.

If I was to do this project again, I would definitely begin the research sooner allowing me to complete a wider variety of textual analysis of other awareness videos, meaning that I would have developed a greater understanding of the key characteristics which are included throughout informative/ awareness videos. Secondly, another aspect which I would do differently if I had the chance is to improve on my communication skills. I believe that when communicating with the paramedic, I feel I could have been a bit more assertive and persistent in asking for my questions to be answered and set clear deadlines for him to feedback.