Critical Evaluation/ Reflection of my
research
My Research concentrated on the events in England over the decade
between the years 1910 to 1920. I initially decided to review a wide range of
areas, from important historical events to social commentary. A short time into
my research I narrowed the scope to identify how social class was used as a way
of segregation and how this period has been portrayed through Films and
television. This is a reflection and evaluation of my findings on the Research
I undertook.
Most of my Research involved utilisation of the Internet as well
as watching films/ documentaries produced during the decade in question. I also
used films produced more recently but relating to events that occurred during
my chosen decade. I also visited museums and a stately home to gain a different
aspect to my Research.
The internet proved to be an extremely valuable resource as it
provided me with easy access to a lot of information and accounted for the
majority of my Research. I do feel that this worked very well as I was able to
identify and cross check facts very easily and download relevant TV clips/ TV
interviews etc. Without access to the internet I would not I have been able to
easily access a similar amount of information or watch the documentaries/film
clips.
Even though these two methods did provide me with a lot of
information to work with, I did broaden my horizons by using informational
books such as ‘The sinking of the Titanic’ by Rebecca Aldridge. These
books/guides gave me additional information and corroboration into my research
relating to specific events such as the Titanic and The Great War. This really
helped my understanding of the decade and meant I had access to a wealth of
detail.
When I decided to narrow my research I chose social segregation
between 1910 – 1920 as stated in the introduction. As this is a Media
Production course project I chose to concentrate the research on film
productions such as ‘The Titanic’ and ‘Downton Abbey’. These shows are based
within the decade being studied. I really wanted to conduct interviews with the
producer and director of 'Downton Abbey'; the TV series that airs on ITV.
Unfortunately they did not respond to any of my phone calls or Emails. In
hindsight I should have also tried other members of the production team as they
may have been more open to my requests. I think this would have really boosted
my research however as an alternative I found online video interviews through
'Youtube' and other websites. This really helped me understand the production
of the series and how much work goes into pre-production to make the film
appear authentic.
To help my understanding of the history and background to the
series ‘Downton Abbey’ I visited the stately home ‘Highclere Castle’ where it
is filmed.
When I visited I learnt about the family who lived there and the
staff needed to support the running of such a large building. This helped me
not only with the production side of my research, but also from a social
segregation aspect. The family needed many servants and whilst they shared the
same house as the owners they lead very different lives. Some of the historical
background of the Castle has been used in the series and characters have been
based on real life family members who lived there. This really helped bring the
story to life and helped me understand how the class structure affected all
aspects of daily life. It also demonstrated how the writers kept the film
authentic within its storylines by using real people and events.
Both Titanic and Downton Abbey helped me understand the extent of
social segregation within the 1910’s/20’s. They both had main storylines
centered around social class hierarchy and separation. Obviously I could not
accept their version of events as facts as they would have over dramatized
scenes but it did help support the factual information that I had found. It
also provided a very visual aspect to my Research.
The informational books and Internet sources were vital to obtain
the validation for my Research on social segregation that backed up my work and
also proved it was being used correctly in the film.
I also visited some museums to obtain additional information and
see artifacts from the time. The two that really helped me were ‘The Titanic
Belfast’ and ‘Thackray Medical Museum’ that both demonstrated the differences
applied to social status.
These visits helped my develop the information and facts I already
had from previous research and to cement my understanding of why there was
segregation between the social classes; both on board ship and within the house
– for example the Titanic’s classes were kept apart so that 3rd class
passengers didn’t pass on disease.
In conclusion, I feel my research project went very well and using
a wide range of resources helped authenticate the facts I needed about the decade
and differences in social status. If I was to create a Period drama I feel I
have enough research to start it.
Reflection of Knowledge and Skills developed
I decided to base my
Critical Research on a significant period in history. As I wasn’t sure what
specific subject to research I decided the best way to proceed was to select a
particularly important decade. This led me to selecting the period between 1910
up to 1920.
In order to identify a way
forward I analysed the major historical events of the period as well as the
social conventions prevalent at the time.
I began my research by
using the Internet as it is easily accessible and you can quickly obtain
information however, the Internet isn’t always correct. So the information I
found about certain events such as the sinking of the Titanic and the Great War
needed to be corroborated from a separate source to validate their accuracy.
I obtained books; journals
and old newspaper reports to verify that the facts I had found out were true.
In some areas this meant I needed to edit some parts I had already written to
correct them. The books actually provided me with additional details that I was
able to include in my research and build up a more complete picture.
Upon reflection it was a
good idea to back up my Internet research with the books as it provided a different
source and enabled me to correct errors in the original script. The Internet
was however important in that it provided me with a solid base from which to
work.
When I began looking into
more depth about the Titanic I decided that to obtain more knowledge and a
different perspective on the subject it would be a good idea to visit a museum
or an exhibit.
Fortunately, I had already
been to the Titanic Las Vegas exhibit a few years earlier where I had taken
photographs and gathered some information. However I needed additional
information so over Christmas I visited the Titanic Belfast Museum. This
provided me with more detail as it described the building of the ship as well
as details after the Titanic sank – Including what the interior of the ship looked
like. This proved to me the level of accuracy used in the Titanic film created
in 1997. The producers maintained a realistic aspect to the Titanic’s story
even with an overlaid fictitious storyline. This helped me to further narrow my
research, using the storyline of two lovers from different social classes. I
had to ask myself whether this really was such a big deal as it was portrayed
in the film? Was this used because it had some basis in truth regarding social
class segregation?
This idea pushed my research
into another direction and allowed me to explore this further.
If I wanted to prove that
social class was of great importance I needed to find the right sources to
prove this was correct.
I also wanted to
demonstrate that it was of importance in films portraying the decade. I began
to concentrate my studies into ‘Downton Abbey’ and the ‘Titanic’ into these
aspects of their stories.
I broadened my research to
include interviews with the cast and crew which enabled me to introduce media
elements into my results.
It is clear that social
class was still very important during this period and it controlled how people
lived and when making a film about this time it is a major consideration.
Even though I was unable to
hold personal Interviews with the actors and crew I feel that those I was able
to find expanded my knowledge.
Francesca Shepherd
Student no: w12002944
Student no: w12002944
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