For my Final Extended Project, I set my aims to create a 10-15 minute documentary which focuses on the dual identity of first responders; exploring the hero aspect that the media creates and the family guy/girl that is behind the uniform that has to shoulder the traumatic events they see daily. As well, further explore the mental health resources that are provided for our emergency care workers and the significance it has. I chose this topic as it is something that I have always looked up to within news reporters, as they go to these devasting events such as the LA wildfires at the start of 2025 and can talk to the victims and emergency workers with such compassion whilst also remaining professional to share this information across the world. The LA wildfires was my inspiration to take on this narrative this year as I have always been a climate advocate - especially within my journalism studies – and I was captivated by the idea that our first responders are the ones battling this fight against mother nature and I wanted to take on a different perspective to our media that portrays them as our heroes and go behind the scenes.

I wanted to do this project to create a powerful narrative which in return would develop my soft and hard skills as a reporter to follow in my career steps and give me the grades to go forwards in my journalism studies to university.

I know that I have achieved and exceeded my personal goals for this project as I spent the time to research and develop my skills to create the power and emotion behind the project that I strived for. Beginning this project, my biggest challenge that I highlighted in my proposal was having a majority my own personal footage within my documentary, and I managed to get exclusive access to Spen Valley Fire and Rescue Station to join them, as one of them, to get every angle I needed and more. And from using focus groups during my project, I know I have achieved the audience engagement I set out to achieve.

On the other hand, I am aware that within my proposal I had stated I wanted to focus on first responders that are deployed around the world. Despite this, I found through research there was a lot that can be drawn from our local workers that I could spend the time to go further into detail about and create a better impact on my project. In addition, through research I was able to find non-profit organisations that fit the description of what I was hoping to depict which gave me the power to show what our trained responders do but also the volunteers that aren’t spoken about as much in post-disaster situations. Therefore, I believe that I was able to develop and strengthen what I set out in my proposal to have a better understanding of this topic and experience for my audiences.

 

Throughout my project I completed extensive research into different aspects of my topic and making a documentary. This research was useful for my project as it gave me a broadened knowledge on a different variety of things such as finding the angle of my story. Being able to explain and outline what I want to achieve as I did in my proposal is simple but when applying it to the actual creation, it is more complex. Research such as my similar products research allowed me to analyse products that are, presently, achieving a similar outcome on society that I am wanting to achieve and  through highlighting the most engaging techniques in these products, I can reflect and utilise them on my own to get a similar engagement. Another way that my researched impacted my project was through clarifying my context, every person around the world has a basic understanding of most topics like first responders due to other media products in the shape of TV shows, movies and articles. But when create your own media product, my research in the history of my topic and also documentaries, provided me with a more in depth knowledge and clarification of the background and significance of where it began and the components that are most vital for me to be able to inform my viewer.

Other ways that my research helped during production was through practical research. Being on my broadcast journalism course, I have developed and learnt many skills in producing content but there is always more to be learnt and understood. Since I was creating a product with emotional intensity, which contrasted to the more upbeat and lighter topics I had done in the past, researching into production techniques, editing techniques and even skills and abilities is vital for my own success and to become a better journalist. Through production techniques, I was able to build on what I had learnt in my course and take it one step further, such as understanding the different interview types, and then through editing research, I could enhance what I have created to make it a visually stunning and professional piece of work. These combined with researching the skills required to create professional piece – which I conducted through an interview with Georgia Cooke who is an on-going successful journalist – ensured that not only my facts were consistent and accurate but it was easy to digest and enjoyable for my audience to continue further.

On the other hand, there are some aspect of research that I found myself utilising less such as marketing research. Despite knowing and understanding the significance and importance of this research, reflecting back on my time I wish I had the time to go out and speak with people and ask them questions – like a vox pop style – about the recent events that I had outlined in my research. I know I had originally planned to gather some vox pops and whether this wasn’t completed due to having a fractured ankle during the time of doing research could be a possibility, but going forth into my future products, I believe prioritising getting real feedback for marketing is very beneficial. This is where I believe that my audience research had the most success, through the questionnaire I created as it allowed me to understand how my audience engages in similar products and what they most like to see within a documentary but also where they lack in knowledge which I can use to bring them new information that they will more likely act on.

Overall, I am extremely happy with the product I have created. I believe I have created a moving documentary that allows my audience to take a look into what goes into being a first responder and by taking advantage of my strongest skills, I feel I have grown as a journalist throughout this project. In technical terms, I know that my product has incredible visuals which I have been fortunate to get and have used them to the best of my ability. In addition, I know that through my hard work and determination, I couldn’t have gotten any better interviewees to speak and deliver their perspective in my product. As well, in comparison to my FMP last year where I had someone able to provide a helping hand consistently throughout in ways such as transport and being a cameraman for piece to cameras, this wasn’t available for me throughout my FEP which meant I had to heavily rely on time management and fit around other peoples schedules to give me the best chance to succeed in what I was after. I am fortunate that I didn’t encounter too many issues that I couldn’t overcome and work around which meant I was able to dedicate more time and focus on strengthening myself and product. However, one area I would have liked to improve on was some times where I know that I have procrastinated. With having excellent time management for this product, I was very aware on of any time I had left for error. On one side I can understand how this was important that I had planned in as it meant I never had to panic on time but on the other side, I am aware at times I may have been too relaxed, knowing I had time to give. I did work on this throughout my project such as putting myself in a productive environment and removing distractions, which helped overall but it is something I would like to continue to develop further on throughout my career. I am privileged that I have a deep passion for my topic and want to pursue it as a career as this helped me remain inspired and motivated in times that I needed it. One method I found very useful which helped make my project as successful as it is, is my notebook. Having somewhere to jot down small idea bursts, create daily and weekly goals and having the satisfaction to cross them out once completed, and note down any reflections on myself, really helped me organise my mind and understand my project and what was going into it on a more structured level. Doing these things combined ensured that I was confident in myself, my product and resulted in a higher-level documentary in the outcome.

For this project, I ensured that I incorporated all my strengths, outlined in my skills and abilities research and I believe that through choosing a documentary over a different form of media product allowed me to play to my strengths to have an industry standard piece. One of my main strengths is my confidence, having the ability to be confident in myself and my project meant that throughout my production I was able to take opportunities such as: asking my interviewees deep and emotional questions, going into firemen crawl spaces for real and raw footage, filming my piece to cameras in public and much more. Having confidence in yourself when in a documentary leaves your audience having confidence in you which is essential for product engagement. In addition, despite it not being a personal strength, one of the biggest strengths in my product was my use of different camera equipment. Having spent the time researching the camera equipment I have and what I can go on to achieve with my footage takes my product to the next level by creating a more dynamic feel. A highlight of my documentary would be the body camera footage I got from the firemen which truly lets my audience experience themselves in the shoes of a first-responder. Similarly, the drone footage brings in that powerful atmosphere when talking about the mass destruction of natural disasters which couldn’t have been achieved without the use of a wide variety of equipment and me spending the time to research and experiment with the possibilities I could achieve.

As stated throughout my project, the unbelievable opportunity I was given to join the fire crew as one of them for a week and get exclusive real footage, was beyond what I every thought would be possible with this project – especially when going in to this project my biggest limitation was thought to be filming my own footage – and it blew the limits that I could take with this project so far. I think one of the only limitations I had with this project was getting the more global side of this project when discussing beyond the UK but due to having the fire crew access there were now hundreds of new possibilities and angles I could take for my documentary which would have much more detail, that it wasn’t really limiting at all. As well, I feel I was very fortunate that the weather was on my side for my production window as there was blue skies and warm sun throughout which added to the emotion behind my project.

One limitation that I did experience but didn’t hindrance me too much was my work hours. During this project, I had started a new part time job and therefore wasn’t able to book any time off, and coincidentally my work days correlated with my family’s days off which meant my windows for filming days were significantly reduced. When starting this project, I had hoped to film some piece to cameras at the coast to discuss further into cliff erosion due to sea storms but wasn’t able to find the time that fit amongst everyone’s hours. Despite this, I don’t feel as though my project is lacking without this inclusion and still has the impact I desired.

One of the big successes of my final product is having it link perfectly with my progression plans. Going forwards from my broadcast journalism college course, I aspire to go to university to further my studies in journalism and have the chance to grow and specialise in reporting/presenting, hoping to one day work as a travelling reporter for a company like BBC. Having been inspired to take on this project through reporter Emma Vardy working for the BBC when covering the LA Wildfires, I wanted to utilise my experience on this project to grow and develop my presenting skills through piece to cameras and connect with my audience through my voiceover and deliverance. I have had my heart set on going to university for journalism since completing my GCSE’s and doing the first open days at universities and by chance coming across the journalism booth and this is where everything I was meant to be just seemed to fit perfectly in place. Then leaving my A-levels to pursue journalism and on this course getting a taste and understanding of which sector of journalism fit me best and doing this project only shows me that I am meant to be doing this for my career and makes me more motivated to get there. I have been very lucky that since releasing my documentary, it has reached people that work in media for the BBC in London who are reviewing it to give me personal feedback which is more than I ever imagined with the output of this project.

My product really resonates with modern media output as climate issues are on the forefront of current issues worldwide and its down to the climate crisis that the rate and frequency of natural disasters is rapidly rising and that strain is being placed onto our first responders to manage and handle but we don’t often hear how our governments are helping to support our first responders, so I believe my product links well with the current industry as it offers a different outlook on these issues in the preparation leading up to them, during them, and after them which will hopefully in return inspire my audiences to think differently when approaching these topics. I think the Bring Your Own Brigade documentary by Lucy Walker on Paramount+ is another jaw-dropping and inspiring piece on the similar issue which raises faults in the systems when it comes to first responders and I am grateful I had the chance to talk to Lucy about her experience creating her product to help me feel prepared to see this project through and release into the media.

For my project, I knew from the start that as I was working with such a private topic that it was important to have backup plans to any disruptions. Working in journalism – especially as a student – one of the biggest hurdles seen is getting interviews, so from when we began this project in January, I knew I had to begin contact companies for interviews. I had contacted different fire services, ambulance and police services, mental health organisations, first responder charities, relief team organisations such as British Red Cross and Reach Out World Wide but none of them got back to me and because I was lucky enough to reach out early on and get an idea on the feedback I would receive, I was able to have back-up plans in place such as personal connections with my dad being a first-responder for his company which is what eventually got me inside of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue. Similarly, when going to film at the fire station, I was aware that there would be no redo’s so I had to ensure that there would be no disruptions, especially with technical errors. To do this, the day before filming and on the evening after each filming day, I tested all the camera equipment, ensure it all worked, synced up my mics to a different piece of equipment each to ensure that I wouldn’t have any connection issues on the day and after filming day I transported the footage from the SD cards to my hard drive and a backup USB and then wiped the SD cards to ensure maximum storage allowance was on there. I think this was the biggest help as it meant I was able to be quick and efficient on filming days as the drills we were conducting were examined and face paced and I didn’t want to be a disruption for them, and I experienced no technical disruptions which meant I genuinely for the most out of my filming experience. In regards to personal disruptions, I knew that early on if I figured out what environment made me most productive, I wouldn’t experience any disruptions through over socialising with my peers around me, procrastinating on an unhealthy level for my project. This consisted of using noise cancelling headphones so I could really focus in on the audio I was listening to and not being distracted by surrounding sound, having a well naturally lit room so that I could keep my headaches due to my disability to a minimum and having my notebook which I discussed previously was a big help to reducing disruptions as I knew I had a day to day schedule I could complete which helped me remain organised and on track with my time management. All combined they really helped me stay on track and complete this project efficiently.

I am very proud of the product I have made and believe I did the best with what I had available, if I was to recreate this project in the future, the only thing that I would change is having more home footage. Throughout my project I talked about work and home life balance for first-responders and I had great footage of the work life, but in the future I would like some home life shots of your stereotypical family dinner meals around the table, cooking in the kitchen, going for days out and more but I am aware this wasn’t feasibly possible with me being a student as it would not be appropriate for me to film the personal lives of the first responders in their homes and I was hoping to stage some of these shots with my own family, but they weren’t comfortable with being filmed so it wasn’t a possibility I was able to get, though I do think it would have just taken my project one small step further, which I would still love to do in the future as an adult myself.

Despite the future changes, I am still unbelievably proud of the product I have made  and in comparison to my FMP last year, I can see how much more dynamic this documentary is in so many ways and one of the biggest things I have taken from this project is to just utilise every connection you have, this documentary wouldn’t have been possible without my connection from Liam Rothery to get me inside of the fire station and it was an incredible experience that I was anxious about doing at the start but after spending the first day there, I never wanted to stop, so just having the confidence to go for it and be yourself to make other people comfortable around you so that they open up more and give you exactly what you are after and even using my college connections at the wellbeing centre to get Laura Barnard to interview with me and despite it not necessarily a “skill” it is the biggest thing you can take away from making such a product. In addition, I feel I have taken away better and advanced filming techniques, shown in my final product and production research test shots, which I will take into my university experience and my career and also my personal life to create my own projects and videos so that I can get the most out of every life experience.

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