Research for Presentation
Researching presentation techniques is important as it helps me link my research of my target audience and understand what will catch their attention during an exhibition, as my product can be perfect but if it is not marketed correctly people will miss it entirely. Through research and discussions with people who have presented their own exhibitions - such as Charlotte Pearce who did her FEP last year and Georgia Cooke who I interviewed about her FEP in the past and career as a journalist in my Inspirations research - I have found that bold, statement-like pieces will grab my audience's attention and also interactive features.
To give myself a dynamic hands on research technique for my product, I went down to Barnsley Town Hall where they were hosting an 'Experience Barnsley' Exhibition.
Here I was able to see different styles and techniques in presenting artifacts and information. Through observing my friends, I quickly learnt that the collage of different pieces in a big array (like you can see on the photo to the left) was very eye catching and drew them in. But also found that they focused more on the interactive pieces such as the hidden information and the telephone, rather than the blocks of writing. Similarly, I found that some of the artifacts in the cases were conversation starters that grabbed their attention. For example, when seeing the Elvis Presley- style outfit (as it is an iconic Elvis look that everyone recognises) people were curious whether it was real or not therefore taking the time to read the information plaque below - it was a Barnsley Elvis Impersonator.
Overall, through this experience I got to simulate in real time, what my audience would be attracted to in a similar environment and use my deductions to implicate these aspects into my own project.
Doing this research has positively impacted my presentation as it has allowed me to put myself in the perspective of my audience rather than the producer and think of what would make me do a double take and engage with a product and also allow me to be creative in how to best get people interactive and I believe that stepping into the shoes of the subject of a product even briefly is the best way.
Mood Board
Creating a mood board helps allows me to translate my 'visual cloud' of ideas and also helps guide my decision making within the different aspects that want to achieve and understanding the links between them all. Presenting at an exhibition is a chance to let my audience have an experience in the world I am trying to create through my documentary and the mood board lets me create the narrative and ensure my exhibition stays consistent within itself and my project.
Final Idea for Presentation
For my final idea for my exhibition, I want to make my presentation interactive and interesting to reach for my goal of achieving a Distinction in my final grade. To do this I have used my connections with the fire service to grant me permission to borrow some equipment such as a fire suit and a drill dummy. I plan to set up a miniature simulation of what our first responders experience when they are out in these disasters. I would like to utilise added weight dummy to symbolise a person when they are unconscious which makes them heavier to manoeuvrer more commonly known as "dead weight", and a full fire kit that our first responders wear made of full padding and reinforcements to keep them safe when carrying out such events plus a breathing apparatus with includes a heavy oxygen cylinder that the first responders have to wear/carry. My aim is to get people to put on the suit and attempt to pull the dummy along the floor to experience a small percentage, first hand of what our first responders do for us. My hopes is that this will open their eyes to a newer perspective and connect with my product more. I am aware that the potential for this idea may not be possible as the dummy weighs around 300lbs and it may not be possible for me to get this into college dependant on who I have for support on the day. If it is not possible, I still intend to bring the full kit and breathing apparatus to still represent the difficulty to wear such a kit and the weight it carries.
I also plan to leave information leaflets that I will either find online and print or design myself about different charities that aid in support for our first responders and have them on my desk with my product for my audiences to take to drive that message of my audience being able to have an impact into out first responder's lives as they do in ours and build that connection between us that is represented in my documentary.
The Exhibition
For my exhibition, I wanted to create the contrast of the work VS home life that is represented within my documentary.To do this, I decided to have the desk decorated life a home-inspired work desk whee my documentary will display on the monitor and have a calendar at he side opened to December with "working" written across the weeks of Christmas up to New Year's Eve. This was done to showcase the harder aspect of being a first responder where you have to miss certain holidays with family, friends and children. In addition - having a bowl of sweets to offer as a kind gesture on my desk.
In contrast, stepping away from my desk I had arranged a set of real and in-use fire kit with a breathing apparatus (oxygen tank emptied for safety) to show the work aspect of my documentary always looming close to the personal life. I manage to get this kit through my connections with a company called Syngenta and their Fire Health and Safety team.
To make my exhibition interactive, I had people such as the guy in the photo try on the kit with the breathing apparatus to allow my audience to step into the shoes of a first responder and get first hand experience of how heavy the kit is to shoulder for just a couple of minutes in contrast to many hours of the firemen.
I think this aspect worked very well as it caught the attention of everyone in the room being able to witness the strength, time and detail it takes to even put on the kit safely.
To add an extra further layer onto the interactive element, on the mask for the breathing apparatus, I created a plastic cover with can stick and unstick to the eye part of the mask and spray painted it with a light black/ dark grey until it was semi-translucent so people can see how obscured the fire-fighters site is regularly and when in the mists of a smoke and flame filled room to show how much they rely on muscle memory and trust within their crew.
I also believed it worked well in my favour to set up at the front of the classroom by the front door as people were immediately drawn to my exhibition as it was the first thing they were greeted with as they entered.
For a final, further sentimental layer to my exhibition, I created small business-like cards on Canva with 2 of the mental health support companies that were mentioned within my documentary. The first being TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) which gives support for anyone around the UK. I created it with their contact information, location and QR code to their website. The second being the Firefighters Charity in Penrith which is a charity-based organisation which supports firefighters through any mental health stress or issues they may be suffering. It included a QR code to donate to their 'Brew With A Crew' Scheme.
I believe this adds a personal touch connecting the firefighters to the audience which was the aim of the documentary and allows audiences to have the option to have an impact on how we all connect.
Overall, I believe my exhibition went down really well and in line with everything I hoped it would be and achieved the aims in which I had set of for it to help connect audience to 'hero'.
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