LINKOPIG UNIVERSITY. Documentary Film. Vernacular Learning A need or desire?

Transcription

1 LINKOPIG UNIVERSITY Documentary Film Vernacular Learning A need or desire? Ismail Liaqat, Affaf Hasan, Muddassir Abbass, Faraz Ahmed, Abdusslam Shahid 1/7/009 This report is based on planning the implementation of a documentary film titled Vernacular learning A need or desire? The documentary is aimed to promote Swedish culture. The plan includes a practical implementation of different project management methodologies.

2 Table of Contents Documentary Film Executive summary Background Business impact goal Project goal Project limitations Requirement specifications Product requirements.5 6. Project requirements Project triple constraints Prerequisites 6 7. Handover and implementation Situational analysis and stakeholders SWOT analysis Stakeholder mapping 8 9. Milestones, activities, and schedules Milestone plan Activity list Gantt chart Organization and staffing Roles, responsibility, and authorities Project budget Communication and quality assurance Communication plan Reporting and documentation Quality assurance Change management Risk analysis and response planning WBS...15 Appendices A Microsoft Project Evaluations.16 Project Report

3 1. Executive Summary This report is based on planning the implementation of a documentary film titled Vernacular learning A need or desire? The objective of this project is to evaluate whether foreigners (immigrants) learn Swedish language to fulfill their own desires? Or do they do it for the affection of Swedish culture? One way or the other the documentary is intended to promote Swedish culture by using this concept. The documentary is also aimed to find out the difficulties faced by these people while learning Swedish. We intend to show this documentary mainly to the students coming to different Swedish universities next year. The time frame for the project comprises 5 months beginning in January 010 and ending in April 010. The quality of the documentary film is the key concern from the perspective of the projects triple constraints where as we intend to produce high revenue and a low production cost documentary film thereby ensuring a good return on the investment. The budget for the project is estimated to be 3.34 million SEK. The sponsors for this project are the universities for which the documentaries are being made, and the stake holders are the Librarians of the respective universities. The final product (documentary) shall be handed over to the libraries in DVD formats. 3 Project Report

4 . Background the idea Language is the most basic source of communication known to mankind. It is a gateway to knowing a country s history, traditions, culture, and people etc. For years now people have come to Sweden, received higher education, and there after settled here as a professional in different fields. A common trend amongst these people (immigrants) is to learn Swedish (svenska) not because they would like to know about the culture of the country but because it is compulsory for them so that they can achieve their own desires e.g. job etc. Though cultural promotion has always been done in one way or another, not enough emphasis has been made on promoting culture via language or focusing on the students coming in every year to different Swedish universities. Our documentary intends to develop this concept that language should not only be used to fulfill one s desires but to learn about Swedish culture amongst different classes of foreigners, especially students. 3. Business impact goal Project Objective We intend to establish an opinion amongst foreigners that they should not just learn svenska to fulfill their desires but rather use language as a tool to know about Swedish culture. The whole theme of the documentary film is based on this concept. 4. Project goal end result of the project Our goal is to end up making a documentary film titled Vernacular learning A need or desire? Our other goal is to complete the documentary before the arrival of students coming into different Swedish universities next year. Therefore the time frame for the execution of the project is that it starts in January 010 and ends in May Project Limitations The first thing that shouldn t be expected of this documentary is that the documentary shall not be based on different cultures and traditions of Sweden. The documentary is intended to show foreigners how they can use language to know about Swedish culture thereby promoting it indirectly. Secondly due to budget limitations the documentary shall be based on information gathered from five cities not the entire country. 4 Project Report

5 6. Requirement Specification The content s quality is of highest performance from the requirements perspective. Regarding the subject of the documentary the originality of idea is of next highest importance for our project. Lastly cinematography and visual material for the documentary are amongst the requirement specifications for this project. 6.1 Product requirements Time span of the documentary film should be 5-30 minutes Swedish subtitle should be displayed in the documentary film Quality of the video should be high (DVD.rip) Synopsis and script should be relevant to the original concept Rendering of video should be done using proper software such as 3d studio max software 6. Project requirements Production and post production schedule Camera s to be rented from Sony Budget should not exceed 3.5 million SEK Project should start in January 010 and must be ready to be shown by August Project triple constraints In terms of the projects triple constraints our primary concern shall be the on the quality of the end product since the project feedback is mainly dependent on how good the documentary turns out to be. Our next emphasis shall be on the time factor since we want to ensure that we get this project done before the arrival of students coming to Sweden next year. Lastly, since we aim to make high revenue and a low production cost documentary, our emphasis regarding the cost factor shall be less compared to that of quality and time in the project. Quality 45% Cost 0% Time 35% Figure 1: Percentage distribution amongst the projects triple constraints 5 Project Report

6 6.4 Prerequisites Detailed synopsis (story) of the documentary film Detailed story outline (script) of the project Filming should be done in at least five cities Video quality should be of high standard (DVD.rip) Budget should not exceed 3.5 million SEK Detailed research should be conducted in the pre study Finalize places where the surveys are to be conducted Questionnaires should be distributed amongst people during surveys for critical analyzing research material 7. Handover and implementation The documentaries shall be handed over to the libraries as well as the language learning schools in the form of DVDs before the start of the first session of studies next year. From the implementations perspective the concerned individuals in the library can show this documentary using miscellaneous techniques to the students coming in next year. For instance they may organize seminars for the students to show them the documentary. This would indeed help the students to reconsider their ambitions and help them understand how they can get to know about the culture of this country. Equivalently language learning institutes can benefit from the documentary by implementing it in a similar manner that is suitable for the students coming there to learn svenska. 6 Project Report

7 Documen ntary Film Situational analysis and stakeholders 8.1 SWOT - analysis Strengths High revenues & low production costs ensuree good return on investment Media is amongst the booming sectors in current world Weaknesses Lacking creative use of animation and graphics Lack of production and distribution infrastructure Opportunities Increase in viewrship Increasing intereset of investors in media Cultural promotion documentaries offer immense potential for dovelopment & opens new doors for the audience Threats Piracy Uncertainity in marketplace due to due to technological innovations in production sector Figure : SWOT analysis 7 Project Report

8 8. Stakeholder mapping Core stakeholders - For this project the core stake holders are the Library s (Librarians) of the universities for the cities in which we shall be shooting our documentary film. Responsible individuals from the libraries shall be guiding and regulating us during the course of this project. Primary stakeholders - Swedish language Institutes shall be the primary stake holders for our project. We acquire their assistance regarding different aspects of the project, mainly regarding the students coming there to learn svenska. Secondary Stakeholders There are miscellaneous stakeholders which shall be playing a secondary role in our project. Amongst these are, People (foreigners/immigrants) Project group Employees Company management 9. Milestones, activities, and schedule 9.1 Milestone plan An overarching flow chart for the milestone plan regarding our project can be found in appendix A. 9. Activity list The list of activities that we intend to follow during the course of this project in terms of time and resources can be found in appendix A. 9.3 Gantt chart The detailed activity plan (including the time duration and different interconnected activities) with respect to the time frame of the project that we shall be following during the course of this project can be found in appendix A. 8 Project Report

9 10. Organization Structure Chairman Project Director Human Resources Dept. Financial Affairs Dept. Quality Dept. Marketing Dept. Evaluation Budgeting Quality Assurance Publicity/ Marketing Recruitment Evaluation Quality Control Figure 3: Organization structure displayed for making a documentary film; structure displayed is that of a project organization whereby the responsibilities are distributed and dealt with coordination amongst various parts of the organization. 9 Project Report

10 10.1 Roles, responsibilities and authorities and staffing plan Name Designation (Role) Responsibility Universities & Language Schools Project Sponsor Provide funding for the project and ensure the achievement of project and business impact goal Librarian Linkoping university Project Director Accountable for liaison with the sponsor Ismail Liaqat Project Manager Manage all project activities as well as tackle all technical issues at hand, thereby ensuring that the project goals are reached Affaf Hasan Finance Manager Estimate project cost, budgeting and deal with other financial issues related to the project as well as monitoring and controlling the flow of cash receipts and disbursements Faraz Ahmed Quality Manager Administering and managing all work affecting the quality of the project and implementing quality assurance to guarantee that the project fulfills the needs it was initiated for Muddassir Abbas Marketing Manager Developing marketing campaigns and take initiatives regarding the promotion of the documentary film in order to achieve all distribution goals Abdussalam Shahid HR/Communication Manager Managing and Hiring human resources as well as implementing the communication plan and solve communication disputes amongst the project group members Table 1: Roles, responsibilities and authorities of the project group members 10 Project Report

11 11. Project Budget The budget estimated for the project has been shown in appendix A. 1. Communication and quality assurance 1.1 Communication Plan Description Responsible Frequency Kick off Status Reports Team meetings Training Project Manager Project Manager Project Manager Project Manager Once Delivery Method Meeting (3 hours) Participants Client: Sponsors (librarian s of all universities), Project group members Weekly Librarian (Norrkoping campus) Weekly Weekly Meeting (1/ hour) Meeting/ training sessions Project group members Technical team Informed Recipient Client: Sponsors (librarian s of all universities), Finance manager Participants of team meetings N/A Participants of team meetings, Finance manager Content Introduction of participants Introduction to project Validation of roles and responsibilities Validation of accountable milestones Identification of next steps Milestones (accomplished/ missed) Risks Identified issues Actions taken Milestones (accomplished/ missed) Risks Identified issues Actions taken Training content Training dates Training locations Table : Communication plan 11 Project Report

12 1. Reporting and Documentation The different types of reports and their routines that shall be followed during the course of this project are listed below, Performance report - weekly reports that shall be applicable during the execution phase of the project and constitute, (a) Reporting (performance) from team members to project manager containing the resource level, deviations and results, and time reporting. (b) Reporting (performance) from project manager to the sponsors containing the overall activity done in the project, training status, deviations and results, time reporting, and cost reporting. Accounts report - weekly reports that shall be carried throughout the course of this project and will relate to all project related expenses. The report shall be presented in the team meetings scheduled every week, and the finance manager shall be accountable to report on the accounts status to the project manager. Marketing report weekly reports that shall be applicable after the execution phase of the project i.e. after the filming and editing is complete. Marketing manager shall be responsible for these reports which will mainly tackle issues related to the marketing campaigns of the documentary, its promotion and publicity, and other relevant marketing issues. He shall report to the project manager in the weekly team meetings. 1.3 Quality Assurance The following quality checks and controls shall be made during the course of the project to ensure high quality standards of the end product, Research data must be collected during the pre study phase and properly analyzed. Each phase of the project must be carefully monitored while in process. Logical connections should exist amongst different phases of the project. The technical teams should be fully equipped with high technological equipments including quality audio/video recording tools, lighting equipment, and cameras etc. While editing the documentary latest software (computer graphics etc) and technology should be used. Produce high-quality video and audio for the documentary film. The documentary should contain Swedish subtitles. When filming (interviewing) people they should be approached with a positive and enthusiastic attitude and with friendly gestures to encourage their willingness to participate for an interview, and we should always thank people for their time. Different interview techniques should be experimented before the filming phase of the project since it may turn out to be difficult to deal with different people; accordingly 1 Project Report

13 different people should be dealt with techniques that are the most suitable for the situation. We should try out different ways of asking questions that should be phrased in such a way that the answers are delivered within a limited time and do not omit any important information. Different interview and filming techniques (i.e. different positions of cameras, microphones, the interviewer, the interviewee, lighting, and so on) for aesthetic reasons should be practiced. After each phase completion, quality must be assured by the concerned manager. Before handing the project to the sponsor, quality assurance should be done by the project manager and subsequently by the project director. 1.4 Change management In case it is required that changes be made to the project due to external factors the following routines shall be applicable, Insignificant changes that do not affect the delivery time, the budget, or the goal should be dealt by the project manager, given that he or she is supported by and has the mandate for implementing the change. Furthermore, it is up to the project manager that whether he or she documents the changes and reports them to the sponsors and stakeholders. For those changes that affect any of the projects triple constraints it shall be essential for the project manger to approve them by the sponsors and stakeholders. The recommended preventive actions shall then be applicable to the changes required, and would also be documented by the project manager. 13 Project Report

14 Documen ntary Film Risk analysis and risk response planning Probability Scale Impact 1, 3 4,5 <0% (low) 50% ( medium) >80% (High) 1, 3 4,5 Risk Interacting with people having a different first language Workforce shortage Procurement delay Employeee training Immature technology Weather Equipment shortage Time lapse Over budgetingg Exceeding time duration of planned film Probability Impact (1-5) Q T R Risk Value (P.I)= Q T R Risk response Hire language interpreters Extra listing of local students on wages Multiple supplier list and contingency check No response (Accept risk) No response (Accept risk) Store extra equipment Concurrent task handling approach Weekly account reports from finance manager to project manger Weekly editing the film 14 Project Report

15 Resource shortcoming Allocate resources in advance during the team meetings in each phase Sum total WBS The work break down structure for the project is available in appendix A. 15 Project Report

16 Appendix A Microsoft Project Evaluations Milestone plan Documentary Film Project Report

17 Activity list 17 Project Report

18 Gantt chart 18 Project Report

19 Budget 19 Project Report

20 WBS 0 Project Report