A New Year: A2

Hi,

This blog will be from here on a record of my 2009 A2 media course. I will be constantly updating it every time I do something new. I don't think that there is more to be said. Before, i used scrap books, but now it's necessary to use something more up-to-date. This new year comes with new challenges and we all have to work harder, but first:

1. What did I learn last year?

Well, I pretty much learnt how to use the camera's the school gave us, and the tripods and mac computers. Specifically on the mac's, I had to learn how to use imovie and Garage Band, as well as learning how to upload our filming onto the computers. I learnt how to cut, add transitions, add effects, add sound, split clips, overlay sounds, add text/credits, upload sounds from Garage Band and make my own music on Garage Band. Editing, as I learned, takes.a.long.time.

I also learned camera angles, and their purpose, how to use them effectively. I also learned how to write a real script, that was what I really wanted to learn, and I wrote my own. The most important thing that I learnt was continuity, the audience has to understand what is going on in front of them at the drop of a hat (more or less), that and the way a scenario is constructed, because what is happening must be apparent to the viewer. This also includes match on action, things need to be fluid.

There are also story boards, they need to portray angles accurately, so it pays to be able to draw well. They are important because they tell you what you have to do, what you have to film, so your prepared for filming, and get it done quickly. Time is always short. And lastly, actors... it's always good to have understudies if your using actors, nobody is 100% reliable, and other things are bound to go wrong if your not 100% confident in your planning. I've learnt this from my preliminary, there were a few things that were last minute, and it was very stressful. We didn't have a proper allocated time for filming. Research is important, you have to get things right, or then you'd be lying or targeting the wrong audience or falsely portraying what/whoever is in your media product.

3.What do you want to learn this year?

I would like to improve my ability to use the equipment/software, and generally get better at planning/research. I would like to learn how to use photo shop effectively, and indesign to make effective posters and improve on what I have already learnt.

2.'What went well' and 'Even Better If':

Well, I got a pretty good grade, and my group had great dynamics, we got along and listened to each other and worked hard towards our grades. Our production ended up looking brilliant, we managed to get the planning done thoroughly. I went through my evaluation improving a it a little bit here and there until it was satisfactory. It would have been 'even better if' we had been more confident to film, we were not to sure about our ability to do so, and due to our actress becoming ill, (she's better now I'm glad to say) we had to do some major changes in our planning, there was no contingency plan in case there was something was wrong with the actors, and we had to scramble to finish our main product. We did our planning but our organisation was lacking, if we had been more organised then there wouldn't have been a scramble. So, confidence, contingency and organisation could have been better.

3. 3 targets to improve.

N.o 1. Be ready to go out and film, do what you have to do to motivate your group.
N.o 2. Make sure that you know when, where, how and exactly what your going to do, and make sure everybody in the group knows it. Work on a schedule, plan your time efficiently.
N.o 3. Get better at using the equipment.

So that's the re-cap, i might come back and improve on it, but that's it for now.