The document discusses the progression of camerawork, sound, and editing skills between an initial preliminary task and a final media project. For camerawork, shots in the preliminary task lacked stability but shots in the final piece, like a two-minute follow shot, were much more steady. Sound quality was poor due to the camera microphone, so script was shortened and a speechless scene was added. Editing in the preliminary task only used basic techniques like shot-reverse-shot, but editing of the final piece included effects like distortions and contrasts to showcase improved confidence and skills. The document also reflects on learning the importance of time management and organization through the challenges of the media production process.
1. Camerawork
I can’t personally comment on a comparison of my own
camerawork when commenting upon the progression from
the prelim task and this task as I didn’t operate the camera
personally in my prelim task. However speaking on the
camerawork in that initial task done by Laura it is obvious
that there has been a progression in camera work, the shot
from 00:49-00:54 in the initial project, though a close up best
done on a tripod, isn’t stable which takes away from the
professionalism. There was a significant change in the
camera quality from what I can see, the camera is a lot more
stable when using secure shots, and even in section such as
2:01-2:05 in the final piece there is a follow shot that is
relatively stable which just proves the development in
camerawork.
2. Sound/ Script
Sound/ Script – The Microphone on the camera is not the
best and produces a grainy audio quality as discovered in
‘The Break Up’ and this created a worse standard of film,
even if it is not an evident problem as much as others are.
To right the problem that I discovered, I opted to have a
short script overall for both the prelim task and my final
piece; the final product ending up with even fewer lines
than I intended due to the poor sound quality. The clicking
of the Tri-pod were picked up and that together with grainy
sound quality weren’t appeasing me so I ended up with my
third filming session that changed the look of piece
altogether as the sound quality was so bad, I wanted a new,
speechless scene i.e. the scene with Rhiann walking.
3. Editing
The preliminary task I produced didn’t have a great deal of notable
editing techniques, this calls for great progression as back when I did this
I wasn’t confident enough to experiment with editorial decisions like I did
in my final piece. The preliminary task was centred around continuity and
focused on shots such as action matches and shot-reverse-shots so the
only editorial decisions I was making was when to cut between shots,
which was not fully effective as the cuts were slightly lacking, my action
match didn’t really work, thus its evident that my initial editing wasn’t
great. Now I have played with the contrasts, different effects such as an
‘echo’ to create the distorted look in the flash-forwards. This shows there
is an evident development in my confidence with the editing software,
although I’m still not as good as I’d like to be, I’ve certainly come along.
4. What have you learnt from the
coursework overall?
I have found the course very interesting and I have learnt a lot about the
process of film making including: technology, editing, the extensive shot types
and one lesson overall is the important lesson of time management and
organisation. At the beginning of the course I had very little idea about film
making; to me it was down to recording some recording then some cutting and
adding effects, I knew this would not be a straightforward process but the sheer
detail and length of it went over my head. After, especially the final piece I
realised the hardships that are making a media text and the extensive time that
must be put into it. With the struggles I hit with filming due to time
constraints, mainly put forward by my lack of organisation, I realised the
importance of keeping track of things; a lesson to be applied in life not just
Media Studies. A final note I’d like to make is the observation of how enjoyable
it can be to create a film such as I did in AS Media. I hit many times where I was
stressed about the work, felt the product wasn’t good enough, was struggling to
catch up to others and more, but after the long journey I ended up with a great
feeling of pride in development. This is true for the journey of my final piece
and my entire progression through the course.