2. During the planning of the preliminary task I learnt the key skill of group discussion and also talking about each others ideas and taking them and merging them together in order to create a scene/storyboard. I found that group discussion is important and creates a strong base of any work. I feel that next time in order to make this process run more smoothly we should set out clear roles and expectations of each other which could make things more organised and draw out the best of each individual. What have I learnt about planning? Together as a group we done some research finding facts and statistics which we could possible use, we also discussed similar clips (mainly from personal experiences) and decided what we could do and what camera shots would be most appropriate for our own work (illegal downloading) although not much was found from these sources. I think doing personal research came as a problem as majority of the group was less motivated when it came to this, I feel this could work better if we organised our time effectively and assigned roles to each other.
3. Planning the storyboard. As a group we all sat down and decided what we what clip we wanted to do out of the two; short clip on anti-smoking or illegal downloading, we then came to a decision that we wanted to do the illegal downloading. Having our theme/starting point in mind we then sat as a group and pitch our ideas then merging them into one and drawing up a detailed scene for scene storyboard (to the left)
4. Risk Assessment. During the planning we had to assess all possible dangers/risks that could occur during the process of filming. To do this we had to fill out a risk assessment form taking in to account the possible risks and what could be done to prevent them and also what can be done if any of the dangers occur.
5. In the process of planning each member of the group contributed to the production of the script, there was complications along the way which we came across forcing us to change the script slightly though the script helped us by giving us a rough idea of how and what is meant to be said and also helped us with the body (content) of each scene The planning of the script.
6. What have I learnt about equipment? In terms of equipment, I have leant a variety of new skills such as; how to use the cameras correctly, how to put up a camera stand (tripod), how to use the dolly, how to use the boom pole and microphone and also how to carry out many different camera shots using these pieces of equipment through both practical and theory (as you can see from our script to the right). I feel it was quite straight forward for myself and my group to grasp many of these different skills though we struggled to with the different camera shots, I feel this could be improved through practice by using the cameras more often, we could also watch more clips and see what is being done (something like a tutorial on how each camera shot is performed) this again is all down to well having a well structured and organised group which could be sorted out nearer the time.
7. What have I learnt about editing? . Not only have I learnt about the camera equipment, I have also gained skills in editing through using 'Final Cut'. I have learnt how to cut and add transitions into my film clip not only making it more exciting/interesting but also making sure it fits the criteria needs e.g. fitting into the time limit and making sure the clip has all that it is asked to have. I took to editing well understand the software and find it quite simple to understand. However, I failed to finish my preliminary task to the best of my ability due to a lack of time organisation, this could be prevented in the main task by making a plan of what I'm going to do and how setting myself a time limit in which I have to get it done in.
8. What have I learnt about linking theory to practice? Theory comes into practical a lot and visa versa. I have found that it is important to know and understand the theory behind the practical as it makes it much easier to get things done, for example: if you didn't know the names and definitions of each camera shot you would have difficulties applying them to your camera work, having irrelevant camera shots in the scene which would make the clip look disorganised and confusing to the eye.
