This personal skills audit summarizes Poppy Blackett's skills in creating a horror title sequence for her AS Media coursework. She learned how to use Apple and Sony digital equipment as well as editing software like Final Cut. For her title sequence, she used camera techniques like close-ups and researched conventions from films like Sweeney Todd. However, she found her work lacked creativity. Going forward in her A2 project, Poppy plans to focus on improving her skills in areas like camera work, research, pitching ideas, and incorporating more creative elements in her music video.

1. Personal Skills Audit Name: Poppy Blackett
Skills acquired How did these skills How will you develop these
contribute to the creation of skills during the A2 project?
your product?
Digital technology I learned how to use an Apple By learning how to use camera I will become a perfectionist
- What Mac computer; because before compositions it gave our when shooting the music video,
equipment/software AS Media I had never used an product a variety of shots to because when shooting our title
packages did you use to Apple computer I had only used make it more interesting to the sequence some of our shots
produce your a Windows computer. viewer’s eye fitting with the were shaky and didn’t look
production? genre. professional. So I will keep
I used a Sony digital retaking the shot till it is a
Handycam, to film my horror I have now gained skills in professional quality and I am
title sequence. I learned how to recording sound for a media happy with it.
use camera framing and product in a clear way by using
composition. E.g. How to film a the Flash Mic. It made the radio
close-up correctly. commentary a clearer quality
than if it was just recorded on a
I used the Flash Mic to record video camera.
the radio commentary for the
title sequence.
Post production I used Final Cut to edit the title By practicing using marker tool, I will explore more features of
- What software did you Sequence and Lip Sync. I used this will help me match up the Final Cut as I edit my music
use to create your tools like marker tool to match song I chose to do for my music video, as I will want my video to
production? the audio with the visual in the video and the visual and make stand out. In detail I will be
- Discuss specific features Lip Sync. sure they are in sync. experimenting with different
of the software. features.
Research and Planning When planning our horror title By planning out each shot, by At A2 we have to pitch our idea

2. - What tasks did you sequence, we complete tasks making a storyboard and an for a music video before we can
complete when like making an audience profile animatic, made filming easier make it. When pitching my title
preparing to film your were made up a fake person because each shot was sequence I wasn’t very
sequence? from our target audience and planned so you just had to confident and it wasn’t very
- How did your planning when creating the pitch for our follow the storyboard. creative. So I will develop my
help the smooth final idea we had to have them confidence skills of talking in
progression of your film? in mind. Also by creating an audience front of someone and selling it,
We created a treatment sheet profile, you were constantly but also I will make sure my
that had were all our initial checking whether your title music video is full of creativity
ideas where inspired from. sequence was suitable for your and I know exactly what I’m
Then we created a call sheet, target audience. going to do with it when I pitch
which tells you when the actors it.
are needed, costumes needed
and the location of shoot. This
was to make sure we were
prepared for filming.
Using conventions of real I analysed the title sequence of From this analysis of Sweeney At A2 I will continue to analyse
media texts Sweeney Todd and the girl I Todd I noticed that some title texts, apart from this time it will
- Which texts did you worked with analysed the Ring sequence has a narrative to it. be music videos. However this
analyse? 2 title sequence. We discussed From this our title sequence time I will analyse more music
- Did you take any the mise on scene, sound, had a narrative to it i.e. a girl videos, in the genre I have
inspiration from the camera and editing. went missing. chosen, but this time I will look
conventions found from However we analysed two more to see if they included any of
your research? horror sequences and took a 9 From these 9 Frames I learned the video theories, such as
frame of Last House on the Left that horror has a darker colour Laura Mulvey’s male gaze
and The devil’s reject. The point palette with a lot of shadows. theory.
of this exercise was to closely In our title sequence we used a
analyse the mise en scene of darker colour palette e.g. we
horror. filmed the bullying in the woods

3. with the trees creating
shadows.
Creativity We stuck to the conventions of As our sequence contained a At A2 my music video will be
- Were our ideas for your Horror with the title sequence victim that might be dead or creative and I wont stick to the
portfolio imaginative and unique but our sequence lacked might not be dead and she stereotypical conventions of a
or did you adhere to creativity. turns up in a bathroom and it boy and girl. I will try to make it
conventions? ends on a scream, which is interesting as my AS
stereotypical of Horror. coursework lacked creativity.