Jennifer conducted a personal skills audit to assess the skills she developed during her AS coursework and how she will apply them to her A2 project. She learned to use video cameras, tripods, editing software like Final Cut, Photoshop, and Garageband. These skills allowed her to film, edit, and add music to her opening sequence. Her time management skills helped her complete tasks on deadline. She analyzed films to take inspiration from conventions and applied them to her work. For her A2 project, she will build on these skills like improved camerawork, editing techniques, and analyzing other media texts to inform her creativity.

1. Personal Skills Audit Name: Jennifer Hutton
Skills acquired How did these skills
contribute to the creation of
your product?
How will you develop these
skills during the A2 project?
Digital technology
- What
equipment/software
packages did you use to
produce your
production?
I learned to use a Panasonic
Video Camera effectively along
with a tripod.
The software I used to create
my work was mainly final cut, I
learned how to edit and piece
together my own opening
sequence. Another program I
used to uphold my coursework
was Blogger. To create the
music for my sequence I quickly
learned how to use
Garageband.
During filming I did not use the
tripod as much due to constant
movement.
Blogger kept all of my work
together in one place
presentably.
I will use my knowledge of
using the video cameras and
different software to complete
my A2 coursework. I can apply
the same skills I learned from
my AS coursework such as
editing, directing and acting and
apply them in an appropriate
way which fits with the tasks I
have.
Post production
- What software did you
use to create your
production?
- Discuss specific features
of the software.
I used Final Cut to edit my
production alongside
Photoshop in which I used to
edit certain images, which were
added into my production.
These skills will come in useful
when creating my production
this year.
The camera recorded all the
footage however my footage
was shot outside in which there
was wind problem. This
problem was soon ironed out
when I used final cut, some
lines from the sequence had to
be dubbed over in post-
production.
I can take the different methods
of editing I used to make my
opening sequence and apply
them to my next project along
with a little experimentation.

2. Research and Planning
- What tasks did you
complete when
preparing to film your
sequence?
- How did your planning
help the smooth
progression of your film?
-
A skill I achieved through the
research and planning is Time
Management. This skill is
essential due to deadlines.
Managing my time effectively
helped me spend appropriate
percentages of my time on the
different tasks at hand.
I can develop further on these
skills and improve them by
practicing managing my time
well out of college time as well
as during college.
Using conventions of real
media texts
- Which texts did you
analyze?
- Did you take any
inspiration from the
conventions found from
your research?
I analyzed the opening title
sequence of the film ‘Se7en’.
I also did a 9 frame analysis of
the film noir conventions used
in ‘The Usual Suspects’.
I completed a micro analysis of
the film ‘M’.
The better I became at this skill
the more developed my
coursework became.
I can use my observation and
describing skills in other media
texts.
Creativity
- were our ideas for your
portfolio imaginative and unique
or did you adhere to
conventions?
I stuck to the stereotypical
conventions.
The conventions helped guide
us as to what was acceptable of
our genre and sub-genre and
what wasn’t.
I can apply this skill to different
media texts.