I've leant a lot from this years A level media course work and despite some of the stress, I've really enjoyed it!
Some of the things I've learnt include:
- The importance of planning before we actually get around to trying to film and edit (I found making a shot list and storyboard really helpful to keep on track of what needed doing)
- The importance of Mise-en-scene including props, costume and setting. If one of these wasn't quite right or fitting for the genre then it wouldn't look as good and the audience wouldn't like the final product.
- I have massively improved my time keeping skills. In the first year of this course (AS) I didn't really have a plan of what needed to be done when so I sort of just went along with it and after a whole years worth of procrastination the majority of my work was done almost last minute which was really stressful and I didn't want a repeat of that this year so I made sure I was always up to date on what posts I needed to have done and what filming had to be done by when etc.
- I learnt about team work as well. The first year I was working by myself so everything was my responsibility and I had to make all the decisions. This year I worked with a partner and it meant that I had to compromise a lot and we had to fit our schedules for filming and editing around each other. I think this is a really useful skill and if I hadn't developed this reasonably quickly then we may not have finished in time due to miss-communications or what have you.
- I learnt about the importance of codes and conventions and how they have a massive impact on the final product but also about how the audience feels about the product.
- As well as all of these new skills, I also learnt to not only use Adobe Photoshop and manipulate images, but also to use Adobe Premiere Pro so I can now edit moving image.
I have loved every minute of the course this year and I hope I can continue to use the skills I have picked up throughout the two years. I have also loved the theory side to the course, learning about the theorists like Bathes and Andrew Goodwin and how these theorists have impacted my work because of what they've said.
Thank you for reading my blog goodbye! :)
