Personal Skills Review

How has your creativity developed through using Digial Technology to complete your coursework productions?

Using Web 2.0 as a means of doing my coursework has been far more enjoyable than just using a word document,such as Microsoft Word, too write up our work.
Before i was introduced to the website, I had heard of Blogging websites but had little understanding of them and was never fully aware of what they were about. By actually using one, i have realised that you can have so much more fun and give more input when it comes to writing up work than you can with just a simple word document. For starters, anyone can access each others work, which has allowed everyone to develop in creativity by learning off others and seeing what they do to make their work so good. Also, I have been using more pictures and embedding videos into my blog to break up what i say, make the page more colourful and allow people a better understanding of what I'm saying. By putting the video of my Preliminary Exercise on my previous blog, people could refer to it when I explained something.

Give 5 examples of paper based/research skills aquired/developed for your As coursework that will direcly be used in your A2 Coursework

• Using youtube has always been something I've enjoyed doing, but using it for research during my As has allowed me to use it for something other than recreation. When I first used it for research I had no idea what to look for and found it hard to find something that related to my work that i could annotate and use to help me. With help from my teacher, I thought of films that could directly link into my work, but this year I am far more confident in my researching skills using the web and can do it independantly.
• Drawing storyboards last year was a massively useful componant of the planning we carried out as it allowed us to see our ideas on paper and alter and change them where we felt necessary. It also provided us with a construction we could use to set up camera shots and meant we didn't forget the shots we had planned to use. Despite my terrible drawing, it allowed us to create better shots, see where there were problems with continuity and made the editing process a lot smoother.
• Doing a SWOT analysis for the preliminary exercise last year was important as it allowed us to understand where problems might occur due to our weaknesses as well as our strengths as a group were and how these could be used effectively in our work to improve it. The SWOT analysis also meant that we could be open with each other and admit where problems might be faced as individuals so there was no pressure to perform well in that area by the other members of the group.
• My organisation was drastically improved during the planning part of the coursework as I had to try and keep all the work I had collected together as well as saving the research documents I had found in a folder on the computer. As there was a lot of paperwork, each piece as important as the one preceding it, it meant we couldn't lose any of it, and by aquiring better organisation, it means I will already be confident in keeping all the work together as well as making sure we have everything ready for when it comes to creating my film trailer this year.
• Part of doing my exam last year, entailed watching a clip from a media text and critially analysing it, but not being able to watch it for my enjoyment. This already gave me the skills I needed for when I researched my Preliminary Exercise, but further continuing it, made it even better to the point where I now can't even watch a film for enjoyment anymore without analysing it. When I start researching this year, I won't have a problem choosing the material to focus on because I will be able to understand how certain films link in with the genre I want to focus on when creating my text.

Give 5 examples of a practical skill aquired/develops for your As coursework that will directly be used in your A2 coursework

• When I first used a camera, I was terrified having never done it before, except perhaps on holiday when it was recreational anyway. I was unaware of where to position it, and at one point didn't use the rule of thirds effectively, but by actually doing it and learning from the mistake I made, I gave myself the experience and grew the confidence I needed so that I can hopefully use it well this year.
• Similar to using a camera, I had rarely used an editing program before, especially one as complicated as Adobe Premiere Pro. Because of this I had to learn from scratch how to use it, and was a bit rocky when it came to editing our text, but by the end of the process, I was confident and happy in my ability.
• I had already learnt a lot about continuity from doing the exam so I knew all about it, but putting it into practice was an entirely different matter. Luckily I was able to use the understanding i had been given during the first half of the year and helped my group put it into action when making our film. We managed to make each shot join with the last so that it pieced together well and we had no problems. This year we will be using this skill to make our film as easy to follow as the one we created the year before.
• Teamwork was incredibly important when it came to the process of creating our media text as we managed to work together with little arguments or difference in opinion and we helped each other when someone was struggling with something. By practising efficient teamwork, it also meant we could focus on the one part of the the process we were more confident in whilst others worked doing things they were more comfortable doing but you might be weaker at and helped you learn and understand better the things you weren't so good at.

Give 3 clear discussions of how theoretical perspectives studied will directly influence your advanced production

• Genre is very important when it comes to creating a media text. In my case, I am creating a film trailer and have decided to focus on horror/thriller which carries specific codes and conventions that for example, a comedy wouldn't use. This means I have to research into that genre and pick out the ways in which it uses the codes and conventions to make it work. In horror films, low key lighting is used far more frequently too create an atmosphere that isnt needed in a fantasy film which is a single example from a range of codes and conventions used.
• The audience is one of the first things that needs deciding on so that you have a clear focal point when creating your media text. Different audiences (age, interests, etc) will be interested in different things which is why it is important to make sure you base the plot as well as using the camera, mise-en-scene-editing and sound effectively to create something that will appeal to that audience. If I wanted to create a trailer for people around my age, I would use actors my own age and include scenarios that would appeal to them, despite they may not necessarily appeal to someone a lot older.
• Representation is important as it uses stereotypes and instantly gives the audience understanding as to the type of person/area etc. they are watching. By creating a certain appearence and giving a character behavioural patterns that stereotypically fit with this appearence then you have stereotyped and instantly someone watching the film or programme will make a judgement of this character that, in most cases, will be similar to everyone else watching. For example, if you were shown a woman in a suit dressed very smart and neat you would assume she was fairly high qualified and a professional. On the other hand if you saw someone overweight sitting in a chair and eating a lot of food ytou would instantly assume he is lazy and greedy which might give you a negative portrayal of him. Stereotypes make it easier to understand each individual character and relate to them easier.