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My Personal Progression from the Preliminary Task to the G321 Film Opening
Between the Preliminary Task and the final AS project, I have developed both my creative and my analytical skills. I have learnt basic media techniques and terminology, and expanded my knowlege through learning from the practical mistakes made in the Preliminary task. The areas I have mainly improved on are:
- The importance of Mise en Scene, camera angles, sound and editing
- Using media terminology
- The importance of planning
- Targeting an audience and why it's important
- Using the equipment and Final Cut Express
Learning how important it is to include media techniques into the work was my most important form of progression. Although it seems like an obvious thing to do, my mentality was to keep theory and practical work separate and learn the media course in 2 halves. It wasn't until after the Preliminary task that I realised that the two sides support each other and are meant to mix together in order to achieve a well-rounded knowledge of media.
Mise en Scene, Camera Angle, Sound and Editing
Before the Preliminary Task, I learnt how to analyse media texts in terms of Mise en Scene, camera angles/movement, sound and editing. We also learnt about semantics how these media techniques can determine what messages the audience receives. Although I understood the importance of these aspects, it didn't really occur to me to incorporate them into my Preliminary task.
Learning how important it is to include media techniques into the work was my most important form of progression. Although it seems like an obvious thing to do, my mentality was to keep theory and practical work separate and learn the media course in 2 halves. It wasn't until after the Preliminary task that I realised that the two sides support each other and are meant to mix together in order to achieve a well-rounded knowledge of media.
Through the evaluation of our Preliminary task and the preparation for our G321 film opening, I learnt that Mise en Scene is incredibly important in terms of semantics, creating a particular atmosphere through colours and lighting and how props can reflect a character.
Learning how important it is to include media techniques into the work was my most important form of progression. Although it seems like an obvious thing to do, my mentality was to keep theory and practical work separate and learn the media course in 2 halves. It wasn't until after the Preliminary task that I realised that the two sides support each other and are meant to mix together in order to achieve a well-rounded knowledge of media.
Through the evaluation of our Preliminary task and the preparation for our G321 film opening, I learnt that Mise en Scene is incredibly important in terms of semantics, creating a particular atmosphere through colours and lighting and how props can reflect a character.
In the Preliminary task, the antagonist of our piece was wearing a bright pink robe. Although we did not intend to, the colour held connotations that his character was feminine. Our intention was for his character to come across as nutty and strange, but because we didn't consider semantics in the Preliminary task, our clip gave the audience the wrong impression. This is a prime example of how I've progressed, as I now understand the importance of using these media techniques and semantics in my own work.I also learnt that choosing the right camera angles can have a huge effect on the tension of a shot and how much the audience engages with a particular character, that sound is particularly important for creating tension and setting an atmosphere and that editing plays a huge role in the pace of a scene and the amount happening at a time.
Using Media Terminology
Although I have always tried to use media terminology in my work, my media vocabulary has expanded since the Preliminary task and I've learnt how important it is to use the correct terms in order to get my point across.The Importance of Planning
In our Preliminary task we did not plan as thoroughly as we could have, and it was evident on my individual blog and on the group blog. This resulted in confusion for anyone who watched our clip as they did not understand what was happening in the text and what it was about.
The planning stage we missed out was what message we wanted to send our audience and how we would do this. Our intentions for our clip were clear to us, but we did not consider how we should make our clip so that the viewer understands the concept of the film as well. This was a major planning flaw that I encountered during the Preliminary task, and I learnt how important it is to plan our film properly to prevent this mistake from happening again.
For our Preliminary task, we did not target a particular audience and our film ended up appealing to a very small selection of people. We knew this from the feedback our clip received, and the majority of respondents found the text confusing and difficult to follow.
After learning more about target audiences, I learnt that if I have a target audience during the planning stage, I can shape the contents of the film around what would appeal to them and create a much more structured and organised film. The reason target audience ties in with organisation is because it sets a foundation for the film content that can be developed.
The planning stage we missed out was what message we wanted to send our audience and how we would do this. Our intentions for our clip were clear to us, but we did not consider how we should make our clip so that the viewer understands the concept of the film as well. This was a major planning flaw that I encountered during the Preliminary task, and I learnt how important it is to plan our film properly to prevent this mistake from happening again.
Targeting an Audience and Why It's Important
For our Preliminary task, we did not target a particular audience and our film ended up appealing to a very small selection of people. We knew this from the feedback our clip received, and the majority of respondents found the text confusing and difficult to follow.After learning more about target audiences, I learnt that if I have a target audience during the planning stage, I can shape the contents of the film around what would appeal to them and create a much more structured and organised film. The reason target audience ties in with organisation is because it sets a foundation for the film content that can be developed.
Using the Equipment and Final Cut Express
Prior to the Preliminary, we experimented with using the camera, tripod and dolly. Because we understood how to use the filming equipment, we chose to to develop our knowledge of editing equipment after the Preliminary.We went from using iMovie to Final Cut Express for our G321. I enjoyed experimenting with the program and playing around with effects. After I became more confident with Final Cut, I actually found it more straight forward than iMovie and much easier to use. I'm glad I understand how to use this program as I can use it to edit and manipulate my next film.
