Preliminary exercise

Preliminary exercise:

For our task we have to make an opening sequence that includes a character opening a door, crossing the room and then sitting down and having a short conversation with another character. It has to be a maximum of 4 minutes. It gives us a lot of creative freedom as we can choose what happens in the opening sequence as long as we include the key features I mentioned before. Having done Media studies at GCSE, I feel that it is a somewhat  favourable challenge that will test my knowledge compared to the music video (which was the other task). I can use all of my knowledge of camera angles, lighting and conventions of media within my work to reflect two years prior work.

Introduction to filming and editing

To start off the course we did 'The life of a Kit-Kat' and also filming about the 'Life of tea' both of which introduced us to the software we would be using. It was tricky at first to perfectly time shots so they flowed perfectly but once we started the second project we understood, on a basic level, how to edit footage so that it fitted well with our other shots. We worked well as a team to let everyone have a turn at filming and editing, giving us all the practice we needed before starting the filming/ editing process for our coursework. I think overall i gained a wider knowledge on the software we had to use and think that i could use it in the future to create an opening sequence to the best of my ability. As well as this,it taught us how to incorporate long takes and short takes and how to make them flow with the scenes.The action match was the hardest due to the fact that it required multiple shots which had to be synchronized otherwise, the entire video would have been ruined

S.W.O.T analysis of brief

Strengths, Weaknesses, opportunities and Threats.

BRIEF: VIDEO

STRENGTHS:

- I did media at GCSE meaning i have prior knowledge of terminology.

- The task involves a lot of freedom and i feel that i can input my creativity well into the task at hand.

- I have an attention to detail meaning work will be done to a high standard.

- I have fairly advanced ICT skills making me a somewhat helpful asset in the editing process.

WEAKNESSES:

- I like to take lead roles quite a lot and try to control the group as i like things done my way.

- I can be indecisive.
- I focus on certain aspect too much and that leads to too much detail e.g In our kit-kat advert we took too many shots leaving little time to edit.
- I am egotistical meaning i will want to do it all myself.

OPPORTUNITIES:

- We have the opportunity to work as a team with people i talk to everyday.

- It gives me the chance to express my creativity to the world.

- To adapt my editing and video production on short films.

- I can advance my knowledge on shot types and other such filming necessities.

THREATS:

- One member of the group may do more work than the others leaving the others with some troubles with the coursework marking.

- People may be lazy and not work to their full potential.
- If in the incorrect group, some people may mess around with members of it.
-People could leave all the work to last minute and miss vital points of the brief.

INITIAL THOUGHTS

INITIAL THOUGHTS

I did Media at GCSE and found it to be a great way to express creativity. I also have very little prior experience with cameras and also with video editing software but i think that over time i will gain a wider knowledge of such topics and show them off within my coursework. I decided to do it again at A-level due to the level of freedom given to create content and examine media pieces of work.