How Have My Skills Improved Since AS?

RESEARCH AND PRE-PRODUCTION

I feel that during the creation of my previous video, I gained and developed my technical skills extensively. I employed a wide range of technical equipment and techniques to make my film successful. My knowledge of shot types and editing style proved instrumental in producing my video to the high quality required to achieve a good grade in the course, and feel that during the creation of the video, I feel that I enhanced each skill significantly.

At GCSE, I produced a B grade music video. Now, at AS, I have improved enormously and Achieved 96% overall, and 60/60 for the film opening itself. In order to continue at this quality of work, it is important that I manage my time more efficiently and increase my work output.

I feel that my time management is my greatest weakness, as I tend to leave things until the last minute. By improving this, I hope to achieve an A or A* grade at A2. I also feel that my teamwork needs some improvement, however my partner and I knew each other before the course, so naturally we had a winning synergy that allowed us to work fluidly and produce a successful end product.

I believe that I do not provide enough individual analysis' of existing products, leaving my research section weaker than others. Hopefully by improving my time management, I will allow myself more time to complete a higher quantity of research pieces from which I may draw inspiration for my next production.

My planning sections are a bit of a mixed bag, really. I like to keep a lot of my plans in my head, and choose not to communicate them on paper a lot of the time. I feel that if I tried to put all of my ideas on paper rather than just a few ones I like, I would improve my planning and communicate my ideas better. Since the narrative is one of the most essential, core elements of film-making, I regard this as an extremely important area that needs some significant improvement in order to perform at A2.

In my last production, I didn't conduct a range of location shoots for filming. My partner and I discussed possible areas for about 10 minutes and then decided on one, and just one. We did visit the location and conduct a location shoot, and made a visual storyboard giving a rough idea of how the film would play out. There was some discussion as to other possible areas we could use, but none of it was really recorded. In my view it was a bit of a missed opportunity for research marks, since upon reflection I feel that it was a little forced and not fully explored. In my A2, I aim to carry out a range of location shoots in order to maximise my location choices, and to also show I have been open minded in my approach to filming.

One of the things I feel I did well was drawing inspiration from existing media products (films). I spent a few hours watching similar film openings and trailers from the horror/thriller/gangster genres and drew a lot of my inspiration from these sources. By doing that, it allowed me to get a feel for how those kind of films were typically shot, allowing me to more accurately shape my own production by using similar angles and filming techniques.

PRODUCTION

During the production of my film, I was able to shoot using a wide range of techniques and shot types such as the unique black & white crane shot in the kitchen scene. This was an advanced technique that I was extremely happy with as it turned out to be my favorite shot in the whole film. I managed to achieve a very fluid motion throughout the entirety of the shot and I feel it directly contributed to the grade awarded.

I feel that including advanced and complicated shots in videos make them instantly more credible and professional. Shots such as panning cranes, track shots filmed with a camera slide, or long dramatic chase scenes are both technically and visually impressive. I hope to include such shots in my A2 Production.

When it came to the actual filming stage, we spent a total of two whole days filming. One day for each location. The easiest way to describe it is that we filmed everything that was outside on day one, and everything indoors on day two. We had planned to spread the filming over 4 days, but good time management allowed us to complete the shoots ahead of schedule. A lot of our shots were perfect within the first three takes with the exception of one or two shots.

I feel that I need to push time management harder and do my best to remain ahead of schedule to prevent last minute cramming. This will allow 'breathing room' throughout the production and will make it much easier and stress free to complete the production.

POST-PRODUCTION

During post production, we spent a lot of time throwing ideas around and discussing orderings and transitions, as well as the amount of grading needed to correct the image to it's best potential. We split the editing equally and worked on the piece for around two weeks on/off. We spent considerable time ensuring we were both happy with the outcome and feel it was very well executed with overwhelming results. We used Premiere Pro CS5, After Effects CS5, Photoshop CS5, Audition CS5, and Lightroom 3. I feel confident in all areas of the software and I am looking forward to making another successful video at A2.

Post Production was the most interesting part of the project for me as it allowed me to experiment in editing and structure of a video timeline. The audio mixing was surprisingly sample and I had fun mastering the audio (equalising sound levels) and changing the structure of our video. Some clips were not used in the same order we shot them, which was surprising as we deviated from our storyboard greatly, but I feel it was for the better as the final outcome could not have been better.

Going forward into A2 I feel confident and prepared that I will be able to produce a video of equal or greater quality than this. I am aiming for at least 90% overall for the coursework after how successful this project was. I want to push the boundaries that little bit further and experiment with techniques I am not already familiar with in order to learn and create something new and interesting. I want to experiment with slow motion and low level lighting to try and creates something as visually gripping and entertaining as my AS video.