Before CTEC media I had no prior knowledge on how to use a camera properly (e.g. knowing camera settings such as the aperture, iso or shutter speed etc.) or any of the technical terms. I had no skill in videography or any of the pre production and production work.
I have now understood all of this new information all thanks to me taking Media and Film studies. Although I am no where near an expert in this filed of work , as I still lack a lot of experience. Despite that I have still learned a lot of the basics and wish to learn more. From learning to make radio adverts, TV idents, show reels to short films. And that's only production work. Here is all the work I have learned to produce in (CTEC) Media.
My prior experience of planning and producing work to a client brief - I did several units in learning to plan and produce media work. Specifically in Unit 14/16, Unit 15, Unit 3 and Unit 2.
Here is what I learned...
- swot analysis
- script plan
- location recce
- shooting script/shot list
- storyboard
- production log
- task allocation
- mood board
- release forms
- call sheet
- script
- written synopsis
- animatic
- risk assessment
- budgeting
- potential client questions
- legal and ethics
- editing
- cinematography
- voice over
- foley sounds
- focus group
- audience feedback
- cut out animation
- radio adverts
- film poster
- short film
MY experience on trying to make an effective TV ident for Freeview.
One thing in particular that I learned to do in Unit 15 is what it takes to make an ident and how to make an ident. Here, I made a cut out animation for one of Freeview's channels (CITV). I had to rebrand their channel ident and bring in more audience. I thought about it then I made a thumbnail storyboard to lay out the shots in my head on to paper to get a rough idea of what how I wanted my ident to be. After that I made a shot list. I then started by making the cut out, (drawing, colouring and outlining them) and started 'recording' my ident. To make it look like an animation I used the stop motion animation technique. Moving the paper cut out little by little and taking a picture each time, I do so. I then took all the images and started putting them together on final cut pro to make a rough draft. I then started working on my final ident. I edited all my clips, adding effects, music and diegetic sounds - that were all copyright free.
What I lack/need to improve on...
I wish to improve on making my writing, I want it to sound more sophisticated but clear enough to understand what is being said. I would also like to experiment more with filmmaking. One of my weaknesses is that sometimes I focus on one particular aspect of my work and make sure everything is perfect. So, sometimes I get to caught up in it all. I know that nothing is perfect however, I still wish to make my work to be as close to perfection as possible. But this is where my weakness comes in, because of this I sometimes start to give up or not put as much effort it if I am not passionate enough about the work or if my work is not how I envisioned it to be. I need to be determined. For example when making the thriller short film 'Revenge' I did not have as much time as I thought I would have, so I was disheartened with the final piece of work as it was nothing like how I pictured it in my head to be.
The aspects I need to focus in general...
- time management
- deadlines
- determination
- procrastination
- getting rid of the feeling of incompetence
- avoiding distractions
The aspects I need to improve on doing...
- Planning
- deadlines
- Producing my work to a higher quality
- being comfortable to seek out help
- scriptwriting
- production log
- legal and ethics
- potential audience questions
- short films
- editing
- cinematography
And I am sure there are many more.
