Reflection of year 12

Controlled Assessment

Strengths in this unit

My strengths during the unit was more in the area of filming and editing rather than the planning and contingency paperwork. When editing, I used many elements of the software (Premiere Pro) to give the final video a more interesting and professional feel, such as changing the colouring (saturation), audio (adding echoes to the voice and balancing the levels of music and dialogue) and using text (for credits and titles). My group and I also experimented with After Effects for certain parts, for example the animation of the production logo at the beginning.

Another part of the task that went well was the pre-production stage and practical planning for the filming such as creating the storyboard, script, and shot list. They were very detailed in order to make filming go as smoothly as possible, and although a few scenes were cut for time, the final product strongly resembled the original plan which shows how helpful these aspects were in ensuring that the group all knew what we wanted it to end up looking like.

Weaknesses in the unit/problems I encountered

A lot of the problems that we encountered were due to technological issues that we discovered during editing and post-production. The footage had been filmed in the wrong format due to us using an unfamiliar camera and so when importing the footage it was in the wrong ratio. One of the programmes we used (Premiere Pro) also caused some issues as the text feature didn't work for some time, but eventually the issue was fixed and we were able to incorporate it into the finished sequence.

The scheduling of the filming time was also the basis for some issues as it was hard to co-ordinate different members of the group and get everyone free to film at the same time, which led to a delays in the project and some stress when trying to finish everything on time. 

How do you intend to improve upon your weaker areas/overcome issues in this year’s production unit?

To improve in the quality of production it is important that this year there is a filming schedule and contingency plan for if that fails, or at least that there are other things that can be done in that time if filming can't happen. Planning what is going to be done in each filming session in advance is also important in making sure that the project remains on schedule. Also, to minimise technical issues this time, equipment and technology will be checked before hand so that issues don't crop up during post-production.

I also intend on working by myself this year which will already minimise scheduling conflicts as I don't have to delay filming due to other members of the production team, but there is still the opportunity for delay due to the heavy inclusion of fewer actors rather than minimal parts by several people, and I will have to try and create a filming schedule that works for them as well as myself.

Exam

Strengths of this unit

The section A of the exam- representation on TV- I feel went well, as the topic of discussion (gender) was one that I was confident in talking about and the clip (from BBC's Sherlock) was a show that I was familiar with. I was able to talk about a range of characters and scenes that looked at different aspects of the representation of gender, which showed that I knew the topic and understood how representation affects how the audience regards the scene and the characters themselves.

Weaknesses

My weakest points of the exam were more prominent in section B, as I was not as confident talking about the industry and sometimes didn't use specific key words that may have better displayed my understanding of the question. My case studies were also not looked into in as much detail as might have been useful for answering this exam question as I had only looked at them from limited angles, and while I was still able to answer the question, I may have been able to go into more depth if I knew more examples to use.

How I will improve upon the weaker areas in this year's exam unit

To improve, I will revise institution and the industry more in order to understand how they are all linked to the global awareness and success of films. I will also revise how different types of media are linked and work together (e.g. synergy and cross-media convergence) and become more confident using these key words in my work so that it is clear I know what I am talking about. Maybe doing more practice exam questions will help me do this.

Targets

1.) Look into the workings of the industry more in order to gain a better understanding of how everything is linked and how things affect each other

2.) Become more confident with using key words to show I understand the material and can improve my written analysis

3.) Manage my time better so that everything isn't rushed towards the end of the project