Megan Southern Media Studies Essay Describe and evaluate your skills development in digital technology from AS to A2 Vast,

positive changes have occurred in my skills development in digital technology from the indie film opening in AS to the alternative style music video in A2. These skills have developed both individually and within my group and gaining such skills has enabled me to create a more professional piece of work. These skills have developed so efficiently partly due to the improved digital technological facilities the school has been able to supply, as well as my own growing confidence in using such technology. Detailed intro. Great! Write concisely though! Just a quick summary, as you want to maximise time in the exam for writing that earn you marks.. When making our film opening in AS, we edited the majority of our raw footage on iMovie, mainly due to it being a very simple piece of software to use and which gave us the basic facilities we needed to create our opening. This software provided us with the ability to slow down certain clips as well as speed them up, for example there is a shot in which only the wheel of the bicycle can be seen, to which we slowed down to create a realistic speed for the bicycle to be travelling at. However at A2, when making our music video, we were able to use Final Cut Express as our editing software, which is a much more professional and complex editing software that provided us with the ability to slow down clips to a much slower rate than within iMovie. We have used such speed edits when filming water, to emphasise the little droplets of water moving at a slower and more effective rate. What did you want to convey to your audience? Each type of software that we used when editing was self taught and with Final Cut Express being a much more complex form of software it shows that we have developed our skills significantly in the area of editing software, purely due to the fact that we taught ourselves how to use it. We had one training session with an expert, then when we wanted to use XYZ (explain which editing technique you researched), we google searched XYZ and used XYZ website Therefore in reference to the digital technology, we have used a range of editing software in both AS and A2, however due to the complexity of the Final Cut Express software, we have shown that we have developed drastically in terms of our editing skills from our two minute filming opening in AS to our four minute music video in A2. Therefore, our developments in software meant the end result of our AS video was.however, we were able to XYZ at A2. (explain why your music video was more expert). When filming our AS two-minute film opening we alternated between using an HD Panasonic video camera and a Flip video camera. We varied using each camera as both had their advantages and disadvantages regarding what we were filming and where we were filming. We used the Flip camera when filming vlogs, for example at the British Film Institute, or we needed more versatility. For example when filming in awkward or risky positions, such as the birds-eye shot that we were able to get by, climbing a couple of trees and in the processshooting the actor from directly overhead. We used the Flip camera for these shots, as it is a much more compact and hardwearing camera, as opposed to the HD Panasonic camera, which we used for tracking and still shots, enabling us to focus on the framing and composition of the shot. Excellent! As we wanted to make our music video look as professional as

Megan Southern Media Studies Essay possible, we decided against using the flip camera as, although compact and easy to use, the quality of the footage that it produces is nothing when compared to that produced by the HD Panasonic camera. The high quality of the camera made it easier to produce clear and focused shots within our music video, such as when the girl appears to be standing on the water. Although the HD Panasonic camera worked beautifully and enabled us to produce pristine shots, we are of course limited in the sense of hardware. This is due to us having no budget to work with when making our music video of film opening. If we did have an unlimited budget to work with then there are a lot of improvements that we could make with both pieces of work; including being able to have a closed set to reduce the amount of members of public !!! wandering into shot, we would also be able to afford even better hardware to film with, thus improving the overall quality of our footage. However in saying this, we were still able to create a professional looking music video, using the hardware we had and were able to improve our skills in using such hardware over the two-year period studying media. Sound played a very important role when it came making both the filming opening and the music video. Within our filming opening, the sound was key to the openings overall impact on the audience. We used complex sound bridges when moving from the wide establishing shot to the close up of the iPod. We also used a fading technique at the end of our opening to show that we, as an audience, are listening to what the girl is listening to. Using a song in our music video gave us a head start in terms of editing to a beat when coming into A2. As a group we established how key editing to the beat of a song is when creating a professional product. Although we did give ourselves a head start in AS for A2, in terms of using a song, sound was not very key to our music video as we did not alter the original track used, therefore we only used, essentially, one piece of sound. Therefore in the sense of progression, we did not progress in terms of sound editing from AS to A2 as we already used sound very efficiently in our film opening and overall the software was not as crucial to our final product in A2. You could use this paragraph for the Describe and evaluate your skills development in post

production from AS to A2

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Improvisation with digital technology is something we have learnt and improved upon throughout the two years of studying media. When making our Indie style film opening in AS we used various props in order to gain certain shots. A key example of this is how we obtained all of our tracking shots of the girl riding the bicycle. We used a shopping trolley to obtain most of these tracking shots and in doing so we were able to move at the same speed and in the same motion as the bicycle. This innovation continued through to A2, in which we used a block under water to create the look of the girl standing on water. Although these two objects/props are not specifically digitally related, they have provided us with the ability to break boundaries within filming, and have helped us obtain shots that add to our products overall positive impact. This innovation has developed through the two years and is furthered through the range of digital technology that we have used along side our creativity. Good. There has also been individual progression from AS to A2, in that a more creative tasks have been set in A2 that were not a part of AS, such as creating our own

Megan Southern Media Studies Essay digipak. When making my digipak I used new software that I had not used before, thus again teaching myself in how it all works. I used iPhoto to edit the images that I used on my digipak, and having a Mac book pro myself enabled my to carry on my work both within and outside of school. Although we did not have to create anything check this as independent as digipaks in AS, we did use a variety of Internet based software, to create presentations, such as the website Prezi and Scribd. Good In using these at AS, I was able to further my knowledge on such software when it came to using them again in A2 and improve upon the skills that I had learnt when using this software at an AS level. Therefore proving that individually, I have been able to develop my own skills when using software such as Prezi, Scribd and iPhoto and in doing so I have also been increasing my creativity and imagination which I have thus been able to apply to my film opening and music video. For example To conclude, I have advanced my skills greatly in terms of digital technology from AS to A2, and this is evident through the work that I have produced at the end of each year. I feel that my A2 media product is much better than my AS media product for a number of reasons. One of which is the new software I have used in A2, both within the field of editing and presenting. Although the hardware has not been altered in terms of product, I feel that my skills in using the cameras has improved, in the sense that my eye for a good framing of a shot has improved, and my overall creativity has been improved throughout the two year period from AS to A2. I therefore feel that the transition in skills development in digital technology from AS to A2 has been a huge success and has enable me to create products to the best of my ability, which, I hope, shows through the work produced. Excellent work Megan. You evaluate throughout and use a range of key terminology. TO DO Make amendments suggested Add more technical terms from iMovie and Final Cut Express and also close up shots / continuity parallel editing / cropping / framing etc. see handout and look on software Adapt your conclusion how do you feel digital technology is changing? What technological constraints and benefits have you had? What would you do differently if you could? What do you predict for changes in digital technology in the future?Formatted: Font: +Headings (Calibri)

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