Reflections on my past coursework

Previous project our film "The Slayer"

Last year's final project, successes, and downfalls, and how to improve for this year.

 

What were our groups successes?

The outcome of our final film: Overall I would like to say that I am pleased with the outcome of the previous coursework. Although it was a tough year, I am very proud with the final film. 
Although creating a good film, and sticking to the codes and conventions of film were tough, I still feel very positive about how it ended. Knowing that my group was one mark away from the top mark for our film, encourages me to do the same this year with the music video!

What to do for A2: Get full marks for the final product again. I hope to make a very good standard,creative music video. I will make sure to be more creative and as serious about the overall outcome for this upcoming project!

Pulling off believable actors/actresses, as well as believable mis-en-scene:

The characters in our film were pretty realistic and achieved their role well. 

Even better, was the mis-en-scene which helped our final coursework piece

last year seem professional. Our planning for clothing,lighting's and location

fitted together really well.  Also our actors and actresses stayed on role and

in focus the whole way through, and took it seriously. This made the film

look like a real one. 

What to do for A2: This year I am hoping to use studio lights, more props

and professional instruments.Although last years was pretty standard, I 

think this year will need a bigger focus on mis-en-scene, the locations and

the singer/singers. The performance and lighting have to step up a level

next year for the music video, as it is a bigger importance, as it makes

all the difference. 

Group Roles: For our coursework last year, within our group were different roles for everyone.
In our group we made sure to take things in turn rather than just stick to the same boring role the
whole way through. We still had our roles though, I was the director in my group which I found challenging but enjoyed it. 

What to do for A2:To be just as fair in a group when deciding what

each person's role is going to be, as sometimes people don't

feel comfortable and change their mind about what they want

to do! also, it would be good for the team members to take 

each role in turns, so that each individual develops a skill in more

than just one area.

Blogging: When creating our group film, we made sure to blog occasionally. 

We didn't just write

about the project, we took interesting photographs/recordings to give evidence of our teamwork and planning.We were sure to always have a camera with us throughout the entire year. We would organize a meeting at lunch very often to make sure our blog was recording every step through our coursework, but of course it wasn't only our group blog, but our own blogs were important too. We made sure to spend equal amount on both blogs, to show teamwork, as well as in-dependency. The good thing about our group is that we didn't just post what was expected, we posted many of our own ideas as well to show how serious we were about our work.The main reason why our blog was a success is because all our interests/film hobbies, likes and dislikes were posted on there too. On our previous coursework blog, we analyzed many similar films to help us through the filming process which really made a difference. 

What to do for A2: Continue blogging as much as I can, every time we have a meeting record it. I know that both the group blog and the individual blog are essential websites for media coursework. I hope to do as well as I did last year for blogging and keeping up to date with the blog from the start.

Planning and going beyond: Development was a great success last year. Although my group created a detailed storyboard, there was still plenty of room outside the box. We allowed ourselves
to develop a simple story idea, and then take it further by being imaginative. We planned what to do, but then we changed our ideas about to make a more interesting secondary one and then used that instead. We didn't just stick to our original storyboard, and narrative, we built that by using the simple storyline and changing it until we thought it was good enough. 

What to do for A2: Rather than just sitting down and planning what we think will work, test and be more free. Create a music video which people will enjoy and want to watch numerous times rather than a boring one. Plan as well as we did last year, but me more test worthy. 
 

Achieving the criteria:Last year my group had no problem with achieving the given criteria. We carefully took our time to get the best possible grade, and we really focused on what was needed.

What to do for A2:To do the same, to really focus on what will get me marks for the upcoming course.

Editing: Last year we left ourselves with a short amount of time to edit our film, so we didn't have enough time to create the sound how we wanted. However, considering we had a short time to edit we did our absolute best in the limited time.Although there wasn't much time to create the perfect sound, we focused all our attention on the shots, editing them into the best possible order, and cutting and trimming out bits we didn't need. Considering me and my group had no experience with the editing software, we seemed to master it pretty epically! 

What to do for A2:Next year I am going to make sure there is more time focused on the editing process, as this is crucial. I will make sure to save my work more frequently, and to play about with it more. Because next year we don't have to make our own soundtrack, there is no need of improvement in that area, however next year I do need to make sure there is more than enough time for editing the music video.

Sharing ideas and trying out new things:Something I always made sure to do in my previous project, was to constantly experiment with the equipment and software. I wasn't afraid to test something and admit that it didn't look so good, and then make it better. Also, I was always open to sharing my ideas with my group. 

 What to do for A2: Get used to the software and programs we will be using next year to make a music video, and to become more familiar with it.

Confidence in our group and team work:For my previous coursework me and my group were always confident in what we were doing. We all took part as much as we could, and we didn't have any problems with confidence, because we were all pretty confident in what we were doing. Our team weren't afraid to communicate with each other, and were confident to admit they were wrong, and also confident enough to solve problems.

 What to do for A2: Be VERY risky and brave, more than I was for the previous coursework.

Variety of shots: For my last years project we wanted to make it interesting by using as many shots as possible. We didn't just use long-shots, we used more close-up ones too. I think this made our film more watchable. The camera movement was one of our groups strongest areas according to the film we created.

What to do for A2: For this upcoming music video I am going to create, I will be sure to use a even wider variety of shots, and more catchy camera movements!. I wont be afraid to move the camera, and I will be more careful when filming , to film more for the editing process!! the more you film, the more you have to choose from when finalizing! 

What were our weaknesses? 

Forgetting props and remembering things: A common problem that happened a lot during the filming last year was people seemed to forget about the meetings and just made excuses to avoid the work. But it wasn't just that, my group were often forgetting the props to bring, which interrupted with our filming. Even sometimes one of us would be more organized than the other when remembering things, or when making sure to bring everything we need to shoot.

What to do for A2: To avoid forgetting props, for the next project I am going to make a list of everything I need and check I have it all several times before I leave. I will keep a note pad to stay organized.

Sticking to the shooting schedule: Because people didn't stick to the groups original shooting plan the process became slower and just dragged on. The days of shoots kept changing too much and it all became a little too confusing. People didn't turn up and the whole team became let down because of this.

 What to do for A2: Next year I think it would be best to check with my group members to see what day every person is free on, and then make a shooting schedule. It's no good in planning it on a day that nobody is able to show up. This way it will save time, and things will be more organized and there will be more time after for re-shooting.

Meeting up too late:Because our film was a horror, we had to film during night time, but we often met up way too late to get a decent lighting, this made the lighting look a little unclear and the shots harder to see. We would always plan to meet up early, but take too long getting ready and just ending up with completely nothing done. 

 What to do for A2: Next year I am going to make sure I get ready early and leave early so that getting there on time won't be hassle.

Distractions and complaints: During last years coursework we found our group became quite easily distracted and off the subject. There was always a member who complained over something silly which just wasted important time.The actors/actresses often got distracted during the filming which made it look less effective, so that made us have to re-shoot. 

 What to do for A2: For this upcoming project I am going to just get on with the filming,planning and everything rather than complaining about it. I will also put my foot down to make sure the rest of my team are working to their best of efforts at all time.

  

 Forgetting to charge the camera: A major issue from our production from our previous coursework was making sure the equipment was ready to use. We would always forget to charge the camera, so therefore it held us back a lot.

  What to do for A2: Make sure the most reliable person keeps hold of the camera, and that they are able and trustworthy enough to charge the camera everyday, until filming is completely finished!