Skills I Have Learnt & My Experience

New Skills

So, throughout this project I've acquired a bunch of great skills that I'd like to tell you all about.
Here it goes: 

•  The Blogger - Before media studies, I had absolutely no idea about blogging. I literally didn't know how to use a blog. Of course I had heard of blogs, such as Tumblr, but I was never really involved with those kind of things. I found it fairly easy to start blogging because I love expressing myself through written words, and to be honest, it's not really that difficult for me to just start typing away. Whatever comes into my head gets typed down. Like a stream of consciousness I guess. (Obviously mistakes have to be corrected).

• Using Equipment - Well, what can I say about this? There are so many pieces of equipment I used throughout this project. Firstly, I got to use a JVC camera, with a tripod! I leant how to set the camera up properly, to ensure that it was secured so it wouldn't get damaged. I learnt about the different settings on the camera. For example, how to focus it, zoom, change the setting to adjust lighting etc. I also learnt how to pan and tilt. I used a digital camera, and took loads of pictures. I love taking pictures - so that was great. I also got to use a flipcam, which was fun because it's a quick way to film a shot needed. As well as that kind of equipment, I became familiar with Mac computers again. I hadn't come across it since year 9. It was good fun using all the new equipment. I became familiar with everything around me in no time.

• Filming - Firstly, filming is so not easy! I thought all you do is position the camera correctly, press record and you're off. But NO. It's so much more than that. Skills are needed people. Plus, you need to be smart about the positions and angles you're filming in. I learnt about the 180 degree rule and the thirds rule - which I had no idea about before. Despite being aware of these rules, ridiculous mistakes were still made during filming. But, we corrected them. 

• Software - There are so many different types of software I have learnt to use because of this project. Firstly, Final Cut Pro. (This was used to edit our swede, prelim, The Breakfast Club remake, rough cut of Chasing Shadows, and finally, the complete production of Chasing Shadows. Motion was used to create our movie idents. Prezi was used to create the presentation for our pitch and it is far better than Powerpoint, so I'll definitely be using that again. Make a Gif, to make unique and original gifs for the blogger. Creative Commons and SoundCloud to find legal music and sounds. Youtube, (for trailers and videos). Camtasia, for great pictures and so much more!
  

• Editing - Editing using Final Cut Pro has been fantastic. Although I didn't really get to explore it as much as I wanted to, I realised that when using Final Cut Pro - the possibilities are endless. I leant how to edit and put a film together, using effects such as fade in, transitions, split screens, importing and exporting files, putting sound and music onto a clip etc. 

My Experience 

Overall, it has been a great experience. I believe that it was different than anything else I've been a part of before. I was put into a group where people had many different talents. It was impressive to see my group work in different aspects of the project. One thing that was pretty difficult to get around was that, everyone was a leader in my group, and everyone wanted to take charge one way or another. So yes, we had to compromise and we worked well as a team, despite wanting to take on the role of the 'leader'. It wasn't perfect - nothing ever is - but it was fun. 

I guess now, it is time to say Goodbye...