EVALUATION OF YEAR 1 SEMESTER 2.

WELCOME TO MY FINAL WEB BLOG, IN THIS BLOG I HAVE TO EVALUATE MY WHOLE PERFORMANCE THROUGHOUT THE 2ND SEMESTER.

EVALUATE MEANS = TO JUDGE OR ASSESS THE QUALITY, MERIT, SIGNIFICANCE, WORTH IMPORTANCE OR VALUE OF SOMETHING.

ANALYZE MEANS= TO STUDY SOMETHING IN DETAIL TO DISCOVER MORE ABOUT IT OR EXAMINE CRITICALLY TO BRING/FIND OUT ITS ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS. 

IN THIS EVALUATION I HAVE BEEN ASKED TO CRITICALLY EXAMINE MY OWN WORK AND STATE WHAT IS GOOD AND BAD ABOUT IT - COMMENTING ON EACH OF THE FOLLOWING:

 

*    TEACHER/PEER FEEDBACK.

*     INDIVIDUAL WORK.

*    GROUP WORK.

*    TECHNICAL QUALITY.

TEACHER / PEER FEEDBACK:         

I FEEL I HAVE LEARNED ALOT FROM THIS UNIT, BUILDING ON THE FOUNDATION I HAD FROM LAST YEARS  BTEC NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN MEDIA MOVING IMAGE. I HAVE GAINED A MORE IN DEPTH KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROCESS'S & PRODUCTION'S  WITHIN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY AND I HAVE A CLEARER IDEA OF MY FUTURE CAREER PATH. 

SACHA IN PARTICULAR HAS ALOT OF INVALUABLE KNOWLEDGE WHICH IS VERY HELPFUL, AS HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT, AND HAS NO PROBLEM WITH EXPLAINING THINGS MORE THAN ONCE. FOR INSTANCE HOW TO SORT OUT MY SOUND LEVELS THAT WERE MESSED UP IN FILMING IN FINAL CUT. WHICH FOR ME IS USEFUL AS I HAVE A VERY BAD SHORT TERM MEMORY.

FROM THIS UNIT AND THE FEEDBACK I HAVE RECEIVED FROM KIM & SACHA , I NOW KNOW WHERE MY WEAKNESSES LIE. FOR INSTANCE IN SOUND, SACHA HAS SHOWN ME HOW TO IMPROVE  UPON THESE SKILLS NEXT TIME. 

(I.E. BY ASKING IF I DONT KNOW HOW TO DO SOMETHING & BY GETTING MORE PRACTICE IN WITH SOUND. )

I BELIEVE THAT ONE OF MY STRENGTHS IS ORGANIZATION. ALWAYS HANDING MY WORK IN ON TIME, SOMETIMES WITH TIME TO SPARE TO IMPROVE MY FINAL GRADE.

GROUP WORK: 

I  HAVE REALLY ENJOYED WORKING ON OUR GROUP PROJECT. I FEEL THAT SAM, ADAM, TOM AND MYSELF WORK REALLY WELL TOGETHER COMBINING OUR STRENGTHS TO MAKE A QUALITY PEIECE OF WORK. (I.E SAM DIRECTING & RESEARCHING, MYSELF PRODUCING & PRE-PRODUCTION, TOM SOUND & EDITING, ADAM CAMERA & LIGHTING.) I FEEL I LEARNT ALOT FORM MY LAST GROUP PROJECT WITH KEELY & SIMON & I FEEL IT SHOWS IN THIS PROJECT I.E. I AM A LOT MORE VOCAL & ALWAYS HAVE MY SAY. I FEEL THROUGH DOING OUR GROUP DRAMA THAT ALL OF US HAVE HAD THE CHANCE TO SHINE & SHOW OUR TRUE ABILITIES TO THE FULL. 

TECHNICAL SKILLS. 

I FEEL I HAVE LEARNED ALOT THIS SEMESTER BY TRIAL AND ERROR,WHICH IN SOME RESPECTS I FEEL HAS DONE ME GOOD, AS IT HAS GIVEN ME THE CONFIDENCE TO BELIEVE IN ME. BUT IN OTHER RESPECTS I FEEL IT HAS HINDERED ME SLIGHTLY. IN PARTICULAR I FEEL  BEING LEFT ALONE TO EDIT HAS HELPED ME GREATLY AS I HAVE LEARNT HANDS ON HOW TO MANIPULATE THE FINAL CUT SOFT WARE, & DOING THIS I KNOW WILL CEMENT THE PROCESS IN MY MIND FOR LIFE. 

BUT ON THE OTHER HAND I FEEL I NEED ALOT MORE GUIDEANCE WITH FILMING, AS UP UNTIL NOW I HAVE NEVER REALLY PROPERLLY FILMED ANYTHING BEFORE, I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT SOUND OR LIGHTING OR CAMERAS & I FEEL THIS SHOWS IN MY INDIVIDUALLY FILMED DOCUMENTRY.  

CONCERNS FOR NEXT SEMESTER.          

I WOULD SAY ONE OF MY MAIN CONCERNS FOR NEXT SEMESTER, ALTHOUGH I AM QUITE WELL EQUIPPED WITH MY OWN MAC LAPTOP, FINAL CUT PRO SOFTWARE, 250 GIG EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE, N BOX & PRO TOOLS. IT IS THE FACT THAT THERE DOES NOT SEEM TO BE ENOUGH HARDWARE TO GO AROUND. WHICH I FEEL HAS IMPACTED UPON ALL OF US SEVERELY THIS SEMESTER, & MAY STILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT UPON OUR LEARNING OUTCOMES NEXT SEMESTER.

THANK YOU FOR READING MY WEB BLOG!!! 

Group Project.

Pre-production.

Throughout the whole group project pre-production h

as been my main job. I wanted to play a big part in the group project as the subject "ignorance" the working title is something i feel creatively pass

ionate about. It was also known in advance that i was not going to be available for much of the production & post production stages, due to holidays & ill health. So it was decided with Kim and as a group i would take on the responsibility of pre-production. This included completing tasks such as:

*      Briefs.

*      Treetments.

*      Scripts.

*      Story Boards.

*      Shot Plans.

*      Reeces.

*      Role Allocation Records.

*      Minutes of production meetings.

*      Resource Lists.

*      Risk Assessments.

*      Location Release Forms.

*      Person Release / Consent Forms.

*      Production / Post Productions Scedules.

*      Call Sheets.

Production.

On several occasions before the actual shoot of "Bodies on the Beach", Sam & I went out to sand bay to do some reeces & got some ideas of shots. whic

h i believe really helped me as a producer in the produc

tion stages as i had a clear idea of what was going on.

 

Whilst in the production stages of the group project I took part in one of the filming days. On the day of filming it was my job as producer to make sure everyone and everything was organized (i.e. everyone knew what was happening & where they had to be.) I organized runners & worked very closely with Sam the director making sure everything was done on time & to schedule. I also organized refreshments & arranged transport.

Post Production.

In post production I worked closely with Tom to log & capture our footage onto the mac's and into final cut, where Tom Adam & Sam where able to manipulate the footage at a later date.

Editing My Individual Project.

I really enjoyed editing my individual project, as it was a chance to expand on skills i already had gained  from Btec ND in Media Moving Image last year, and a real chance to experiment and be creative. 

I feel i am mainly self taught with final cut, & from a dyslexic point of view I am happy experimenting and teaching myself, as i know for a fact that doing practical tasks such as experimenting with software systems cements the knowledge of how to do a task in my mind.

My sound engineering in production was really crap as i did not take into consideration the issues i was creating for myself by using many locations. It was in post production that Sacha had to assist me in saving my sound, because in its raw state un equalized it was un useable.  

I am  beginning to feel more comfortable with final cut, i am no longer afraid of the soft ware, and  i feel i am getting quite competent at the basic skills of final cut. I can also say I feel confident to take the skills learnt from my individual editing such as sound equalizing forward into other projects. 

Filming Dyslexia The Next Gneration.

Filming of my individual project took place over a 2 week filming schedule over the easter break. It was decided to film my contributors 1st getting the interviews, vox pops, & acting out of the way. I then edited the footage i had in final cut at home on my lap top, & went out the following day & got the footage i had missed. I found this to be the easiest part of the filming process. As i was in control, telling my contributors what to do, choosing the camera angles etc.

It was over the next few days my partner & I filmed my pieces to camera. At this point Tim became director & camera as there was no one else to film me, whilst i became the presenter, which i found extremely hard because it meant memorizing a script & being on camera which i hate!!! The more i practiced the script though the more i could remember & the more i flowed on camera, making my pieces to camera really good, with no stuttering or stammering although i did get the giggles through one of the sequences. Tim choose some really good shots and framed me very well. I really enjoyed working with Tim, as i found we bounced off of each other . Between us i feel we came up with the best shots for each individual scenareo.

After all of my footage had been edited together, it was decided to take the camera out on another occasion to get some general shots of buildings, calculators, computers, spell checkers etc.

Whilst in the classroom i came up with an idea to do a vox pop, i had 6 statements to be read & there were 6 people in the room, so i got Kim, Keely, Tom, Alecia, Adam & Sam to say them on camera, which i think has added some edge.

Technically i know i am not very accomplished & i know this shows throughout my whole project, especially the sound quality. But i do feel with quality teaching  & patience. Expanding my knowledge on subjects such as lighting & sound  I will become an accomplished camera person.

  

Web Blog News Article BC1004

Does Dyslexia Really Exist…..Or Is It Just An Excuse?

29^TH  May 2007

Dyslexia Action and the British Dyslexia Association strongly dispute claims made by a government minister earlier this week, that dyslexia does not exist & that it is just an excuse for bad behavior.

To the 6 million people dyslexia affects in the UK, it is very real. Dyslexia is a complex condition, which affects each person differently, irrespectively of intelligence, race or social background.

“It is life-long, but the affects can be minimized. Says Mrs Joan Curry Educational Psychologist.

Dyslexia affects around 10% of the British population. Did you know that 70% of all self made millionaires are dyslexic, take Richard Branson he made his 1^st million by the age 18.

 “Once again dyslexia seems to be making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. It is frustrating that the focus should be on whether dyslexia exists or not and claims that it does not is very Frustrating for the 1 in 10 people that it affects. The question should be what can be done to help people with dyslexia and those with literacy difficulties?” Says Katherine Jones southwest dyslexia support.

If you would like more information on dyslexia contact the British dyslexia association Helpline: 0845 251 9002. Or email helpline@bda.org.uk.

                                                                                 200 WORDS!!!

 

BBC MAIDA VALE STUDIOS.

BCC MAIDA VALE WAS AN INSIGHTFUL TRIP INTO THE REAL WORLD OF THE MEDIA INDUSTRY. IT HAS INSPIRED ME IN MANY WAYS, HAVING APPEARED ON RADIO BEFORE IN CALIFORNIA, THE BBC MAIDA VALE TRIP HAS BROUGHT ME BACK TO MY ROOTS & MY PASSION FOR SOUND!

WHILST AT THE STUDIOS WE GOT TO SEE THE MAKING OF THE RE-ADUCTATION OF "THE WORLD AS IT IS NOW"  ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ABOUT 100 YEARS AGO, THE BBC WERE MAKING A MORE UP TO DATE VERSION........ PRODUCED FOR BBC RADIO 4, IT WAS WELL SCRIPTED, EXTREMELY HUMOROUS, & HAD ME HOOKED!  I LIKED THE WAY IT HAD A DOWN TO EARTH APPROACH, & I ALSO LIKED THE WAY THE SCRIPT TOUCHED ON SOME GREY AREAS SUCH AS TERRORISM.

WE GOT TO DO SOME ARCHIVING TOO, WHICH I FOUND FASCINATING. I WAS PAIRED WITH A GIRL CALLED HANNAH, SHE WAS PRETTY NEW ONLY BEEN THERE 3 MONTHS BUT WAS LOVING IT! WE WERE TRANSFERING DAT FORMAT TO MP3 FORMAT USING A SOFT WARE PACKAGE CALLED SADIES, WHICH IS THE MICROSOFT EQUIVALENT OF PRO-TOOLS. WHILST I WAS THERE I WAS ALSO INTRIGUED AT MYSELF, AS I WAS SHOWN HOW TO IT ONCE, GRASPED IT, & WAS ABLE TO DO HANNAH'S JOB FOR HER WHILST SHE SAT & WATCHED.

MY HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY HAD TO BE SEEING THE ZUTONS PLAY LIVE IN THE JOHN PEEL STUDIO. I MUST SAY BEFORE I WENT TO MAIDA VALE  I HAD DISMISSED THE ZUTONS BECAUSE THEY DIDNT  INTERVIEW VERY WELL ON TV, & WERE EXTREMELY HARD TO HEAR BECAUSE OF THEIR SCOUSE ACCENT. BUT LISTENING TO THEM LIVE IS SOMETHING ELSE!!! I HAVE CONSEQUENTLY GONE OUT & BROUGHT THEIR SINGLE "ALWAYS RIGHT BEHIND YOU" DEFINITELY MY STYLE OF MUSIC!

TO LISTEN TO THEIR NEW SINGLE GO TO 

http://www.thezutons.com/

DYSLEXIA - THE NEXT GENERATION..... MY TREATMENT.

Dyslexia – the next generation.

PREMISE: who needs a memory? When you’ve computers, spell checkers & calculators?

 

Opening sequence four split screens, showing dyslexic behavioural traits.

Split screen one - a motorist going round a round about, in a bid to read all the road signs.

Split screen two - someone day dreaming.

Split screen three - a school girl carrying a heavy bag to school.

split screen four - someone putting their pin into the cash machine, looking at their hand with the number written on.

     Voice over “what do these people have in common? Why are they doing these odd things?” Dyslexia appears on screen in big bold letters wobbling, as it does for a dyslexic person.

     Tracking shot of presenter piece to camera, “Did you know there are 6 million dyslexics in the UK? That’s 10% of the British population!” “So what does dyslexia enable you to do?”

     Close up shot of someone looking at an engine, super imposed is a three dimensional animation of how the engine works, Voice over “ we have 3 dimensional acuity, making us excellent engineers.

     Cross fades to still picture of Albert Einstein, voice over “ we have the ability to see things that don’t exist yet, take Albert Einstein for instance, cuts to E=MC2 equation.”

     Cross fades to computer over loading, voice over “we cant lie, our poor memories over load”

     Cross fades to over shoulder shot of someone video editing, cuts to still picture of the titanic. Voice over “ we are extremely creative, did you know the film makers of the titanic were dyslexic?”

     Cuts to piece to camera tracking shot of presenter, “anyway in an ever changing world, who needs a memory?”

     Cuts shots of computers spell checkers & calculators, “when you’ve got computers, spellcheckers, & calculators!”

     Cuts back to presenter piece to camera “did you know that 70% of all self made millionaires are dyslexic?”

     Cuts to a still picture of Richard Branson, “take Richard Branson, he made his 1^st million by the age of 18.”

     Cuts back to presenter “ so what is this dyslexia thing? Interview.

     Cuts back to presenter “so how does dyslexia affect you?”  vox pop.

     Cuts to piece to camera “dyslexia is a gift, it is what happens when we point our imaginations, inventiveness, and curiosity at marks on the page, that cannot cope with imagination, inventiveness, and curiosity!” the sooner dyslexia becomes a recognised learning style; the sooner the world can evolve!!! Your boss will be a dyslexic!!!