Andrew Johnson A2 Media Coursework

I feel the first edit has been a success. The editing style and pace are as I first imagined and I
feel the pace of the editing matches the pace of the musical score. In addition the contrapuntal
musical score works well with the mise-en-scene to emphasise the narrative of the text. The
camera work is steady and proficient through out as well as being well as being well positioned
and framed. On the other hand I feel the diegetic sound could be emphasised more and 
additional sounds could be added. 
This would further engage the audience and would add emphasis to the
narrative. In comparison to my rough cut at AS I feel my camera work, creativity and 
post-production skills have significantly improved. My A2 rough cut is of much higher quality 
than my AS.

The footage came out well and I believe all the footage can be utilised. I feel this is a result of he fact that I was solely in charge and control of the directing and camerawork. This meant there was less time wasted with disagreements and debating. Furthermore I feel my use of the tripod and camera has significantly improved from AS. There was allot less time wasted through re-shoots due to shaky shots and poor framing. As a result it gave me more time to do multiple takes of difficult shots to allow me to select the best one in the post production stage.

My research influenced my planning in terms of genre choice and narrative structure however specific shot choices, editing pace and style are a reflection of my personal opinion and creativity. My storyboard was very effective at allowing me to picture specific shots and understand the flow of narrative. Due to the fact I spent a long time and a large amount of effort on my storyboard it made the process of creating an animatic much easier. My animatic allowed me to experiment with editing pace and style, shorting and lengthening clips to fit to the pace of the music and carry the narrative. However creating my animatic was a largely time consuming process and a as a result my final animatic was only 3 minutes in length. This is due to time restrictions and over predicting shot lengths in my storyboard. On the other hand the process has improved my understanding of editing and shot length.

Due to the fact my animatic is only 3 minutes in length it means I will need to film more shots on location however won't have the chance to storyboard them and see if or how they fit together. As a result these choices will need to be made in the post production stage.

I feel my animatic effectively shows the vision I had for my short film. The editing style and pace effectively creates the mood and feel I initially had imagined. The use of close ups and mid-shots meets the codes and conventions of short films as well as the use of sound and narrative created through these techniques.

At AS level my skills in using Premier where very limited. The editing of my AS animatic didn't match that of what I had intended, the use of sound was limited and as a result the narrative of the text was unclear. However comparing this to my A2 animatic it is obvious to see that my knowledge and skills of Premier have greatly improved. The editing is much more accurate and professional, there is greater use of sound clips and effects and the overall feel of the piece is much more professional.