Storyboarding and Focus Group

Stealing scene

Singing scene

Police interview scene

Focus Group

Mrs. Robertson - Software and Hardware

Q: What were the good and bad things about the software and hardware you used at AS in terms of skills development:

In terms of software; during our AS projects (preliminary and main task) we were resticted to using Microsoft Publisher for our Prelim (due to to program malfunctions) and access to Pages for our main. Adobe Photoshop was our photo editing software for the coursework, something that I was personally familiar with prior to beginning the coursework; this was an advantage of being able to start with photo editing work straight away, and already being familiar with the tools and functions. Due to the malfunctioning of Pages, we were left with the alternative to use Microsoft's DTP Publisher, whilst being familiar with this software and it's tools, it was very unprofessional in the outcome compared to when we were later able to use Pages.

In terms of Hardware, adjusting from a lifelong use of a Desktop PC to an Apple iMac was a massive transition that even after doing both my AS and A2 work has still been difficult to use. This hindered our coursework massively by requiring the need to lose vital time for coursework, to be used on simply learning to navigate a Mac.

Q: What are the good things and bad things about software and hardware at A2 in terms of Skills development?

The video editing software, iMovie, was extremely easy to use and navigate; making working on our A2 coursework easy to start. Whilst it was efficient in not requiring much formal training, it also taught us the use of text and filters to enhance footage, which became extremely effective in the later stages of our editing. However, prior to the start of our A2 course, Final Cut Pro was available for use, but was withdrawn in the early stages of our coursework. Had we had been able to use this software, whilst it may have been a lot more difficult to use, it would have produced an overall better quality film.

The video camera we used in our coursework was very easy to use; causing us to get a variety of camera angles and filming styles with relative ease. However, the quality of the footage from the camera turned out to be a much lower resolution than predicted on the camera's playback screen, causing us to only realise lighting faults and synchronisation faults after the filming had taken place, and the footage was uploaded.

Q: How did you use your AS filming/shooting and editing skills to aid the construction of your main task at A2?

Being a photography student, I was already familiar with the knowledge of composition, viewpoint and framing. However when transferring these skills onto using film at A2, a few other skills were learned. Things like continuity and lighting styles were much more vital in film in comparison to photoshooting. Learning about Camera angles and their impact positively affected our A2 task in order to achieve certain effects; aswell as our knowledge on Mise-en-scene.