7.What i've learned since the Prelim task last term

Our preliminary tasks were carried out in during the first term of my Media education when I was not very comfortable with a camera or with the terminology needed when shooting. Though the task went well for my group, we managed to take the shots we needed and our end result was not bad, I think, for a first try I realise now that we could have done a lot better.
The main learning curve this term was getting to grips with Final Cut Pro; a software that has become quite prolific in the media industry in making cutting shots together in order to form a coherent montage or narrative much easier. This piece of engineering enables the editor (i.e. me, or a member of my group) to see exactly where each shot is positioned on the timeline, how long it is and what it looks like. Editing is basically made a lot simpler with Final Cut Pro and although we did use it for the prelim task as well, it still felt quite foreign to me then. Now it feels like I’ve been doing it years and it really does make the whole process a lot faster. Leading on from that, there is a another programme called Adobe After Effects that allows the editor to create more interesting effects on title pages and shots which really adds to the final look of the piece. Both of these programmes have proved very useful so far.
In terms of the shooting day itself I was a lot more confident with our thriller sequence than I was when shooting the Preliminary task. That confidence came from knowing the correct terminology, understanding the equipment; lighting and camera ect...and knowing exactly which shots we wanted for our sequence. Shot angles and techniques have also improved since the prelim task after having watched more films and seen more photo’s in class.
During the time between Prelim task and Thriller sequence most of my media time seems to have been spent working on our ‘working document’ folder; drawing the storyboards, organising lighting and sound, figuring out which shots we wanted and creating an actual plot for our sequence. The most interesting of which, I found to be the storyboards which were my main task and something I learned quite a bit from as well. For example, I now know that a storyboard frame looks a lot better when outlined in black ink and scribbled (for want of a better word) over. I also know that storyboards are very useful on the shoot day and that the more accurate they are the better!
Since the Preliminary task in the first term I feel I have really improved as a Media student.