REFLECTIVE DIARY Electronic CV | Sumayyah Bailey
WEEK 1 - 09/12/16
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Today we started Unit 3: Introduction to professional practice in creative media production. We got into groups, based on diversity. I was in a group with Ryan, Andre and Gianni. The group leader asked all of us where we were from and our ethnic background. This helped us to know if the group was diverse enough. We had to research the five different media sectors, which are; Television, radio, film, print, online. My group had to research the online sector of media and create a PowerPoint, which we had to present to the class. We had slides describing the sector, the regulating bodies are for that sector, five companies that produce products in the sector and jobs in that sector. As we had to create 4 slides, we all made one each. I was responsible for creating the slide about companies that work online. I researched popular companies, such as, YouTube & Facebook. I presented this slide to the class and described their use and what they allow the user to do and/or the features that they offer. To manage time, we decided to create our PowerPoint in Google Drive, so we could all edit at the time and assist each other with the work. I feel that this lesson increased my understanding in regards to companies and what they do in online media.
WEEK 2 - 16/12/16 ➤
Today, I continued working on Unit 3. As a class, we watched a YouTube videos on jobs and creativity the media industry. The first video was about the jobs available in the media industry. I learnt about the positive parts of having creative jobs. I found that you get to have conversations with you wouldn’t normally talk to. Creative jobs are enjoyable, fun and cultural/different. These jobs are serious, but you get to do fun, silly things. A few examples of jobs that were in the video are; Executive coordinating director (ECD) – they make sure props and cast are available and they produce everything, senior designer – they create logos and use different packages, art director – they come up with creative solutions. I learnt that the creative industry is one of the biggest industries. The industry pulls in about £700 billion per year.
The second video was about creativity in the media industry. I learnt that thinking outside the box and looking at things from a different perspective can increase your imagination. Having the knowledge and the resources can help you be creative too. The habitat where you come up with ideas, can also affect your creativity as it can motivate you to be creative. The woman in the video applied the innovation engine when explaining creativity. I learnt that all the aspects of this, go hand in hand to increasing your creativity.
WEEK 2 - 16/12/16 (CONTINUED) ➤
The woman in the lecture explained that there are factors to creative thinking and intriguing a creative mind. All of these factors, together, are called the Innovation Engine. She explains that each factor plays into each other, for example, culture is the key to a creative attitude, as you are doing something outside of your comfort zone and "broadens your horizons". Imagination and habitat go together, as the people you surround yourself with, can encourage you to be creative and use your imagination. Knowledge and resources go together, as you can look beyond money and, using your knowledge, you can look at your natural resources and the people around you. The second task of Unit 3 is to create a document looking at the skills required for the media career that you would like to pursue. I starting working on a powerpoint as I thought it would be more interactive and display my ability to use different software. I looked on the ‘Creative Skillset' website and picked out three jobs that interest me the most. These are an editor, a camera operator and director of photography (DOP). I then explored the skills and training needed to pursue these jobs and listed them on my powerpoint. The class discussed job contracts and recruitment in media jobs, which I will include in my powerpoint.
This task helped me get a better understanding of careers in the media industry and what skills, thinking and training are required to pursue a career in said industry. I worked, both, individually and as a class during these tasks, which developed my communication skills and my confidence as well as my understanding.
WEEK 3 -06/01/17 ➤
During the holiday, I started the pre-production for my electronic CV, for Unit 3. I looked at my checklist and started working on a moodboard to help me develop the look and feel of my CV. I jotted down some ideas in my workbook to not only help me with my moodboard, but to also help me with my treatment. I did this to save time on my planning, as I intend to start filming/editing in the next couple of weeks.
I used Adobe PhotoShop to create my moodboard, as I haven't used it that much in a while, so I wanted to develop my skills using that software. I compiled a collection of images from the internet and screenshots of my photography and video work to create moodboard. When I finished my moodboard, I started working on my treatment.
WEEK 4 - 13/01/17
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This week, I continued working on my treatment. I came up with the title and duration of my project. As I already had an idea of the synopsis of my CV, so I wrote over 300 words for the synopsis, including transitions and definite shots. By the end of this week I am now finished with my treatment and with a better understanding of my brief, I can now focus on my storyboard and possibly start filming. From this task, I have learnt how to back my ideas with reasoning and developed my Microsoft Word skills. Developing my skills on various media platforms, I will benefit me, in the creation of my electronic CV.
WEEK 5 - 20/01/17 ➤
Today, I started working on the storyboard for my electronic CV. I decided to draw my storyboard instead of using animations. This developed my drawing skills and allowed me to be more creative and use my imagination, when it came to locations and props. I identified the number of seconds each shot would last for and explained the type of shot and miseen-scene. I feel that this task helped me to develop my storyboarding skills. I know realise the extent of planning that goes into each shot. As I am a visual learner, I feel that my synopsis has now been put into perspective and organised to the extent that I am now ready to start gathering footage and start filming. I don’t need to write a script, as there is no dialogue in my electronic CV, only non-diegetic sound.
WEEK 6 - 27/01/17 ➤
Today I started to look at the examples of work that I wanted to include in my electronic CV. I screen recorded a few examples of my personal and educational work and put them in a folder called ‘electronic CV’. I also downloaded some images of the software that I can use. I decided to download and screen record my work from the internet, just in case I can’t access the internet at any point during the production. This way, I will have everything at my fingertips, so to speak. This task helped me develop my skills in QuickTime and my organisational skills.
With my story board finished, I decided to film the book shot. The limitations of this shot were that sometimes there would be shadows in shot, I couldn't find the page with the pictures on it or the book wasn't in the centre of the frame. These limitations caused me to have to re-film the shot a few times, but I was satisfied with the outcome. This helped me improve my attention to detail and although it was painstaking, it made me determined to complete the project.
WEEK 7 - 03/02/17 ➤
This week, I started and finished editing my electronic CV. I used Final Cut Pro to edit, as I haven’t used it a lot for class work and I wanted improve my skills and demonstrate them in my CV. It took 3-4 days to edit my CV, as I did it bit by bit. I went back to edit my CV a couple of times to experiment with non-diegetic sound and transitions. Initially I edited my CV without non-diegetic sound and then decided to find music, which would be parallel to the mis-en-scene and fast paced editing. I decided to use an instrumental soundtrack called ‘Jack CC - Golden’, which is 1 minute long and fit well with the brief of this project. In post-production, I anchored text to relevant shots and adds transitions, to give the illusion that the audience is scanning a page in a book or reading though. I overlaid images to make the book seem interactive and used a green screen stock image of a laptop and overlaid a screen recording of my laptop screen to display my blog site. Once I had finished editing, I exported my CV and uploaded it to YouTube, in order to embed it on my blog. I showed the finished product to my peers and got positive and negative feedback from them. I will use this feedback in my evaluation. From this task, I have developed my editing skills, I have got a better understanding on overlaying clips and images and I improved my green screen and blogging skills.