Group Task Evaluation

In the group task we were asked to make a short promotional video about the school. You can see more about the details of his task in my previous post.

Evaluation:
By doing this task there are several things I learnt in the short period of time that seriously effect the outcome of the project. I will address these issues and say how I will avoid them the next time I have a task.

The first point I am going to make is about working in a group. Personally I found it very easy to work in a group because the people I was in a group with were easy to work with. The main positive aspect of working in a group is that things can get done faster and there are lots more ideas and view points to work with; this leads me on to reasons why group work can be a hindrance. If people have different ideas from one another and are quite strong characters then this can be bad because they will clash and nothing will get done. Equally, if people in a group do not pull their weight then it can ruin the project for the rest of the group as they will have to work twice as hard to get the desired outcome.

The second point I am going to make is about clip handles (these are the excess pieces of footage either side of the shot you want). You should make sure that you have at least 5 seconds of footage before and after the shot because you WILL need it. In my task I found that a lot of my shots were good but I could not get the desired effect concerning transitions because my clip handles were not long enough. This is especially true when you want to fade clips. Therefore next time I record footage I will ensure that i have clip handles long enough to make the footage successful.

Thirdly I have realised that planning is very important; although my task was planned quite well before we got the footage there were still more things we could have do to eradicate any possibility of confusion.
For Example:
• Before you shoot your footage you need to ensure that you have thought   about the concept of the video and what its meant to portray.
• Ensure that all storyboarding is done and you know exactly what clips you need.
An interesting thing I found about planning is that you may not need to follow what you have planned exactly but by sticking close to it you have a good chance of creating what you intended or creating a final piece even better than your original concept.

The fourth point is about what shots work and what shots don't work. From doing the task we quickly learnt which shots worked well and which shots didn't work so well… BUT to avoid realising the problems with the shots half way through the project you should experiment with the equipment you have before the actual takes. By doing this you will get a feel for what shots work well and therefore your final product will contain the best shots possible with the equipment at hand. Shots that I found not to work so well with the equipment at school were panning shots; this is because the tripods can get jammed resulting in a staggered image.

The fifth and final point I would like to bring to your attention in with regard to sound and lighting. As before with the different types of shots you should experiment with your equipment BEFORE HAND to ensure that you get the best quality sound and lighting. If you are recording sound you should ensure that everywhere else is quiet apart from the audio you want to hear and with lighting you should ensure there is plenty of it; the quality of some recordings can be severely diminished when the cameras are deprived of light resulting in a grainy image.

Overall the experience has been a positive one as it has shown me how to better organise myself and use the technology to its full potential. I will take all of these points on board to ensure my next project is as good as it can be.