Post three: Skills

Skills Table:

In this part of the task we worked as a small group of four or so people we created a table that identifies skills that we posess in terms of exam topics;  and different types of skills; Cognitive skills, Technical skills, Interpersonal skills. After discussing what needed to be put into the table and sucessfully entering all of the needed information as a group we proceeded to explain in further detail and expanded on the points written on the table in a video that we created using a flip video.







Add any further comments you think necessary that explains your current skills level to the examiner.

5 'SMART' Targets

Within the next academic year there are several processes in all areas involved in the course that I need to improve on;



1) The first and possibly the most prominent target for me this year will be to improve the quality of my camera work and continuity, last year both I and the group in which I worked struggled to effectively recognise when we had broken the 180 º rule, otherwise known as ‘crossing the line’ in our filming. This affected the continuity of our production and therefore obviously had a knock on effect on the grade in which we received for our final product last year. This year I will spend a great deal more time making certain there are no faults in our filming and do further research into vital rules such as the 180 º rule to ensure we do not have the same problem this year.


2) The second target I have set for myself will be based around the area of editing, next year I wish to not only improve on the areas I can already do on adobe premier plus but to try and successfully carry out new and original editing styles. As we now know the basics due to the editing of our products last year, this year I plan on spending a significant amount more time extending my skills on the editing suites as to boost the grades I could possibly achieve in our final product.

3) Due to the fact that in the approaching academic year our task is to create a short film in its entirety the process of creating a treatment becomes more relevant and there is now a need for character synopsises. Another one of my targets is to improve the detail in which our narrative and characters are developed. I will achieve this by holding more group discussions therefore deciding as a group a lot more detail about both the narrative and the characters.
 4) In this years main task we will be not only creating the film product we will also be creating a ‘postcard’ for our film in terms of marketing. To create the previously mentioned ‘postcard’ we will need to use Photoshop or a programme similar in function to edit the image. In the editing we will need to interpret the conventions so that it is possible to create a unique style for our marketing ‘postcard’ to match our film.

5) My final ‘SMART’ target for next year is to work on the improvement of my interpersonal skills, group dynamics are very important when working in close proximity with other people although never having had any real issues when previously working in these groups I believe that if the group dynamics had been better then as a group we generally would have worked momentously more successfully and the work would have been more equally split. So therefore in improving my interpersonal skills the group meetings that are held will be more productive and the group dynamics will be pleasant and easy to work with.

Post two: Creativity

Creativity:

'Creative thought is a mental process involving creative problem solving and the discovery of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the existing ideas or concepts, fueled by the process of either conscious or unconscious insight.' - Wikipedia definition of 'creativity'

'I define creativity as the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity involves two processes: thinking, then producing. Innovation is the production or implementation of an idea. If you have ideas, but don't act on them, you are imaginative but not creative.' - 'What is creativity?' By Linda Naiman


'Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others.' - 'What is creativity?' By Northridge University

         TASK ONE: A Game Of 'Consequence'

We were split into groups of either 3 or 4, each group was given a piece of paper and a pen. Then the first person wrote down an adjective, fold the paper over so that what we had written couldn't be seen, and pass the paper on to the next person. The next person carried on the process and wrote down a noun, the next a verb, another adjective and then finally the first person wrote down a noun.

The sentence we ended up with:
'The lovely door jumped the rusty cat'

Would you consider the task 'creative'?
We then created an image representative of the above sentence, I personally think that both the sentence and image are creative in the sense that they are 'out of the ordinary' the selected words above would not usually be put into a sentence together. But on the contrary I do not think that the sentence and image are creative as the fact that they would not usually be put together makes them lack in sense, therefore the lack of sense makes them uncreative.

TASK TWO: 'The Pen'

Our next task in creativity was to create a minute long video, we were given a camera and the only stimulus we were given was a pen, we were told that we could film whatever we wanted but it had to involve the pen in some way or another. Although at first I personally found this task as a concept very confusing as the task carried on and we got into 'the swing of things' and begun to forget the very broad outline we were given and just film whatever first came to mind. The part that made this task so difficult was the fact that the clip had to be filmed in its entirety which meant that if a shot went drastically wrong we were forced to begin the filming from scratch, also without the use of 'run-camera-action' simple things such as knowing when to 'cut' became difficult.

Would you consider the task 'creative'?

This task was creative in the general sense that the stimulus allowed us all in our set groups to be relatively original in what ideas we chose to put into action and what kind of direction we chose to go down in terms of our filming. Not having a lot of direction to follow also allowed us all the independence to improve our creative skills. I'd say the concept of the task was creative and parts of the shots we used such as the ending shot were creative but I would not say that overall the video we created was especially creative.

TASK THREE: Independent Study

For this aspect of the work I chose to create a collage presenting what I consider the most important aspects of my life; the activities I enjoy participating in, the places in which I spend the most time, the people with whom I spend the most time with or key/favourable events in my life such as music festivals or holiday destinations. Once i had selected the photographs  In order to create the collage i used my favourite photogrpahs that either I personally had taken or that had been taken of me, the photogrpahs that mean that most to me.

I would label the collage I have created as 'creative' due to the fact that it is original - if other people were to carry out the same task none of the collages would be identical to mine because we are all individuals. Personality factors - differences in likes/dislikes and differences in interests and hobbies would all contribute to the differences in the creation of the collages. 

30/6/10 - I really like your thoughts on the game of consequences and if you were creative. Are you therefore saying that to you can only be creative if it makes sense? If so, not all art work makes sense to me but surely it is creative??? I'd like to see you respond to this comment in your blog. SHIPP

In terms of 'art work' it can be creative without making sense - Not all art work has to make sense to other people but i'd personally say that all art work has to make sense to at least one person, the artist. Although i'm aware of what the message within the image I created is and the message makes sense to me due to the fact that it is based on the sentence I created, I personally do not enjoy looking at the image or find it particularly mentally stimulating or relevant so I would not consider it creative.

Post one: Defining skills

SKILLS -

We need to define 'skills' in order to both analyse the skills we currently have and those we currently lacking in. We will then be applying this knowledge in our G325 exam.

Definitions of 'skills':

• 'A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills' - 'Wikipedia' definition of 'skills'
• 'An ability that has been acquired by training' - 'Word-net-web' definition of 'skills'
• 'Ability and capacity acquired through deliberate, systematic, and sustained effort to smoothly and adaptively carryout complex activities or job functions involving ideas (cognitive skills), things (technical skills), and/or people (interpersonal skills).' - 'Business dictionary' definition of 'skills'
• 'Proficiency, facility, or dexterity that is acquired or developed through training or experience.' - 'answers' definition of 'skills'
• 'A skill is the learned capacity or talent to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both.' - 'refrence' definition of 'skills'

Cognitive skills - Mental skills in acquiring knowledge.
Technical skills - Editing suite, use of camera.
Interpersonal skills - How you communicate with people, working with others.

My definition of 'skills':

Skills: Skills are the acquired knowledge or practical function of being able to carry out a task in the minimum or in an impressive amount of time and doing so with the minimum required effort.

'Skills' can be related to my media production(s) of the future because during the course of AS media i learnt the key skills needed in both the production of the media product and the e.g. the use of the camera equipment and the editing equipment and the skills needed for the exam.